S. Korea’s major mobile carriers enjoy expanding 5G business in 2020

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic crippled markets worldwide last year, South Korea’s three major mobile carriers have seen improved results from their investments in media and platform services, along with expanded 5G network businesses. According to the latest report from market research firm FnGuide, the combined revenue of South Korea’s three major mobile carriers in 2020 are expected to reach 55.7 trillion won, up 2.4 percent on-year. The combined operating profit of the three mob

Feb. 3, 2021

'Safety first' policy a challenge for Samsung SDI's battle in EV battery market?

From Apple to General Motors, global tech giants and automakers are in a tight race to develop or utilize electric vehicles to catch up with market champion Tesla. Against this backdrop, the size of the global EV battery market is set to reach 182 trillion won ($167.5 billion) in 2025 from last year’s 38.8 trillion won. For Samsung SDI, the battery manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Group, its EV battery business road map is anticipated to take flight in the upcoming years, save for a

Feb. 3, 2021

LG Chem to launch 2nd tech support center in China

LG Chem said Wednesday it will inject 30 billion won ($26.9 million) to add another customer technical support and development center in China. South Korea’s leading chemical firm signed an agreement with the city of Wuxi, China to build a local tech support center. LG Chem will invest about 30 billion won while Wuxi will provide the land and the infrastructure for the center, which will break ground in the first half of this year and begin operations in May next year. “The tech

Feb. 3, 2021

S-Oil’s Ulsan plant celebrates 6 million man-hours without accident

S-Oil said Wednesday that it has achieved 6 million man-hours without an accident, maintaining a safe operational environment for 471 days from Oct. 22, 2019. “Our Ulsan plant has safely conducted three major maintenance operations during that period despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. This is the third time S-Oil has accomplished 6 million man-hours without a disaster since the company started business,” the company said in a release. To ensure the safety of empl

Feb. 3, 2021

Law firm Yulchon partners with ERM to expand ESG advisory biz

South Korea‘s law firm Yulchon said Wednesday it has signed a strategic partnership with international consultancy firm Environmental Resources Management to strengthen its corporate legal advisory capability with respect to environmental, social and governance, or ESG, issues. The partnership is a leap forward from Yulchon’s move in December to establish an in-house unit devoted to legal advice as to how corporate clients should cope with ESG issues, such as regulatory risk manage

Feb. 3, 2021

Korean Air set to launch ‘flights to nowhere’

Korean Air is taking steps to launch its own international sightseeing flights without landing, the airline said on Wednesday. “We are taking necessary steps to operate chartered flights and the sales dates are under discussion,” one official at the airline said. The airline’s first international “flight to nowhere” has been given the green-light by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to take off on Feb. 27, the official added. The travel route is y

Feb. 3, 2021

Posco vows to prioritize safety over productivity

South Korea’s top steel giant Posco is vowing to put safety as its top priority, urging employees to reject unsafe working conditions, following a spate of deaths from industrial accidents in recent years. During recent visits to the company’s steelworks in Pohang and Gwangyang, Chairman Choi Jeong-woo allocated most of his speeches to safety policies, the company said Wednesday. “When workers are tasked with work where safety is not ensured or they feel physically or emot

Feb. 3, 2021

Korea below OECD average as FDI recipient: think tank

South Korea recieved some of the lowest amount of foreign direct investment among 37 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members last year, a local think tank data showed Wednesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s FDI-to-gross ratio last year came to 0.32 percent, translating into No. 25 among 37 global economies in terms of FDI recipient, a report by Korea Economic Research Institute said. The net FDI-to-GDP ratio -– which is FDI minus outward direct inves

Feb. 3, 2021

FSC advises internet-only banks expand mid-interest loans

South Korea’s top financial regulator has advised the nation’s internet-only lenders to expand the supply of loan products for borrowers with low to moderate credit scores, officials said Wednesday. “While the percentage of those with credit scores below 4 on a scale of 1 to 10 accounted for nearly 40 percent of all borrowers at first-tier banks, the country’s existing internet-only lenders Kakao Bank and K bank posted some 36 percent and 20 percent, respectively,”

Feb. 3, 2021

S. Korea to import more eggs this month to stabilize prices

South Korea said Wednesday it plans to import more eggs this month in a bid to stabilize prices of eggs that have shot up amid the outbreak of bird flu here. The country will import some 24 million eggs after the Lunar New Year holiday, set for Feb. 11-14, ends, as it seeks to ease a potential shortage of the egg supply, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The ministry earlier said the country will import 20 million eggs and distribute them before the holiday. Affected by the ou

Feb. 3, 2021

JPMorgan bets on Korean travel agency despite mounting losses

JPMorgan Asset Management has increased its stake in the ailing Korean travel agency Modetour Network to 7.47 percent, banking on a rebound in the post-COVID era despite piling losses, a filing showed Wednesday. Three of JPMorgan Asset Management subsidiaries obtained an additional 1.07 percent stake, or some 200,000 ordinary shares, in Modetour from December 2019 to January this year, according to the filing. This solidified JPMorgan’s position as the firm’s second-largest share

Feb. 3, 2021

S. Korea, Cambodia strike free trade deal for broader economic cooperation

South Korea said Wednesday it has clinched a free trade deal with Cambodia, the latest in a series of its free trade pacts to revitalize its ailing exports amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee and her Cambodian counterpart Pan Sorasak held a virtual meeting and declared that Seoul and Phnom Penh have completed FTA negotiations, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "The FTA will pave the way for the two countries to overcome challenges from th

Feb. 3, 2021

Online shopping hits new record high in Dec. amid pandemic

Online shopping in South Korea hit a fresh record high in December as more people purchased products via e-commerce platforms amid tougher virus curbs caused by the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The value of online transactions stood at 15.9 trillion won ($14.2 billion) in December, up 26.1 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The use of online shopping sharply rose amid the pandemic as people refrained from visiting stores over concerns about infecti

Feb. 3, 2021

Face value of damaged currency rises in 2020

The face value of damaged banknotes and coins in South Korea rose in 2020, data from the central bank showed Wednesday. A total of 4.76 trillion won worth ($4.26 billion) of damaged bills and coins were discarded by the Bank of Korea (BOK) last year, up 410 billion won from a year ago, according to the BOK data. The central bank spent 10.6 billion won replacing the damaged banknotes last year. Last year, a record 642 million damaged bills and coins were discarded by the central bank, up 0.3 p

Feb. 3, 2021

S. Korea to invest over W200b in VR industry this year

South Korea will invest 202.4 billion won ($181.8 million) this year in virtual reality (VR) technology and devices to support the growth of the country's digital content industry, according to the ICT ministry on Wednesday. The move comes after the government unveiled a broader interagency investment plan for the industry last year, setting aside over 400 billion won for this year, in line with its digital New Deal program, which aims to spend 58.2 trillion won in key tech industries to create

Feb. 3, 2021

Imported car sales jump 27% in Jan. despite pandemic

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 27 percent in January from a year earlier on robust sales of German cars, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 22,321 units last month from 17,640 a year ago despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. The three bestselling models last month were the Mercedes-Benz E 250 sedan, Mercedes-Benz E 350 4MATIC seda

Feb. 3, 2021

Samsung's foundry capacity in matured nodes to rank 4th in 2021: report

Samsung Electronics Co.'s foundry capacity share in legacy nodes is estimated to rank fourth in 2021, a report showed Wednesday, amid its push to increase its presence in the contract chipmaking sector with advanced fabrication processes. Samsung, the world's largest memory chipmaker, was projected to account for 10 percent of global foundry capacity in matured nodes, which refers to the 40-nanometer and below chipmaking technology process, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research.

Feb. 3, 2021

S. Korea to invest W23b in building test center for rechargeable battery

South Korea said Wednesday it will allocate 23 billion won ($20.6 million) to build testing infrastructure for local producers of materials and parts for rechargeable batteries in line with its efforts to foster the sector as a new growth engine. The test center will allow small and midsized businesses to run tests on their materials used to produce battery products with high-end infrastructure, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The ministry said it has decided to establ

Feb. 3, 2021

Pet food exports up 83.5% in 2020

South Korea's outbound shipments of pet food products soared 83.5 percent in 2020 from a year earlier on strong demand from the Asia region, data showed Wednesday. Exports of pet food products reached $67.4 million last year, jumping from $36.7 million in 2019, according to data by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on the local pet industry. By country, Japan accounted for 36.4 percent of the total, trailed by Thailand with 26.4 percent and Vietnam with 8.4 percent. The coun

Feb. 3, 2021

Hyundai, Kia's January sales up 8% in US on strong SUV sales

Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday their sales in the United States rose 7.9 percent in January from a year earlier on robust SUV sales. Hyundai Motor and Kia sold a combined 91,173 vehicles in the world's most important automobile market last month, up from 84,498 units a year ago, according to sales data from the companies. Hyundai's sales rose 4.7 percent on-year to 46,208 units last month from 44,143, while Kia's jumped 11 percent to 44,965 from 40,355 over the cited

Feb. 3, 2021