Frozen Iranian funds released

Iranian funds worth an estimated $6 billion, frozen in bank accounts in Korea, have been released, following the US and Iran's tentative agreement to engage in a prisoner swap in exchange for Tehran's access to the blocked funds. All of Iran’s frozen funds in Korea have been unblocked, Central Bank of Iran Gov. Mohammad Reza Farzin said through a post written in Persian on social platform X on Saturday. The central bank chief wrote that $7 billion in Iranian assets in Korea have

Aug. 13, 2023

[Beyond Earth] ‘Halley’s comet could have had a different name’

Halley’s Comet, arguably the most well-known comet in the world, is a short-period comet that comes close enough to the Earth about every 76 years that it can be seen with the naked eye. It was last observed in 1986 and is forecast to return in 2061. The comet is named after English astronomer Edmond Halley, who worked out the pattern by which the comet comes back to the Earth over and over. Although he did not live to see his prediction of the comet’s return in 1758 or 1759 prove tr

Aug. 13, 2023

Korean Air expands in-flight internet services

South Korean national carrier Korean Air has started to provide in-flight Wi-Fi connection on some of its Airbus A321neo aircraft, industry sources said Sunday. The expansion of in-flight Wi-Fi connection is part of the company’s long-term goal to expand the in-flight connection to 100 percent of its international flights. The number of Korean Air’s Airbus A321neo aircraft that provide in-flight Wi-Fi connection is currently six. Those A321neo flights operate on the routes connecting

Aug. 13, 2023

[70th Anniversary] Congratulatory messages from business leaders

Business leaders have sent congratulatory messages to celebrate the 70th anniversary of The Korea Herald. – Ed. Chey Tae-won, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman My sincere congratulations to The Korea Herald on its 70th anniversary. The Korea Herald, then The Korea Republic, was first published to introduce Korean society following the Korean War and to solidify international cooperation. The Korea Herald has witnessed the moments of reconstruction, growth and the Miracle

Aug. 13, 2023

[Photo News] Nurturing fintech talent

From left: Future For Youth Foundation Chairman Lee Hoon-kyu, Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Lee Bok-hyun, a student representative, Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo and SK Telecom Vice President Um Jong-hwan pose for a picture to kick off fintech talent nurturing program Hana Digital Power On in Seoul, Thursday. Marking its second year, the program, launched by Hana Financial Group, awards teams for developing tech solutions for the financial sector. Other participating companies

Aug. 13, 2023

[Photo News] New Narangd Cider

Employees of Dong-A Otsuka, the nation’s leading beverage maker, celebrate the launch of White Kombucha-flavored Narangd Cider at the company’s headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. Following pineapple and green apple, the new sweet and sour flavor is the latest addition to the company’s zero-calorie, zero-sugar carbonated beverage brand. (Dong-A Otsuka)

Aug. 13, 2023

SKT invests $100m in AI firm Anthropic

SK Telecom, South Korea’s leading telecom carrier, announced Sunday that it will invest an additional $100 million in San Francisco-based artificial intelligence safety and research company Anthropic to enhance the partnership between the two companies. Following a previous investment in May, the new round of funding aims to seek business synergy with the SK Telecom-led Global Telco AI Alliance, which was launched last month together with Deutsche Telekom of Germany, e& of the United A

Aug. 13, 2023

Asiana Airlines shifts to black in Q2 on recovery in travel demand

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest carrier, said Friday it swung to the black in the second quarter on growing demand for passenger travel. Asiana logged a net profit of 1.8 billion won ($1.36 million) in the April-June period of 2023, compared with a net loss of 91.5 billion won during the same period of last year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 11.3 percent on-year to 1.57 trillion won in the second quarter, while operating profit sank 48.5 percent on-

Aug. 11, 2023

LH CEO offers to resign as more faulty apartments found

The CEO of the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) offered to resign Friday amid the growing controversy over its lax oversight and poor management of apartment complexes with missing critical structural components. CEO Lee Han-joon said he was also belatedly informed that the firm omitted five apartment complexes from its inspection report on compounds with underground parking lots built using a flat plate method. During an emergency press conference held at the LH headquarters in Seoul

Aug. 11, 2023

Chinese group tourists lift hopes for Korean fashion, pharma firms

South Korean pharmaceutical firms and fashion brands are hoping that the Chinese government's recent decision to allow large groups to travel to Korea would bring a medical tourism boom and K-pop-inspired fashion windfall. China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism said Thursday restrictions regarding group travel to Korea would be lifted for the first time since 2016, following its decision to abandon its “zero COVID” policy in January. According to Korea Tourism Organization

Aug. 11, 2023

Toss Bank logs first monthly profit in July

Toss Bank, the internet-only banking arm of fintech giant Viva Republica, has reported its first monthly profit of approximately 1 billion won ($755,000) in July since its launch in October 2021, according to the lender on Friday. Toss Bank traditionally discloses its net profits and losses only on a quarterly basis. The turnaround was first announced to Toss Bank employees through an internal company bulletin on Wednesday. With the improving performance, both industry insiders and Toss Bank its

Aug. 11, 2023

Foreign Ministry hopes for smooth resolution on Iran's frozen funds

South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday expressed hope for a "seamless resolution" after the release of news reports that Iran has secured assurances from the US that it would be able to unfreeze its funds in Korea. "Our government has been closely collaborating with relevant countries such as the US and Iran to address the frozen fund issue,” an official from Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs added during a meeting with local press Friday. Accord

Aug. 11, 2023

[Photo News] Hyundai Motor supports Jamboree Scouts

Hyundai Motor Group has continued to provide support for the participants of the 2023 World Scout Jamboree. Earlier this week, the Korean conglomerate opened up four of its employee training facilities for the Scouts who had to be relocated from the campsite in Saemangeum, a reclaimed tidal land area in Buan, North Jeolla Province, due to safety concerns over the blazing heat and lack of countermeasures. Hyundai Motor Group has offered various hands-on experiences for the Scouts, such as demonst

Aug. 11, 2023

EcoPro lands MSCI Korea Index

EcoPro, South Korea's leading producer of secondary battery materials, will be added to the Morgan Stanley Capital International Korea Index, alongside three other domestic companies. A total of four Korean companies' stocks -- EcoPro, Hanwha Ocean, JYP Entertainment, and Hanmi Semiconductor -- made the listing for MSCI Korean Index, according to the results of the MSCI August Index Review released Thursday. Meanwhile, two companies -- CJ Group and E-mart -- have been removed from th

Aug. 11, 2023

SK hynix starts mass-production of largest low-power DRAM for mobiles

SK hynix, South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker, said Friday it has begun mass-production of a mobile DRAM that offers the industry's largest capacity aimed at minimizing power consumption and features low voltage operation for devices, including smartphones and tablets. SK hynix said the 24-gigabyte low-power double data rate 5 eXtended (LPDDR5X) mobile DRAM was first supplied to Chinese Oppo’s latest flagship smartphone, Oneplus Ace 2 Pro, which launched Thursday. “With the timel

Aug. 11, 2023

Samsung officially launches Galaxy Z Flip5, Fold5 phones in 50 countries

Samsung Electronics on Friday announced the official launch of its latest foldable smartphones -- the Galaxy Z Flip5 and Fold5 -- in some 50 countries, after record preorders for the foldables at home. Starting sales in major countries, which include Korea, the US, Britain, France, Germany, Singapore and China, the South Korean tech giant will complete the global launch by next month, the company said. The Galaxy Z Flip5 and Fold5 smartphones garnered 1.02 million preorders in seven days, surpas

Aug. 11, 2023

Hanwha, Shell Gas join S. Korea-led carbon capture project in Malaysia

More energy companies, including South Korea's Hanwha Corp. and the Netherlands-based Shell Gas & Power Developments B.V., have joined the consortium for a major carbon capture and storage project in Malaysia, SK Innovation Co. said Friday. The state-run Korea National Oil Corp. and Air Liquide Korea, an affiliate of French industrial gas provider Air Liquide S.A., are also among those joining the Shepherd CCS project in the Southeast Asian country, SK Innovation said. The Shepherd proj

Aug. 11, 2023

Seoul shares start higher on moderate US inflation

South Korean stocks opened marginally higher Friday as investor sentiment was buoyed by moderate US consumer price data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 12.23 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,613.79 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The US July consumer price index rose 3.2 percent, slower than the market expectation of a 3.3 percent rise. On Wall Street, stocks finished slightly higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average increasing 0.15 percent and the Nasdaq Composite ad

Aug. 11, 2023

Exports down 15.3% during first 10 days of Aug.

South Korea's exports fell 15.3 percent on-year in the first 10 days of August on weak chip and petroleum exports, data showed Friday. The country's outbound shipments reached $13.2 billion in the Aug. 1-10 period, compared with $15.6 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports plunged 30.5 percent on-year to $16.2 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $3 billion. By sector, exports of semiconductors moved down 18.1

Aug. 11, 2023

FSS raids Kakao founder's office over suspected stock manipulation of SM Entertainment

Korea's financial regulator raided the office of tech giant Kakao's founder Thursday in connection with allegations Kakao's executives were involved in manipulating stock prices of SM Entertainment, sources said. According to the sources, a special investigation unit under the Financial Supervisory Service searched Kim Beom-su's office at Kakao headquarters in Pangyo, just south of Seoul. Kakao has been suspected of manipulating stock prices of SM Entertainment earlier this y

Aug. 10, 2023