Korea Investment & Securities to back PAI Partners in acquiring Tropicana

The securities company Korea Investment and Securities said Monday it will participate as a joint lead arranger to back PAI Partners’ acquisition of the orange juice brand Tropicana. The Paris-based private-equity firm PAI Partners agreed to buy a majority interest in a portfolio of juice brands, including Tropicana, from PepsiCo last August. Investment banks like Credit Suisse and Bank of America are involved in helping PAI Partners obtain $4.4 billion (5.27 trillion won) in loans neede

Feb. 28, 2022

[MWC 2022] MWC back in full swing to offer new connected experience

BARCELONA/SEOUL -- Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile tech show, kicked off its four-day run in Barcelona on Monday, with big name exhibitors, including Samsung Electronics and Google, returning to flaunt their latest technologies and products. The annual convention was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2021, it was a hybrid event, with most of the product launches held online. This year’s MWC, themed “Connectivity Unleashed,” is ba

Feb. 28, 2022

Big data firm DataStreams starts online academy

Big data platform company DataStreams Corp. said Monday it launched an online academy and appointed instructors last week to deliver the firm’s big data and data governance knowledge to its staff, partners, students and the public. DS Academy will offer 57 lectures in nine courses on products, consulting, big data infrastructure, data integration using the company’s data fabric solution TeraONE, big data governance, big data fabric and artificial intelligence big data analysis, amon

Feb. 28, 2022

KB draws W543b commitment to finance wind turbine project in Jeju

South Korea’s KB Kookmin Bank said Monday it has snapped up a combined 543 billion won ($450 million) commitment to a private fund to finance a 100-megawatt wind turbine project on the southern resort island of Jeju. The private fund, which marks the largest here in terms of those tied to renewable energy, will target 18 offshore wind turbines on Jeju Island, generating a combined 100 megawatts. The value of the total project amounts to 630.3 billion won and the construction of the offsho

Feb. 28, 2022

Samsung Bioepis secures 10 biosimilars in 10 yrs

Samsung Bioepis Co. said Monday that it has secured a total of 10 biosimilar products, including five that are globally available, as the South Korean biopharmaceutical company celebrates its 10th year anniversary. Founded in 2012, Samsung Bioepis has won global approval for a total of six biosimilars -- Infliximab, Etanercept, Adalimumab, Trastuzumab, Bevacizumab and Ranibizumab. Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Biogen and Samsung Biologics Co., one of the world's major contract drug

Feb. 28, 2022

[MWC 2022] Samsung Electronics unveils Galaxy Book2, virus-proof laptop with stronger Wi-Fi

Samsung Electronics Monday released Galaxy Book2 Business, a laptop mounted with Microsoft and Intel’s anti-virus programs and advanced 6E Wi-Fi, targeting remote workers who remain vulnerable to cybersecurity threats and slow internet connections. During the annual Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, the South Korean tech giant announced the release of Galaxy Book2 Business installed with layers of protection from Intel and Microsoft. The laptop, which only weighs 1.51 kil

Feb. 28, 2022

Hana Bank to sponsor Korean athletes at 2022 Winter Paralympics

Hana Bank said Monday it will sponsor the Korea Paralympic Committee to support the South Korean delegation to the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics. The delegation consists of 32 athletes competing in six sports. 　 The bank‘s partnership with the committee dates back to 2018, when Hana Bank first started sponsoring the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Hana remains the only banking group backing the Korea Paralympic Committee. 　 This recent commitment aligns with the g

Feb. 28, 2022

Overseas card spending jumps 18.6% in 2021 on strong won

South Koreans' overseas card spending swelled nearly 19 percent in 2021 amid a strong local currency against the US dollar, central bank data showed Monday. The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, came to $12.23 billion last year, up 18.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The 2021 tally represents a sharp turnaround from a 46.1 percent on-year tumble recorded a year earlier. Last year's surge w

Feb. 28, 2022

PLANA shares vision for advanced air mobility with hybrid electric aircraft model

PLANA, a South Korean startup developing vertical take-off and landing aircraft powered by hybrid e-powertrain, shared its vision for advanced air mobility, or AAM, with its unique model at the 2022 Drone Show Korea that ended Saturday.  Plana CEO Braden J. Kim, who studied aerospace engineering and holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering, founded the company in July last year. He most recently worked at Hyundai Motor Group’s urban aircraft mobility development team.  In h

Feb. 28, 2022

S. Korea's dependency on Japan materials, parts hits fresh low in 2021

South Korea's dependency on Japanese materials and parts fell to an all-time low last year following Tokyo's control of exports of key products bound for Seoul, the industry ministry said Monday. Imports of Japanese materials, parts and equipment came to $39.5 billion in 2021, accounting for 15.9 percent of South Korea's overall purchase of those goods, according to the data from the industry and trade ministry. The figure was down 1.3 percentage points from the previous year and the lowest sinc

Feb. 28, 2022

S. Korea retains 5th place in global vehicle output: report

South Korea ranked fifth in terms of the global vehicle production last year, retaining the spot for the second consecutive year, amid efforts to minimize the fallout from the pandemic-caused global chip shortages, a report showed Monday. The combined vehicle output by South Korean carmakers, including Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., reached 3.46 million units as of end-2021, down 1.3 percent from the previous year, according to the report by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA

Feb. 28, 2022

Seoul stocks open lower amid Ukraine uncertainties

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday, as investors remained cautious amid the Ukraine tensions. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 9.61 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,667.15 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks dropped as investors digest a new set of sanctions by the United States and Western nations on Russia over the Kremlin's attack on Ukraine. Most stocks retreated in Seoul, led by foreign and institutional sell-offs. Market bellwether Samsung E

Feb. 28, 2022

Home transactions dip 54% in Jan. on lending curbs

Home transactions in South Korea tumbled more than 50 percent in January amid tough lending curbs and rising interest rates, government data showed Monday. The number of homes changing hands nationwide stood at 41,709 units last month, down 54 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Compared with the previous month, the January tally was down 22.4 percent. The number of home transactions in the greater Seoul area, which includes

Feb. 28, 2022

Booyoung offers scholarships to international students in Korea

Booyoung Group’s Woojung Education and Culture Foundation provided scholarships totaling 350 million won ($292,000) to 89 international students studying in Korea for the first semester of the 2022 academic year. The recipients are from 34 countries including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Cambodia. Since 2010, the foundation has granted financial support to Asian, African and Latin American students on a semester basis. Scholarships worth 83 billion won have been gi

Feb. 27, 2022

Market regulators, banks mull Ukraine contingencies

South Korea’s financial regulators have begun drafting contingency arrangements, such as ramping up market monitoring and readying market stabilization funds, to grapple with the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, which has led the local stock market to shed 162 trillion won ($134 billion) over the last two months. “At alert level 2, we’re keeping an eye on the stock market and prepared to deploy our resources, should it need our intervention,” a source with knowledge

Feb. 27, 2022

Hyundai E&C opens virtual model home for Songdo Hillstate Lake

Hyundai Engineering & Construction opened a virtual model home for its new Hillstate Lake apartment complex that will be constructed in Songdo, Incheon, the company said Sunday. 　 The virtual tour delivers an immersive experience that allows customers to view a detailed profile of the floorplan. The service is available on the Hillstate Lake official website. 　 The new build marks the fourth apartment complex of the Hillstate village in Songdo Landmark City, where the first three complexes

Feb. 27, 2022

40% of young Koreans feel poor

Four out of 10 young Koreans consider themselves poor, citing familial transfer of wealth as a key factor aggravating the social divide, data showed Sunday. According to data from National Youth Policy Institute, 42.6 percent of 4,114 respondents aged between 19 and 34 said they think they’re are poor and of those, some 34.3 percent answered they believe that they won’t be able to get out of poverty. Only some 28.5 percent said they think they can. Some 41.4 percent said they earne

Feb. 27, 2022

Hyundai’s Ioniq 5, Kia’s EV6 named most competitive EVs

Hyundai Motor Group’s electric SUV models Ioniq 5 and EV6 have been picked as the most competitive electric SUVs in a ranking by the German automotive magazine Auto Zeitung, beating the same segment models from Mercedes-Benz, Tesla and Polestar, the carmaker said. Auto Zeitung’s latest edition compared Hyundai’s Ioniq 5, Kia’s EV6, Polestar’s Polestar 2, Tesla’s Model Y and Mercedes-Benz’s EQB, based on the categories of driving comfort, powertrain, dr

Feb. 27, 2022

Starbucks Korea donates Han Yong-un’s handwriting to mark Independence Day

Starbucks Korea said Sunday that it has donated a piece of calligraphy by Manhae Han Yong-un, a 20th century Korean Buddhist reformer and poet who also fought for Korea’s independence, to the National Trust for Cultural Heritage to mark the 103th anniversary of Korea’s Independence Movement Day that falls on March 1.  The writing, which reads “Jeon Dae Beob Ryun,” has the meaning that a world of great truth does not settle but constantly evolves. As the only piece

Feb. 27, 2022

Hana Bank to expand art wealth management

Hana Bank said Sunday it will expand its wealth management services to trading art pieces -- both physical and digital -- amid growing retail demand for alternative assets. Hana Bank has forged a partnership with Seoul Auction Blue, an online auction house, to jointly work on developing new businesses such as nonfungible tokens and metaverse platforms, and operating online education and community platforms on art. The two will also provide traditional art services including artwork sales, art

Feb. 27, 2022