[Photo News] Brew bot

South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom’s artificial intelligence-powered Barista Robot blends and pours a cup of coffee for a customer. Jointly developed by Doosan Robotics, the robot can make around 20 kinds of coffee, cool ades and other beverages. SKT has made upgrades to the robot to create custom coffee blends and close plastic cup lids. A surveillance camera is also attached to oversee unmanned coffee shops. The company added it is in talks with several specialty coffee chains to supp

Jan. 26, 2023

Posco Chemical gets govt. approval for export of cathode technologies

Posco Chemical Co., a major South Korean producer of secondary battery materials, said Thursday it has obtained government approval for the export of its technologies related to producing cathodes, a key component used in electric vehicle cells. The decision was made earlier this month by the private-public committee handling industrial technology protection under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, according to Posco Chemical. South Korea has designated some 75 technologies in 13 indust

Jan. 26, 2023

Seoul stocks open slightly higher amid earnings woes

Seoul stocks opened slightly higher Thursday as investors brace for earnings reports from major companies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.26 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,435.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The local stock market opened higher despite lackluster trading on Wall Street overnight. The S&P 500 inched down 0.02 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.03 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 0.18 percent lower than the previous ses

Jan. 26, 2023

Inflation expectations inch up in January amid continued monetary tightening

South Korea's inflation expectations inched up in January from a month earlier amid the Bank of Korea's continued monetary tightening to bring price growth under control, a central bank survey showed Thursday. Ordinary people predicted that consumer prices will grow 3.9 percent over the next one year, up 0.1 percentage point from what was surveyed the previous month, according to the poll conducted by the BOK early this month. It was the first on-month rise since November 2022. The fig

Jan. 26, 2023

Woori leads Korean banks in overseas sanctions in 2022

Woori Bank’s overseas subsidiaries received the most penalties last year among South Korea's top four commercial banks, according to DART, the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure board, on Wednesday. In 2022, Woori Bank that operates 11 overseas branches received a total of six penalties -- two in China, two in Indonesia, one in Russia and one in India. China's financial watchdog issued a warning and a fine of 200,000 yuan ($29,000) to Woori Bank China in A

Jan. 25, 2023

SK hynix develops world’s fastest DRAM for mobile devices

South Korean chipmaker SK hynix said Wednesday it has developed the world’s fastest mobile DRAM chips that have already been delivered to customers. The new product, named Lower Power Data Rate 5 Turbo, or LPDDR5T, operates at a data rate of 9.6 gigabits per second, 13 percent faster than the previous generation the company rolled out last November. According to the world's second-largest memory chipmaker, the low-power memory chip for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet

Jan. 25, 2023

Seoul shares close more than 1% higher on tech gains

Seoul stocks closed more than 1 percent higher Wednesday on tech gains, as investors were hopeful that the US Federal Reserve could ease the pace of rate increases. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 33.31 points, or 1.39 percent, to 2.428.57. Trading volume was moderate at 539.8 million shares worth 6.57 trillion won ($5.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 526 to 325. Institutional and foreign investors were net buyers

Jan. 25, 2023

New NPS CIO on mission to make critical shift

NPS In Action is a series of articles and interviews on South Korea’s largest investor National Pension Service to analyze its current state and identify tasks that lie ahead. This is the first installment. -- Ed. Seo Won-joo took the reins as the new chief investment officer of the National Pension Service in the time when he has to wear multiple hats to run the world’s third largest pension fund. With a career path that wound through life insurance companies and a pension fund

Jan. 25, 2023

Korean biotech lobby expresses concerns over Biden executive order

The Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-pharma Manufacturers Association on Friday sent a written opinion to the US government, in which the business lobby raised concerns over the Biden administration's executive order aimed at bolstering domestic production of biotechnology and biomanufacturing products. "The US should not take discriminatory measures against its allies,” the association said in a statement released on Wednesday, adding that the executive order should not violate the

Jan. 25, 2023

LG denies decision to pull out of 4th battery plant with GM

LG Energy Solution on Wednesday denied earlier reports on the alleged decision to put a pause on the joint plan with General Motors to build a fourth battery cell manufacturing plant for electric vehicles in the US. “The two companies are still in discussions about Ultium Cells’ fourth plant in the US and no specific decisions have been made at this point,” an official at LG Energy Solution told The Korea Herald. Ultium Cells, a joint venture established by LG Energy Solution a

Jan. 25, 2023

Mirae Asset Global Investments tops TDF market share

Mirae Asset Global Investments has gobbled up nearly half of target-date fund market share, recording 3.5 trillion won ($2.84 billion) under management as of the end of 2022. TDF refers to an investment scheme where a portfolio’s asset allocation mix automatically rebalances throughout an account holder’s lifecycle to make it less prone to volatility as the target date draws near. Analysts attributed Mirae Asset's top position to the group's chairman, Park Hyun-joo, who has

Jan. 25, 2023

MBK-Unison consortium seeks to acquire Osstem Implant

Private equity funds Unison Capital Korea and MBK Partners have joined hands to take over Osstem Implant, the nation’s largest dental manufacturer, according to the companies on Wednesday. Osstem Implant announced that UCK and MBK Partners will go for a tender offer through special purpose company Dentistry Investment, buying off a sizeable stake in the company for the next month at 190,000 won ($154) per share, up almost 17 percent from 162,500 won from the previous trading day. UCK is a

Jan. 25, 2023

Hyundai-Kia EVs post double-digit market share in Europe

Hyundai Motor Group recorded double-digit market share last year in 10 European countries, stepping up as the fourth-largest carmaker to have sold battery-powered electric vehicles, data showed Wednesday. Hyundai and its affiliate Kia sold a total of 96,988 EVs with a 10 percent market share in 10 countries including Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain, according to the US-based automotive market tracker Clean Technica. These markets account for 64 percent of the total EV sales

Jan. 25, 2023

Celltrion becomes largest shareholder of Iksuda Therapeutics

South Korean drugmaker Celltrion announced on Wednesday that it has increased its stake in British biotechnology firm Iksuda Therapeutics to 47.05 percent through direct investment and a fund formed with Mirae Asset Capital. This decision has made Celltrion and the Mirae Asset Celltrion New Growth Fund the largest shareholders of Iksuda, which specializes in the development of a new generation of antibody drug conjugates, or ADCs. Celltrion declined to disclose its original shareholding percenta

Jan. 25, 2023

Lotte Duty Free wins rights to run Melbourne Airport shops

Lotte Duty Free said Wednesday it clinched a 10-year contract to become the new operator of Melbourne Airport duty-free shops, in a bid to make further inroads into the Oceania market. According to the South Korean duty-free goods retailer, starting June 1, Lotte will offer a duty-free experience in the Australian terminal’s existing 3,600 square meter duty-free space, as well as the airport’s online e-commerce platform. The South Korean retailer became the preferred bidder for the O

Jan. 25, 2023

Seoul stocks open sharply higher on tech gains

Seoul stocks got off to a strong start Wednesday as investors bet the US Federal Reserve will go easy on its aggressive monetary tightening. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 28.09 points, or 1.17 percent, to 2423.35 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Major indexes on Wall Street closed mixed overnight, while chipmakers, such as AMD and Qualcomm, sharply rose on hope for better business performance down the road. Investors are also keeping a close watch on the Fed's nex

Jan. 25, 2023

Seoul subway, bus fares to rise by W300 or W400

The Seoul city government will additionally consider raising its subway and city bus fares by 400 won ($0.32), besides its earlier 300-won hike proposal, city officials said Wednesday. The municipal government plans to hold a public hearing next month with the goal of raising public transportation fares in April after a freeze for eight years. It will prepare two fare hike proposals -- 300 won or 400 won -- to listen to the opinions of various public hearing participants, including experts, city

Jan. 25, 2023

S. Korea's kimchi imports hit new high in 2022

South Korea's imports of kimchi touched an all-time high in 2022 amid galloping consumer inflation in the country, government data showed Wednesday. Inbound shipments of the spicy Korean traditional side dish came to $169.4 million last year, up 20.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The on-year growth rate was the highest since the 53.8 percent surge recorded in 2010. Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish normally made of fermented cabbag

Jan. 25, 2023

Import car sales hit record high in 2022

Imported car sales hit a record-high of nearly 300,000 here last year, driven by pent-up demand for luxury cars during the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Friday. Imported car brands’ sales in 2022 increased by 2.6 percent on-year to 283,435 units, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. When including the sales volume of 14,571 vehicles for Tesla, which was not counted by the association, the figure comes to 298,006 units, a twofold

Jan. 24, 2023

Will Samsung, Hyundai clash over robots?

South Korea’s two major conglomerates, Samsung and Hyundai, have long been keeping their distance as they avoid competing head-on in their core businesses. But the decades-old unspoken rule may be ending in robotics, a burgeoning area where their leaders are pouring resources in search of a future growth driver. Hyundai with hardware prowess Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s third-largest carmaker dominating almost 90 percent of car sales at home, was the first to make a big move

Jan. 24, 2023