AXA CEO makes first Korea visit

French insurance giant AXA's Chief Executive Officer Thomas Buberl made his inaugural visit to South Korea, engaging with the local workforce and meeting with the nation's top financial regulator, according to the Korean unit on Thursday. Buberl visited the local office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday and held discussions with employees and executives. This marked the CEO's first visit to Korea since assuming the top position in 2016. During his meeting, he commended employees for their contrib

April 11, 2024

Kia unveils new pickup brand Tasman

Korean automaker Kia on Thursday officially unveiled its first-ever pickup truck, the Kia Tasman, setting its sights primarily on the Australian market with a diesel-powered model planned for 2025. The Tasman, whose name pays homage to the Tasman Sea that lies between Australia and New Zealand, represents Kia's most direct nod to Australian culture. It is the first Kia product to bear an Aussie-inspired name. The name also reflects the country’s deep affinity for pickup trucks, colloquiall

April 11, 2024

SK hynix exec pins high hopes on new US packaging plant

With the advances in artificial intelligence, there is a growing demand for cutting-edge memory chips. As the technology environment has evolved, SK hynix vice president expressed his ambition to contribute to the development of the highest-performance memory products through advanced packaging technologies. “Package and test (P&T) technology is turning into a crucial factor in the battle for semiconductor leadership,” Choi Woo-jin, vice president in charge of SK hynix’s pa

April 11, 2024

Korea aligned with US export curbs on chips to China: minister

South Korea is largely aligned with the US government’s export curbs on chips to China, but it is also making efforts to maintain trade ties with Beijing, Korea’s trade minister said in the US on Wednesday. Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun, who is visiting the US for the first time after he was inaugurated in January this year, added that the government is working to ensure the US trade curbs do not hurt the interests of Korean chipmakers. "Our basic stance is

April 11, 2024

Seoul shares open sharply lower on higher US inflation

South Korean stocks started sharply lower Thursday as higher-than-expected US inflation data poured cold water on investors' hopes for early rate cuts. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index plunged 39.34 points, or 1.45 percent, to 2,665.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, major US indexes lost ground as the release of a key measure of inflation dashed investors' hopes that the Federal Reserve may start cutting its rates soon. The US' consumer price index f

April 11, 2024

Exports rise 21.6% in first 10 days of April on solid chip sales

South Korea's exports rose 21.6 percent on-year in the first 10 days of April on robust global demand for semiconductors, data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments reached $16.44 billion in the April 1-10 period, compared with $13.52 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Per-day exports advanced 13.5 percent on-year to $2.19 billion. Imports grew 5.8 percent on-year to $18.4 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $2 billion.

April 11, 2024

Naver, Intel team up to counter Nvidia’s dominance in AI chips

US chip giant Intel is teaming up with Naver, Korea's leader in artificial intelligence, in an apparent move to counter Nvidia's dominance in the burgeoning AI chip market. Unveiling its more powerful next-generation AI accelerator, Gaudi 3, on Tuesday, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said the cutting-edge central processing unit has been enhanced to perform better than Nvidia's graphic processing unit "at a fraction of the cost." He also said the company is working together wit

April 10, 2024

Politicians push for telemedicine amid doctors’ walkout

Discussions on expanding telemedicine services are speeding up here as no immediate breakthrough can be seen in the prolonged mass walkout by junior doctors in protest against the government’s push to raise the admission caps of medical schools. Ahead of Wednesday’s General Election, candidates from both ruling and opposition parties also announced pledges to expand the availability of telemedicine services. Currently, remote clinical services via phone or video calls are offered on

April 10, 2024

Competition to become Korea's 4th online-only bank heats up

The race to receive the license to become South Korea’s fourth internet-only bank is growing fiercer, with four bidders announcing their will to contend. There are currently three online lenders in Korea: KBank, Kakao Bank and Toss Bank. But four new contenders -- Soso Bank, Korea Credit Data Bank, and the U-Bank and Douzone Bank consortiums -- have lined up to compete for the fourth license. In line with the local regulator Financial Services Commission’s vision to encourage financi

April 10, 2024

Samsung retains No. 1 spot in US home appliance market

Samsung Electronics retained its No. 1 spot in the US home appliance market for an eighth consecutive year, dating to 2016, thanks to strong sales of key household products including refrigerators and washers, industry data showed Wednesday. According to market tracker TraQline, Samsung notched a 20.9 percent market share based on sales in the US home appliance market in 2023, followed by its crosstown rival LG Electronics with 18.8 percent, GE Appliances and Whirlpool, which secured 17.6 percen

April 10, 2024

Korean battery firms await grim Q1 earnings amid EV slowdown

Korea's top three battery makers -- LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On -- are buckling up for the impact of their first-quarter earnings, which are certainly looking dispirited amid the withering demand for electric vehicles across the globe. According to LG Energy Solution’s preliminary earnings released on Friday, the country’s leading battery firm is expected to post 6.13 trillion won ($4.53 billion) in revenue and 157 billion won in operating profit from January to Ma

April 10, 2024

Chinese e-commerce platforms catching up with Korean rivals

Chinese e-commerce platforms, including the big three AliExpress, Temu and Shein, saw their Korean sales more than double over the past six months, while their Korean rivals suffered lukewarm sales performance during the same period, according to payment transaction data released Wednesday. According to an analysis report by BC Card, the nation’s largest payment processing company, payments made on Chinese e-commerce platforms soared more than 130 percent from October last year to March th

April 10, 2024

[Photo News] Mental health for athletes

LG Electronics, the South Korean home appliance giant, said Wednesday it donated $100,000 to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, a US-based organization overseeing intercollegiate athletics. The contribution aims to support the NCAA's program dedicated to promoting mental health within collegiate athletics. “We hope this contribution fosters the mental well-being of young athletes, enabling them to pursue successful careers," said Jung Kyu-hwang (center), head of LG Ele

April 10, 2024

[Photo News] 10th anniversary of Samsung Innovation Museum

The Samsung Innovation Museum, Korea's largest electronics industry museum, located at Samsung Electronics' headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, marks its 10th on April 21. Since its grand opening in 2014, the museum has attracted some 500,000 visitors from 180 countries, including state guests from 23 countries. The 10,950-square-meter museum houses some 150 historical products such as light bulbs invented by Thomas Edison, transistor radios and TVs, as well as a multi-purpose Sa

April 10, 2024

Hybe likely to join FTC’s antitrust watch list

Hybe, the powerhouse behind K-pop sensation BTS, is poised to claim the "large firm" status, with its total assets passing beyond the 5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) mark last year. According to the company's regulatory filings, Hybe's total assets stood at 5.35 trillion won by the end of last year, marking a 9.8 percent increase from the 4.87 trillion won tallied in 2022. This milestone heralds a groundbreaking achievement as the first K-pop company to enter the esteemed "

April 10, 2024

Samsung hopes to shed Galaxy brand's ‘ajeossi phone’ reputation

Samsung Electronics is striving to shed the reputation of its flagship Galaxy smartphones as "ajeossi" phones among teens and users in their 20s, with short films starring popular TV celebrities. An "ajeossi" is an older married man or an uncle in Korean, but in this context, it implies a sense of being "old" or "out of style." The world's largest smartphone maker by shipment said its short film series, “S24 Hours Movie Series,” starring a

April 9, 2024

Seoul shares close lower ahead of parliamentary elections, US inflation data

South Korean stocks ended lower Tuesday as investors grew more cautious ahead of parliamentary elections and the release of key US inflation data later this week. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After starting higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 12.49 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 2,705.16. Trade volume was moderate at 458.4 million shares worth 9.48 trillion won ($6.99 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 489 to 370. Institutions bought stocks wo

April 9, 2024

Samsung to receive over $6b subsidy from US: report

Samsung Electronics is set to receive between $6 billion and $7 billion in grants from the US government next week as the Korean chipmaker looks to bolster its US production, Reuters reported Monday. According to the report citing anonymous sources, the subsidy from the Biden administration will be used for the construction of four semiconductor facilities in Taylor, Texas. The subsidy-impacted facilities are a $17 billion chipmaking plant Samsung announced in 2021, another chip factory, an adva

April 9, 2024

Aging cities more vulnerable to climate change: study

Cities with large populations of older residents show greater vulnerability to climate change due to inadequate investment in green infrastructure and spaces such as parks and forests, according to a study conducted by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology on Tuesday. A research team led by Kim Seung-kyum, professor at the Moon Soul Graduate School of Future Strategy at Daejeon-based KAIST, discovered the correlation between an aging population and its impact on vulnerability to

April 9, 2024

IMM plans to sell up to W300b Hanatour shares

Korea's leading travel agency Hanatour has been listed in the merger market with its ownership stake up for sale. Reports from the industry on Tuesday indicate that IMM Private Equity, Hanatour's largest shareholder, has recently commenced the selection process for a new stakeholder, which is anticipated to amount to up to 27.78 percent of the shares. Market sources predict that the sale price may reach around 300 billion won ($224 million), considering the management premium and mar

April 9, 2024