[Graphic News] S. Korea’s 5G download speed fastest globally

　South Korea has the fastest 5G download speed in the world, reaching over 350 megabits per second, a report showed. 　The country’s 5G download speed stood at an average 351.2 Mbps, followed by Saudi Arabia at 272.8 Mbps and Taiwan at 247.7 Mbps, industry tracker Opensignal said in a report, citing data collected between Sept. 1 and Nov. 29 in 15 global markets with 5G networks. 　The result marks an improvement for South Korea from a previous report by Opensignal in October, which ha

Jan. 4, 2021

More than 330 Korean exhibitors to attend CES 2021

More than 330 South Korean exhibitors are expected to introduce their new products and cutting-edge services at the world's largest tech expo next week, data from its organizer showed Monday. So far, 338 firms, institutions and colleges from South Korea have registered for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021, according to the US Consumer Technology Association. This year's tech show will take place online from Jan. 11 to 14 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The number of South Korean

Jan. 4, 2021

Samsung to unveil Galaxy S21 smartphone next week

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday confirmed that new models of its flagship smartphone lineup will be unveiled next week as the South Korean tech giant tries to fend off challenges from Apple Inc. and Chinese brands. Samsung's Galaxy S21 smartphone series will be introduced at the Galaxy Unpacked online event at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Jan. 14 under the theme of "Welcome to the Everyday Epic." "Over the past year, mobile technology has taken center stage in everyday lif

Jan. 4, 2021

S. Korea's wine imports hit new high in 2020 amid coronavirus outbreak

South Korea's wine imports soared to a record high in 2020 as more people enjoyed drinking and partied at home due to the coronavirus outbreak, government data showed Monday. South Korea imported $239 million worth of wines in the January-November period last year, much higher than the $204 million for the whole of 2019, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service. If the December numbers are included, last year's value of wine imports will far exceed the previous year's tally. Last ye

Jan. 4, 2021

Number of delisted firms quadruples in 2020

The number of companies delisted from the South Korean stock market rose fourfold in 2020 from the previous year due to poor financial health or other reasons, data showed Monday. A total of 16 firms, including solar-battery parts maker Woongjin Energy Co., were delisted from the country's main KOSPI and secondary KOSDAQ markets last year, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. Three companies were removed from the main bourse and the remainder from the tech-laden KOSDAQ market. Of th

Jan. 4, 2021

Pandemic-hit oil refiners' losses estimated at W5tr won in 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have come as a big draw on South Korean oil refiners last year as their low refining margins ate into their profitability, industry sources said Sunday. Whipsawed by weak oil prices and sluggish refining margins, industry leader SK Innovation Co. and three other players are projected to have posted a combined net loss of more than 5 trillion won ($4.6 billion) last year. The situation didn't improve much in the third quarter of last year despite rising dem

Jan. 3, 2021

LG Display to showcase 48-inch flexible sound-making display at CES 2021

LG Display Co., a major display panel maker in South Korea, said Sunday it will showcase a 48-inch flexible display that can generate sound without speakers at the world's largest tech expo next week. LG Display said its 48-inch bendable cinematic sound OLED (CSO) will make its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021, which will be held online from Jan. 11 to 14. The world's top large-size OLED panel maker said the latest product is optimized for gaming. "Its paper-thin screen

Jan. 3, 2021

S. Korea’s EV market poised for take-off in 2021

For South Korea’s electric vehicle business, 2020 apparently served as a turning point with global players such as Tesla on the up and up and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic raising the alarm about environmental pollution by internal combustion engines. In the new year, this growing market is anticipated to take long strides on the back of prolonged government subsidies and carmakers’ paradigm shift towards ecofriendly vehicles. The number of newly registered passenger EVs here came

Jan. 3, 2021

S. Korea surpasses 10 million 5G users in November

The number of fifth-generation network users in South Korea surpassed 10 million as of the end-November, according to data released Sunday by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The number of 5G subscribers in November reached 10.9 million, up 930,000 from the previous month. By companies, SK Telecom secured 5.05 million users, accounting for 46 percent of the market. KT and LG U+ followed with 3.33 million and 2.54 million users. The ICT Ministry explained the increase was largely due to the

Jan. 3, 2021

Samsung Electronics enters digital certificate market

Samsung Electronics has begun offering digital certificates via its biometric authentication program Samsung Pass, heating up the local market for online ID certification. The service, launched by Samsung Pass on Dec. 30, enables users of Samsung Galaxy models to obtain certificates on their mobile devices after updating the application. Samsung Pass users can use the digital certificates for the annual tax return process, which starts in January. Samsung Electronics is one of the five priva

Jan. 3, 2021

[Market Close-up] Korean market gains momentum from individual investors

Cho Young-hoon, a 40-year-old office worker living in Seoul, had no interest in capital investment, before the pandemic hit last year. Following in his parents’ footsteps, he strongly believed in real estate investment, and considered buying stocks to be too risky and not as profitable as owning an apartment in Seoul. Buying an apartment using his savings, jeonse deposit and a mortgage loan was his strategy for over a decade. But then, in December 2019, the government made an unprecedent

Jan. 3, 2021

Bendable, high-definition displays gearing up for 2021

Displays that are interactive, transparent, bendable and emit sound are no longer the product of science fiction. In 2021, Korean display companies LG Display and Samsung Display are seeking to attract global clients with innovations in form factor and display performance, aiming to capitalize on the consumer electronics boom on the back of COVID-19.  One thing to note is the players, respectively known for their expertise in big displays and small displays -- LG for big organic light-em

Jan. 3, 2021

Pandemic-hit oil refiners' losses estimated at W5tr in 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have come as a big draw on South Korean oil refiners last year as their low refining margins ate into their profitability, industry sources said Sunday. Whipsawed by weak oil prices and sluggish refining margins, industry leader SK Innovation Co. and three other players are projected to have posted a combined net loss of more than 5 trillion won ($4.6 billion) last year. The situation didn't improve much in the third quarter of last year despite rising dem

Jan. 3, 2021

Top Afreeca TV streamer made W1.7m per hour in Dec.

AfreecaTV streamers reaped donations of worth 41 billion won ($37.6 million) in December, with the highest-earner recording 452 million won, equivalent to an hourly wage of 1.7 million won. According to Poong Today Sunday, which tracks donations made on the country’s most popular online streaming platform, viewers donated more than 380.5 million “star balloons” in total last month. On AfreecaTV, fans can send streamers bundles of star balloons, a digital currency that costs

Jan. 3, 2021

Small shareholders' clout grows at Samsung

Holdings of small shareholders in the nation’s largest company, Samsung Electronics, grew to 6.5 percent in 2020, up from 3.6 percent at the end of 2019, data showed Sunday. The number of small stockholders is expected to have more than tripled from 568,313 to 2 million during the same period. Small shareholders refer to individual investors who have less than a 1 percent stake. The portion of Samsung shares held by retail traders in 2019 stood at 3.6 percent in end-2019 while domestic

Jan. 3, 2021

IBK to begin operation in Myanmar this month

The Industrial Bank of Korea said Sunday it will officially launch and operate a local subsidiary in Yangon, the largest city of Myanmar as early as this month, which marks its third overseas unit, following its operation in China and Indonesia.  Branded as IBK Bank Myanmar, its new overseas subsidiary was designed to handle various banking services, including corporate financing, personal financial management as well as foreign exchange business, officials said.  Through the newly

Jan. 3, 2021

S. Korea to invest nearly W6tr into science, ICT R&D in 2021

South Korea said Sunday it will spend 5.8 trillion won ($5.3 billion) on science and information and communication technology (ICT) research this year as the country fosters new tech industries under its digital New Deal drive and targets going carbon neutral. The earmarked amount is a 12 percent rise from 2020 and focuses on basic scientific research as well as new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and 6G wireless networks. The ministry said it has set aside 1.8 trillion won

Jan. 3, 2021

EV battery makers set to report robust Q4 results on strong demand

South Korea's three electric vehicle (EV) battery makers are expected to report robust or improved fourth-quarter earnings results on growing demand for electrified vehicles, analysts said Sunday. LG Energy Solutions Ltd., SK Innovation Co. and Samsung SDI Co. likely performed well in the October-December period as carmakers are adding more battery-powered models to their lineups due to emissions restrictions, they said. The three companies plan to release their business results for the fourth

Jan. 3, 2021

Samsung Electronics Q4 earnings estimate cut on weak dollar, virus resurgence

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chip maker, is expected to report a smaller-than-earlier operating income estimate due to the weakness of the US dollar, industry sources said Sunday. According to the sources, Samsung, also the world's largest smartphone vendor, is likely to report an operating income of 9.74 trillion won ($8.95 billion) during the fourth quarter of last year, up 36.8 percent from a year earlier. But the latest estimate is slightly lower than the 10.16 trill

Jan. 3, 2021

S. Korea's antitrust watchdog tipped to complete review of Daewoo Shipbuilding-KSOE merger in Q1

South Korea's antitrust watchdog is likely to complete the review of the merger between two South Korean shipbuilding giants during the first quarter of the year, industry sources said Sunday, possibly paving the way for the creation of the world's largest shipyard. In March 2019, Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a deal to purchase a 55.72 percent stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding. The deal would lead to the creation of the world's biggest shipbuilder with a global market share of around 20 percent.

Jan. 3, 2021