Foreigners' property transactions hit new high in 2020

Foreigners' building transactions in South Korea reached an all-time high in 2020, with deals soaring in the Seoul metropolitan area, data showed Tuesday. Foreigners' transactions of housing and commercial buildings in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 21,048 last year, up 18.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Real Estate Board. It marked the first time that the number of foreign property transactions exceeded the 20,000 mark. It was also the largest annua

Jan. 26, 2021

S. Korea's economy contracts 1% in 2020 amid pandemic, set to get back on growth track

The South Korean economy's performance was the worst in over two decades last year, bearing the brunt of the pandemic, but it appears to have gotten back on a growth track on the back of a mild recovery in exports, according to the central bank Tuesday. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 1 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, according to advance data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The figure marks the worst on-year growth since 1998, when the nation's economy contracted 5.1 perc

Jan. 26, 2021

Doosan Heavy clinches W780b desalination plant deal

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., a major South Korean plant builder, said Monday it has clinched a 780 billion-won ($707.8 million) deal to build a seawater desalination plant in Saudi Arabia. Doosan Heavy has inked a deal to build the Yanbu-4 facility with a consortium of French energy company Engie SA and Saudi Arabian firms Mowah and Nesma, the company said in a statement. The facility will be built in Alrayyis, some 260 kilometers north of the western port city of Jeddah, w

Jan. 25, 2021

Kakao merges two arms to launch Kakao Entertainment

Kakao, the company behind Korea’s most popular messaging app KakaoTalk, announced Monday the launch of Kakao Entertainment following the merger of its two subsidiaries Kakao M and Kakao Page. The process of binding mobile-based web comic platform Kakao Page and entertainment firm Kakao M is set to be completed by March 1. The largest scale reorganization at Kakao, the deal is subject to a final approval at a board meeting on Tuesday. Kakao Page currently holds intellectual property ri

Jan. 25, 2021

Once the nation’s retail giant, Lotte Group in urgent need of transformation

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the yearslong slow growth trend, has weighed upon most businesses but the burden was especially heavy for those that failed to grow out of conventional operating models. An example among South Korea’s top businesses was the country’s retail giant Lotte Group which apparently is struggling to cope with the fast-changing market trend. According to the nation’s bourse operator Korea Exchange, none of the Lotte affiliates were included in Kospi&

Jan. 25, 2021

Korea begins reviewing Pfizer vaccine

Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Monday that it has started the 40-day expedited review process for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer applied for the emergency use approval of its vaccine Monday, the Drug Ministry said. If it passes the fast-track review, the vaccine could be available in Korea no later than mid-March. The mRNA vaccine will be produced in Belgium, according to Pfizer. It is the second COVID-19 vaccine seeking local use permit. AstraZeneca on Jan.

Jan. 25, 2021

For some survivors, COVID-19 won’t go away

Almost a year into the pandemic, former COVID-19 patients are reporting symptoms that persist well beyond the course of their recovery -- a phenomenon also known as “long COVID.” Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Deputy Director Kwon Jun-wook said over the weekend that pulmonary fibrosis, or lung scarring, had been observed in seven people within a group of 40 recovered COVID-19 patients. All of them were in their 40s or older. “Decline in lung function, breathles

Jan. 25, 2021

Golden Blue to become first Korean whiskey to be exported to US

South Korean whiskey company Golden Blue said Monday that its Golden Blue Sappirus will hit the US market in February. Having been shipped Saturday, the blue-bottled whiskey will become the country’s first locally produced whiskey to be exported to the US, the largest market in the world, the company said. “Entering the US market is moving one step closer to the globalization of K-alcohol drinks,” said CEO Kim Dong-wook. Kim added that he’s certain that three years of

Jan. 25, 2021

Moon calls for institutionalized financial support for self-employed

President Moon Jae-in on Monday called for his administration to seek institutionalized measures that could financially aid small businesses and the self-employed hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I hope the government and the ruling Democratic Party will jointly discuss measures to institutionalize compensation for the losses of small business owners and the self-employed within a range that the state budget can afford,” he said to pool reporters in a meeting tied to briefings from l

Jan. 25, 2021

Demand for homes in greater Seoul hits record high

Despite the South Korean government’s relentless efforts to curb soaring apartment prices, there seems to be no sign of demand letting up in Seoul and its surrounding cities, according to the Korea Appraisal Board on Monday. The state-run property appraisal agency’s recent report showed the home-buying sentiment stood at 117.2, a record high since the relevant data started compilation in July 2012. The index, based on a survey of the organization’s member realtors and analysi

Jan. 25, 2021

Seoul stocks surpass 3,200 to hit all-time high

South Korean stocks surpassed the 3,200-point threshold to finish at an all-time high Monday, with a flurry of big-name firms set to report their fourth-quarter earnings. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 68.36 points, or 2.18 percent, to close at 3,208.99 points. The index hit an intraday high of 3,212.22 points. Trading volume was high at about 1 billion shares worth some 20.8 trillion won ($18.9 billion), with gainers o

Jan. 25, 2021

Hanwha Solutions triples production of safe plastic material

Hanwha Solutions said Monday it will triple production of the eco-friendly plastic material Eco-DEHCH to respond to a growing market demand. According to the South Korean solar-to-chemical company, it has completed the expansion of its Eco-DEHCH facility in Ulsan, increasing the annual production capacity from 15,000 metric tons to maximum 65,000 tons. The expansion cost 45 billion won ($40.7 million). Eco-DEHCH is a type of plasticizer, a substance added to a plastic to make it softer and mo

Jan. 25, 2021

Samsung’s jailed heir gives up appeal

After Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong decided not to appeal last week’s court ruling, his absence from the country’s top conglomerate was finalized. With Lee in jail, the conglomerate won’t be able to pull off new sizable investments, market observers said. According to lawyer Lee In-jae on Monday, the Samsung heir expressed his will to respect the court ruling that sentenced him to two and half years in prison in a retrial of the former president‘s brib

Jan. 25, 2021

Kakao Bank to recruit over 100 workers in H1

Kakao Bank, South Korea’s leading Internet-only bank, said on Monday that it is hiring more than 100 employees in its push to ramp up digital innovation.  The lender said it plans to hire experienced talent in eight areas -- financial IT development, risk management, business development, service plan, compliance, audit, and customer services -- in the first half of the year. After the latest talent hunting, the company’s headcount, which currently stands at 937, will exceed 1

Jan. 25, 2021

Hyundai Mipo wins chemicals carrier deal from Europe

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., a mid-sized shipyard here, said Monday that it has won a 80.2 billion won ($73 million) order to build two petrochemical carriers for a European company. The deal calls for the shipyard to deliver the vessels by March next year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Hyundai Mipo Dockyard is a listed unit of Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., the subholding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. Korea Shipbuilding, which has three shipbui

Jan. 25, 2021

[Herald Interview] Microbiome key to personalized health supplements

While the human body is composed of some 30 trillion cells, the number of microorganisms, including bacteria, outnumber the cells to about 38 trillion, and they have tremendous effects on our physical health. Now with advanced technologies, individuals will soon be able to analyze the genetic information of microbials in their guts so they can find personalized health supplements with “optimal” effects, Cho Yang-hee, the vice president of Amway Korea said in an interview with The

Jan. 25, 2021

Daewoong to start phase 3 trial of COVID-19 preventive

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Monday that it plans to conduct a clinical phase 3 trial for its drug targeted at preventing COVID-19. 　 The company received an approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to begin the last stage of clinical trials for the drug, Foistar, on Friday. “Foistar is convenient to administer as oral medication. Its mechanism is expected to work best in the early phase of viral replications. As the drug would hold efficacy against viral mutations, we hope it

Jan. 25, 2021

Direct purchasing from overseas increases by 71% in 2020 with COVID-19: Malltail

While global travel has come to a virtual standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people have turned to buying goods directly from overseas retailers last year, a delivery service company said Monday. According to Malltail Korea Center, which offers parcel forwarding services for Korean consumers who purchase goods directly from overseas sellers, the number of orders made in 2020 through their platform jumped by about 71 percent from the previous year. Malltail said purchase data also showe

Jan. 25, 2021

Korean content popularity boosts related stocks

South Korean media content-related stocks have soared at a fast clip, backed by rising demand for streaming services and growing expectations for the local entertainment industry to strengthen its global foothold, data showed Monday. Studio Dragon, a major local TV drama production firm, saw its shares climb 17.17 percent this year, from 92,600 won ($83.85) marked at the closing of Dec. 30 to 108,500 won touched at Monday’s closing. The stock hit its second-highest closing of 109,200 won

Jan. 25, 2021

Retailers get ready for Lunar New Year

Retailers are anticipating a surge in online shopping in the coming weeks ahead of this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, widely known as Seollal in South Korea. Leading Korean e-commerce business Tmon said Monday that the volume of orders generated from its “contactless gift-giving” service saw a 452 percent increase during the past two weeks. Nearly 7 in 10 shoppers purchased items priced below 30,000 won ($27.20), the data also showed, up 7 percent from last year’s figu

Jan. 25, 2021