Startup Space Star to send mountaineer’s DNA to space

Korean space tech startup Space Star said Wednesday it will send the DNA of famous mountaineer Um Hong-gil to space, honoring his world record to have climbed the 16 highest peaks on Earth. After swabbing Um’s DNA from his mouth, the company plans to seal it in a capsule and send it to space by the end of this year. “Along with other world renowned celebrities, Um will be the first Korean celebrity to have his DNA sent to space. It is meaningful in the sense that their DNA will pe

March 2, 2022

SsangYong's Feb. sales more than double on exports

SsangYong Motor Co. said Wednesday its sales more than doubled last month from a year earlier on sharply increased exports of its SUV models. SsangYong Motor sold 7,052 vehicles in February, up from 2,789 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales jumped 70 percent to 4,540 units last month from 2,673 a year ago, while exports soared to 2,542 units from 116 during the same period, it said. SsangYong's lineup consists of the Tivoli, Korando, and Rexton and Rexton Sports

March 2, 2022

Oriental Brewery to raise beer prices over rising costs

The Korean beer maker Oriental Brewery said Wednesday it would lift prices of its beer products by an average annual rate of 7.7 percent starting from March 8.　 The price hike comes as the company seeks to offset higher raw material and packaging costs fueled by COVID-induced supply disruptions. The beer manufacturer said it has seen the global price of barley, the primary ingredient of beer, climb by 33 percent since pre-pandemic levels. The price of aluminum, the core material for packagi

March 2, 2022

Korea joins IEA to release 60m barrels as oil prices soar

To stabilize soaring global oil prices amid the heightening crisis between Russia and Ukraine, South Korea on Wednesday decided to join the International Energy Agency to release 60 million barrels to the market. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Wednesday, the 31 members of the IEA held an online meeting on Tuesday and agreed to inject some 60 million barrels of emergency reserves to alleviate concerns over an oil supply crunch as the result of Russia’s ongoing inva

March 2, 2022

K-diaspora project launched to support young ethnic Koreans overseas

The Korea Herald on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with two local organizations to support a project to build the capacity of young ethnic Koreans residing overseas. The K-Diaspora Project envisages shaping Korean youth in 190 countries – roughly 2 million in total - into global leaders that share an identity anchored in Korean roots. Godowon Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to youth mentoring, and the Blue Tree Foundation, an NGO against school violence, h

March 2, 2022

Hyundai Motor sets new global EV sales goal of 1.87m by 2030

Hyundai Motor has set a new sales target of its electric vehicles at 1.87 million units a year, aiming to secure 7 percent of global EV market share in the next eight years. Such a goal would have EVs turning into a major cash cow for the carmaker over combustion engine cars, as the portion of battery-powered vehicles in overall sales will rise to 36 percent, the carmaker said in a statement released on Wednesday. By expanding the production of EVs, Hyundai hopes to generate bigger margins of

March 2, 2022

[Newsmaker] Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju, pioneer in Korea's gaming industry, dies at 54

Kim Jung-ju, the founder of South Korea’s biggest game maker Nexon and an engineer-turned-entrepreneur who led the country’s burgeoning game industry which also made him the richest man here, passed away on Monday. He was 54. According to Nexon’s holding company NXC, Kim died on Feb. 28 in Hawaii, the United States. He had been undergoing treatments for depression and it appeared that the symptoms had become worse as of late, the company said. Born in February 1968 in Seoul,

March 2, 2022

[MWC 2022] GSMA to press streaming platforms on network cost-sharing: KT CEO

BARCELONA, Spain -- The board of GSMA, the host of Mobile World Congress 2022, has greenlighted a plan urging video streaming service providers to share telecom carriers’ costs of expanding broadband infrastructure, amid lingering conflicts over charging more network usage fees to those causing heavy internet traffic. The plan was proposed by a policy group under GSMA, which called on global content providers including Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ to contribute more

March 2, 2022

Korean asset managers start suspending Russian funds

South Korean asset managers have started suspending the issue and redemption of shares on their Russia-exposed funds as the US and its allies continued to ramp up economic sanctions against Moscow. According to market tracker FnGuide on Wednesday, nine Russia-exposed equity funds, including an exchange-traded fund, with a combined asset of 158.7 billion won ($131.6 million), are being sold by Korean financial institutions. The nine funds have already disappointed investors since the beginning o

March 2, 2022

S. Korean builder sentiment inches up in Feb.

South Korean builders' business sentiment edged up in February from a month earlier on the back of increasing orders, a poll showed Wednesday. The country's construction business survey index (CBSI) came to 86.9 last month, up 12.3 points from the previous month, according to the survey by the Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea. Yet February's tally was still below par. A reading below 100 indicates that builders who are pessimistic about the industry's current state outnumber

March 2, 2022

Internet banking use jumps 18% in 2021 amid pandemic

South Koreans' use of internet banking services soared 18 percent on-year in 2021 as customers preferred non-contact services amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Monday. The daily use of online banking services, including mobile banking, reached 17.32 million cases last year, up from 14.68 million a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Mobile banking use came to 14.36 million instances per day, up 22.9 percent from a year earlier and accounting fo

March 2, 2022

Institutions' foreign securities holdings hit new high in 2021

South Korean institutions' investment in foreign securities touched a new all-time high in 2021 amid bullish overseas stock markets, central bank data showed Wednesday. The outstanding value of foreign securities held by local institutional investors stood at $402.72 billion as of end-December last year, up $29.97 billion, or 8 percent, from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The on-year increase, however, slowed from the $42.09 billion gain reported for the prev

March 2, 2022

Public institutions eye record high investment this year

South Korean public institutions plan to increase their investment this year to a record high of 67 trillion won ($55.6 billion) in an effort to support the economic recovery, a senior government official said Wednesday. The amount will be higher than the 64.7 trillion-won investment made last year, according to Second Vice Finance Minister Ahn Do-geol. He said they plan to invest more than 35.5 trillion won, or 53 percent of the total amount, in the first half. The government said public firms'

March 2, 2022

S. Korea aims to commercialize 6G mobile services by 2028: ICT minister

South Korea will push to commercialize sixth-generation (6G) services by around 2028, the country's science minister has said. Science and ICT Minister Lim Hye-sook made the remarks on Tuesday during her speech at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2022, a mobile technology trade fair under way in Barcelona. The MWC is one of the top three annual tech events in the world, along with the Consumer Electronics Show in the United States and the IFA in Germany. "We are continuing our preparations f

March 2, 2022

POSCO launches holding firm to better focus on non-steel biz

Posco, South Korea's top steelmaker, launched a holding company Wednesday to better nurture non-steelmaking businesses, such as battery materials and hydrogen. In January, shareholders of Posco approved a plan for the steelmaker to transform into a holding company by splitting it into two business entities. After the breakup, the steelmaking group's holding company, Posco Holdings Inc., will focus on charting out future business, research and development, and investment. The steelmaking business

March 2, 2022

Celltrion's autoimmune disease biosimilar lands in S. Korea

South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Wednesday that its autoimmune disease biosimilar Yuflyma has begun sales in the domestic market. Yuflyma -- a biosimilar referencing blockbuster drug Humira by AbbVie Inc. -- is used to treat patients with multiple chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. The high-concentration biosimilar is already being marketed in major European countries following its approval from drug authorities last year. Yuflyma requ

March 2, 2022

Hyundai, Kia's US sales rise 6.4% in Feb.

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday their combined sales in the United States rose 6.4 percent in February from a year earlier despite the prolonged pandemic and chip shortages. The corporate duo sold a total of 105,088 vehicles in the world's most important automobile market last month from 98,797 units a year ago, according to the companies' sales data. Hyundai's US sales jumped 10 percent to 55,906 units from 50,735 over the cited period and Kia's also climbed 2.3 per

March 2, 2022

[Graphic News] Online food market hits new high in 2021 amid pandemic

　South Korea’s online food market jumped more than 35 percent to touch an all-time high in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　The value of online food transactions in Asia’s fourth-largest economy stood at 58.5 trillion won ($48.8 billion) last year, up 35.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and industry sources. 　The tally covers online transactions of food, groceries, farm produce, meat and fisheries goods, as well as food de

March 2, 2022

[CONTRIBUTION] Embracing change in business: Why it matters

In the face of global environmental challenges like climate change, sustainability is on every CEO‘s agenda. The debate on “net zero” dominated discussions in the sustainability arena in 2021. We are witnessing a trend where a growing number of large corporations and financial institutions are pledging to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Sustainability is top-of-mind for CEOs in Korea and around the world. It heads a shortlist of priorities that also embraces new business

March 2, 2022

Seoul stocks open lower amid Ukraine risk

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday amid continued Ukraine tensions. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 4.98 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,694.2 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The key stock index traded bearish as investors remained cautious amid the Ukraine tensions. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 1.59 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.76 percent, largely on concerns that the war in Ukraine may push up the

March 2, 2022