Seoul stocks likely to move in tight range over Evergrande woes, virus concerns

South Korean stocks are likely to move in a tight range next week amid uncertainties from a Chinese developer's debt crisis and the local surge of new coronavirus cases, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 3,125.24 points Friday, down 0.49 percent from a week ago. Stock markets were closed Monday through Wednesday this week for the Chuseok holiday. The losses came as investors digested the U.S. FOMC meeting results that said the Fed could b

Sept. 25, 2021

Elon Musk says chip shortage only 'short term'

TURIN (AFP) -- Tesla boss Elon Musk on Friday said that a global semiconductor shortage hitting car firms especially hard would be overcome soon. The chip drought is "short term, I think," the billionaire said in an appearance by video at Italian Tech Week in Turin. "There are a lot of chip fabrication plants that are being built," Musk told the audience of startups, investment funds and tech entrepreneurs. "I think we will have good capacity for providing chips by ne

Sept. 24, 2021

China's central bank rules all crypto transactions are illegal

BEIJING (AFP) -- China's central bank on Friday said all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies are illegal, sounding the death knell for the digital trade in China after a crackdown on the volatile currencies. The global values of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin have massively fluctuated over the past year partly due to Chinese regulations, which have sought to prevent speculation and money laundering. "Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial acti

Sept. 24, 2021

Samsung asked to reveal information about supply chains in US

Including South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, technology companies and automakers were asked to make efforts to improve transparency about their US supply chains during a meeting hosted by US Secretary of Commerce on Thursday, according to news reports. Samsung was among a list of companies including TSMC, Intel, Apple, Microsoft and some automakers, which tuned into the meeting held via teleconference, according to the reports. The companies were asked to submit documents including inf

Sept. 24, 2021

Kakao Pay delays IPO plan on heightened consumer safeguards

South Korean mobile payment app operator Kakao Pay said Friday it has delayed its plan to go public yet again amid toughened consumer protection regulations in the domestic market. Kakao Pay, a 55:45 joint venture of internet giant Kakao Corp. and China’s Ant Group, has revised its prospectus to carry out its initial public offering process by three weeks. Its IPO size, at up to 1.53 trillion won ($1.3 billion) via 17 million new shares, will remain unchanged. According to the latest fi

Sept. 24, 2021

Lotte Chemical to commit W49b to new ESG fund

Lotte Chemical said Friday it planned to commit 49 billion won ($41.7 million) worth of capital to a new fund dedicated to tackling environmental, social and governance issues. The money will go into a new 50 billion-won ESG fund, the course of four years, according to a disclosure submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service Friday. The fund will be managed by retail-to-chemical Lotte conglomerate’s early-stage investment arm Lotte Ventures, formerly known as Lotte Accelerator. Lotte

Sept. 24, 2021

[Newsmaker] Mergepoint saga sparks flood of complaints in Aug.

Amid the snowballing fiasco of prepaid discount service Mergepoint that played out in August, the number of consumer requested consultations regarding the scandal marked more than 16,000, according to data provided by the Korea Consumer Agency and Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations Friday. The consumer consultation center operated by South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission received 16,188 inquiries from consumers requiring consultations about their complaints and damages over t

Sept. 24, 2021

Gordon Ramsay to bring his burgers to Seoul

Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay will open a Seoul branch of his famed burger restaurant at Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southern Seoul, this December. The Seoul location will be the first Gordon Ramsay Burger in Asia, and the third branch to open globally. Ramsay rose to stardom as the iconic host of “Hell’s Kitchen,” an American cooking competition show that has aired since 2005. The British chef owns several restaurants under his name which, all together, have earned

Sept. 24, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 2nd day amid virus woes, Evergrande uncertainties

South Korean stocks slumped for a second straight session Friday after the country's daily COVID-19 cases hit a record high, erasing gains from easing fears over China Evergrande Group's debt crisis. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 2.34 points, or 0.07 percent, to close at 3,125.24 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 738 million shares worth some 12.3 trillion won ($10.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering lo

Sept. 24, 2021

LG Energy Solution jointly develops new solid-state battery

South Korea’s leading battery maker LG Energy Solution announced Friday that the company and UC San Diego have co-developed a new solid-state battery that is safer and more durable than existing ones. The research results have been published in Science, one of the top peer-reviewed academic journals, the company added. According to LG Energy Solution, the new solid-state battery, which uses both a solid state electrolyte and an all-silicon anode, has shown positive results during initi

Sept. 24, 2021

Secondhand smartphone market sees growth in Korea

The secondhand smartphone market is enjoying a bump from recent releases of flagship models from Samsung and Apple. According to Bungaejangter on Friday, a South Korean mobile secondhand marketplace, the volume of transactions for used smartphones has reached some 100 billion won as consumers switched to new phones. Used phone transactions have become the most traded category on the platform during the first half of this year so far. The company said the “secondhand market has been energ

Sept. 24, 2021

10 crypto exchanges file applications to register with KFIU

Ten cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea have filed applications to register with the nation's anti-money laundering body to continue their businesses under tougher regulations, according to the body Friday. By Friday midnight, both foreign and local cryptocurrency exchanges targeting Korean investors are required to register with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU) and have real-name bank accounts. If they have no real-name bank accounts, cryptocurrency exchanges will be banned fr

Sept. 24, 2021

S. Korea reports surplus in trade of intellectual property rights in H1

South Korea reported a surplus in the trade of intellectual property rights in the first half of this year, as exports of copyrights increased, central bank data showed Friday. The nation's surplus in the intellectual property account came to $850 million in the first half, compared with a deficit of $1.11 billion in the second half of last year, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the first six-month surplus since the second half of 2019, when the nation rep

Sept. 24, 2021

Lotte Department Store offers first-ever voluntary retirement

Lotte Department Store is offering its first-ever voluntary retirement since first opening 42 years ago. The operator of the department store chain, Lotte Shopping, said Friday it told employees that it will be “accepting voluntary retirement applications for the next two weeks” in an internal announcement Thursday. The restructuring program is particularly for staff members who have worked for the firm for more than 20 years. Around 2,000 employees meet this qualification, the

Sept. 24, 2021

S. Korea's financial market stable but potential imbalance concerning: BOK

South Korea's financial market continues to be stable, but concerns remain over a build-up of financial imbalances due to surging home prices, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday. In a regular report on financial stability, the BOK also called for vigilance against a rise in the debt of households and companies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The nation's financial stability index shot up to 22.3 in April last year, breaching the lower boundary for a crisis warning, but it has since come down to

Sept. 24, 2021

S. Korea to further expand scope of beneficiaries of employment insurance system

South Korea plans to allow delivery workers and designated drivers to receive benefits from the employment insurance system starting next year as the government seeks to expand the labor safety net, a senior government official said Friday. It is part of the government's plan to expand the employment insurance scheme to all working people as the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the job market. The government plans to enable some platform workers, including delivery workers and designated

Sept. 24, 2021

S. Korea to end injecting public funds into overseas coal projects

South Korea said Friday it will refrain from injecting public funds into overseas coal projects starting in October, in line with the global initiatives to gradually phase out traditional energy sources and go carbon neutral by 2050. Under the new guideline to be implemented next month, all public organizations will no longer disburse funds to overseas coal power plants, while private businesses in which the government has a stake will also be induced to follow the measure, according to the Min

Sept. 24, 2021

Samsung reinforcing supply chain in Asia to expand production

Samsung Electronics Co. is reinforcing its supply chain in Asia to meet increased demand of its products amid the pandemic, industry insiders said Friday, as the South Korean tech giant eyes to build more plants and expand its workforce. Samsung is currently building a TV manufacturing plant in Karachi, Pakistan. It is expected to be in operation in the fourth quarter of the year and produce 50,000 units annually. The news was recently revealed by Abdul Razak Dawood, adviser for commerce and

Sept. 24, 2021

[Graphic News] Overseas card spending jumps 80% in Q2 as lockdown eases

　South Koreans‘ overseas card spending jumped 80 percent on-year in the second quarter as many nations eased lockdown rules following the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed. 　The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including both credit and debit cards, totaled $3.37 billion in the April-June period, compared to $1.87 billion for the same period last year, according to data from the Bank of Korea. 　Compared with three months earlier, overseas card sp

Sept. 24, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher as China Evergrande fears ease

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday on overnight US rebound that stemmed from easing fears over China Evergrande Group's debt crisis. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 11.37 points, or 0.36 percent, to 3,138.95 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came off to a solid start as investors are monitoring the risks from the massive $310 billion debt of China's Evergrande Group. Market fears eased somewhat after the giant property developer announced t

Sept. 24, 2021