Two-thirds of listed firms hike 2021 dividends

Two-thirds of South Korea's listed firms have sharply increased their 2021 dividends in an apparent bid to appease shareholders amid a bearish stock market, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. About 67 percent of 853 companies, which have announced their 2021 dividends as of Monday, have decided to raise their payouts from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. The ratio is up 20.4 percent points from 46.2 percent recorded in the 2020 fiscal year. The increase comes as the local bourse has been

March 2, 2022

S. Korea's production, consumption fall in January

South Korea's production and private spending both fell for the first time in nearly two years in January, due largely to a high base effect, data showed Wednesday. Industrial output fell 0.3 percent in January from the previous month, compared with a 1.3 percent on-month gain in December last year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the largest on-month fall since July 2021 when industrial output decreased 0.8 percent. Retail sales, a gauge of private spending, logged

March 2, 2022

Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju dies at 54

Kim Jung-ju, founder of South Korea’s biggest game maker Nexon, passed away on Monday. He was 54. Nexon’s holding company NXC said Tuesday evening that Kim died in Hawaii, US, on Feb. 28. He had been undergoing treatments for depression and it appeared that the symptoms had become worse as of late, it said. The cause of death was not given. Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney paid condolences to Kim. “It is difficult to express the tragedy of losing our friend and mentor Jay Kim, a man w

March 1, 2022

Hyundai Motor halts production in Russia for 5 days

Hyundai Motor has shut down its manufacturing plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Tuesday for five days, citing a semiconductor shortage, the company's headquarters in Seoul confirmed. “The plant will be shut down temporarily due to supply disruption caused by a semiconductor shortage,“ an industry official said. "The decision has nothing to do with Russia and Ukraine.” According to local reports, the carmaker has also stopped its car deliveries to dealers. Hyundai sold

March 1, 2022

Posco to invest W5tr in Gwangyang steel mill

Posco Group will invest 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, one of the steel giant’s two production bases, for the next three years, according to industry sources Tuesday. This year alone, an estimated 1.7 trillion won will be invested to beef up production of eco-friendly high-strength steels like electrical steels for cars, as well as to expand overall production capacity at the steelmaking complex in the region. Sources say the new investment plan come

March 1, 2022

Kia EV6 becomes first Korean car to be named European Car of the Year

Kia announced Tuesday that its first dedicated electric vehicle EV6 has become the first South Korean car to be named the Car of the Year in the European Car of the Year awards. EV6 took the throne, beating out over 60 models launched in 2021 listed as candidates for the 2022 Car of the Year. Among the top seven finalists were Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Skoda Enyaq iV, Cupra Born, Renault Megane E-Tech and Peugeot 308. The Car of the Year was chosen by 61 auto journalists from 23

March 1, 2022

S. Korea’s crypto assets exceed W55tr

South Korea’s crypto assets market has grown to 55.2 trillion won ($45.9 billion) as of end-2021, with the number of users amounting to nearly 5.58 million, according to a recent study by the nation’s top financial regulator on Tuesday. The Financial Service Commission conducted the study, a first of its kind, based on data compiled from a total of 24 licensed crypto currency exchange operators here. Daily transactions through the 24 exchanges reached 11.3 trillion won on average,

March 1, 2022

Average daily exports hit record-high in February

SEJONG -- The nation’s average exports a day reached an all-time high in February despite deepening market and geopolitical uncertainty, involving high raw materials prices worldwide and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, state data showed Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, South Korea’s average daily exports recorded $2.69 billion last month, up 17.6 percent, compared to $2.29 billion posted a year earlier. This marked the highest since the nation started

March 1, 2022

Hana appoints first female CEO for fund accounting arm

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group has appointed its first female CEO for an affiliate, under an executive reshuffle carried out in line with the nomination of its new Chairman Ham Young-joo. On Monday, Hana said it had tapped Roe Yu-joung, executive director at its flagship commercial lender Hana Bank, to lead its fund accounting arm Hana Investors Services. Roe entered Hana Bank in 1992 and climbed her way up the corporate ladder, becoming the lender’s executive director in Janu

March 1, 2022

[MWC 2022] Samsung’s mobile head declares end of Galaxy Note

BARCELONA, Spain -- Samsung Electronics will discontinue its phablet Galaxy Note series to make way for the high-end Galaxy S22 Ultra lineup, Samsung’s mobile business head said Monday. “The Ultra line for S series will fill in the Galaxy Note lineup every year from now on,” Roh Tae-moon, president and head of Mobile eXperience business at Samsung Electronics, told reporters at MWC 2022 during his visit to Samsung’s exhibition. Samsung’s MX business oversees hands

March 1, 2022

[MWC 2022] Samsung CEO hints at XR comeback for metaverse trend

BARCELONA, Spain -- Samsung Electronics CEO Han Jong-hee has hinted at making a comeback to the global extended reality headset market with a new device that works on a metaverse platform, signalling a possible end to the firm’s three-year hiatus from the industry. “(Metaverse-related devices) are now the talk of the town, so we have buckled down to a task to cope with the trend. It won’t take too long,” Han, vice chairman and one of Samsung’s two CEOs who is in ch

March 1, 2022

[MWC 2022] SKT CEO bets future on metaverse, AI chip, quantum cryptography

BARCELONA, Spain -- SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang announced at World Mobile Congress 2022 on Monday, local time, that the firm has chosen three new technologies to seek future growths -- metaverse, artificial intelligence chips and quantum cryptography. During a press conference, Ryu pledged to make a foray into those future technologies this year as the company has accumulated enough know-how on 5G, which was commercialized three years ago. Based on its 5G experience, SKT aims to introduc

March 1, 2022

Exports up 20.6% in Feb. on robust chip, auto shipments

South Korea's exports jumped 20.6 percent in February from a year earlier as overseas shipments of chips, autos and other key products increased amid a global economic recovery, data showed Tuesday. Customs-cleared outbound shipments stood at $53.91 billion last month, up from $44.71 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It is the highest figure for February since the ministry began compiling related data in 1956. It a

March 1, 2022

2022 fiscal deficit likely to surpass W70tr

SEJONG -- The nation is projected to see the fiscal deficit sharply increase this year in the wake of allocation of the supplementary budget worth 16.9 trillion won ($14 billion), state data showed Monday. In addition, there is a possibility that the fiscal deficit will further increase, as two major presidential candidates have pledged to draw up new supplementary budgets amid growing uncertainty over the economy due to external factors as well as the ongoing pandemic. According to the Minist

Feb. 28, 2022

Seoul stocks advance on hopes for Ukraine-Russia talks

South Korean stocks closed higher Monday after choppy trading, backed by reports that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to talks. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 22.42 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 2,699.18 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 604 million shares worth some 12.7 trillion won ($10.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 631 to 240. Foreigners bought a net 89 billion won and retail investors p

Feb. 28, 2022

[MWC 2022] KT debuts AI coaching app for K-pop dance

KT Corp. said Monday it has debuted a new artificial intelligence-based coaching app for K-pop dance, called KT Real Dance, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that kicked off Monday. When users dance in front of a smartphone camera along with a virtual instructor, the app records a synchronized video, analyzes dance moves, and offers tips on how to improve one‘s dancing skills. The app also counts calories burned during the dance classes as well. At its MWC exhibition booth, K

Feb. 28, 2022

Next-gen genome writing picked as future biotech

The technology of next-generation genome writing in the field of platform bio will be essential to leading the future in the competitive era of technology hegemony, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology said Monday, as it announced 10 promising future biotechnologies for this year. The state-run institute said the technology of next-generation genome writing, which allows designing DNA and quickly combining it at a mass scale, will help mankind overcome technical limitat

Feb. 28, 2022

S. Korea remains 5th in global car production: KAMA

South Korea was the fifth-largest country in the world in terms of auto production last year, keeping its rank for the second consecutive year despite the chip shortage-triggered decrease in car manufacturing, data showed Monday. According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the country produced some 3.46 million cars, a 1.3 percent decrease from the year before. KAMA explained that despite a global shortage of semiconductors, South Korea was able to minimize the decrease in out

Feb. 28, 2022

Number of safety accidents deaths down after new industrial law

The number of deaths at workplaces due to safety accidents has fallen compared to a year ago after the country enforced a strengthened industrial safety act, according to government data.  The Labor Ministry data showed that from Jan. 27 to Feb. 26, a total of 42 people died from 35 fatal industrial safety accidents, compared to 52 deaths from 52 accidents that occurred over the same period last year.  In a one month period, 18 workers in the manufacturing industry lost their lives,

Feb. 28, 2022

S. Korea to seek exemption for local firms from US tech sanctions against Russia

South Korea will seek close consultations with the United States to receive an exemption from Washington's recently expanded sanctions against Russia to minimize the impact of the restrictions on local firms and the economy, the country's top trade official said Monday. Last week, the US government announced the Foreign Direct Product Rule (FDPR) for "all of Russia" as part of sweeping export controls over its recent invasion of Ukraine, which requires companies to receive a license f

Feb. 28, 2022