JB Financial joins UN initiative of net zero banking

South Korea’s JB Financial Group said Tuesday it has joined a UN-convened alliance of global banks, committed to aligning their portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050. The holding group of regional Jeonbuk Bank and Kwangju Bank said its latest move to join the Net-Zero Banking Alliance was to uphold its environmental, sustainable and governance goals. The alliance represents more than a third of global banking assets, with a total of 87 members from 36 countries, including investme

Nov. 2, 2021

‘Living with COVID-19’ fuels rebound in consumption

After almost two years of staying at home, canceling holidays and skipping social gatherings, many South Korean consumers are slowly emerging from their cocoons to embark on post-pandemic shopping sprees -- ready to dress up, travel overseas and dine out again.  Industry data on Tuesday showed that retail conglomerates raked in record-high sales from their latest sales events in October, fueled by shoppers’ pent-up demand and a recovery in consumer sentiment in anticipation of the &l

Nov. 2, 2021

SK Group to invest $26b in EV batteries, hydrogen biz in US

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has vowed to spend about $26 billion on electric vehicle (EV) batteries, hydrogen and other eco-friendly businesses in the United States in a move to join US efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The figure is part of $52 billion set aside by South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate to invest in the US by 2030. Chey said SK is aiming to cut carbon emissions of 200 million tons, which account for 1 percent of the global target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions of

Nov. 2, 2021

SK Chemicals mass-produces chemically recycled plastic in world first

In a world first, SK Chemicals has begun mass-producing chemically recycled copolyester, a synthetic plastic widely used in packaging, the firm said Tuesday. According to the South Korean chemical company, it will produce more than 10,000 metric tons of chemically recycled plastic and supply it to cosmetics brands at home and abroad. “Not a single company in the world has ever mass-produced plastic via chemical recycling because it requires a secure supply chain of plastic waste as wel

Nov. 2, 2021

SK Innovation to capture, sell 300,000 tons of carbon starting 2022

SK Innovation said Tuesday it will capture 300,000 metric tons of carbon emitted at its petrochemical plant in Ulsan and sell it as industrial gas starting next year. According to the South Korean battery-to-petrochemical giant, it is already capturing carbon generated at factory No. 1 inside its Ulsan facility and making a profit by selling it. After the carbon is collected, it is purified and then used as industrial gas for the etching process of semiconductors, welding, dry ice and plant cul

Nov. 2, 2021

Hanwha Solutions aims to go carbon neutral by 2050

Hanwha Solutions said Tuesday it will go carbon neutral by 2050 by utilizing its renewable and hydrogen technologies. According to the South Korean solar-to-hydrogen energy company, it will curb carbon emissions totaling 3.58 million tons by 2050. The firm emitted 2.46 million tons last year and is expected to generate an additional 1.12 million tons in the future. “All of Hanwha Solutions’ businesses will join a Korean version of Renewable Energy 100 and use electricity genera

Nov. 2, 2021

S. Korea to buy back W2tr of state bonds to rein in yield hikes

South Korea plans to buy back 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) worth of government bonds in a bid to tackle a sharp hike in bond yields, a senior government official said Tuesday. Second Vice Finance Minister Ahn Do-geol said the government will actively seek policy coordination with the Bank of Korea (BOK), when needed, to stabilize the bond market. "The stable management of the government bond market has become more important than at any time to support the fiscal policy's role and the smo

Nov. 2, 2021

K bank Q3 net profit doubles

K bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, saw its third-quarter earnings surge 115 percent from the previous quarter on the growing number of customers and amount of money deposited, officials said Tuesday. It was the first time the bank posted a net profit for two quarters in a row since its inception in 2017. It posted its first quarterly profit of 3.9 billion won ($3.32 million) three months ago, marking a sharp turnaround from a deficit of 12.3 billion won in the first quarter.

Nov. 2, 2021

Money moving to savings as ultralow rate era nears end

South Korean banks’ lending rates neared 5 percent following the central bank’s first pandemic-era rate hike in August, which ramped up cash flows into bank deposits, data showed Tuesday.  The adjustable rate charged on mortgage loans extended by the nation’s four major banks -- KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan, Hana and Woori -- remained between 3.31 and 4.8 percent, as of Monday. Both the bottom and upper ends of the range rose nearly 0.6 percentage point from 2.62 to 4.2 perce

Nov. 2, 2021

Baobab Partners to launch NFT marketplace this week

Blockchain and information technology consulting firm Baobab Partners will launch a nonfungible token marketplace on Thursday, the firm said Tuesday. The platform, named Baobab NFT, can be accessed through the firm’s blockchain portal and website at bao-bab.co.kr. Through the marketplace, Ethereum- and Klaytn-based NFTs can be issued, sold and purchased with crypto and NFT wallets MetaMask and Kaikas. Klaytn is Korea’s No. 1 mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp.’s global bloc

Nov. 2, 2021

Samsung SDI Q3 net income jumps 74.7% on robust EV battery sales

Samsung SDI Co., a South Korean battery maker, said Tuesday its third-quarter net profit jumped 74.7 percent from a year earlier backed by robust sales in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Net income reached 420.4 billion won ($357.6 million) in the July-September period, compared with 240.6 billion won from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit hit a record high of 373.5 billion won, up 39.7 percent from a year earlier. Sales also hit a record high of 3.43

Nov. 2, 2021

Hyundai Construction Equipment sells 42 excavators in Russia, Indonesia

Construction machinery maker Hyundai Construction Equipment Co. said Tuesday that it has sold 42 large-scale excavators in Russia and Indonesia on the back of growing demand in the two countries. Hyundai Construction Equipment has signed a deal with two Russian mining companies to provide two 85-ton excavators and 19 125-ton excavators specialized in developing mines, respectively, by June next year, the company said in an emailed statement. Under another deal with an Indonesian mining compa

Nov. 2, 2021

LG Innotek recycles all industrial waste at Gumi plant

LG Innotek said on Tuesday its Gumi factory in North Gyeongsang Province has earned international certification for having zero waste go to landfill, a first in the materials and components industry here. The electronic parts supplier said its Gumi plant received platinum grade “Zero Waste to Landfill” certification from the international institution Underwriters Laboratories for its resource circulation efforts. ZWTL grants different grades based on how much industrial waste is re

Nov. 2, 2021

Hankook Tire supplies tires for Nissan's Frontier pickup

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's sixth-largest tiremaker by sales, said Tuesday it has recently begun supplying tires for Nissan Motor Corp.'s Frontier pickup truck.  Hankook Tire has provided the high-performance Dynapro HT and Dynapro AT2 SUV tires in the form of original equipment (OE) products for the pickup truck since July, the company said in a statement.    To enhance its global brand image, the tiremaker has provided its OE tire products for 320 kin

Nov. 2, 2021

S. Korea to push for efforts to win MSCI developed market status: minister

LONDON/SEOUL -- South Korea plans to again push to win developed market status from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), the finance minister has said, amid expectations that a possible upgrade could help dispel the undervaluation of the Korean stock market. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remarks Monday (local time) in London at an investor relations session with global investors to explain his country's economic situations. Hong said the government will make efforts to win the

Nov. 2, 2021

Foreign investment in S. Korea spikes 5,000 times in 60 years: data

Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to the country has surged more than 5,000 times in 60 years, which helped play a key pillar of now Asia's fourth-largest economy, the industry ministry said Tuesday. In 1962, a local carmaker reported receiving $3 million in foreign investment, the first of its kind for the country, and the total FDI amount that year stood at $4 million, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The foreign investment then spiked drastically to come to $20

Nov. 2, 2021

[Graphic News] Internet banking users reach record high in H1

　South Korea's internet banking services continued to grow in the first half of the year, with the number of users and daily transactions rising to new highs, central bank data showed. 　The number of internet banking users, including mobile banking, came to 186.5 million as of end-June, up 5.6 percent from six months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. 　The figure is the simple sum of all registered users of 18 internet and mobile banking service providers in the country,

Nov. 2, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investor sentiment was uplifted by overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 38.03 points, or 1.28 percent, to 3,016.97 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.26 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.63 percent. The local stock market got a boost from gains in tech and auto shares. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. added 2.29

Nov. 2, 2021

Inflation growth hits near 10-year high in Oct. amid rising oil prices

South Korea's consumer prices grew at the fastest clip in almost a decade in October due to last year's low base effect and surging oil prices, data showed Tuesday, raising expectations that the central bank will hike its key rate this month. The consumer prices rose 3.2 percent in October from a year earlier, accelerating from a 2.5 percent on-year gain in September, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Compared with a month earlier, consumer inflation inched up 0.1 percent. I

Nov. 2, 2021

Sales of Hyundai's green cars to reach new landmark in Nov.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, said Tuesday its annual sales of eco-friendly vehicles will likely exceed 100,000 units this month amid their growing popularity here. It would mark the first time that Hyundai's annual sales of green vehicles have surpassed the 100,000-unit level. The projection comes as domestic sales of Hyundai's hybrids, electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles have spiked nearly 40 percent in the first 10 months of this year from a year earlier. In

Nov. 2, 2021