Nexon promises full disclosure of probabilities of random items

Nexon said Monday it would disclose the draw probabilities of its “random” cash items to regain trust from users, as it is engrossed in scandal over the company’s alleged manipulation of game odds. In the second apology posted on the official website of its fantasy adventure PC game MapleStory, Nexon director Kang Won-ki said the company is preparing to disclose data and records that would dispel suspicions surrounding the game’s random item draw system by Friday at th

March 2, 2021

FDA postpones approval of Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s novel breast cancer treatment

South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical announced Tuesday that the US Food and Drug Administration has postponed its commercialization approval of Oraxol. Oraxol is an oral formulation of paclitaxel, a drug used to kill dividing tumor cells. The novel treatment for metastatic breast cancer currently outlicensed to the company’s US partner Athenex. In a statement released Tuesday, Hanmi said its US partner Athenex received a complete response letter, in which the FDA included a review

March 2, 2021

GC and SK Bioscience lead early vaccines supplies

As South Korea ramps up its COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, two local biopharmaceuticals are leading the supply and distribution of foreign jabs -- Green Cross and SK Bioscience. The state-run Public Procurement Service recently announced that Green Cross has been selected as a local distributor of the mRNA-1237 vaccine developed by US biotech firm Moderna, one of the COVID-19 vaccines that needs to be kept at low temperatures. Green Cross would be in charge of the distribution of the Moder

March 2, 2021

Hyundai Motor, SK chiefs herald ‘hydrogen alliance’

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met Tuesday in a top-level talk, giving shape to the “hydrogen alliance” between South Korea’s No. 2 and No. 3 conglomerates. Their encounter came prior to and in line with the third meeting of the Hydrogen Economy Committee, a state policy panel affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office that is devoted to adding momentum to the new energy paradigm. Also catching attention was the venue th

March 2, 2021

SK makes last-minute attempt to overturn import ban in US

SK Innovation has asked the US president to intervene in its battery patent fight with LG Energy Solution, saying it might have to “abandon” a $2.6 billion production base in Georgia after its defeat last month in the top US trade court. Making a case for a presidential veto of the court decision, the South Korean firm gave a presentation to US government officials, which the Wall Street Journal reported underscored that the Georgia plant will create 2,600 new jobs and contained

March 2, 2021

Seoul stocks up 1% on eased inflation woes

South Korean stocks rebounded from last week's sharp plunge Tuesday to end 1 percent higher on eased inflation concerns, but they pared part of earlier gains in the face of profit-taking. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 30.92 points, or 1.03 percent, to close at 3,043.87 points after rising as high as to 3,096.50. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.7 billion shares worth around 18.5 trillion won ($16.5 billion), with g

March 2, 2021

Hyundai Motor reports change of leadership to FTC

Hyundai Motor has filed a request to the Fair Trade Commission to change the company’s leader from honorary chairman Chung Mong-koo to his son Chung Euisun, according to industry sources Tuesday. If the FTC accepts the request, the corporation would get its first new chief in 21 years. Every May, the FTC releases a list of major conglomerates with aggregate value over 5 trillion won ($4.4 billion), and also those valued at over 10 trillion won and subject to mutual investment restricti

March 2, 2021

Hyundai Motor Group begins construction of fuel cell system plant in China

Hyundai Motor Group began construction of its first overseas fuel cell system plant in China, holding a virtual ground breaking ceremony on Tuesday. HTWO Guangzhou is the automaker’s first foreign plant producing fuel cell systems, and the construction is expected to be complete by the second half of 2022. HTWO is the group’s fuel cell system brand. The ceremony to market the official start of the construction work connected officials at Hyundai Motor Studio Goyang in Gyeonggi P

March 2, 2021

Lotte Confectionery rolls out spicy tteokbokki-flavor sauce ice cream

Lotte Confectionery is launching a spicy cheese tteokbokki-flavored ice cream, the company said Tuesday. The new flavor is being introduced as a limited edition of Lotte’s Chal Tteok ice cream line. A total of 500,000 will be sold in retail channels including supermarkets and ice cream discount stores. To make the tteokbokki flavor, the company said it mixed Jalapeno into the orange-colored rice cake, which wraps around the cheddar cheese-flavored ice cream with spicy chips and cookie

March 2, 2021

Coupang Inc. seeks up to $3.6b through listing on NYSE

Coupang Inc. looks to raise as much as $3.6 billion in fresh funds via an initial public offering, which would likely be among the largest deals in the US market this year. In a regulatory filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday there, Coupang Inc. said it plans to offer 120 million shares -- 100 million new Class A shares in the IPO and 20 million shares to existing investors -- in a price band between $27 and $30. The firm will consist of two classes of commo

March 2, 2021

LG Innotek develops Wi-Fi 6E module for seamless car entertainment

LG Innotek said Tuesday it has developed the world’s first automotive Wi-Fi 6E module that would enable passengers to enjoy watching movies or playing games with seamless connections in cars. The electronic parts manufacturing affiliate of LG Group said the automotive Wi-Fi 6E module using 6GHz bandwidth boasts a data transmission speed of 1.2 gigabits per second that is approximately three times faster than the existing Wi-Fi 5. It only takes 2 milliseconds to connect to the network,

March 2, 2021

[EXCLUSIVE] Coupang IPO rumored to take place March 10

Anticipation for the listing of South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang has been growing as the company’s initial public offering, which will be the fourth largest of an Asian firm on the New York Stock Exchange, is just around the corner. Although the Korean firm based in Seoul has not yet announced the exact IPO date, it is said to have decided to list its shares next week, a source familiar with the matter told The Korea Herald. “The listing date has been set for March 10,&rdquo

March 2, 2021

Korea’s presence in tech R&D shrinks as China rises

South Korea’s share in global research and development spending in technology has waned as China’s is rapidly rising, a comparative report by the Federation of Korean Industries showed on Tuesday. The number of Korean companies that made it to the list of leading 2,500 corporate investors in R&D plunged from 80 in 2014 to 56 in 2019, the report revealed. The Korean firms’ share in the total value of R&D investments also shrunk from 3.9 percent to 3.6 percent during

March 2, 2021

SK hynix shares hit new high on chip shortage

The share price of South Korean semiconductors manufacturer SK hynix hit an all-time high during intraday trading Tuesday in hopes of a first-quarter earnings surprise due to global chip shortage. At around 9:10 a.m. Tuesday, SK hynix‘s stock price touched 150,500 won ($134), up 5.3 percent from the Friday session’s closing price, bringing its total market capitalization to nearly 110 trillion won. The closing price Tuesday was 144,500 won, up 2.1 percent from Friday and 57 percent

March 2, 2021

Number of duty free store shoppers plunges to a record low in January

The number of shoppers at duty free stores stood at 343,983 in January, the lowest since the coronavirus crisis began to affect the South Korean economy last March, according to the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. Some 280,000 South Korean nationals and 59,600 foreign nationals spent a 1.38 trillion won, the latest data from the association showed. The figure is down nearly 80,000 compared to December last year. Sales, however, are up 16.7 percent compared to the previous month. Compared t

March 2, 2021

SsangYong's Feb. sales more than halve on extended slump

SsangYong Motor Co. said Tuesday its sales plunged 61 percent last month from a year earlier on lower demand for its vehicles amid the COVID-19 pandemic. SsangYong Motor sold 2,789 vehicles in February, down from 7,141 units a year ago due to a sharp decline in domestic sales and exports, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 48 percent to 2,673 units last month from 5,100 the previous year, and exports plummeted 94 percent to 116 from 2,041, it said. SsangYong Motor's lineup c

March 2, 2021

AlixPartners hires ex-Samsung executive for ICT capability

Consulting firm AlixPartners said Tuesday it has hired Kim Joo-wan, former senior executive at Samsung Electronics, as a new director in the Seoul office to enhance its counsulting capability in the field of information, communication and technology. AlixPartners said Kim has had experience in consulting, cutting-edge technology, and IT business operation over the course of his 25-year career. Prior to joining AlixPartners, Kim was a corporate vice president at Samsung Electronics, leading g

March 2, 2021

Loan maturity extended for 6 months

South Korea’s financial regulator said Tuesday it has extended the grace period for loan repayments until September as part of policy effort to support individuals and businesses reeling from the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.  “In response to small-and medium-sized enterprises and merchants’ economic difficulties wrought by the prolonged social distancing rules amid the virus resurgence, the Financial Services Commission and financial circles have decided to exte

March 2, 2021

BOK to participate in G20’s cross-border payment roadmap

South Korea’s central bank said Tuesday that is has decided to participate in the Group of 20’s roadmap on enhancing cross-border payments, focused on lowering the cost of the transactions. According to the Bank of Korea, the G20 plans to carry out a set of 19 measures, including increased adoption of payment versus payment system, stronger cooperation among central banks for cross-border liquidity supply, connecting payment settlement systems among economies and development of a s

March 2, 2021

S. Korea seeks to expand exports of fisheries by 30% through 2025

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to expand its exports of fishery products by 30 percent through 2025 in line with its new vision to foster the industry as a new growth engine. Under the five-year blueprint, outbound shipments of fishery products are expected to each $3 billion in 2025, compared with $2.3 billion tallied last year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The combined size of the local fishery industry is also expected to reach 13.8 trillion won ($12.3 billion) by t

March 2, 2021