Samsung Lions re-sign free agent catcher Kang Min-ho

The Samsung Lions announced Friday they have re-signed their own free agent catcher Kang Min-ho to a new four-year contract. Kang, 36, will make up to 3.6 billion won ($3 million) in his second straight four-year deal with the Lions. Kang will make 2 billion won in total salary and 1.2 billion won in signing bonus, with another 400 million won available in incentives. One of the top offensive catchers in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Kang batted .291 with 18 homers and 67 RBIs in 123

Dec. 24, 2021

Kyobo Life fined for letting subsidiaries use trademark for free

South Korea's financial watchdog has ordered Kyobo Life Insurance Co. to pay a fine of 350 million won ($295,000) for letting its subsidiaries use its brand for free, the company said Friday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) also issued warnings to five officials, including a retired employee of the insurer, in connection with the matter, according to the company. Kyobo Life Insurance, No. 3 life insurer in South Korea, was accused of providing undue support to the subsidiaries by letti

Dec. 24, 2021

SK Bioscience extends manufacturing deal with Novavax through 2022

SK Bioscience Co., a vaccine unit of South Korea's SK Group, said Friday it has extended an agreement to manufacture a component of the US-based biotechnology company Novavax Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine by one more year. Under the extended agreement, SK Bioscience will reserve additional manufacturing capacity to produce antigen, a key component of NVX-CoV2373 -- Novavax's recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine -- through 2022. Last year, the two sides initially signed the agreement to reserve

Dec. 24, 2021

Sales of imported commercial cars dip 23% in Nov.

Sales of imported commercial vehicles in South Korea fell 23 percent in November from a year earlier amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic, an industry association said Friday. The number of newly registered imported commercial vehicles declined to 360 units last month from 468 a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. Decreased sales of MAN, Scania, and Mercedes-Benz trucks weighed on the monthly result, KAIDA said. From January to Nov

Dec. 24, 2021

Seoul shares open higher on US gains

Seoul shares opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street amid eased concerns over global economic growth next year despite the outbreak of omicron virus strain. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 26.46 points, or 0.88 percent, to 3,024.63 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment was buoyed as the omicron variant is highly infectious but less likely to lead to hospitalization. Most stocks advanced across the board. Market bellwe

Dec. 24, 2021

Korean Air to secure W557.8b in property sale

  Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's national flag carrier, said Thursday it will secure 557.8 billion won ($470 million) through a property sale as part of its efforts to improve its financial status amid a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, Korean Air will sign a deal to sell its land and building at Songhyeon-dong in central Seoul to the public housing developer Korea Land & Housing Corp., the company said in a regulatory filing. LH will exchange the Songhyeon-dong site with

Dec. 23, 2021

Despite resistance, carmakers push ahead with used car market entry

The head of a local carmakers’ association said Thursday that the country’s finished carmakers would enter the certified used car market here starting next month, despite resistance from small businesses. Jung Man-ki, chairman of the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, said that local carmakers will no longer wait and will prepare to register for business licenses and establish physical spaces to launch their B2C secondhand car businesses.  “Although there is no

Dec. 23, 2021

Investment banks slash Kospi targets amid slow trade

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi faces a long transition to a bullish rally, during which investors will have to navigate uncertainties complicated by supply bottlenecks, a rate hike and a presidential election, according to Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Goldman Sachs cut the Kospi target to 3,350 from 3,700, changing its view on Korean shares from “overweight” to “marketweight,” saying it would be hard to expect market-beating corporate earnings again next year.

Dec. 23, 2021

[Photo News] Fostering women leaders

Ham Young-joo (left), vice chairman of Hana Financial Group, congratulates Hong Hwa-jin, leader of the data & investment division at Hana Bank, who led the first 33 participants for the last six months in the group’s program designed to nurture women leaders.

Dec. 23, 2021

Doosan to showcase hydrogen, robot innovations at CES 2022

South Korean conglomerate Doosan Group said Thursday it will unveil innovations centered on hydrogen and robotics technologies at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show. Under the theme “delightful life,” Doosan Group and its major affiliates will showcase their latest innovations at a 450-square-meter booth at the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center from Jan. 5-8, local time. The West Hall is where mobility, auto and self-driving companies are grouped. Doosan Group Chairm

Dec. 23, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 3rd session amid tech, auto gains

The South Korean stock market extended its winning streak to a third session Thursday, buoyed by advances by tech and auto issues. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) advanced 13.69 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 2,998.17 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 476 million shares worth some 9.2 trillion won ($7.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 477 to 358. Foreigners bought a net 224 billion won and instituti

Dec. 23, 2021

Posco sets new vision with holding company scheme

Aiming to more than triple its corporate value by 2030, Posco Group plans to have its steel business focus on eco-friendliness and global growth, while fostering new growth engines such as materials for rechargeable batteries and hydrogen. The holding company will be llisted, while the steelmaking unit Posco, as well as other corporations to be set up under the holding company will remain unlisted to allow quick decision-making. This is to prevent undermining existing shareholder value and a

Dec. 23, 2021

AMAXG aims to become global top-tier

　Blockchain company AMAXG plans to build a more competitive and convergent blockchain platform next year, declaring it “the year of global culture, environment and technological innovation via evolution into hyperconnected, hyperconverged and hyperintelligent society.” 　The new platform will unite blockchain-based big data, artificial intelligence, metaverse and non-fungible tokens to preemptively tackle socioeconomic uncertainties. 　Last month, AMAXG Group chief executive Choi Jeo

Dec. 23, 2021

Apgujeong regains luster as popular commercial district

The commercial district surrounding Apgujeong Station -- one of South Korea’s richest neighborhoods -- recorded a daily sales average of 13.6 billion won ($11.4 million), the highest in the country, SK Telecom said Thursday. Using its big data analysis platform Geovision, SK Telecom listed the top 100 commercial districts nationwide. Each area’s sales figures were estimated based on credit card transactions, floating population and level of business concentration. The daily float

Dec. 23, 2021

Govt. to improve regulations for commercial adoption of self-driving cars

The government unveiled a revised road map on improving regulations for self-driving cars Thursday to hasten their commercial adoption starting next year. The road map, confirmed at an interagency government meeting earlier in the day, came as South Korea is expected to see a fast adoption of autonomous driving for commercial vehicles beginning in 2022, starting with the launch of Level 3 self-driving cars -- made for conditional driving automation that requires human intervention. The governm

Dec. 23, 2021

Huawei looks to empower low-carbon ICT

Huawei Technologies‘ low-carbon projects across the world and its climate-related track record are now in the spotlight, amid growing regulatory hurdles and customer demand regarding green technologies in South Korea. Introducing its technologies to promote clean energy at a recent press conference held in Seoul, Karl Song, vice president of Huawei’s corporate communications department, said the company is ready to play a role in empowering its Korean partners‘ pursuit of low-

Dec. 23, 2021

BOK to end corporate bond-buying program as scheduled amid stabilizing market

South Korea's central bank said Thursday it will end a special program to buy corporate bonds, including low-rated debts, at the end of this month as planned as the financial market has stabilized. The Bank of Korea (BOK) and the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) launched a 10 trillion-won ($8.4 billion) program in July last year to purchase corporate bonds and commercial paper, a move aimed at easing a corporate funding squeeze. The program has been extended twice and is set to end on Dec

Dec. 23, 2021

BOK able to borrow short-term dollar funding from Fed by using Treasury holdings

South Korea will be able to borrow up to $60 billion from the US Federal Reserve's "repo facility," designed to help countries secure overnight dollar funding by using their holdings of US Treasury securities, the central bank said Thursday. The deal reached with the Federal Reserve on Tuesday (US time) will allow the Bank of Korea (BOK) to exchange its US Treasury holdings for dollars through the Foreign and International Monetary Authorities (FIMA) Repo Facility at an interest rate

Dec. 23, 2021

Corporate earnings hit 6-year low in 2020 amid pandemic

South Korean firms' earnings plunged to a six-year low in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday. The combined pretax net profit of 13,429 companies came to 97.7 trillion won ($82 billion) in 2020, down 3.9 percent from the prior year and marking the third straight year of decline, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It was the lowest level since the 91.4 trillion won recorded in 2014 and represented the first time for their total bottom l

Dec. 23, 2021

S. Korea begins trial run of hydrogen heavy duty trucks

A trial run of hydrogen-powered heavy duty trucks kicked off Thursday as part of South Korea's broader efforts for a shift to eco-friendly vehicles in line with the carbon emission cut initiative. Five 11-ton fuel cell trucks, including Hyundai Motor Co's Xcient, will run on roads in the Seoul metropolitan area and the southern region for the next 12 months, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a release. Two logistics companies -- CJ Logistics Corp., Hyundai Glovis Co. -

Dec. 23, 2021