Seoul shares tumble, local currency at over 13-yr low amid recession woes

Seoul shares tumbled on Wednesday as foreigners and institutions dumped holdings amid worries over the US Federal Reserve's continued aggressive rate hikes and their impact on the global economy. The Korean won also slid to the lowest point in more than 13 years. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.39 percent, or 33.56 points, to 2,376.46. Trading volume was moderate at 370.02 million shares worth 7.29 trillion won (US$5.3 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 768 to 1

Sept. 7, 2022

Hyundai Motor Group opens Korea’s largest driving experience center

  Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday that it has opened the country’s largest driving experience center in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, in an aim to lead the country’s automotive culture. The HMG Driving Experience Center is located on 1.26 million square meters of land that was formerly used as Hankook Tire’s automotive proving ground Technoring. It is the largest proving ground in Asia. The center also includes a second-story building to accommodate 15,000 visitor

Sept. 7, 2022

Typhoon-hit Posco plant comes to complete halt for first time

  South Korean steel giant Posco said Wednesday it has suspended operations of its steel manufacturing plant in the southeastern city of Pohang, Gyeongsang Province, due to flooding caused by Typhoon Hinnamnor that passed by the peninsula Tuesday. It is the first time that operations at the Pohang plant has come to a complete standstill since its establishment in 1973. The suspension comes after storms and heavy rains swept the region, causing power outage at key facilities at the plant, in

Sept. 7, 2022

GS Group shares new biz plans

GS Group’s executives in charge of tapping new businesses gathered on Wednesday to share where they stand in mergers and acquisitions, business partnerships and venture investments under the conglomerate’s new biz strategy -- “eco-friendly, digital future growth.” The executives shared details such as the technology and business models of the companies they have invested in, and opportunities for collaboration between the firms and GS in areas including biotech, circular

Sept. 7, 2022

SK Broadband invests $4m in collaboration platform developer Swit

SK Broadband has decided to invest $4 million (5.5 billion won) in US collaboration platform developer Swit as the company seeks to boost its competitiveness in the business-to-business sector, the South Korean internet service provider said Wednesday. On top of the investment, SK Broadband said the company will become the sole distributor of Swit in the domestic market while pushing for collaboration businesses including new products that will integrate its message and fax services with Swit&r

Sept. 7, 2022

Eximbank to offer $100m financing to Chilean lithium producer

The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Wednesday it is offering a $100 million funding, consisting of a $55 million loan and a $45 million loan guarantee, to a Chilean mineral producer in efforts to help local companies secure a stable supply of lithium, a key material for batteries. SQM or Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile is the second-largest lithium-producing company in the world that operates lithium mines in Chile and Australia. The company’s production capacity makes up almost 19 pe

Sept. 7, 2022

MBK chairman to donate $10m to New York’s Met Museum

Seoul-based private equity house MBK Partners Founder and Chairman Michael Byung-ju Kim will donate $10 million to help the renovation work of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, both the firm and the museum said Wednesday. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that Michael ByungJu Kim has pledged $10 million to support the renovation of the Museum’s Oscar L. and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing for modern and contemporary art," the Met said in an official press relea

Sept. 7, 2022

Mercedes-Benz hosts school-zone traffic safety campaign

Bettina Fetzer, vice president of communications and marketing at Mercedes-Benz AG, participated in a campaign on Wednesday promoting school-zone traffic safety in front of an elementary school located in Songpa-gu, southeastern Seoul. The campaign, co-hosted by the Mercedes-Benz Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and the Kids & Future Foundation, was conducted as part of a business agreement signed in April with the Green Mother’s Society, a local advocacy group for children’

Sept. 7, 2022

LG Innotek gains recognition from GM for 5 consecutive years

LG Innotek was acknowledged for its quality of automotive components provided to General Motors for five consecutive years, the company said Wednesday. The South Korean major electronics parts maker won the 2021 GM Supplier Quality Excellence Award, marking its fifth consecutive win since 2017. The award is given by GM every year to its partners whose supplies meet GM’s standard of zero quality defects. The auto parts go through strict quality control, as they are directly connected to t

Sept. 7, 2022

Hongik Univ. students win top James Dyson Awards

The James Dyson Foundation, global home appliance company Dyson's charity arm, announced Wednesday the local recipients of the James Dyson Awards 2022, an engineering competition held both locally and internationally to provide opportunities for young engineers to showcase their ideas on a global stage. Of the 125 entries, a team of students from Hongik University took first place for designing a rotating safety hook. When temporary scaffolding is raised at construction sites, there are poi

Sept. 7, 2022

Won dips below 1,380 level per dollar for 1st time in more than 13 years

The South Korean currency on Wednesday declined below the 1,380-won level against the U.S. dollar for the first time in more than 13 years during intraday trading amid a sharp decline in the country's current account surplus. The local currency had been trading at 1,387.30 won per dollar as of 11:25 a.m., down 15.60 won from the previous session's close. In the morning session, the won slid to as low as 1,388.40 against the greenback at one point. It marked the first time that the Kore

Sept. 7, 2022

Seoul shares open lower on US losses; local currency plunges

Seoul stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street as investors remained concerned over the US Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes to combat runaway inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had fallen 0.71 percent, or 17.06 points, to 2,392.96 as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.7 percent amid worries over the Fed's continued rate increases and a looming energy c

Sept. 7, 2022

S. Korea's current account surplus plunges as goods balance turns red amid soaring import bills

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the third straight month in July, but the surplus plunged as the goods balance turned red for the first time in about 10 years due to fast-rising import costs of energy and other commodities, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's current account surplus came to $1.09 billion in July, compared with a surplus of $5.61 billion posted a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The July surplus was

Sept. 7, 2022

Hyundai Motor to develop automation tech for world's first smart cargo terminal

Hyundai Motor Group has teamed up with Hanjin KAL, the parent firm of national flag carrier Korean Air, and Incheon International Airport Corp. on Tuesday to jointly develop automation technology for Incheon Airport's smart cargo terminal infrastructure. The technology will be applied to Incheon Airport’s airsides, the aircraft take-off and landing areas such as runways. This business agreement is part of the IIAC’s project, initiated in April, last year, to prepare infrastructure fo

Sept. 6, 2022

SK hynix to spend W15tr on new memory chip fab in Cheongju by 2025

South Korean memory chip giant SK hynix announced on Tuesday plans to build a new memory chip fab in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province by early 2025 and spend 15 trillion won ($10.9 billion) in the next five years on the new site. The new two-story fab on 60,000 square meters of land, called M15X, will start construction in October. The new plant will be an expansion of the existing M15 line built in 2018. SK hynix said the memory product manufactured by the new fab has yet to be determined

Sept. 6, 2022

Corporate tax cuts to increase by W1.4 tr in 2023

SEJONG -- The scale of tax cuts for businesses will increase by more than 1 trillion won ($727 million) on-year in 2023, with its portion of total tax cuts for the overall sectors rising, state data showed Tuesday. According to next year’s budget on tax expenditures, submitted by the Finance Ministry to the National Assembly, the collective tax cuts for the overall sectors are estimated at 69.3 trillion won. Of them, corporate tax cuts -- including deductions for spending on fostering ma

Sept. 6, 2022

South Korea to see trade deficit for time being: Bank of Korea

Higher energy import bills, prompted by changes in the global economy, are to blame for the five-month trade deficit since April, with the trend likely to continue for the next three months, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday in a research paper. The August trade deficit came to $9.47 billion, a monthly record since 1956 when the Trade Ministry began to collect such data. The January-August deficit of $24.7 billion has already surpassed the yearly high set in 1996. Higher prices of energy and petrol

Sept. 6, 2022

More Koreans refuse to cook for Chuseok

Kim kyung-hee, a housewife in her 60s, who hated the idea of laying out store-bought meals on a “jesa” table, which is usually placed with homemade food to honor ancestors, is considering buying one or two packaged meals this year for the Chuseok holiday. “With rising inflation, it is just too expensive to buy all the food ingredients from markets. But mostly, I don’t want to burden my son and daughter-in-law, asking them to help in the kitchen,” Kim said. &ldquo

Sept. 6, 2022

Seoul stocks end 3-day losing streak; Korean won at over 13-year low

Seoul shares closed higher on Tuesday, snapping a three-day losing streak, as individuals scooped up large-cap stocks amid concerns over the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes and a global recession. The Korean won tumbled to an over 13-year low against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.26 percent, or 6.34 points, to 2,410.02. Trading volume was moderate at 283.43 million shares worth 5.34 trillion won ($3.9 billion), with gainers

Sept. 6, 2022

[Photo News] Chuseok energy

A wholesale market in Incheon is crowded with shoppers buying food ahead of Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving holiday that kicks off on Friday.

Sept. 6, 2022