Air Premia opens cargo flights to Vietnam

South Korean budget carrier Air Premia Co. said Wednesday it has opened cargo flights to Vietnam to ride out the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. It is Air Premia's second cargo-only international route after the carrier began to offer cargo flights to Singapore last month. The company said it will consider starting passenger flights on the routes depending on the condition of the pandemic. In November, the carrier partnered with French air cargo services agent ESG Group to offset low demand in t

Jan. 12, 2022

LG Energy Solution to purchase 700,000 tons of lithium ore concentrate from Australia

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. has signed an initial contract to purchase 700,000 dry metric tons of lithium ore concentrate from an Australian miner, a document showed Wednesday, a deal that could help LG secure a supply of lithium-ion battery materials. A disclosure document posted by Liontown Resources Ltd. said it will supply the lithium spodumene concentrate to LG Energy Solution under a five-year offtake agreement starting 2024, with a potential extension for another f

Jan. 12, 2022

Regulator reviews punitive measures against shippers' alleged price fixing

Regulator reviews punitive measures against shippers' alleged price fixingSouth Korea's antitrust regulator was holding a deliberation session Wednesday to decide punitive actions against HMM Co. and 22 other shippers over their suspected price fixing of freight rates. Since 2018, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has been looking into allegations that the country's top shipper HMM and 22 domestic and foreign shipping lines had colluded to fix higher freight rates for Southeast Asian sea routes.

Jan. 12, 2022

ABL Bio inks $1.06b deal with Sanofi for Parkinson's disease treatment

South Korea's biotech company ABL Bio Inc. said Wednesday it has entered a global license agreement worth $1.06 billion with pharmaceutical giant Sanofi to develop and commercialize an antibody candidate to treat Parkinson's disease. ABL301 is a preclinical antibody therapeutic under development as a potential treatment of synucleinopathy, including Parkinson's disease. Under the agreement, ABL will receive $75 million in upfront payments and is eligible to receive up to $985 million based on

Jan. 12, 2022

Convenience store chain CU opens 50th outlet in Malaysia

CU, South Korea's top convenience store chain, said Thursday it has established its 50th outlet in Malaysia as part of its overseas push. The opening comes nine months after CU set up its first outlet at a shopping mall in a middle-class neighborhood in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur in a tie-up with a Malaysian firm. In October 2020, BGF Retail Co., the operator of CU, signed a brand licensing deal with Mynews Holdings, the No. 2 convenience store chain in the Southeast Asian country.

Jan. 12, 2022

Seoul stocks open higher after Fed chief's inflation comments

South Korean stocks opened steeply higher Wednesday as the US Fed chief's comments about inflation were largely within market expectations. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 27.86 points, or 0.95 percent, to 2,955.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a strong start, taking a cue from overnight rallies on Wall Street. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.41 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.51 percent. Federal

Jan. 12, 2022

Big firms' disposal of treasury shares jumps over 3 years

Major listed companies in South Korea have sharply increased their disposal of treasury shares over the past three years due mainly to efforts to boost their stock prices, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. A total of 129 listed firms retired or distributed to executives treasury shares worth 4.51 trillion won ($3.78 billion) last year, slightly up from 4.08 trillion won from 2020, according to CEO Score. The value was more than three times the 1.36 trillion won recorded two years earlier. T

Jan. 12, 2022

S. Korea reports largest job growth in 7 years last year amid economic recovery

South Korea added the most jobs in seven years in 2021 as the job market recovered to pre-pandemic levels due to the base effect and the economic recovery, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 27.27 million last year, 369,000 more than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the largest number since 2014, when the nation reported an on-year increase of 598,000 jobs. Last year's number was higher than the government's earlier estimat

Jan. 12, 2022

Naver, Kakao stocks dip by double digits

Naver and Kakao, Korea’s two largest online service providers, saw their market caps shrink 7 trillion won each ($5.8 billion) for the last two weeks amid persistent market fluctuations over a potential rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and growing uncertainty over their growth and management ethics. The US Fed has hinted that it will reduce its overall asset holdings sooner than expected because of unabated inflation. But the hike speculation, which is dragging down shares of

Jan. 11, 2022

Zara launches daily hanbok collection for children

Zara, the global fast-fashion clothing retailer, said on Tuesday that it has rolled out a kids collection of modern hanbok exclusively for the Korean market. The collection was unveiled ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday that kicks off later this month. It includes durumagi-inspired coats, vests, dresses, norigae or decorative pendants, lucky pouches, socks and shoes. The collection is available for children aged six months up to five years, the company said. “The modern reinterpretatio

Jan. 11, 2022

Brisk exports continue in first 10 days of 2022

SEJONG -- South Korea’s brisk export performance, which started in the fourth quarter of 2020 as a rebound or recovery, has continued during the first 10 days of 2022, state customs data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Customs Service, the nation’s exports reached $13.9 billion during the period of Jan. 1-10, up 24.4 percent compared to $11.2 billion over the same period of 2021. By main item, outbound shipments of home appliances -- such as TVs, refrigerators, washing machi

Jan. 11, 2022

Digital platforms for secondhand trading emerge as new retail unicorns

Market valuation estimates of local digital platforms that promote individual trading of secondhand products have been on the rise with traditional retailers and even banks injecting large investments in hopes of them becoming the next Coupang and Market Kurly. Some market insiders say that valuation of Danggeun Market, the nation’s biggest secondhand trading app by transaction volume, is estimated at 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion). The figure, though based on mere estimation, surpasses

Jan. 11, 2022

Will Samsung’s ‘Tiger’ strategy work against Apple?

Samsung Electronics unveiled its “Tiger” strategy at CES 2022 to beat Apple in the flagship smartphone market, but experts say that the South Korean tech giant should first come up with “killer content” for its foldable smartphones for that strategy to work. During the world’s largest tech show held in Las Vegas last week, The Korea Herald exclusively reported on the South Korean tech giant’s “Tiger” strategy, which revolves around narrowing its

Jan. 11, 2022

Seoul stocks close nearly flat ahead of Fed chief's hearing

South Korean stocks finished nearly unchanged Tuesday as investors await comments by the US Federal Reserve chief at the Senate hearing. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 0.66 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,927.38 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 559 million shares worth some 10.5 trillion won ($8.8 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 717 to 170. Institutions sold a net 268 billion won, and

Jan. 11, 2022

LG’s virtual human to make debut as singer

LG Electronics said Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mystic Story, a local music label led by singer-song writer Yoon Jong-shin, to debut its virtual human ambassador, Reah Keem, as a singer. Yoon, Mystic’s chief producer, will oversee the overall project from writing songs to vocal training for Keem. Her imminent debut was teased last week when LG unveiled a music video clip at the Consumer Electronics Show. “I want to be an artist who not just makes musi

Jan. 11, 2022

Lawmaker proposes bill for obligating FSC’s approval for banks‘ partial closure

A ruling party lawmaker recently filed a bill calling for banks to receive the financial authorities’ permission for partially shutting down their business here, the National Assembly’s online bill information system showed Tuesday. Rep. Min Byoung-dug of the Democratic Party of Korea’s move follows Citibank Korea’s decision in October last year to pull out its retail banking business in phases, after failing to reach a deal with potential buyers. Citigroup in April 2021

Jan. 11, 2022

Hanmi Pharmaceutical to make Indian COVID-19 vaccine

Hanmi Pharmaceutical will begin producing ZyCoV-D, the plasmid DNA COVID-19 vaccine developed by India’s pharmaceutical firm Zydus Cadila, starting in the second quarter of this year, the company said Tuesday. Hanmi Pharmaceutical on Friday signed a contract with local biotech company Enzychem Lifesciences for a consignment manufacturing agreement of the Indian vaccine. Previously, Enzychem Lifesciences signed a license-out deal with Zydus Cailda at the end of last year. The two Korean

Jan. 11, 2022

SK Pharmteco to push for pre-IPO this year

SK Pharmteco, SK Inc.’s subsidiary of contract development and manufacturing organization, is planning for a pre-initial public offering this year, the group’s holding company SK Inc. said Tuesday.  "SK Pharmteco will hold an advantage in the global industry with its high-quality manufacturing capacity within the leading countries," said Lee Dong-hoon, SK Inc.'s executive vice president and head of the Bio Investment Center. "SK Inc. will be supporting th

Jan. 11, 2022

Corporate reshoring hits all-time high in 2021

The number of South Korean companies that returned home from their offshore operations and their investment at home hit an all-time high last year, the industry ministry said Tuesday. A total of 26 firms relocated their factories from overseas in 2021, compared with 24 the previous year, and their combined investment grew 22 percent on-year to 681.5 billon won ($570.63 million), according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The 2021 figures marked the largest since the ministry bega

Jan. 11, 2022

LG Chem to build new high-nickel cathode factory in S. Korea

LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical materials producer, said Tuesday it will build a new factory in South Korea to produce high-nickel cathode materials for electric vehicle (EV) batteries as it further pushes to upgrade the key battery component materials. The construction for the new cathode plant broke ground on the 60,000-square-meter site in Gumi, an industrial city located about 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the company said. Cathode is a key component that determines the

Jan. 11, 2022