DataStreams chief wins global management award

Big data platform company DataStreams said its CEO Lee Young-sang won a global management award from Maekyung Media Group last week. Founded 20 years ago, DataStreams is a leading company in the local big data solutions market and is taking steps to get listed on the Kosdaq. The company also plans to set up corporations in the US, Vietnam and China, and a joint venture with a Vietnamese partner next year to explore the Southeast Asian market. DataStreams has won a number of orders this year i

Nov. 16, 2021

Mirae Asset Securities named to Dow Jones Sustainability World Index

Mirae Asset Securities said Tuesday it was listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the 10th consecutive year, receiving recognition for its commitment to socially responsible investment. As the first global sustainability benchmark, the DJSI World Index selects the top 2,544 listed companies based on their free-float market capitalization. It then evaluates the companies’ environment, social and governance performance and only picks the top 10 percent to be added to the i

Nov. 16, 2021

Airlines expand international routes amid ‘living with COVID-19’

Airlines are slowly expanding international flights from Korea as the country takes gradual steps to open up and live with the pandemic. Low-cost carrier Jin Air said on Tuesday it will expand the number of flights for the Incheon-Guam route from two to four every week starting Nov. 28. As a gradual return to normal life begins, the airline said it plans to fly once every day by the end of this year. For golf tourists, Jin Air also said it will launch a non-scheduled flight to the city of Kot

Nov. 16, 2021

KRX sends warning on speculative transactions as NFT frenzy shakes up market

The Korea Exchange, the sole stock market operator of Korea, placed gaming company NCSoft under an investment caution on Tuesday, a day after an unnamed individual investor was disclosed to have sold 530,000 shares, or a 2.4 percent stake, in the company. The news came as a surprise to market watchers, as the same day trader was seen buying over 703,000 shares and sold 211,000 shares on Thursday -- when NCSoft shares hit the price ceiling at 786,000 won ($666.50) apiece from the previous closi

Nov. 16, 2021

Skepticism grows over presidential hopefuls’ real estate tax pledges

Experts have cast doubt on recent pledges made by major presidential candidates and their parties on overhauling real estate tax rules, with critics raising questions over its feasibility and impact on the property market. Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, on Sunday vowed via Facebook to reexamine the comprehensive real estate holding tax, which is levied on high-value or multiple property owners. The tax is currently levied annually between t

Nov. 16, 2021

Co-buying: Survival strategy for MZ generation amid real estate bubble

Kang, an office worker in his 20s, recently became a co-owner of a commercial building located in Seoul’s Gangnam district worth 10 billion won ($8.47 million) with a capital of only 5,000 won. “Earlier in December last year, I participated in a joint investment project led by a local fintech firm to buy a building named Yeoksam London Vill, a recently built eight-story commercial property in Gangnam. I invested 5,000 won and received 38 won as dividends in July, acquiring one sha

Nov. 16, 2021

Biz groups' inter-affiliate trading falls in 2020

Transactions among affiliates of South Korea's large business groups fell in 2020 from a year earlier on tough regulations, the antitrust regulator said Tuesday. The value of inter-affiliate transactions by 2,182 units of 71 large business groups amounted to 183.5 trillion won ($155 billion) last year, down 13.2 trillion won from 196.7 trillion won the previous year, according to the Fair Trade Commission. Such deals accounted for 11.4 percent of all business contracts clinched by them last ye

Nov. 16, 2021

No. of multiple home owners grows by smallest in 6 years last year

The number of multiple home owners in South Korea grew by the smallest number in six years last year due largely to heavy taxation on such people, data showed Tuesday. The number of multiple home owners had reached 2.32 million as of Nov. 1, 2020, up from 2.28 million the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. The 2020 growth marked the slowest gain since 2014, when the number of such people grew by 28,000. The portion of people who have two or more houses accounted for 15.8 percent of

Nov. 16, 2021

Residents' FX deposits hit new high in Oct. on hopes of strong dollar

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea surged to a record high in October on expectations for a strong dollar, central bank data showed Tuesday. Residents' outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits had stood at a fresh record of $100.77 billion as of end-October, up $6.57 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marks the first time the country's foreign currency deposits have surpassed the $100 billion level. It also represents the third con

Nov. 16, 2021

Doosan Logistics Solutions to provide logistics robots from local firm

System integrator Doosan Logistics Solutions Co. (DLS) said Tuesday it has signed a deal with a local autonomous mobile robot (AMR) manufacturer KN to provide more logistics robots. "As orders for AMRs have increased in recent months, we have diversified the supply chain of AMRs to meet growing demands for them," the company said in an emailed statement. With the latest deal, DLS will be provided with AMRs by two AMR makers -- Chinese AMR maker Geek+ and KN. In November last year

Nov. 16, 2021

Hyundai Rotem wins W207.8b railway deal in Taiwan

Hyundai Rotem Co., a South Korean railway system and plant equipment maker, said Tuesday it has obtained a 207.8 billion won ($176 million) railway project in Taiwan. Hyundai Rotem formed a consortium with Taiwan's ST Engineering Electronic Ltd. to receive the deal from the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, the company said in a statement. Under the deal, Hyundai Rotem will supply electric multiple units, electricity and railway systems in the project to extend the existing Kaohsiung Red L

Nov. 16, 2021

Tax revenue up W4.1tr in Sept. amid economic recovery

South Korea's tax revenue increased 4.1 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in September from a year earlier amid an economic recovery and a boom in asset markets, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The government collected 26.3 trillion won in taxes in September, compared with 22.2 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The government said tax revenue has increased so far this year as corporate tax income has risen in line with the economic recovery, while capi

Nov. 16, 2021

[Graphic News] Number of travel agencies dips 6% in 2 years amid pandemic

　The number of travel agencies in South Korea has declined nearly 6 percent over the past two years in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed. 　There were 21,231 travel agencies in Asia’s fourth-largest economy as of end-September, down 6.1 percent from two years earlier, according to the data from the Korea Tourism Association. 　The number fell to 21,540 a year earlier from 22,609 in September 2019 and continued to go south this year. 　The decrease came as pandemic

Nov. 16, 2021

Vietnam OKs Korean Air-Asiana combination

Korean Air Lines Co. said Tuesday it has received regulatory approval from Vietnam for its integration with smaller local rival Asiana Airlines Inc. Korean Air expects the latest approval to help speed up its process to acquire Asiana Airlines. In January, Korean Air submitted documents to anti-trust regulators of 14 countries for the review of its business combination with Asiana.  As of Tuesday, it had received approvals from six countries -- Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, Taiwan, Malay

Nov. 16, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on profit-taking

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors attempted to cash in gains from the recent rally. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.66 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,994.86 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a lackluster start amid losses in tech and auto heavyweights. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both retreated 0.04 percent amid lingering inflation concerns. Top cap Samsung E

Nov. 16, 2021

Finnair to open Busan-Helsinki route in March

Finland's flag carrier Finnair said Tuesday it will open the Busan-Helsinki route early next year, being the first European carrier that offers flight services from the port city to the Finnish capital city. Finnair plans to inject an A350 plane to operate three flights a week in late March, the company said in a statement. "On top of the existing Incheon-Helsinki route, the Busan-Helsinki route will be able to meet rising transfer passengers heading for Asian and other European cities, a

Nov. 16, 2021

Small shareholders in Samsung Electronics top 5 million

The number of small shareholders in global tech giant Samsung Electronics surpassed 5 million amid massive stock investment by local retail investors, data showed Monday. Some 5.18 million investors held shares in the top-cap company as of the end of September, triple the tally a year earlier, according to the data from Samsung. Market watchers said a considerable number of local retail investors had bought into Samsung Electronics this year, given foreigners' continued selling of the mos

Nov. 15, 2021

SC Bank Korea sees quarterly profit jump 87-fold

Standard Chartered Bank Korea saw its quarterly net profit jump 87.2 times on-year to 79.4 billion won ($67.3 million) on a decrease in its future bad debts, filings showed Monday. The surge is attributable to a shrink in provision for credit losses -- an indicator of a financial institution’s future bad debt -- during the third quarter, as well as the increased interest income, according to filings submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service Monday. Notably, the provision for credi

Nov. 15, 2021

Real estate services startup Rsquare snaps up $72m funding

South Korean commercial real estate services startup Rsquare said Monday it has raised $72 million in series C funding from private equity firm STIC Investments. The proceeds will be used to enhance its property technology that powers its real estate services, strengthen its foothold in the Vietnamese market with a new business launched in June, expand its presence in other Southeast Asian countries including Singapore and Indonesia and hire new talents. STIC Investments is the sole investor

Nov. 15, 2021