Probe expands into workplace accidents amid confusion over new rules

Authorities are widening investigations into a series of severe workplace accidents under a new industrial safety law, with businesses on high alert for its impact across industries. According to the Labor Ministry Sunday, authorities have launched probes into a total of six cases, involving 11 deaths, since the law took effect on Jan. 27. Many of the accidents occurred at construction sites. Three died in a landslide accident at Sampyo Industry’s quarry in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province on

Feb. 20, 2022

[Newsmaker] aT CEO at vanguard of global green food campaign

Going green is not just about having more electric vehicles or shutting down old factories powered by fossil fuels, says the head of South Korea’s food distribution and export promotion agency, but also extending that eco-friendly thinking to the table. Not just reducing food waste but also choosing to eat more local production would make a greater impact on the Earth, said Kim Choon-jin, president of Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. Kim and his agency have been taking an ini

Feb. 20, 2022

CEOs call on next government to offer tax incentives for growth

Business leaders here called on the next government to raise tax revenue by boosting the economy rather than seeking tax hikes on businesses, according to a survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry released Sunday. Of the 252 CEOs surveyed, 70 percent said economic growth should be prioritized for the next government to revamp the nation’s taxation policy, calling for more tax incentives for businesses. The CEOs urged to reduce corporate taxes overall, expand support for st

Feb. 20, 2022

South Korea’s fiscal deficit tops W100tr as spending surged amid COVID-19

South Korea’s fiscal deficit reached over 100 trillion won ($83 billion), while national debt logged a deficit of 240 trillion won, as the country was bogged down by COVID-19 woes in the past two years, data from the Finance Ministry showed Sunday. With an additional 70 trillion won in fiscal deficit and 100 trillion won of national debt projected to be added this year, based on the size of the supplementary budget currently being discussed by officials and lawmakers, onlookers are expre

Feb. 20, 2022

Samsung Electronics No. 1 in global TV market for 16 years straight

Samsung Electronics has maintained its lead in the global TV market for 16 consecutive years by pursuing a premium strategy with its QLED TVs, the firm said. According to market tracker Omdia Sunday, the South Korean tech giant last year topped the global TV market, commanding 29.5 percent by sales amount and 19.8 percent by market share. “Samsung Electronics propelled the No. 1 position via a premium strategy centered on QLED TVs. Since their launch in 2017, more than 26 million units

Feb. 20, 2022

SK On aims to be global No. 1 EV battery player: CEO

SK On co-CEO Jee Dong-seob said Sunday he will make the company the world’s No. 1 electric vehicle battery player with products that excel in safety, performance and price competitiveness. During an interview, the SK On official laid out three core strategies to take on market leaders such as CATL and LG Energy Solution and become No. 1 by 2030. Jee first pledged to offer the safest, the cheapest and the most high-performing EV batteries to clients. “Thanks to its technology and

Feb. 20, 2022

Naver’s webtoon dominance continues

South Korean IT giant Naver’s webtoon business is continuing its dominance in the global market, getting recognized as the world’s best webtoon application while posting a record high number of users. Naver Webtoon has been honored as the world’s best webtoon application in the mobile app market by analyzer Sensor Tower’s 2021 Asia-Pacific Awards, the company said Friday. Sensor Tower said Naver Webtoon is the most successful webtoon application in Asia, adding that i

Feb. 20, 2022

[Weekender] Investing in the metaverse: Look before you leap

Touted as the next big thing, the metaverse has been undeniably the talk of the global town since last year. The metaverse frenzy accelerated further when Facebook changed its name to Meta in October. Hoping to take the lead in the new online virtual world, all sectors regardless of their specializations have jumped on the metaverse bandwagon. This has led to lofty projections luring individual investors. The global metaverse market is forecast to reach $829 billion (993 trillion won) in 202

Feb. 19, 2022

SillaJen granted second grace period amid calls against delisting

SillaJen, a local biotech company that was given a one-year grace period and avoided delisting in November 2020 over embezzlement accusations involving its key executives, will be put on another six-month grace period, the Korea Exchange said Friday. A 22-month trading halt that began in May 2020 will remain in place. The KRX, which decided to take the firm off from the junior Kosdaq board a month ago after the initial grace period had ended, said SillaJen will be required to prove to have live

Feb. 18, 2022

Samsung faces shareholder call for more radical green push

Despite a series of actions and pledges to make its business more environmentally sustainable, Samsung is still facing calls for a more aggressive approach to reducing greenhouse gases from global institutional shareholders of the tech titan. The latest to do so was APG, a Dutch pension fund that oversees nearly 630 billion euros ($716 billion). On Thursday, APG revealed that Samsung Electronics was one of the 10 South Korea-based investees to which it has sent a letter urging a greater effort

Feb. 18, 2022

Biometric technology halves payment costs, Boston Consulting says

Alert credit card companies in Korea. Biometric technology using facial, iris, voice, fingerprint and finger vein recognition could halve the current money transfer costs through credit card and mobile transactions totaling at 2.7 trillion won ($2.2 billion) annually, Boston Consulting Group said Friday in a report. “The 2.7 trillion won is an approximation of the sum of 290 million hours and 110.7 million square meters, time and space annually needed to process payments in the convention

Feb. 18, 2022

Korea to make public food prices at franchises to tame inflation

SEJONG – Economic policymakers are moving to tame consumer prices under their assessment that inflationary pressures would continue this month, Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said Friday. Several policy measures set to be taken include making price tags of food products at large-scale dining franchises publicized and extending fuel tax redemption. “Prices of dining out increased by 5.5 percent in January on-year. This marked the highest growth (in almost 13 years) since 5.

Feb. 18, 2022

Seoul stocks edge up on expectations of US-Russia talks

South Korean stocks edged up on Friday after choppy trading amid expectations of a US-Russia meeting next week about the standoff over Ukraine. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 0.43 point, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,744.52 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 506 million shares worth some 8.4 trillion won ($7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 622 to 225. Institutions bought a net 103 billion won and reta

Feb. 18, 2022

Only two in world: Shinsegae to sell e-motorbikes inspired by its heir’s image

Shinsegae International will launch a limited-edition electric bike in collaboration with Super73, US-based electric motorbike manufacturer. By limited edition, they mean only two in the world. The company‘s signature gorilla character JRilla, designed after Shinsegae heir Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin, is the bike‘s mascot. The product even has its own narrative: JRilla, originally from Mars, opted for an electric bike in favor of both the environment and style while navigating h

Feb. 18, 2022

Beauty video platform Zamface raises W4.5b

Zackdang, operator of beauty video platform Zamface, said Wednesday it raised 4.5 billion won ($3.76 million) from Hi Investment Partners and Daesung Private Equity in January. With the fresh investment, the company’s cumulative investment has reached 11 billion won. Zamface saw its number of cumulative subscribers surpass 1.8 million in only 2 1/2 years since its launch in January 2019. Millennial- and Generation Z-females take up the lion’s share, or 94 percent, of its user base,

Feb. 18, 2022

Global DRAM shipments, prices down in Q4: report

Global DRAM shipments dropped nearly 6 percent in the fourth quarter from three months earlier, a report showed Friday, amid sluggish demand from manufacturers that had hoarded up the key consumer electronics component over continued chip shortages. DRAM shipments during the October-December period were valued at $25 billion, down 5.8 percent globally from the previous quarter, according to the data provided by industry tracker TrendForce. Declining purchasing momentum, it said, also led to a dr

Feb. 18, 2022

KT to pay $6.3m to US SEC to settle corrupt practice charges

KT, South Korea’s largest telecommunications firm by sales, will pay a total of $6.3 million to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve charges for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an SEC announcement showed Friday. The SEC ordered the Seoul-based firm to pay $3.5 million in civil payments and $2.8 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest within a month, more than two years after the US authorities started their investigation. KT was accused of insuffici

Feb. 18, 2022

Korean Air to use aviation fuel with smaller carbon footprint on Paris route

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Friday it will use more environmentally friendly aviation fuel on its Incheon-Paris route as part of efforts to join global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The move to use the so-called sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for the route comes as Europe and the United States are leading efforts to build SAF production facilities and supply the fuel to cut greenhouse gas emissions from flights. "The company has decided to adopt SAF on t

Feb. 18, 2022

Raging omicron feared to hamper private spending recovery: finance ministry

South Korea's economy is on a recovery path on the back of robust exports, but the fast spread of the omicron variant is feared to hurt the recovery of private spending, the finance ministry said Friday. External economic uncertainties also heightened as oil prices have surged and volatility in the financial market has increased amid geopolitical risks between Russia and Ukraine, the ministry said in its monthly economic assessment report, called the Green Book. "South Korea's exports have

Feb. 18, 2022

[Graphic News] S. Korea's instant meals market skyrockets 145% over 4 years

　The South Korean market of instant meals jumped more than 145 percent in 2020 from four years earlier on the increased number of convenience stores and the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　Shipments of ready-to-eat items, known as home meal replacement products in South Korea, came to 2.01 trillion won ($1.7 billion) in 2020, up a whopping 145.3 percent from 2016, according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Co

Feb. 18, 2022