10 special industrial zones to be designated to spur innovation

South Korea announced a plan Monday to create a total of 10 special industrial zones by 2027, as regional vanguards to spur job creation and investment. The zones will run under the government’s deregulation scheme. The government hopes businesses operating there will focus on launching new products and making inroads in to overseas markets. Measures that match global standards, from regulation, certification to insurance, will be applied, the government said. Korea will first upgrade two

May 8, 2023

Amorepacific, LG H&H face contrasting outlooks for Q2

Amid the generally sluggish business results of the Korean beauty industry during the first quarter, market analysts provided contrasting second quarter expectations for leading beauty giants LG Household & Health Care and Amorepacific. While the former's prospects appear dim, the latter is expected to rebound with the company's aggressive expansion of sales of its flagship brand Sulwhasoo, said stock market observers Monday. According to financial market tracker FN Guide, LG H&

May 8, 2023

KB Financial bolsters ties with global financial firms

KB Financial Group hosted its "Cocktail Reception" on Thursday at the Sheraton Grand Incheon with key players in the global financial industry. The event showcased the Korean company's businesses and growth strategies while exploring potential opportunities for collaboration. The reception also served to commemorate the 56th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank, which took place in Incheon last week. Seventy KB Financial Group executives, including Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo

May 8, 2023

Naver to unveil its answer to ChatGPT this summer

South Korean internet giant Naver will unveil HyperClova X, its hyperscale artificial intelligence platform, which boasts greater Korean language skills than its US rival, OpenAI's ChatGPT, this summer to upgrade its services overall. “Based on HyperClova, which has the third-largest Korean language training volume in the world and the first in Korea, we’ll unveil a HyperClova X service that is comparable to GPT-4 (the successor of ChatGPT),” Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said d

May 8, 2023

SK bolsters carbon capture technology

SK Innovation and SK IE Technology announced Monday that the two companies will jointly invest in Airrane, a local firm specializing in membrane technology for gas separation, to strengthen their carbon reduction competitiveness. SK IE Technology -- a subsidiary of SK Innovation, an energy and chemical company under South Korean conglomerate SK Group -- manufactures lithium-ion battery separators, or LiBS, for electric vehicles. The amount of the investment was not disclosed. Airrane has worked

May 8, 2023

Korea’s battery exports to grow 33% annually until 2030: Goldman Sachs

South Korea’s battery exports are estimated to post an annual growth rate of 33 percent until 2030, boosting the country’s GDP growth by 0.3 percent, a report issued by Goldman Sachs showed Monday. According to the global investment bank, Korean battery makers’ global sales are expected to surge by an average of 43 percent in the cited period. The nation’s rapid expansion of its EV supply chain will have a positive impact on macroeconomic indicators such as the GDP gr

May 8, 2023

Hana, Taiwan’s CTBC bank ink partnership for business expansion

Hana Financial Group said Monday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan’s banking giant, CTBC Bank, to seek business expansion in overseas markets. Under the new partnership, Hana and CTBC plan to support their overseas branches to expand businesses and optimize profits, as well as to discover new business opportunities together in various fields, including corporate finance and investment banking. They also agreed to share business know-how to increase their assets furthe

May 8, 2023

Jeonbuk Bank expands money transfer services in Cambodia

JB Financial Group’s Jeonbuk Bank said Monday it will add 17 more banks to the list of financial institutions in Cambodia that accept real-time money transfers made through the Korean bank. This newest addition brings the total number of such institutions to 49, providing expanded opportunities for customers to make transfers to various banks. “We hope that our unique overseas real-time transfer service will be helpful to our customers who want to make transfers to Cambodia,” J

May 8, 2023

LS Cable & System wins W2tr cable deal from TenneT

South Korean cable maker LS Cable & System said Monday it had won an order worth 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) as part of the largest-ever transmission network project launched by Dutch state-run grid operator. The Korean firm is forming a consortium together with Belgian construction companies Jan De Nul and Denys to secure the deal. The project aims to connect a North Sea offshore wind farm with inland areas of Germany and the Netherlands through high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables.

May 8, 2023

Seoul shares open higher on US gains amid rate hike worries

Seoul shares opened higher Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street last week, with investors staying concerned over the US Federal Reserve's further rate hikes to tame inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 20.83 points, or 0.83 percent, to 2,521.77 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The main index stayed nearly unchanged last week, closing 0.02 lower at 2,500.94 on Thursday. The stock market was closed Friday to celebrate Children's Day. On Wednesday, Fed Chair

May 8, 2023

S. Korea eyes stronger ties with US in chip industry

South Korea's finance minister said Monday the government will make efforts to utilize the outcome of President Yoon Suk Yeol's recent visit to the United States and build a stronger alliance in the chip sector. South Korea and the US agreed to cooperate in the fields of next-generation semiconductors, as well as global supply chains, during Yoon's state visit to Washington. "The recent state visit has built the ground for establishing a firm cutting-edge technology and cultu

May 8, 2023

Naver Q1 net income down 71.2% on accounting loss

South Korean internet portal giant Naver Corp. said Monday its net profit plunged 71.2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier due to an accounting loss stemming from an economic slowdown. Its net income reached 43.7 billion won ($33 million) on a consolidated basis in the January-March period from 151.4 billion won during the same period of last year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit stood at 330.5 billion won for the first quarter, up 9.5 percent from a year a

May 8, 2023

[Beyond Earth] ‘Space traffic control will be huge market’

As the global space race gets heated, more satellites will be launched into space. Dealing with the increasing number of satellites will be an enormous market. Nara Space, a South Korean startup specializing in developing small satellites and providing solutions with satellite images of the Earth, is aiming to become a pioneer in the space traffic control sector. “We think the market for controlling space traffic or markets related to space traffic will grow immensely,” Park Jae-pil,

May 8, 2023

Kishida confirms Japan working to put S. Korea back on export ‘white list’

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida confirmed Japan is in the process of reinstating South Korea to its “white list” of trusted trading partners amid joint efforts to improve bilateral economic ties, the leaders said Sunday. In a joint press conference following their summit in Seoul, the two leaders also said they agreed to bolster cooperation in industries including semiconductors, materials, parts and equipment. “Government talks

May 7, 2023

German envoy calls for close ties with 'like-minded' Korea in digital tech era

Germany's main envoy to South Korea discussed ways to forge stronger ties in the era of the "fourth industrial revolution" at the Global Business Forum hosted by The Korea Herald on Wednesday at the Ambassador Seoul - A Pullman Hotel. During the 11th session of the forum, German Ambassador Michael Reiffenstuel said that the two sides had intensified their collaboration in core areas of tech, while digitalization has revolutionized both economies. “As a like-minded country an

May 7, 2023

[From the Scene] Nuri rocket gears up for 1st space delivery

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province -- South Korea’s homegrown Nuri rocket, also known as the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II, was waiting for the arrival of the satellites that it will carry into orbit later this month at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, on Wednesday. Successfully placing the satellites into the targeted orbit will be key for upcoming launch as the Nuri rocket readies for its third flight. “The first and second launches were about developing capabil

May 7, 2023

Employment of women in 30s hits all-time high

The number of female employees who are in their 30s has increased by around 110,000 from a year ago, while that of male workers in the same age group has declined by some 80,000, according to government data, Sunday. According to Statistics Korea and Microdata Integrated Service, the number of female workers who are aged 30-39 reached 2.17 million, up 108,000 from a year ago. The figure for male workers in the age group reached 3.12 million, down 84,000 on-year. In total, the number of employed

May 7, 2023

[From The Scene] EV diagnostics key to safety: KITECH

JEJU, Jeju Island -- Amid the booming market for electric vehicles, demand for car maintenance and diagnostics services has been on the rise to prevent fatal accidents on the roads. In a move to offer enhanced diagnostic technology for EV failure and repair, the Jeju Island unit of the state-run Korea Institute of Industrial Technology demonstrated a test that collects data from driving electric cars in front of the media on Thursday. During the test performed at the institute's headquart

May 7, 2023

Samsung chief vows to repeat chip success story in biopharma

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung Group, vowed to boost the nation’s largest conglomerate’s burgeoning biopharma business to "repeat the success story of semiconductors," as he met with heads of major biopharmaceutical companies in the United States, the company said Sunday. Traveling to the US' East Coast, home to the world’s leading biopharma clusters, Lee met with the heads of global biopharmaceutical and venture incubat

May 7, 2023

[Photo News] Promoting Busan's Expo bid in Germany

Pedestrians walk past Samsung Electronics’ digital screen promoting Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Hamburg, Germany, in this photo provided by the tech giant on Sunday. Samsung took part in this year's Hamburg Port Anniversary, the world's biggest port festival, held last week.

May 7, 2023