SK Inc.-SK Materials merger paves way for W5tr investment in battery, chip, display materials

A merger between SK Inc. and SK Materials has been completed to pave the way for a 5 trillion won ($4.2 billion) investment in key businesses including battery, chip and display materials, officials said Tuesday. “By 2025, SK Inc. will invest a total of 5.1 trillion won into four key sectors -- battery materials, power and compound semiconductors, semiconductor materials and displays,” a company official said. The core business SK Inc. will absorb from SK Materials is anodes, on

Nov. 30, 2021

Celltrion signs COVID-19 treatment supply contract with 9 European countries

Celltrion Healthcare has inked supply contracts for its COVID-19 antibody treatment Regkirona with nine European countries as of Monday, the company said Tuesday. Under the contract, Celltrion Healthcare, an affiliate of local biopharmaceutical company Celltrion, plans to roll out an initial supply of 150,000 vials of Regkirona to the countries before the end of the year. The amount is enough to treat 50,000 people. More supply orders of the antibody are expected to be placed in consideratio

Nov. 30, 2021

Samsung unveils 5G chips for cars

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it rolled out an automotive semiconductor chip that delivers a fifth-generational network connectivity for in-vehicle infotainment services for the first time in the industry. The newly-launched telematics control unit for cars, Exynos Auto T5123, aims to provide essential information to a vehicle in real-time via high-speed download speeds of up to 5.1 gigabits per second. Samsung said the new auto chip will allow passengers to enjoy high-definition content st

Nov. 30, 2021

S. Korea, Britain seek closer cooperation in 5G, AI

South Korea and Britain have agreed to bolster bilateral cooperation in artificial intelligence and 5G on the sidelines of a tech forum, Seoul's ICT ministry said Tuesday. Lee Tai-hee, South Korea's deputy minister for planning and coordination at the science and ICT ministry, held talks with Chris Philp, parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in London on Monday (local time) as he visited the Future Tech Forum. During their meeting, Lee

Nov. 30, 2021

Smaller firms' exports hit new high this year

Exports by South Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have reached an all-time high this year amid a global economic recovery, government data showed Tuesday. As of Monday, local SMEs' overseas shipments exceeded the previous full-year record of $105.2 billion set in 2018, according to the data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Korea Customs Service. Smaller companies' exports stood at $100.9 billion in 2019 and $100.7 billion last year. This year's SME exports accou

Nov. 30, 2021

[Contribution] Forests and Glasgow Climate Pact

All 197 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ended up coming to an agreement, the “Glasgow Climate Pact,” a day after two weeks of intensive negotiations over the course of the 26th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 26). Unlike before, forests have been included on the key agenda of the UN climate conference. At the World Leaders Summit “Action on Forests and Land Use” event, the “Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration” was

Nov. 30, 2021

Overseas card spending down 14.8% in Q3 on weak won

South Koreans' overseas card spending declined 14.8 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier as the government tightened rules on withdrawals of money from automatic teller machines and the won depreciated against the dollar, central bank data showed Tuesday. According to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK), the amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, came to $2.88 billion in the July-September period, down from $3.37 billion

Nov. 30, 2021

Genesis unveils exterior of all-new G90 sedan

Genesis, the luxury brand of Hyundai Motor Co., on Tuesday unveiled the exterior images of the all-new Genesis G90 sedan ahead of its local launch next year. The G90 is a fully revamped model following its face-lift in 2018. Genesis plans to launch the flagship G90 sedan and its long wheelbase version in the domestic market early next year, a company official said. Under the brand's design philosophy of Athletic Elegance, the new G90 features an extension of Genesis' "two-line" de

Nov. 30, 2021

[Graphic News] South Korea’s household debt-GDP ratio highest worldwide: report

　South Korea has the highest ratio of household debt to gross domestic product among major economies in the world, a report showed, indicating it could crimp consumption and weigh on the economy down the road. 　The country’s household debt stood at 104.2 percent of its GDP as of end-June this year, the highest among 37 economies, according to the report by the Institute of International Finance. 　Hong Kong came next with 92 percent, followed by Britain with 89.4 percent, the United Stat

Nov. 30, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on eased omicron woes

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors attempted to buy oversold stocks amid the potential impact of the omicron coronavirus variant. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 28 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,937.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The new variant has not been detected in South Korea, which has been battling a recent surge of coronavirus cases. Global stock markets rebounded Monday, partly recouping their losses made last Friday amid inv

Nov. 30, 2021

Industrial output falls by most in 18 months in Oct.

South Korea's industrial output fell by the most in 18 months in October as production in the manufacturing sector lost steam amid global supply chain bottlenecks, data showed Tuesday. Industrial output declined 1.9 percent in October from the previous month, a turnaround from a 1.1 percent on-month gain in September, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the largest on-month fall since April 2020, when industrial output fell 2 percent. From a year earlier, industrial

Nov. 30, 2021

Banks' nonperforming loan rate down to record-low in September

The nonperforming loan rate of banks in South Korea fell to a record low in September due to the expanded provision of credit and debt rollovers for small businesses and merchants, the financial watchdog said Tuesday. The rate of bank loans more than three months overdue in interest or principle payment had stood at 0.51 percent as of end-September, down 0.03 percentage point from three months earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the rate

Nov. 30, 2021

Korean businesses see no major breakthroughs in Japan ties

Most South Korean companies trading with Japan were pessimistic over the possibility of the two neighboring countries improving their chilled ties anytime soon, despite the urgent need to do so, an industrywide survey found Monday. According to the survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 92.6 percent of 202 domestic companies agreed that bilateral economic cooperation was absolutely necessary to facilitate trade between the two nations. But the majority of the firms s

Nov. 29, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 5th day amid virus woes

South Korean stocks ended down for the fifth straight session on Monday as investors remained worried over the impact of the emergence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus on the global economy. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 27.12 points, or 0.92 percent, to close at 2,909.32 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 832 million shares worth some 12.9 trillion won (US$10.8 billion), with losers outnumbering

Nov. 29, 2021

[Law Talk] Recent internal control issues facing foreign financial companies

Globally, internal control is a hot issue for financial companies on several fronts, including environmental, social and governance -- or ESG -- issues as well as cybersecurity. This is because internal control is the process implemented by companies to ensure compliance with the law and the reliability of its information and financial reporting, therefore it is an area of law that must adapt to the changing legal and business environments. Accordingly, as the world focuses on a sustainable futu

Nov. 29, 2021

[Hydrogen Korea] S-Oil looks to bring world’s cheapest clean hydrogen from Saudi Arabia

With just one-fifth of its barren land, Saudi Arabia can generate sufficient renewable energy to produce 530 million tons of green hydrogen. That is equivalent to the entire world’s green hydrogen demand in 2050. Ironically, the world’s biggest exporter of fossil fuels is gifted with the cheapest solar and wind power on Earth, as the sun shines reliably every day and the wind blows constantly every night in the desert. Thanks to its almost unlimited sunshine and wind, Saudi Ara

Nov. 29, 2021

SK chairman’s younger brother likely to return to management

Speculation is growing over the possibility of SK Chairman Chey Tae-won’s younger brother Chey Jae-won returning to management to take the helm of the group’s refining and petrochemicals unit SK Innovation, according to industry sources on Monday. The junior Chey, who served a three-and-half year jail term for embezzlement in 2014, faced employment restrictions for five years. Chey Jae-won, who holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Brown and a master’s degree in

Nov. 29, 2021

Kakao marks 10th anniversary of emoticon biz

KakaoTalk, South Korea’s top mobile messenger, celebrated the 10th anniversary of its emoticon service, highlighting the jobs it has created for freelancers. KakaoTalk emoticons that can be purchased and used in the mobile messenger have raised 700 billion won ($586 million) in sales revenue since their launch in 2011, according to the company. More than 300,000 emoticon sets have been sold, and 220 billion emoticons have been sent among users. Five emoticon sets have each collected mo

Nov. 29, 2021

S. Korea to closely monitor omicron woes on financial market

South Korea’s vice finance minister said Monday that the government plans to keep close tabs on the financial market for possible volatilities and woes caused by the emergence of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. “There is a possibility that the volatilities in the global financial market could be expanded by the emergence of the omicron variant,” First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-won said at a macroeconomic meeting of government officials and the private sector.

Nov. 29, 2021

SK Square now 2nd-largest shareholder of Korbit

SK Square became the second-largest shareholder of Korbit, one of South Korea’s top four cryptocurrency exchanges, by investing about 90 billion won ($75.5 million) to acquire a 35 percent stake, the company announced Monday. The largest shareholder of Korbit is NXC, the holding company of local online game maker Nexon. SK Square expects that holding a stake of Korbit itself will increase the net asset value of SK Square, as the volume of cryptocurrency transactions has rapidly increase

Nov. 29, 2021