SK Innovation swings to red in Q2 on falling oil prices

SK Innovation Co. said Friday it turned to the red in the second quarter as falling oil prices and thinner margins hurt its profitability. The company logged an operating loss of 106.8 billion won ($83.2 million) in the April-June period, compared with the 2.32 trillion-won operating profit a year ago, the energy unit of SK Group said in a regulatory filing. Revenue fell 5.9 percent to 18.72 trillion won. It reported a net loss of 120.4 billion won, turning around from a profit of 1.34 trillion

July 28, 2023

S. Korea's exports of ice cream achieve record high in H1

South Korea's exports of ice cream reached a record high in the first half of 2023, data showed Friday, on the back of the growing popularity of Korean entertainment content across the globe. Outbound shipments of ice cream reached $59 million in the January-June period, up 19.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The figure almost doubled South Korea's ice cream imports, which came to $30 million, up 7.5 percent over the period. &q

July 28, 2023

Industrial output, consumption, investment rise for 2nd month in June

South Korea's industrial output, private spending and investment rose for a second consecutive month in June amid an economic slowdown, data showed Friday. The country's industrial output increased 0.1 percent in June from a month earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. But the June growth slowed from a 1.1 percent on-month rise tallied in May. The output in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries decreased 1 percent due to a slump in the automobile indu

July 28, 2023

Seoul shares open lower on US losses, profit taking

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, led by declines in big-cap tech shares on profit taking after an overnight fall on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 9.8 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,594.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US stocks closed lower despite the stronger-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.67 percent, snapping a 13-day winning streak, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.55 perc

July 28, 2023

Hanwha finalizes deal to open Pompidou branch in Seoul

South Korea's Hanwha Group has finalized the agreement with the Centre Pompidou in France to establish the museum's offshoot branch in Seoul, with the opening set for late 2025, the energy-to-defense conglomerate said Friday. The formal contract was signed Thursday, under which Hanwha is given the licensing rights to use the French museum's properties for four years upon the opening of the branch, the Centre Pompidou Hanwha Seoul, Hanwha said. The Centre Pompidou Hanwha Seoul will

July 28, 2023

European Central Bank hikes interest rates for ninth time to combat inflation

The European Central Bank raised interest rates for the ninth straight time in its yearlong campaign to stamp out painfully high inflation, even as worries about recession fuel speculation that Thursday’s hike could be its last. ECB President Christine Lagarde had all but promised the quarter-percentage point increase. That puts the focus at her post-meeting news conference on whether the bank will raise rates again at its September meeting or hold off after a record series of rate hikes

July 27, 2023

KT&G employees volunteer at soup kitchen

KT&G, South Korea's dominant tobacco and ginseng company, said Thursday its chief executive and employees carried out voluntary work at a soup kitchen in Seoul to help homeless people and senior citizens bear the summer heat. KT&G CEO Baek Bok-in and 20 other executives and employees took part in serving food to homeless people and aged people living alone, at the meal center, according to the firm. “May the food that we have prepared become a strength to people who are suffer

July 27, 2023

Kia mulls lowering EV prices

Kia will consider lowering the prices of its battery-powered electric vehicles to compete against global EV leaders amid growing markets, according to the automaker’s chief financial officer on Thursday. “The important point from now on regarding the EV market, which has become highly competitive and abnormal in some sense, is that we should put more weight on securing our market share than focusing on profitability,” said Joo Woo-jeong, Kia’s CFO and executive vice presi

July 27, 2023

SK Telecom-led global AI alliance launched

Led by South Korea’s SK Telecom, a new global alliance has been formed as four major telecommunications firms from South Korea, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore join hands to expand cooperation in the artificial intelligence business. The nation’s No. 1 telecom company in terms of subscriptions said Thursday that it hosted the Global Telco AI Alliance CEO Summit, a hybrid event held both online and offline, in Seoul and gathered key executives of Deutsche Telekom, e&am

July 27, 2023

LG upbeat about automotive biz

LG Electronics, a leading home appliance supplier, said Thursday it has achieved the highest second-quarter revenue in company history at 19.9 trillion won ($15.6 billion), overcoming the sluggish demand situation the world’s consumer appliance market is experiencing. Backed with overall growth in its business portfolios, especially automotive parts and electric vehicles, LG said it will expand investment and build new manufacturing facilities overseas. In a regulatory filing, the tech gia

July 27, 2023

STX, NICE D&B join hands to provide corporate information on Trollygo

South Korean trading company STX announced Thursday that it has inked a memorandum of understanding with the nation's largest commercial credit bureau NICE D&B to provide corporate information services on Trollygo, its business-to-business online trading platform which is set to be launched in the third quarter of this year. The signing event was held at NICE D&B’s headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday, with top executives including STX CEO Park Sang-jun and NICE D&

July 27, 2023

KB reclaims top financial group, bank titles in first half

KB Financial Group reclaimed its position as the top financial group in Korea with a net profit of 2.99 trillion won ($2.34 billion) in the first half, surpassing other players. The group's flagship KB Kookmin Bank also regained the leading bank title with a net profit of 1.85 trillion won in the same period. Although KB set aside more than 1.31 trillion won for bad debt reserves in the first half of 2023, the expansion of net interest income and robust profits from nonbanking businesses dr

July 27, 2023

Hyundai Elevator, LG, KT team up for smart building solutions

Hyundai Elevator said Wednesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with LG Electronics and KT in order to drive advancements in the applications of robotics and explore new business opportunities in the field of smart buildings. The signing ceremony was attended by Do Ik-han, vice president and head of the Service Business Division at Hyundai Elevator; Roh Kyu-chan, vice president and head of the Robot Business Division at LG Electronics; and Lee Sang-ho, vice president and head of the

July 27, 2023

Seoul shares end higher on chip rally

South Korean stocks ended higher Thursday, as chipmakers surged on hopes for a business turnaround and investors digested the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate hike. The local currency fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 11.45 points, or 0.44 percent, to close at 2,603.81. Trading volume was heavy at 585.77 million shares worth 23.79 trillion won ($18.62 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 729 to 174. The index moved within a tight rang

July 27, 2023

Busan's Expo bid about progress not money

South Korea’s eagerness to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan goes far beyond the pursuit of a multi-trillion-won injection into the economy, and is instead seeking to become an important international platform that will contribute to humanity, according to SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Wednesday. “People often talk about the economic impact ... of hosting the expo. … More importantly, I think Korea should take a responsible course of action towards (having an impact on)

July 27, 2023

Hyundai, Kia join massive EV charging alliance to take on Tesla's Superchargers

South Korean carmakers Hyundai Motor Company and its sister firm Kia have joined forces with five global auto giants -- BMW, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis -- to form a joint venture for establishing an electric vehicle charging network across North America, in a combined effort at curbing Tesla’s attempt at EV charging standardization. The seven companies announced on Wednesday in US time that the joint venture will set up at least 30,000 chargers by 2030, saying that

July 27, 2023

Samsung logs W4.3tr profit loss in chips, predicts recovery in H2

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip maker, said Thursday it will further slash memory chip production and gear up to respond to the rising demand for artificial intelligence-related chips, as its chip business reported a consecutive drop in operating profit for the second quarter this year. In a regulatory filing, Samsung reported it achieved 60 trillion won ($47.1 billion) in consolidated revenue in the April-June period, down 6 percent from the previous quarter and 22.3

July 27, 2023

[Contribution] Cybersecurity in the era of conversational AI

By Jung Chang-lim In November 2022, the release of the conversational artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT by the US startup OpenAI caused a significant impact. Unlike existing models, ChatGPT demonstrated the ability to understand the context of language and engage in conversations that resembled interactions with humans. Moreover, it even ventured into the realm of human creativity. Within just two months of its launch, ChatGPT garnered overwhelming popularity, surpassing 100 million month

July 27, 2023

[Herald Interview] Korea's patent chief speaks on leveraging global alliances for Korea's IP growth

"South Korea aims to establish itself as a central hub within the global intellectual property network through strategic partnerships, technology-focused policies and active international engagement,” said Commissioner Lee Insil of the Korean Intellectual Property Office during her speech at the 64th World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly held in Switzerland on July 6. During the first half of the year, the patent chief underscored Korea’s dedication to creati

July 27, 2023

Havas Korea joins Seoul City's computer donation campaign

Havas Korea, a Korean subsidiary of Havas Group, has donated its used laptops to the Seoul Metropolitan Government to provide support for youth preparing for independence, under the city’s ongoing personal computer donation campaign that aims to bridge the digital divide. The term "youth preparing for independence" refers to individuals who are transitioning to a state of independence after being under the protection of foster care or other institutions. These individuals require

July 27, 2023