SK to host San Francisco biopharma networking event

SK Inc., the investment arm of SK Group, said Tuesday it will co-host a networking event with the group’s biopharmaceutical affiliates including SK biopharmaceuticals and SK pharmteco to expand its global partnerships in the US, the world’s largest bio and pharmaceutical market. The event, titled “SK Bio Night,” will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco on Wednesday. About 100 executives from some 50 companies -- including SK’s biopharma firms, the

Jan. 10, 2023

S. Korea posts current account deficit in November amid dwindling exports

South Korea posted the first current account deficit in three months in November as exports sharply dwindled amid growing worries over a global economic recession, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's current account shortfall amounted to $620 million in November, swinging back from a surplus of $880 million a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. It marked the first deficit in three months and also represented a setback compared with the same m

Jan. 10, 2023

Posco raises $2b via overseas debt sale

Posco, South Korea's top steelmaker, said Tuesday it has raised $2 billion by selling debts overseas, its largest-ever overseas debt sale. The three-tranche debt comprises three-year bonds worth $700 million, five-year bonds worth $1 billion and 10-year debts valued at $300 million, according to the steelmaker. Posco's bond sale marks the first time a South Korean firm has sold dollar-denominated debt since Dec. 15, when the US Federal Reserve raised its key rate by 50 basis points. Po

Jan. 10, 2023

Seoul stocks open higher amid renewed rate hike woes

Seoul shares opened higher Tuesday as investors remain concerned about the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hike plans following its officials' recent comments. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 3.18 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,353.37 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Fed officials signaled the US central bank could raise rates to somewhere over 5 percent to tame inflation. Foreigners and institutions bought a combined 28 billion won ($22.5 million) worth of sto

Jan. 10, 2023

[Herald Interview] Mercedes-Benz’s high-power charger coming to Korea

LAS VEGAS -- Mercedes-Benz will look to introduce its newly announced high-power charging network to South Korea by the end of 2024, the global carmaker’s chief technology officer said Thursday. “Korea is a huge market … it’s the fourth largest market for us,” Markus Schafer, Mercedes-Benz Group AG board member and chief technology officer, told a group of Korean and Japanese reporters in an interview conducted a few hours after the carmaker announced a plan to lau

Jan. 9, 2023

[Herald Interview] ‘There will be always more demand for chips, displays’

LAS VEGAS – The prolonged economic recession and inflation is drawing a grim outlook for semiconductor and display industries, even for top players such as South Korea’s Samsung and LG. But Merck Electronics CEO Kai Beckmann says that companies will persist, as demand for chips and displays will continue to grow, in the long run. “The electronics industry, ever since it developed, has had ups and downs. It is kind of a normal phenomenon in our industry. The good thing is that,

Jan. 9, 2023

Seoul stocks up for fourth day on possible Fed slowdown; won sharply up

Seoul shares ended higher Monday amid expectations of slower US rate hikes. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 60.22 points, or 2.63 percent, to close at 2,350.19 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 334.74 million shares worth some 6.9 trillion won ($5.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 799 to 93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.1 percent to 33,630.61 points on Friday, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Compos

Jan. 9, 2023

KB Financial chief urges employees to prepare for coming winter

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo on Friday asked employees to prepare to endure the coming winter of the financial market with the group’s core competitiveness during a business strategy meeting for the first half of 2023. More than 270 executives from the holding company and its 12 subsidiaries, including KB Kookmin Bank, attended the meeting at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul. “KB must preemptively respond to new trends such as digital transformation and green transformation

Jan. 9, 2023

BOK likely to continue rate hikes

With the Bank of Korea set to hold the first rate-setting meeting of the year Friday, the market is expecting it to raise the base interest rate 25 basis points to 3.5 percent. In the latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting held in November, the Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, signaling a slowdown in its rate hikes following a twofold raise of 50 basis points. It is likely that the bank will announce another interest rate hike as inflation is yet to be tamed

Jan. 9, 2023

CJ CheilJedang seeks to expand K-food territory

One of South Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang's new year's resolutions appears to be to make an active foray into the global market. The food conglomerate recently said it is slated to accelerate its expansion of "K-Food Global Territory" by making inroads into previously unexplored markets. "We will make a fully fledged entry into countries that we have not tapped yet and achieve growth with seven global strategic products," said Choi Eun-seok, CEO of CJ CheilJedan

Jan. 9, 2023

Broadcom pledges W20b corrective measures for abusing market power

US chipmaker Broadcom has voluntarily come up with corrective measures, including a fund of 20 billion won ($16.1 million), to support the local chip industry amid an ongoing antitrust probe into the company's alleged abuse of power against Korean clients, including Samsung Electronics. On Monday, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission unveiled the measures tentatively agreed upon with Broadcom. In August last year, the FTC accepted the US company’s request to submit corrective me

Jan. 9, 2023

[KH Explains] Is Samsung’s robotics ambition taking shape with Rainbow stake?

Samsung Electronics recently purchased a sizeable stake in Rainbow Robotics, a local humanoid robotics company, for 59 billion won ($47 million), offering a glimpse into the South Korean tech giant’s robotics ambitions that are still under wraps. Earlier this month Samsung purchased some 1.94 million shares of Rainbow Robotics, one of the handful of robot companies that make bipedal human-like robots, becoming the second-largest shareholder of the company. Following the news, shares of t

Jan. 9, 2023

SK On mulls scrapping plan for Turkey battery plant

South Korean electric vehicle battery maker SK On said Monday it is reconsidering its plan to build a new battery plant in Turkey together with US auto giant Ford Motor, citing prolonged economic woes. “We have held talks (with Ford and Turkish partner Koc Holdings) on the matter, but the process is lagging behind the schedule,” said an SK On official. “The final decision on whether to pull out of the deal is still pending.” SK On said it is looking to change its invest

Jan. 9, 2023

SK geo centric inks deal with Plastic Energy to build plastic waste recycling plant

SK geo centric, a subsidiary of SK Innovation, signed a licensing contract with British company Plastic Energy to jointly build a plastic waste recycling plant in Ulsan. Under the deal inked at the CES tradeshow in Las Vegas, the factory will have an expected capacity of 66,000 metric tons of end-of-life plastic waste input. The pyrolysis plant will be situated in the Ulsan plastic recycling complex, called the Ulsan Advanced Recycling Cluster. Construction of the plant will begin this year and

Jan. 9, 2023

[CES 2023] S-Oil attends CES seeking new business opportunities

S-Oil President Ryu Yul attended CES 2023 in Las Vegas where the Korean oil refiner announced its transformation into a future clean energy supplier. In the company's booth installed in the world's largest consumer electronics exhibition, S-Oil introduced venture companies that it has directly invested in search of new business opportunities. “By experiencing new future technologies on the ground, participating in CES has been a great opportunity to consider the strategies S-Oil

Jan. 9, 2023

US satellite may possibly fall around Korean Peninsula

The South Korean science ministry on Monday warned that a retired U.S. satellite could possible fall on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinities later this day. Launched in 1984, the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite is falling to Earth after completing its decadeslong mission to study how the Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the sun. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the ERBS is forecast to crash back down to Earth around 12:20-1:20 p.m. and the Korean Peninsula is included in the regio

Jan. 9, 2023

Seoul stocks open higher on eased woes over Fed's rate hikes

Seoul stocks opened higher Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street, as investors expect a slowdown in US wage growth and contraction in the services sector may prod the Federal Reserve to go easy on its aggressive rate hike plans. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 41.01 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,330.98 in the first 40 minutes of trading. Most large-cap stocks advanced across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.9 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. c

Jan. 9, 2023

S. Korea's coffee imports jump 45.1% in 2022

South Korea's imports of coffee soared nearly 45.1 percent in the first 11 months of 2022 from a year earlier on its growing popularity here, data showed Monday. The value of the country's coffee imports came to $1.19 billion in the January-November period, up 45.1 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marks the first time that South Korea's yearly coffee imports have exceeded $1 billion. Last year's amount was also up 16.7 t

Jan. 9, 2023

S. Korea to complete preparations for Level 4 autonomous car by 2024: minister

South Korea will set up safety standards and an insurance system for the launch of Level 4 autonomous vehicles in the country by next year, the transport ministry said Sunday. Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong also said the government will "dramatically" ease regulations involving autonomous cars during his visit on Jan. 7 (local time) to the booth of Motional at this year's CES 2023 in Las Vegas. Motional is a 50-50 joint venture set up in 2020 between Hyu

Jan. 8, 2023

[KH Explains] Why are banks cutting staff amid record profits?

The notion that South Korea’s banking sector guarantees “lifetime” job security is becoming a thing of the past. All four top commercial banks -- Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank and Hana Bank -- are in process of conducting voluntary retirement schemes, with aims to shed some 3,000 workers combined by the end of this month. Up to 500 million won ($398,000) is being offered as lump-sum severance pay, while relatively younger employees in their 40s are allowed to ap

Jan. 8, 2023