S. Korea suspends operation of Kori-2 reactor for permission renewal

South Korea has temporarily suspended the Kori-2 nuclear reactor for safety inspections and improvements required to extend its operations, its operator said Sunday. The No. 2 reactor at the Kori Nuclear Power Plant, located in Busan, 325 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was halted at 10 p.m. Saturday upon the expiry of its 40-year permission to operate, according to the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. The industry ministry earlier said that the suspension was inevitable as the process to exte

April 9, 2023

Exports of instant noodles hit first-quarter high: data

South Korea's exports of instant noodles jumped 14.3 percent on-year in the first three months of 2023 to reach the highest figure for any first quarter ever amid the growing popularity of the Korean culture, data showed Sunday. The country exported $208 million worth of instant noodles, or "ramyeon" in Korean, in the January-March period, up from $181.93 million a year earlier, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. It is the first time that the first-quarter

April 9, 2023

Foreign minister visits Hyundai Motor factory in India

Foreign Minister Park Jin visited Hyundai Motor's factory in the southern Indian city of Chennai, as part of his trip celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Seoul and New Delhi, South Korea's foreign ministry said Sunday. According to the ministry, Park met with Hyundai Motor workers and toured the plant Saturday. Park thanked them for helping improve bilateral ties between South Korea and India by creating more than 9,000 jobs and developing auto and other re

April 9, 2023

LG Electronics estimates to log second-highest Q1 profit of W1.5tr

LG Electronics said Friday it predicted its first-quarter operating earnings at 1.5 trillion won ($1.14 billion), which will likely be the company’s second-highest profit for the January-March period, outpacing Samsung Electronics' financial result for the first time in more than a decade. In its earnings guidance, the consumer electronics giant estimated its January-March operating profit will likely fall 23 percent from a year ago. The operating income exceeded the local analyst con

April 7, 2023

Fitch upgrades outlook on Hyundai Card to positive, affirms at BBB

Hyundai Card said on Friday that global rating agency Fitch revised its outlook on the Hyundai Motor Group's credit card unit to positive from stable while retaining its credit rating at BBB. It is the card company's first revision from the ratings firm in 11 years, as its rating and outlook had stayed at BBB stable since July 2012. In a rating action commentary released on March 30, Fitch attributed the rating upgrade mainly to Hyundai Motor Group -- the parent company of Hyundai

April 7, 2023

Kakao raided over suspicious SM stock purchase

Financial authorities and prosecutors jointly raided tech giant Kakao Corp. on the suspicion that it participated in stock price manipulation during its takeover of K-pop agency SM Entertainment. The Financial Services Commission on Thursday sent a team of 40 investigators to Kakao and its affiliate Kakao Entertainment in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province to seize internal documents and other related data. Authorities are looking into the possibility that Kakao violated the Capital Markets Act when

April 7, 2023

Seoul stocks close over 1% higher on chip rally

Seoul stocks closed over 1 percent higher Friday on a tech and semiconductor rally following Samsung's first-quarter guidance results. The Korean won rose against the dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 31.18 points, or 1.27 percent, to close at 2,490.41. Trading volume was heavy at 578.3 million shares worth 11.1 trillion won ($8.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 433 to 419. Retail investors snapped up a net 999.4 billion won worth of shares, outpacin

April 7, 2023

South Korea posts current account deficit for 2nd straight month

South Korea posted a current account deficit for the second consecutive month in February, central bank data showed Friday, as the country's raw material imports grew while outbound shipments continued to slump. The current account balance in February saw a deficit of $520 million, after logging the biggest-ever deficit of $4.21 trillion in January. When looking into the data in more detail, the trade balance for goods posted a deficit of $1.3 billion, marking a $5.65 billion decrease com

April 7, 2023

Samsung Electronics cuts chip production as Q1 profit likely to hit 14-year low

Samsung Electronics said Friday it was cutting its chip production to a “meaningful level” after reporting a worse-than-expected 96 percent plunge in its quarterly operating profit estimate amid the global chip downturn. “We’re adjusting to a lower memory production at a meaningful level centering on products that have secured enough inventory to respond to future demand, in addition to optimizing line operations that are already underway,” the company said in a sta

April 7, 2023

Seoul stocks open higher on Samsung, chip stocks

Seoul shares opened higher Friday as Samsung Electronics soared after it announced a cut in its chip production in the face of a slump in its earnings. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 18.79 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,478.2 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks ended higher as investors remained cautious ahead of job data set to be released Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.18 percent, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 0.76 percent. In S

April 7, 2023

S. Korea posts current account deficit for 2nd straight month in Feb.

South Korea posted a current account deficit for the second straight month in February as exports remained sluggish amid global recession woes, central bank data showed Friday. The country's current account shortfall came to $520 million in February, following a record deficit of $4.21 billion a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. It also swung from a surplus of $5.87 billion a year earlier. February's deficit came as the goods balance worsened due

April 7, 2023

LG greets BIE delegation with futuristic technologies

Upon arrival in Korea last week, an on-site inspection delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the regulating body of World Expos, paid a visit to Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, to look around a slew of exhibition booths set up by the nation’s top conglomerates. LG Group operated a huge booth, titled "Better Future for All with LG," where diverse technological innovations were showcased to impress the BIE delegation and express Korea’s strong will to ho

April 6, 2023

LG’s top brass joins forces to garner support for Busan’s Expo bid

As South Korean business leaders play a key role in attracting support for Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030, LG Group’s top executives traveled around the world to win votes. In October last year, Chairman Koo Kwang-mo visited Poland to meet with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, requesting the country’s support for Busan’s Expo bid. “Busan is South Korea’s second largest city, and it is also where LG first started its business. Busan is also wh

April 6, 2023

LG boosts support for Busan’s Expo bid

LG Group, the nation’s fourth-largest conglomerate, has joined forces to promote Busan’s bid for the 2030 World Expo. During a week-long visit by an on-site inspection team from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the intergovernmental regulating body for World Expos, LG is carrying out diverse promotional activities to raise spirits and support for the port city’s strong desire to host the Expo, one of the largest international gatherings. Since the BIE delegation&

April 6, 2023

World Expo to evolve into global solutions platform in Busan

South Korea's bid to host the World Expo in Busan envisions the event morphing into a global platform providing solutions for the pressing challenges faced by the post-pandemic world. Under the theme of “Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future," Busan aims to lead the global fair to take a great leap forward to become a venue of discussions needed for radical transformation like climate change, polarization and digitization. In the past, Expo themes were typical

April 6, 2023

Public-private partnerships to bring Expo to Busan

Local governments and private companies in South Korea have been ramping up efforts for the country's bid to bring the World Expo to Busan in 2030. Hosting the 2030 World Expo has been a long-standing goal for Korea, who started on the path to candidacy in 2014. In 2019, the bid for the World's Fair was designated as an important national project, prompting the establishment of a joint public-private bidding committee, which has been up and running since last year. Prime Minister Han D

April 6, 2023

KB Financial to hold debate competition with university students

KB Financial Group has announced on Thursday that it will host a debate competition for university students called the 2023 KB Solveathon in July. The term "solveathon" is a combination of the English words "solve" and "marathon," according to KB Financial Group. Similar to a marathon that requires runners to complete a 42-kilometer route, the debate competition requires participants to engage in presentations and debates for around 42 hours to discover the best sol

April 6, 2023

SK On chief expects ‘tangible results’ next year

SK On Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won said Wednesday that he expects to see “tangible results” in the company’s still-nascent electric vehicle battery business from as early as next year, calling the company “the fastest-growing company in the fastest-growing industry.” He was speaking during a town hall meeting held at the company’s headquarters in Seoul, with some 400 executives and employees in attendance. “Typically, a manufacturing company suff

April 6, 2023

Luxury shopping platform Jente posts record sales in 2022

Luxury fashion platform Jente said Thursday its sales hit a new high of $24 million last year, a 140 percent jump from a year ago, extending its winning streak since its launch in 2020. According to the company, operating profits also almost tripled to $3.3 million last year, compared to $900,000 in the previous year. The company said that the growth had given it a footing as a representative luxury shopping platform here. The number of monthly active users, a key e-commerce indicator, also surg

April 6, 2023

Global Business Forum seeks ways to live with advanced AI

In an age of advanced artificial intelligence, experts suggested ways to effectively use the high-level technology at the Global Business Forum hosted by The Korea Herald on Wednesday. “With the ChatGPT boom, we need to think about how to wisely use AI and seek happiness in our lives,” said Chang Dong-seon, CEO of Curious Brain Lab, during the during the seventh session of the forum held at the Ambassador Seoul hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. For instance, people seem to consider techno

April 6, 2023