FSS set to order local banks compensate Lime fund customers

South Korea’s market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service is slated to order local banks that sold the problematic funds structured by Lime Asset Management to compensate investors who were victims in the massive fraud, officials said Monday. Lime Asset has been under an FSS probe since July 2019 for having concealed huge losses and inflated investment returns to keep its customer base. It suspended fund redemption worth an estimated 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion). The dispute arbit

Jan. 25, 2021

SsangYong Motor cuts wages by half amid liquidity crisis

Financially troubled SsangYong Motor Co. said Monday it will cut its employee wages in half in January and February as it struggles with mounting costs amid lackluster sales. In a recent message to employees, SsangYong Motor President and CEO Yea Byung-tae said the decision was part of "desperate measures" amid a sharp decline in sales. In 2020, its vehicle sales fell 19 percent to 107,324 units from 132,799 the previous year. SsangYong Motor's lineup consists of the flagship G4 Rex

Jan. 25, 2021

Galaxy S21 sales tipped to hover around 2.4m units in S. Korea this year: report

Sales of Samsung Electronics Co's new smartphone line, the Galaxy S21, are expected to reach 2.4 million units this year in South Korea, a report showed Monday, as the tech giant tries to expand its presence against Apple Inc.'s iPhone 12. Galaxy S21 sales are estimated to be 40 percent larger than those of the Galaxy S20, which sold about 1.7 million units last year, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research. The Galaxy S20 series had a relatively mediocre performance in its debut yea

Jan. 25, 2021

No. of fake banknotes dips to record low in 2020 amid pandemic

The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes fell to a record low in 2020, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic caused a decline in cash usage. Last year, the number of fake banknotes found in South Korea came to 272, down 6.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the lowest since the BOK began releasing such data in 1998. The decline was mainly due to a "drop in in-person cash usage as COVID-19 spreads," the BOK said. By denomination, 5,000-won cou

Jan. 25, 2021

KT hires new advisors for AI, robotics push

KT Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Monday global robotics expert Dennis Hong will join the company in an advisory role to help boost its efforts to integrate new technology into their services. Hong, a professor and the founding director of the Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory at UCLA, will advise the company on its broader robotics business, according to KT. The move comes as the telecom operator has recently shifted focus to AI and robotics, and last year acquired a 10

Jan. 25, 2021

Samsung heir Lee, prosecutors won't appeal ruling in bribery case

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong and the prosecution said Monday that they will not appeal last week's appeals court ruling that sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in prison in a retrial of a high-profile bribery case. Last Monday, the Seoul High Court handed down the verdict to the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. for bribing former President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, to win government support for a smooth father-to-son transfer of managerial power at Samsung. Lee was se

Jan. 25, 2021

[Graphic News] Overseas construction deals reach $35b in 2020

　South Korea's overseas construction orders rose to the highest level in five years in 2020 on major projects won in the Middle East and South America. 　The value of overseas construction deals stood at $35.1 billion last year, up 57.3 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. 　A total of 359 Korean companies won 567 orders from 98 nations last year, it said. 　Local builders’ overseas deals rose for three years from $28.2

Jan. 25, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on vaccine, earnings hope

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on strong individual buying ahead of the fourth-quarter corporate earnings season this week and hopes for vaccines against the new coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 15.05 points, or 0.48 percent, to 3,155.68 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Airline, chemical and bio large caps did well, while auto and insurance shares traded bearish. Top cap Samsung Electronics rose 0.23 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix a

Jan. 25, 2021

Exports of red pepper paste surge 35.2% in 2020 on Korean Wave

South Korean exports of red pepper paste jumped more than 35 percent in 2020 from a year earlier thanks to the global popularity of Korean pop culture, known as the Korean Wave, data showed Monday. Overseas shipments of red pepper paste, called "gochujang" in Korean, came to $50.93 million last year, up 35.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. South Korean exports had been on the rise since 2016, when the figure stood

Jan. 25, 2021

S. Korean retail investors' Tesla holdings top $10b

South Korean retail investors' holdings of shares in electric vehicle leader Tesla Motors Inc. soared nearly 32 percent this year to cross the $10 billion mark, data showed Monday. Local individual investors owned $10.33 billion worth of Tesla shares as of Friday, up 31.9 percent from the end of last year, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository. The figure also represents a 73 times increase from the end of 2019 and South Korean retail investors' most-bought issue among for

Jan. 25, 2021

Hyundai Capital launches AI-powered platform to suggest quality second-hand cars

Contactless services have also gone mainstream in the second-hand car market with used car dealers increasingly adopting mobile technology to offer credible information on used cars. Joining in on the trend, auto financing firm Hyundai Capital launched an artificial intelligence-powered mobile platform in September last year, which helps consumers avoid low-quality used cars -- often called lemons and picked peaches -- in their recommendations. The used car mobile platform, named Check, has

Jan. 24, 2021

[Herald Interview] Meet ant investors' YouTube guru

Kim Dong-hwan, the founder of a market and economic YouTube show “Three Pros” had never imagined that his channel would have 1 million subscribers, a tenfold increase, just within a year. “Three Pros: With Economic God” provides daily market updates and analysis of industries and economy and is hosted by three “pros” in the field: Kim, Lee Jin-woo and Jung Young-jin. The channel has recorded more than 200 million views so far and attracts as many as 60,000

Jan. 24, 2021

AI, robotics: New keywords for LG

LG Electronics, a household name in home appliances, is preparing for the future of homes by investing in robotics and artificial intelligence technology. The company, which has so far launched more than 10 kinds of robots, is seeking more innovation opportunities with global partners and experts to raise competitiveness in the field. CLOi robots At the 2021 CES, LG Electronics garnered attention with its CLOi UV-C robot, which can move around and sanitize indoor spaces with ultraviolet

Jan. 24, 2021

LG charges ahead for tomorrow’s business

Under its fourth-generation leader, LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-biggest conglomerate, is undergoing a major transformation: From a manufacturer of fridges and washing machines to one of future cars, robots and artificial intelligence-based solutions. Since rising to the helm of the group in 2018, Chairman and CEO Koo Kwang-mo has put forward the “digital transformation” driver across all LG affiliates, and is spearheading a group-level restructuring of its business portfol

Jan. 24, 2021

Commercial banks seek ideas from new rivals for digitalization

South Korea’s leading commercial banks are seeking ways to accelerate digitalization of their retail services with some even breaking down traditional barriers between new industry rivals in order to share ideas on boosting innovation. Kakao Bank CEO Yoon Ho-young was invited by Woori Bank on Friday to speak about the internet-only banking giant’s success and the future of finance, Kakao Bank said. Woori’s invitation of the head of the fast-growing online banking company is

Jan. 24, 2021

Foreign-invested companies passive about hiring amid pandemic: KOTRA

As market uncertainty continues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign-invested companies here have been passive about taking on new employees, a report from a state trade agency showed Sunday. According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, which surveyed 2,500 firms between August and October last year, only 2 out of 10 had carried out their recruitment plans for the year. A total of 464 companies, or 18.6 percent of those surveyed, sought to hire. Of those, 218 had completed thei

Jan. 24, 2021

SK Holdings to invest in advanced materials, green, bio, digital sectors

SK Holdings, an investment-focused holdings firm within SK Group, said Sunday that it will focus its investment on four business areas: advanced materials, green, bio and digital. For investment expertise and efficiency, the company has reorganized its operations according to the four sectors, it added. “2021 will be a meaningful year for SK Holdings in this four-way investment drive,” CEO Jang Dong-hyun said via a press release. The company kicked off the year with a 1.6 trill

Jan. 24, 2021

Foreign investors still strong buyers of LG Chem shares

Foreign investors have continued to scoop up vast amounts of LG Chem shares in the first month of this year, after raking in some 2.38 trillion-won ($2.16 billion) worth of the South Korean chemical giant’s stocks last year, data showed Sunday. Offshore investors purchased a net 605.4 billion-won worth of LG Chem stocks in the Jan. 4-Friday period, according to the Korea Exchange. It was followed by their net buying in internet platform giant Naver with 610.3 billion won across the same p

Jan. 24, 2021

Lotte, Shilla to close duty-free stores at Incheon Airport’s Terminal 1 after next month

Two major South Korean duty-free operators, Lotte and Shilla, will close their stores at Incheon Airport’s Terminal 1 next month, leaving more empty space at the airport. Both Lotte Duty Free and Shilla Duty Free’s leases expired in August but were extended for an additional six months after new bidders backed out before signing contracts, as the worsening coronavirus pandemic threatened prospects for duty-free shopping businesses. With the possibility of further extensions off th

Jan. 24, 2021

LG Innotek introduces next-generation digital car key

Rummaging around for car keys may soon become a relic of the past. South Korea’s electronic component manufacturing firm LG Innotek said Sunday that it has succeeded in developing a digital car key module that would enable smartphones to replace car keys. The module is equipped with high-precision location detection ability and has reliable security functions, LG Innotek said. The company is actively running promotions targeting global manufacturers of vehicles and vehicle components in

Jan. 24, 2021