SK Bioscience makes splash on market debut, lands No. 29 on Kospi

SK Bioscience, the vaccines unit of South Korea’s No. 3 conglomerate SK Group, made its grand market debut on the nation’s main board Thursday, trading at more than double its initial public offering price. As soon as the opening bell rang, shares of SK Bioscience shot up to the daily permissible limit of 169,000 won ($150.45), up 30 percent from its opening price and its IPO price of 65,000 won. The price level maintained at the upper limit throughout the day. The opening price o

March 18, 2021

CU launches beer subscription service

CU is launching a beer subscription service to target the increasing number of people enjoying imbibing alone and at home, the convenience store chain operator said Thursday. BGF Retail, the firm behind the convenience store chain, has teamed up with beer subscription app service Dailyshot to roll out its service where a user can get three cans of popular beer products from a nearby CU store at 6,900 won ($6.10) per month. CU is the first to launch such a service for beer in the convenience

March 18, 2021

Decisions loom for Woori, Shinhan executives over Lime fiasco

The country’s two major lenders Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank have come under scrutiny again over their sale of unsound products of scandal-ridden Lime Asset Management after being called to a financial watchdog’s meeting that would decide the fate of their top executives. The Financial Supervisory Service held its second sanctions committee meeting Thursday to decide the level of sanctions for Woori Bank, Shinhan Financial Group and Shinhan Bank, major sellers of Lime funds that in

March 18, 2021

More cosmetics firms adopt eco-friendly packaging

More cosmetics companies in South Korea are adopting eco-friendly packaging amid growing concerns and calls to reduce single-use plastic. Earlier this month, cosmetics conglomerate Amorepacific unveiled eco-friendly paper packaging which it said reduces the use of plastic by some 70 percent and can last up to 36 months. The paper tube container, which uses “nano thin film blocking” technology and will be adopted for its clean beauty brand Primera sometime in the first half of this

March 18, 2021

Panel proposes legislation to better handle spent nuke fuel

An independent committee proposed on Thursday that legislation is needed to better handle and manage spent nuclear fuel as the issue has been a source of controversy over safety. The body under the industry ministry stressed a new law is necessary to proceed with the matter of building storage for spent fuel rods and other waste in a transparent and predictable way. The committee also said South Korea should set up an independent administrative body to monitor the management of waste, while he

March 18, 2021

Banks' bad loans edge down in 2020

Nonperforming loans at South Korean banks inched down last year, due to a slight decline in overdue corporate loans, data showed Thursday. The ratio of bad loans to total lending came to 0.64 percent at the end of last year, down 0.13 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Overdue corporate loans reached 13.9 trillion won ($12.8 billion) at the end of last year, down 1.4 trillion won from a year ago, the data showed. The regulator sai

March 18, 2021

SK, Geely to jointly chip in for fund for mobility solutions

SK Holdings Co., the holding firm of the South Korean energy-to-telecom conglomerate, said Thursday it will team up with China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. to launch a $300 million fund that will invest in future mobility technology firms. SK Holdings and Geely will each chip in $30 million for the proposed fund, and draw the rest of the finances from global investors, including European banks and Asian pension funds. SK said the mobility fund will invest in companies with automated, con

March 18, 2021

S. Korea's money supply grows in January

South Korea's money supply continued to grow in January, as loans to households and firms increased amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's M2 stood at 3,233.4 trillion won ($2.8 trillion) as of end-January, up 1.3 percent from a month earlier, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year earlier, M2 surged 10.1 percent, the BOK said. A key economic indicator closely monitored by authorities, M2 is a measure of the money supply

March 18, 2021

Hyundai Motor, Shell extend biz partnership for future mobility

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday it has extended its business partnership with Royal Dutch Shell Group through 2026 for cooperation in future mobility solutions. Hyundai Motor has provided Shell's engine oil products to its global customers since 2005 through joint marketing activities, the company said in a statement. The South Korean carmaker has financed the global energy firm's research and development projects to improve the quality of its engine oil product, it said. On top of the existi

March 18, 2021

S. Korea to closely monitor market volatility after FOMC meeting

South Korea's finance ministry on Thursday said it will closely monitor market volatility, although the US Federal Reserve has hinted at no rate rise in 2023. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said market volatility may rise due to rising US bond yields, in spite of the US Fed's dovish stance. The remarks by Kim were made at a meeting with senior officials at the Bank of Korea (BOK). This week, the BOK cut the size of monetary stabilization bond (MSB) issuance in a move to help stabilize th

March 18, 2021

Coal plants' fine dust emissions down 22% during winter on operation curb

South Korea's emissions of fine dust from coal power plants moved down 22 percent on-year during the winter season, data showed Thursday, as the country reduced their operations in sync with its efforts to ease dependence on fossil fuel. The combined amount of fine dust generated by local coal plants reached 2.505 tons from December last year to February, compared with 3,225 tons from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The volume halved from the same three

March 18, 2021

Memory chip prices to surge in Q2, boding well for S. Korean chipmakers

Prices of memory chips, notably NAND flash and DRAM, are likely to increase significantly in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Thursday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the sector. Contract prices of NAND flash are expected to increase by an average of 3-8 percent in the second quarter of 2021 from the previous three months, according to market researcher TrendForce, due to easing of oversupply. "Orders from PC OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) an

March 18, 2021

[Graphic News] Health care exports hit record high amid pandemic

　South Korea’s health care and cosmetics exports soared more than 38 percent to an all-time high in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed. 　The country’s overseas shipments of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and medical devices stood at $21.70 billion last year, up 38.3 percent from the previous year and a fresh high, according to the data from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. 　The pandemic led to a surge in exports of biopharmaceuticals, coronavi

March 18, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher as FOMC comments calm investor concerns

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, following the US Federal Reserve's reiteration that rates would remain at near-zero through 2023. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 32.5 points, or 1.07 percent, to 3,080 points as of 9:23 a.m. Stocks started strong as the results from a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting partially soothed market concerns of earlier-than-expected post-pandemic inflation. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics advanced 1.22 percent

March 18, 2021

S. Koreans' spending on Netflix hits over W70b in Feb.: data

South Koreans are estimated to have spent more than 70 billion won ($62.4 million) for Netflix's video streaming services last month, more than tripling from the previous year, data showed Thursday. Local credit and debit card payments on the video streaming platform reached 72.5 billion won in February, the highest-ever monthly figure, compared with 22.5 billion won the same month the previous year, according to the data from industry tacker WiseApp. Based on the data, WiseApp said there were

March 18, 2021

Samsung unveils most competitive midrange Galaxy A phones

Samsung Electronics is apparently shifting its focus to midrange phones from premium ones, announcing three new affordable but high-spec models on Wednesday. During its first online Galaxy Awesome Unpacked event for midrange smartphones, the South Korean smartphone vendor unveiled the Galaxy A52, A52 5G and A72 that boast optical image stabilization cameras, high-refresh rate displays and 5G for the first time among Galaxy A phones. Such a move is aimed at cementing Samsung’s top pos

March 17, 2021

Chong Kun Dang's COVID-19 treatment denied conditional approval

South Korea's drug safety agency said Wednesday that Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp.'s acute pancreatitis drug has failed to get conditional approval as a treatment for the novel coronavirus. An advisory board consisting of outside experts under the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced its review on the efficacy and safety of the drug, Nafabeltan. The panel said the drug, currently used as a blood anticoagulant and acute pancreatitis treatment, failed to show effectiveness in treatin

March 17, 2021

Volkswagen Passat GT at forefront for ‘democratization’ of imported car market

With advanced driver assistance systems and a great price, Volkswagen’s Passat GT stands as the flagship model leading the “democratization” of the imported car market, Volkswagen Korea said Wednesday. The German automaker said the newest model of the eighth-generation Passat GT is a reasonable choice for those looking for a sedan with good value, available at lower prices than its rivals, but not missing out on the latest technologies. In 2018, Volkswagen Korea set a goal

March 17, 2021

Kumho Tire’s Ecsta HS51 receives top award in summer tire test by Auto Bild

Kumho Tire’s best-selling tire Ecsta HS51 ranked No. 1 in the latest contest for summer tires, and gained an “Exemplary” rating by Auto Bild, the company said Wednesday. Auto Bild, a renowned German publication, recently compared dry and wet braking performances of 53 summer tires sold in Europe. There, Ecsta HS51, which is Kumho’s best-selling model in the European market, was awarded the first place, beating rivals such as Michelin, Continental and Bridgestone, Kum

March 17, 2021

Kakao shares soar on expectation of its gain from Dunamu’s performance

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, saw its shares soar on the nation’s Kospi market Wednesday, with market watchers predicting the online giant will benefit from the Bitcoin craze. Shares of Kakao jumped 2.51 percent to 491,000 won ($433) in early morning trading, falling short by only 28,000 won per share from its 52-week high set on Feb. 16. The stock pared part of its earlier gains, but maintained the overall upward movement in the day to close a

March 17, 2021