Exports continue record streak in August; growth in all major sectors

South Korea continued to report record-shattering export results in August, data showed Wednesday, reinforcing an economic recovery almost single-handedly driven by overseas sales as domestic spending remains weighed down by the pandemic. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, outbound shipments jumped 34.9 percent from a year earlier to $53.2 billion last month, the best performance that the Asia’s fourth-largest economy has ever pulled off in August.  The previ

Sept. 1, 2021

Amateur investors demand tougher penalties for illegal short selling

In an attempt to deter massive short selling of shares of anti-cancer drugmaker HLB, an army of some 2,200 retail investors flocked to the tech-heavy Kosdaq, 30 minutes before market closing on July 15.  Dubbed the “K-stop movement,” the campaign mimicked a surprising case of retail investors in the US that thwarted hedge funds’ sophisticated plan of betting on the price fall of video game retailer GameStop. But the Korean version of the GameStop buying frenzy ended in

Sept. 1, 2021

Corporate loan growth slightly accelerates in Q2

Corporate loan growth in South Korea slightly picked up in the second quarter from three months earlier, central bank data showed Wednesday, mainly due to a modest gain in loans for the service sector. The outstanding loans extended to local companies came to 1,478.5 trillion won ($1.27 trillion) as of end-June, up 42.7 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). By industrial sector, loans to manufacturing firms rose 4.9 trillion won on-quarter

Sept. 1, 2021

Banks' average capital adequacy ratio rises in Q2

South Korean banks saw their financial health improve in the second quarter from three months earlier as they reported high net profits and raised capital amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The average capital adequacy ratio of 16 commercial and state-run banks stood at 15.65 percent as of end-June, up 0.29 percentage point from the end of March, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). A key barometer of financial soundness, the ratio measures the pr

Sept. 1, 2021

Conglomerates' insider stock ownership up in 2021

Insider stock ownership at South Korea's family-run conglomerates rose this year as more founding members and their families sought to tighten their grip on management, the antitrust regulator said Wednesday. The insider stock ownership rate of 60 conglomerates having group owners reached 58 percent his year, up 1 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). Insider stock ownership refers to the stocks held by the founding members and his or her im

Sept. 1, 2021

Doosan unveils industry’s most efficient fuel cells for homes, buildings

Doosan Corp. said Wednesday it has developed the industry’s most efficient solid oxide fuel cell for homes and buildings, with plans to offer the new product to the market next year. According to the holding firm of Doosan Group, the 10-kilowatt SOFCs can turn hydrogen into electricity 40 percent more efficiently than polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells now available in the market. Also, the 10-kW SOFCs exhibit the same efficiency as 5-kW SOFCs, but require 50 percent less space to

Sept. 1, 2021

S. Korean trade minister, WTO chief discuss restoring multilateralism amid pandemic

South Korea’s newly appointed Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo on Wednesday exchanged ideas with World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on how to restore multilateralism in global trade amid intensifying protectionism triggered by the pandemic. According to the Trade Ministry, during the virtual meeting, which was arranged at the request of the WTO, Yeo stressed that the upcoming 12th Ministerial Conference at the WTO set for Nov. 30 would be a chance to yield tangible r

Sept. 1, 2021

Hyundai Heavy, Babcock join forces for S. Korea's 1st aircraft carrier

Global shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. said on Wednesday that it has signed a partnership deal with British defense company Babcock to cooperate on a project to build South Korea's first aircraft carrier. Under the deal, the two companies will team up to receive an order for the 30,000-ton aircraft, Hyundai Heavy Industries said. The project, CVX, has been pushed by the country's Navy, which is scheduled for completion in 2033. Hyundai Heavy and Babcock carried out a conceptual desig

Sept. 1, 2021

S. Korea, ASEAN aim to forge deeper economic ties amid pandemic fallout

South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed Wednesday to deepen trade ties to cope with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and make efforts to increase the supply of vaccines. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi virtually to share ideas on ways to maintain their supply chain, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, ASEAN acknowledged that South Korea's New Southern Policy meant to ex

Sept. 1, 2021

Real estate trust market grows 18.9% in H1

South Korea's real estate trust market expanded nearly 19 percent in the first half of the year from a year earlier amid a brisk property market, data showed Wednesday. Fourteen local real estate trust companies registered combined sales of 779.9 billion won ($673 million) in the January-June period, up 18.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Their combined net profit soared 19.7 percent on-year to 325.7 billion won, with operati

Sept. 1, 2021

Hyundai unveils mini SUV Casper

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, on Wednesday unveiled the mini SUV Casper in the latest move to diversify its product lineup. The Casper comes with a 1.0-liter multi-point injection engine or a 1.0-liter gasoline direction injection engine, the company said in a statement. Hyundai plans to launch the entry-level SUV in the domestic market within this month, a company spokesman said, without elaborating on prices or other details. (Yonhap)

Sept. 1, 2021

DRAM spot prices fall amid forecast of weaker demand

DRAM prices in the spot market have recently been declining amid expectations for weaker demand stemming from widening COVID-19 vaccinations around the globe, industry sources said Wednesday. According to market tracker DRAMeXchange, the average contract price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAMs for PCs came to $3.889 on Monday, the lowest level in seven months. It was also down 36.8 percent from this year's high of $5.3 at the end of March. Spot prices of PC DRAMs topped the $4 mark in February before s

Sept. 1, 2021

Exports grow for 10th month in August on solid sales of chips, autos

  South Korea's exports have extended their gains to 10 months, jumping 35 percent on the back of robust demand for chips and automobiles, and underpinning recovery momentum in Asia's fourth-largest economy, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments came to $53.2 billion last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports climbed 44 percent to $51.5 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $1.67 billion. It marked the 16th consecutive month for

Sept. 1, 2021

5G users top 17 mln in July: data

South Korea's 5G user base continued to expand in July to reach over 17 million users, data showed Wednesday, with the growth expected to pick up later this year on the back of launches of new devices. The total number of 5G subscriptions stood at 17.08 million in July, up around 616,000 from the previous month, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The latest figure accounts for around 24 percent of the total 71.71 million mobile network subscriptions in the country. So

Sept. 1, 2021

Seoul stocks open nearly flat on Wall Street losses

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday, tracking a muted session on Wall Street overnight as investors took a breather after US stocks reached record high levels. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 1.97 points, or 0.06 percent, to trade at 3,197.3 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11 percent, while the tech heavy Nasdaq composite inched down 0.04 percent. The Nasdaq had reached a record high the

Sept. 1, 2021

Moody's raises S. Korea's 2021 growth outlook to 4%

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday revised up South Korea's growth forecast for this year to 4 percent on strong exports. In its report on world economic outlook, the rating agency adjusted South Korea's gross domestic product growth outlook from its previous estimate of 3.5 percent in May. The nation's growth will continue to be supported by high demand across the globe for industrial products, especially electronics, the agency said. Moody's also revised South Korea's growth outlook for n

Aug. 31, 2021

Korea becomes first country to regulate Google’s in-app commission policy

The South Korean parliament passed a controversial bill on Tuesday that could break the app store duopoly of Google and Apple, in a move watched closely by the world for its potentially radical implications. The so-called anti-Google bill, endorsed by the National Assembly with 180 votes in its favor, amends the Telecommunications Business Act to stop the US-based IT titan from requiring local app developers to use its payment system for in-app sales. It is set to take effect immediately afte

Aug. 31, 2021

Kakao Pay revises down IPO size after 2-month delay

South Korea‘s mobile payment app operator Kakao Pay has revised down its target offer price range for the initial public offering of its stocks as its plan to go public underwent a two-month delay, a prospectus showed Tuesday. The decision will reduce the IPO size of the Ant Group-backed financial arm of internet giant Kakao, by up to some 100 billion won ($86.3 million). Under the new plan to float 17 million common shares, each share will be priced at the suggested target price range

Aug. 31, 2021

[News Analysis] Is world ready for foldable phones?

One of Samsung Electronics’ goals this year was to see foldable smartphones proliferate. So far, so good, with its latest Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 phones shattering sales records of their predecessors. In South Korea alone, preorders for the two newest foldable devices stood at 920,000 units during the week of Aug. 17-23. Then, on Friday, the first day of mobile subscriptions, around 270,000 units of the two models were booked, according to carriers. This marked the largest number f

Aug. 31, 2021

After quiet flu season, experts fear Korea might be in for rebound

With fall just around the corner, concerns are once again rising of a possible “twindemic” -- a COVID-19 pandemic coupled with flu endemic -- which never materialized last year. In Korea and across the Northern Hemisphere, the last flu season, which would have taken off around November and run through spring, was almost non-existent.  Widespread behavioral changes such as crowd avoidance, hand hygiene and masking put in place to keep COVID-19 at bay seem to have stifled othe

Aug. 31, 2021