SK oil trading arm invests in e-fuel company

SK Trading International (SKTI), a subsidiary of SK Innovation that trades crude oil and petroleum products, said it will invest in a US company that produces electrofuels, or e-fuels, using captured carbon dioxide. Based in Sacramento, California, Infinium synthesizes hydrogen with carbon dioxide, using its gas-to-liquid technology, and is likely to be the first company to commercialize e-fuels, SK Innovation said. Infinium plans to begin its first commercial production of electrofuels early ne

Oct. 13, 2022

BOK's big-step rate hike coincides with gov't view: finance minister

WASHINGTON/SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Thursday the central bank's decision to take another big-step rate hike was necessary to cope with inflation and the strong US dollar. On the previous day, the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised the benchmark seven-day repo rate from 2.5 percent to 3 percent in line with efforts to bring inflation under control. It is the first time in about 10 years that the rate has risen to the 3 percent range. "There are absolutely no difference

Oct. 13, 2022

KRX resumes trading of SillaJen

South Korea’s stock exchange decided Wednesday to resume trading of the troubled biotech company SillaJen, effectively ending a suspension of over two years to a divided response from the market.   The Korea Exchange’s Kosdaq market committee decided to keep SillaJen listed on the secondary, tech-heavy bourse in a decision that followed an hourslong meeting. It has yet to release a detailed explanation for  its decision, but a KRX official, requesting anonymity, told

Oct. 12, 2022

[Photo News] Kimchi for everyone

An advertising campaign video for kimchi, co-produced by South Korea's leading kimchi maker Daesang and Seo Kyung-duk, an expert in promoting Korea overseas, plays in New York's Times Square on Monday. Under the slogan, "Taste the original," the campaign aims to promote Korea as the originator of kimchi as well as customer awareness worldwide.  

Oct. 12, 2022

Finance ministry tells global investors Korean FX market slated to be open 24/7

SEJONG -- South Korea’s economic policymakers said the government will allow foreign-based financial firms to “directly” participate in the local foreign exchange market during a meeting with global investment bank executives. Saying that the policy is a part of the government’s effort to provide a foreign investor-friendly environment, the officials reiterated that Korea is mapping out details on the upcoming extension of the foreign exchange market’s opening hour

Oct. 12, 2022

Kakao Bank, Krafton employees feel pain of bear market

Amid the white-hot stock rally of 2021, they were the envy of all. Those working at the year’s biggest market debutants Krafton and Kakao Bank were given chances to buy stocks in their company at a set price, via employee share ownership plans. However, none of those who bought the employee stocks are seeing profits now, as the shares are currently trading at less than half the price they paid. On Blind, an anonymous workplace community app, a verified Kakao Bank employee revealed a loss

Oct. 12, 2022

S. Korea confirms second big rate hike as surging dollar adds to inflation woes

The Bank of Korea returned to its second outsized rate hike since July as a surging US dollar and higher import bills chip away at efforts to curb persistent inflation. The central bank raised its policy rate to a 10-year high of 3 percent by 50 basis points on Wednesday -- an increase that is twice the usual size and marks a break from the August guidance that supported a gradual 25 basis point hike until this year’s last round of a rate-setting meeting in November. “We need to step

Oct. 12, 2022

[Newsmaker] Chung leads Hyundai’s transformation toward software-powered mobility

For decades, Hyundai Motor and Kia, two brands under South Korean automotive empire Hyundai Motor Group, had long been perceived as manufacturers of low-end, entry-level vehicles. The global awareness of the Korean car brands, however, has changed in recent years with many projecting them today as mobility innovators and a reliable sources of quality. At the center of such significant change is Chung Euisun, third-generation chaebol scion and the son of former chairman Chung Mong-koo, who begin

Oct. 12, 2022

Renault CEO vows investments to make Korea export hub

Renault Group will be investing hundreds of millions of euros in South Korea for the next six years to turn the country into an export hub for its mid to large-size vehicles, its CEO said Tuesday in Seoul. “We want to make Korea the key export hub for large (-vehicle) segments. Being in Korea is also a fantastic way for us to keep the group partnered to one of the most innovative tech ecosystems in the world. We have a lot to learn here,” said Luca de Meo during a press conference he

Oct. 12, 2022

KITA chief urges US to delay EV tax breaks

Christopher Koo, chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, has called for the US to allow at least a three-year delay in implementing a US bill on tax benefits for electric vehicles that is highly disadvantageous for Korean carmakers exporting EVs there. Koo met with US Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia on Tuesday (US time) to deliver KITA's position on the matter. KITA, one of the largest trade lobbies in Korea, represents some 2,000 firms. “Koo asked the senator to consider dela

Oct. 12, 2022

SKT, UAE’s e& Group join hands to launch meterverse service in Middle East

South Korean wireless telecommunications operator SK Telecom, which operates its own metaverse platform called ifland, said Wednesday it signed a deal with United Arab Emirates’ top telecommunications carrier e& Group to provide its metaverse service to Middle Eastern countries. Under the memorandum of understanding, South Korea’s leading telecommunications carrier will be developing an optimal metaverse service tailored to Middle Eastern users’ tastes, based on the data e&

Oct. 12, 2022

SK On to acquire 10% stake in Lake Resources

South Korean lithium-ion battery maker SK On has signed a conditional framework agreement to buy a 10 percent stake in Australian lithium developer Lake Resources in its new rights offering, a filing showed Wednesday. SK On will buy the stake in June 2023 on the condition that the high-purity lithium extraction from brine water in Lake Resources' flagship projects, including Kachi Project in Argentina, yields a "positive result," according to the filing with the Financial Supervisory S

Oct. 12, 2022

Korean chipmakers given 1-year grace period on US chip export curb on China

South Korean chipmakers will be given a one-year grace period that would allow for their China-based chip plants to continue to import critical chipmaking tools from the United States, without the licensing requirements announced the previous week by the Joe Biden administration. Memory chip maker SK hynix revealed that the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has assured SK hynix that the company, its suppliers and business partners are still authorized to engage in

Oct. 12, 2022

LG Energy Solution, Honda to build $4.4b battery plant in Ohio

South Korean lithium-ion battery maker LG Energy Solution and Japanese automaker Honda have selected Fayette County, Ohio as the location to commit to a combined $4.4 billion to build an electric vehicle battery plant beginning 2023, the companies said Wednesday. The construction was initially estimated to cost $3.5 billion. Once the construction is complete by the end of 2024, the new plant will start to mass produce pouch-type lithium-ion batteries beginning 2025 with the annual production cap

Oct. 12, 2022

KT&G, Mirae Asset launch W40b matching fund

KT&G Corp. and Mirae Asset Financial Group launched a strategic matching fund to invest in startups and find new growth engines. The two contributed 20 billion won ($13.9 million) each into the new fund which will invest mainly in health care and companies with good environmental, social and corporate governance. Mirae Asset Capital will manage the fund, KT&G said in a press release. KT&G said it will work together with Mirae Asset Capital in reviewing new areas of business, discove

Oct. 12, 2022

Seoul shares open lower ahead of BOK rate decision

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as investors awaited the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s decision on the policy rate later in the day amid woes over a global economic recession. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 7.74 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,184.33 in the first 15 minutes of trading. South Korea's central bank will decide on whether to deliver another outsized rate hike to combat inflation. The BOK has been lifting its policy rate since August last year

Oct. 12, 2022

[Korea Quiz] (24) The Samsung brand

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed. Find the answer at the bottom of this page. You may know of Samsung just as a TV or phone brand. But on its home turf of South Korea, it is a household name for many more things -- almost too many. Here, a person can be living in a Samsung apartment, wear Samsung suits to work, eat lunch at a Samsung-run cafeteria at work, check stock prices via Samsung’s securities app, get

Oct. 12, 2022

S. Korea's trade lobby group chief calls for reprieve of US law on EV credits

The chief of South Korea's trade lobby group has called for the United States to allow at least a three-year delay in the implementation of a new US law on tax credits for electric vehicle buyers seen as a disadvantage to Korean automakers. Koo Ja-yeol, chair of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), delivered the message when he met with US Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Pat Wilson, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development in the southeastern US state,

Oct. 12, 2022

SK Innovation's trading unit invests in US clean fuel company

SK Trading International Co., a subsidiary of South Korean refiner SK Innovation Co., said Wednesday it has invested in a U.S. clean fuel company to bolster its green energy drive. The company did not disclose the amount of the investment in Infinium, a California-based startup that engages in the production of electrofuels, an ultra-low carbon fuel as an alternative to fossil-based fuels. Infinium's electrofuels use carbon dioxide waste and renewable power from wind, solar and hydroelectri

Oct. 12, 2022

IMF predicts gloomy outlook for Korea, urges monetary tightening

SEJONG -- The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday suggested a gloomy prediction for the 2023 economy of the world as well as South Korea, citing protracted downside risks such as high inflation and cheap currencies against the US dollar. In its World Economic Outlook, the US-based organization revised its forecast on the 2023 gross domestic product growth of global economy down to 2.7 percent, from its earlier suggestion of 2.9 percent. It also slashed its outlook on Korea by 0.1 percentage

Oct. 11, 2022