[Behind the Wheel] Hyundai’s compact SUV Casper makes splash

South Korea has long been in love with large luxury cars. Compact cars, despite their practicality and suitability for city traffic, are regarded as only for rookies, or those with thin wallets. But that’s before Casper. Hyundai Motor’s first A-segment release in 19 years, the mini sport utility vehicle has President Moon Jae-in, among others, signed up for preorders. It is creating buzz unseen for many years in the compact car segment for its unique, toy-like design and funct

Sept. 29, 2021

Concerns rise over foreign property speculators

While South Korea’s financial authorities tightened their grip on property speculation and the resulting price hikes, foreign investors turned out to have purchased local apartments worth trillions of won, a lawmaker said Wednesday citing a lack of regulations on foreign property speculators. Apartment purchases by investors from China and the US, between 2017 and May 2020, amounted to 3.16 trillion ($2.6 billion) and 2.19 trillion won, respectively, according to Rep. Kim Joo-young of t

Sept. 29, 2021

[Photo News] Energy is the next chip

Energy Vice Minister Park Ki-young (front center) poses with representatives of member companies of the Energy Alliance, a private sector-led association launched in April, at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Wednesday.  The event, which was the group’s first meeting with the government, was attended by GS Energy CEO Hur Yong-soo, Posco Energy CEO Jeong Ki-Seop, Hanwha Energy CEO Jung In-sub, Hyosung Vice President Hwang Yoo-eon, Doosan Fuel Cell CEO Yoo Soo-kyung, DL Energy Vice Chairman a

Sept. 29, 2021

S. Korea’s biz sentiment rebounds on hopes of easing restrictions

South Korean businesses are beginning to paint a rosier outlook for the coming months with the government gearing up to treat COVID-19 more like seasonal influenza and to ease social distancing, a report from a think tank showed Wednesday. The Korea Economic Research Institute’s forecast for next month’s business survey index of the country’s top 600 companies by sales showed the reading gained 2.8 points on-month to 103.4 for October. A reading above 100 means optimists ou

Sept. 29, 2021

No more utility rate hikes until year-end

The government said Wednesday that it would try to freeze utility fees until the end of this year in an effort to stabilize prices amid rising costs for raw materials such as oil. 　 The Finance Ministry said there had been no talk of raising railroad and road fees, which include train fares, highway tolls, intercity and express bus fares, and wholesale regional water supply costs. 　 “While rates of local utilities such as gas, water and sewage, transport and garbage bags are to be determi

Sept. 29, 2021

S. Korea's monetary policy still considered accommodative: BOK board member

South Korea's monetary policy is considered still loose although the Bank of Korea delivered its first pandemic-era rate hike in August, a member of the BOK's rate-setting board said Wednesday. The remarks by Suh Young-kyung are expected to reinforce market expectations that the central bank may again raise its key rate later this year or early next year. "In spite of a hike in the key rate in August, the current monetary policy is still loose," Suh told a forum in Seoul. The BOK must

Sept. 29, 2021

Platform businesses target for innovation, not regulation: minister

Amid growing calls for regulating thriving digital platform businesses, South Korea’s top policymaker on technology and science called for a shift in perspective, saying they should be seen as innovators rather than a target for regulation. Minister of Science and ICT Lim Hye-sook made the remarks while meeting executives of Korea’s leading platform companies, including Naver, Kakao, Woowa Brothers and Yanolja. It was the first time that the ministry organized such a meeting with

Sept. 29, 2021

Trade terms decline for 5th month in August

South Korea's terms of trade fell for the fifth consecutive month in August due to a rise in prices of imported goods, central bank data showed Wednesday. The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of overall trade terms -- declined 5 percent last month from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The figure is calculated by dividing the index for export prices by that for import prices. It shows the amount of imports a country can buy for each

Sept. 29, 2021

LG Electronics to post solid Q3 earnings on home appliance biz: analysts

LG Electronics Inc. is likely to report solid third-quarter earnings, analysts said Wednesday, as its mainstay home appliance business is expected to offset a slump from vehicle components and B2B units. The South Korean tech giant was projected to log a record 18.3 trillion won ($15.4 billion) in sales in the July-September period, up 8.2 percent from a year earlier, on a consolidated basis, while its operating profit was estimated to jump 16.9 percent on-year to 1.1 trillion won over the perio

Sept. 29, 2021

S. Korea accounts for one-third of global EV battery market in Jan.-Aug. period

Three South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery makers accounted for about a third of the global market in the first eight months of the year, but they are facing toughening competition with Chinese rivals, a market research firm said Thursday. The trio -- LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK Innovation Co. -- accounted for 34.8 percent of the global EV battery market in the January-August period, inching down from 35 percent a year ago, according to the data from SNE Research. LG En

Sept. 29, 2021

Retail sales up 6.4% in Aug. on popularity of food delivery

Retail sales in South Korea moved up 6.4 percent in August from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday, as people continued to purchase more food and groceries online amid the new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers reached 12.6 trillion won ($10.6 billion) last month, compared with 11.9 trillion won tallied in the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Sales from offline stores moved up 2

Sept. 29, 2021

Seoul stocks open steeply lower on US stock plunge

South Korean stocks opened nearly 1.5 percent lower Wednesday, tracking an overnight plunge on Wall Street amid concerns about spiking bond yields and the US debt ceiling. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) dropped 45.27 points, or 1.46 percent, to 3,052.65 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite plummeted 2.83 percent and the S&P 500 dipped 2.04 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 1.63 percent. Investor senti

Sept. 29, 2021

S. Korea speeds up plan to supply homes: finance minister

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government is speeding up a plan to supply homes in Seoul and other regions, as it seeks to curb high-flying home prices. In February, the government unveiled the plan that eased building regulations and supported redevelopment projects in urban areas to increase the number of new homes by up to 836,000 nationwide in the next four years. Some residents in the designated areas in Seoul have already voted in favor of the redevelopment projects, makin

Sept. 29, 2021

Exports contribute most in 3 years to economic growth in 2020

South Korea's exports contributed the most in three years to the country's economic growth in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Wednesday. Overseas shipments contributed 0.6 percentage point to the country's economic growth last year, according to the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The contribution rate of exports was higher than 0.5 percentage point in 2019 and 0.1 percentage point in 2018. Last year, South Korea's nominal exports fell 5.5 percen

Sept. 29, 2021

S. Korea begins countermeasure against Britain's steel safeguard

South Korea has started the process for countering Britain's extension of safeguard measures against its steel exports, the trade ministry said Wednesday. In July, Britain extended its safeguard measures against steel imports from South Korea for another three years together with the European Union. South Korea and Britain have been in talks to resolve the dispute, but they have failed to iron out differences, prompting Seoul to move to seek a countermeasure. The ministry said Seoul has recently

Sept. 29, 2021

Biz sentiment improves for October amid pandemic: poll

South Korea's business sentiment improved for October on expectations of a possible rebound in domestic consumption amid an accelerating nationwide vaccination drive, a local think tank said Wednesday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales rose to 103.4 for next month, up from 100.6 for September, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. The business outlook stayed above 100 for a second straight month. The actual BSI stood at 98.9 i

Sept. 29, 2021

[KH Finance Forum] Korea should speed up with ESG disclosure: Sustinvest CEO

A plan to adopt a critical ESG disclosure system by 2023 is lagging far behind other countries and should be implemented as soon as possible to foster environmental, social and governance investment, Ryu Young-jae, CEO of a leading ESG advisory firm said Tuesday. European countries adopted a sustainable finance disclosure system in 2018 and Japan in 2021. The US House of Representatives passed the ESG Disclosure and Simplification Act in June, according to Ryu. Under such a disclosure syste

Sept. 29, 2021

DL Chemical acquires Kraton for $1.6b to take lead in global SBC plastic market

DL Chemical, the world’s largest producer of polybutene, said Tuesday it will acquire Texas-based specialty chemical manufacturer Kraton for $1.6 billion to bolster its presence in the US and European markets. According to the subsidiary of South Korea’s DL Holdings, it will purchase the full stake of Kraton at $45.60 per share. DL will spend $2.5 billion in total, as it will also take over the US firm’s net debt of $900 million. The acquisition will allow DL Chemical to ma

Sept. 28, 2021

[KH Finance Forum] Asia rises to new destination for ESG investing

Asia is projected to emerge as a destination for sustainability-driven investment, and integrating environmental, social and governance factors is key to discovering the less well-tapped investment opportunities in the region, a veteran investor said Tuesday. Spurred by rising secondary battery demand, combined with a projection of fast-paced electric vehicle adoption, Asian countries including South Korea are in a race to make good on their bid to achieve carbon neutrality and cultivate new e

Sept. 28, 2021

KFCC logs W208.9b in H1 net profit despite COVID-19 woes

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the nation’s leading mutual financial institution, said Tuesday it has managed to post strong profits despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the leadership of President Park Cha-hoon and Ryu Hyuk, chief executive officer of Credit & Insurance -- the KFCC’s business unit responsible for building strategies for the group’s financial management as well as operating deduction services -- the cooperative logged a net profit

Sept. 28, 2021