Rising DRAM prices bode well for S. Korean chipmakers

Spot market prices for DRAM chips are on a rising course, industry data showed Thursday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the memory market. The spot price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM, a benchmark price for the category, reached as high as $3.93 as of Wednesday, according to data from DRAMeXchange, a research division of market tracker TrendForce. Its spot price reached $2.54 on Aug. 20, 2020, but rebounded above the $3 mark in mid-December. A spot price is the price quoted in

Feb. 4, 2021

GM Korea to cut production from next week

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Thursday it will cut vehicle production by half at one of its three plants from next week due to a lack of semiconductor chips. GM Korea's planned output reduction is in line with US parent GM's decision to cut production at its local and overseas plants. GM Korea said it will take down production at the No. 2 Bupyeong plant, just west of Seoul, to half capacity from Monday. "We are working closely with our supply base to fi

Feb. 4, 2021

European sales of Samsung Bioepis' 3 biosimilars up 7.8% in 2020

South Korean drugmaker Samsung Bioepis Co. said Thursday sales of its three biosimilar products in Europe climbed nearly 8 percent in 2020 from a year earlier. Combined sales of the three autoimmune biosimilars -- Benepali, Flixabi and Imraldi -- stood at $795.8 million last year, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier, the company said. The company cited an earnings report of its US partner Biogen. Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Samsung Biologics -- a biopharmaceutical unit of South K

Feb. 4, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on tech, pharmaceutical losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday largely on tech and pharmaceutical losses. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.48 points, or 0.59 percent, to 3,111.2 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks quickly fell to the negative terrain due to strong foreign and institutional selling, after the key index rallied 5.2 percent in the past three sessions. Top cap Samsung Electronics lost 1.42 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shed 1.92 percent. Pharmaceutical giant Sam

Feb. 4, 2021

S. Korea faces record import curbs in 2020 amid protectionism

South Korea faced a record number of import restrictions from trade partners in 2020 amid growing protectionism, a trade body said Thursday. The country was subject to 228 import regulations from 26 countries as of end-December, up 18 from a year earlier, according to a report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). It was also the largest-ever number of import restrictions targeting Asia's fourth-largest economy. Import restrictions cover anti-dumping duties, countervailing

Feb. 4, 2021

Under pressure, FSC extends short selling ban by May

  South Korea’s top financial regulator said Wednesday that it has decided to extend a temporary ban on short selling until May 2, amid growing pressure from retail investors voicing concerns over possible damages in battles with sophisticated hedge funds. The ban was previously set to end March 15.  The Financial Services Commission will then implement a partial reactivation of short selling from May 3, while establishing a stock loan system in the meantime, which enables ret

Feb. 3, 2021

Coupang offers pre-order promotion on Xiaomi ‘Mi Watch’ series

Coupang said Wednesday it has launched an exclusive pre-order promotion event for its customers ahead of the launch of Xiaomi’s smart watches “Mi Watch” and “Mi Watch Lite” in South Korea. According to the e-commerce giant, the promotion is intended for consumers interested in health and exercise, as the hashtag #WOD, short for “workout of the day,” has been trending lately amid the pandemic. The event will give Coupang customers the chance to get

Feb. 3, 2021

South Korea approves special import of Pfizer vaccine

South Korea on Wednesday gave special approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine Comirnaty, specifically for the batch to be imported through the global COVAX facility. As per this decision, a total of 117,000 doses of Comirnaty will arrive in Korea after mid-February, the country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said. As the vaccine needs to be administered twice, the COVAX batch can cover around 60,000 people. Authorities have made clear that the initial batch of vaccines are

Feb. 3, 2021

Hanwha Investment to buy 6.15% stake in Dunamu

Hanwha Investment and Securities, the brokerage arm of Hanwha Group, said Wednesday it has agreed to buy a 6.15 percent stake in Dunamu, an operator of global cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, for nearly 58.3 billion won ($52.24 million). The announcement came via DART -- the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board -- that the acquisition of some 2.06 million shares is set to take effect on Feb. 22. The deal is a mid- to long-term investment for the brokerage house to c

Feb. 3, 2021

[Herald Interview] ‘Pandemic shows bridging social inequities is public health issue’

This interview is the final installment in a three-part series of conversations with former directors of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- now the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency -- as the country looks back on a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. -- Ed. The novel coronavirus crisis shows that social inequities are a public health matter, and that bridging the gaps should be among the country’s post-pandemic goals, says former director of the Korea Centers

Feb. 3, 2021

Kumho Tire, union tentatively OK wage deal

Kumho Tire Co. and its labor union said Wednesday they have reached a tentative wage deal for the year of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The tentative wage agreement comes after the company's 2,700-strong union threatened to stage a general strike to demand a wage increase and restore the bonus system in a vote held Jan. 28. The company proposed a wage freeze and a cash bonus worth 1 million won ($900) per worker and signed a contract that guarantees job security for current workers. The uni

Feb. 3, 2021

[Eye on Business] 10th anniversary of Styler: Electronic closet invented by LG creates new market

“Do you have a Styler at home?” Just like global brands such as Jeep, Post-it and Hotchkiss, the name “Styler” has blossomed into a proper noun for a clothing care system in modern society. Invented by South Korea’s LG Electronics, the LG Tromm Styler has innovated a new category in the home appliance market over the past decade and become one of the essential home appliances, along with TVs, refrigerators and washing machines. The development story of Styler

Feb. 3, 2021

[Newsmaker] Ruling camp bigwigs clash over COVID-19 relief funds

Tensions flared between South Korea’s fiscal chief and the ruling party leader on Wednesday, as they publicly disagreed over the timing of an additional release of COVID-19 relief funds and who should benefit. Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki struck a defiant tone against the idea pitched by the ruling Democratic Party Chairman and a leading potential contender for 2022 presidential race Lee Nak-yon to begin discussions on a fourth round of emergency handouts to all househo

Feb. 3, 2021

S. Korea to extend ban on stock short selling until May 2

South Korea's financial regulator said Wednesday it will again extend a ban on stock short selling until May 2, amid growing calls from retail investors to prohibit the hedging practice. The extension of the ban, which had been set to be lifted on March 15, also came after politicians called for financial authorities to keep the ban. Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo told reporters that the ban on large-cap 200 firms listed on the main KOSPI and 150 firms listed on the

Feb. 3, 2021

With easy-to-use app, Toss aims to captivate young, new stock investors

Toss Securities, the brokerage arm of South Korea’s leading fintech startup Viva Republica, on Wednesday unveiled a mobile trading system with a goal to attract 1 million active users within the year. During the unveiling of the service which is expected to be launched later this month, Toss Securities said it plans to offer a simple and intuitive mobile trading system to grab investors who are having trouble using existing trading systems and young investors in their 20s and 30s. Toss

Feb. 3, 2021

Watchdog approves Apple’s correction scheme for ‘unfair market practices’

Apple’s yearslong antitrust dispute in South Korea seemed to settle as the nation’s watchdog accepted the US tech giant’s redeeming plan to spend some 100 billion won ($89.73 million) in supporting consumers and small-sized businesses. The Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday that it has approved the financial package suggested by the local unit of Apple Inc. to wrap up its alleged unfair market practices in the past. “This is the first time that a correction scheme

Feb. 3, 2021

Panel prices to stay high after explosion at S. Korean plant: report

An explosion accident at a glass substrate plant in South Korea is likely to exacerbate the tight supply of display panels and maintain their prices at a high level, market watchers said Wednesday, burdening TV makers' procurement efforts. The explosion occurred last Friday when workers were replacing old pipes connected to a furnace at AGC Fine Techno Korea Co.'s glass substrate manufacturing plant in Gumi, some 250 kilometers south of Seoul. The accident injured nine workers, according to the

Feb. 3, 2021

Amorepacific 2020 net profit down 90.2% to W21.9b

Amorepacific Corp. on Wednesday reported its 2020 net profit of 21.9 billion won ($19.6 million), down 90.2 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that operating profit for the year fell 66.6 percent on-year to 143 billion won. Annual revenue decreased 20.6 percent to 4.43 trillion won. (Yonhap)

Feb. 3, 2021

Amorepacific remains in red in Q4

South Korea's top cosmetics maker Amorepacific Corp. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter net loss increased 1.7 percent year-on-year largely due to the impact from the coronavirus pandemic.    The company's net loss came to 58.9 billion won ($52.8 million) in the October-December period, compared to 57.9 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.    Operating loss stood at 9.2 billion won, marking a steep decline from 45.9 billion won the previous year.

Feb. 3, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 3rd day on continued foreign buying

South Korean stocks extended their winning streak to a third consecutive session Wednesday, as foreigners continued to buy local stocks on expectations of a speedy economic recovery in Asia and globally. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 32.87 points, or 1.06 percent, to close at 3,129.68 points. Trading volume was high at about 877 million shares worth some 21.6 trillion won ($19.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers

Feb. 3, 2021