Seoul’s first energy minister pledges ‘redesign of energy market’

South Korea’s first energy minister, Park Ki-young, said Monday that he would redesign the country’s energy market for carbon neutrality. “This is an important year to lay down the foundation for carbon neutrality. We have to reconstruct the current fossil-fuel-based energy supply and demand system and market structure into clean-energy-focused ones,” Park said in his inauguration speech. To that end, the newly appointed energy minister pledged to secure an optimum

Aug. 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] Is sun setting on Hanhwa heir’s solar dream?

Kim Dong-kwan, the eldest son and apparent heir of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, has proved his mettle by taking the helm of the group’s money-bleeding solar business in 2011 and turning it into the world’s No. 6 solar energy player, Hanwha Q Cells. Poised to succeed his father to lead the country’s seventh-largest conglomerate, the 38-year-old now oversees Hanwha Solutions, launched last year after the merger of Q Cells and two other Hanwha companies, and is also s

Aug. 9, 2021

Hanwha Solutions to acquire French energy firm for W984b

Hanwha Solutions Corp., the energy arm of chemical-to-financial conglomerate Hanwha Group, said Monday it will acquire a French renewable energy developer in line with its expansion strategy. Hanwha Solutions will purchase an entire stake of French wind and solar power plant firm RES Mediterranee for 984.3 billion won ($860 million) on Oct. 20, the company said in a regulatory filing. "The planned stake purchase is aimed at making a presence in the European renewable energy development ma

Aug. 9, 2021

Kia to invest W10b in Bank Salad

The country‘s second-largest carmaker Kia said Monday it will invest 10 billion won ($8.7 million) into local fintech company Bank Salad in a bid to set foot in the mobility data business. 　 Through the investment, Kia seeks to forge a partnership with the fintech firm to develop data technology for the mobility industry such as open data platform for cars and connected cars. They plan to launch car insurance services that use MyData, a government-led project to comprehensively collect

Aug. 9, 2021

Chanel Korea apologizes for personal data leak

The South Korean unit of French luxury brand Chanel has apologized after a recent cyberattack in which hackers leaked customers’ personal data. In a statement on the website on Sunday, the company said it had learned that the personal information of some customers from its membership database for the Fragrance and Beauty division-- including names, birth dates, phone numbers and shopping histories -- had been breached last week. Their payment information, IDs and passwords were not leake

Aug. 9, 2021

Citibank Korea to manage $2b syndicated bonds for Hyundai E&C consortium’s Panama metro project

Citibank Korea said Monday it had become the sole coordinator for a consortium led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction in dealing with syndicated bonds worth a total $2 billion to build a metro line in Panama. The US-based bank’s Korean subsidiary will become a part of a syndicate including the Korea Export-Import Bank and the Korea Trade Insurance Corp. that plans to purchase trade receivables from the consortium under the guarantee of the Panamanian government. The partnership

Aug. 9, 2021

Rivalry between banks and Big Tech casts cloud over state-backed loan exchange platform

The government‘s plan to bring loan products under one platform by October to help consumers easily compare the options available is facing headwinds from traditional banks and their tech rivals in the wake of their already intensifying competition to gain the upper hand in digital financing. The “mobile-based loan exchange platform” pushed by the policymaking Financial Services Commission since January is a mobile application, whereby debtors can browse the number of availab

Aug. 9, 2021

Supply of pork set to remain stable amid ASF outbreak: ministry

South Korea is expected to maintain a stable supply of pork products despite the latest outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) at a local farm, officials said Monday, although the country still needs to stay vigilant over the spread of the fatal animal disease. The combined number of domestic pigs at local farms was estimated at 11.1 million units as of the end of June, up 0.6 percent on-year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea rep

Aug. 9, 2021

Hyundai resumes production of local plant after 4-week suspension

Hyundai Motor Co. said Monday it has resumed production at one of its seven domestic plants after a four-week suspension to prepare for the production of an electric vehicle. Hyundai halted the Asan plant from July 13 to Aug. 6 to upgrade the facilities before it begins production of the IONIQ 6 midsize sedan later this year. The 300,000-unit-a-year Asan plant produces the Sonata sedan and the Santa Fe SUV. In February, the maker of the Sonata sedan and the Palisade SUV unveiled the IONIQ5 al

Aug. 9, 2021

Service output in all 16 provinces, cities rises in Q2 amid economic recovery

Combined service output rose in all 16 provinces and major cities for the first time in six quarters in the April-June period with the South Korean economy on a recovery track, data showed Monday. Service output grew 5.7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the fastest on-year gain since the first quarter of 2008, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Service production increased in all 16 provinces and cities for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2019, the data s

Aug. 9, 2021

Samsung's upcoming wireless earbuds to be cheaper than predecessor: report

Samsung Electronics Co.'s upcoming wireless earbuds are likely to be cheaper than its previous model, a report showed Monday, as the South Korean tech giant eyes to expand its presence in the premium segment of wearables. Samsung is expected to unveil its new wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 2, at its online Unpacked event Wednesday, along with new foldable smartphones. Market researcher Counterpoint Research said the new hearables product is predicted to come out with a cheaper price tag comp

Aug. 9, 2021

S. Korea to maintain exports of pears to Australia despite fire blight outbreak

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Monday it has reached an agreement with Australia to maintain its exports of pears despite the outbreak of fire blight in the country. The country has been shipping pears produced in four designated regions under the condition that the country verifies that farms in the area are free of fire blight infections. The country reported a series of fire blight cases nationwide this year, including regions neighboring the designated farms. Fire blight is a co

Aug. 9, 2021

Game developer Krafton set to go public this week

Video game developer Krafton Inc. is slated to debut on the country's stock market this week, marking one of the largest initial public offering (IPO) events this year. The developer behind the global hit "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" (PUBG) will go public on the main bourse Tuesday, with its offering price set at 498,000 won ($433.99). The firm is valued at 24.35 trillion won based on the offering price, set to become the No. 1 gaming stock here, dethroning the current top cap NCS

Aug. 9, 2021

Card spending rises 7% in July despite pandemic

SEJONG -- Payments made with cards in South Korea expanded 7 percent in July from a year earlier despite a resurgence of coronavirus infections, a report showed Monday. Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards issued by major card firm Shinhan Card Co. stood at 14.1 trillion won ($12.3 billion) in July, up from 13.1 trillion won a year earlier, according to the report from the office of Rep. Park Kwang-on of the ruling Democratic Party. It was up 11.4 percent from the same month in 2

Aug. 9, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on US jobs data

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as an estimate-beating improvement in US jobs data increased concerns about an early tapering. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 15.98 points, or 0.49 percent, to 3,254.38 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment weakened as US jobs data in July logged a steeper hike than the market consensus, fueling investor worries that the US Fed may pivot from its dovish stance and consider accelerating its timeline fo

Aug. 9, 2021

New trade minister vows to fight protectionism, expand free trade network

South Korea's newly appointed Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Monday he will make efforts to promote multilateralism in global trade and cope with the looming protectionism by expanding the country's free trade network. "We plan to play a leading role in establishing a new multilateral economic-trade regime in the Asia-Pacific region, which will emerge as the key pillar of the global economy in the future," Yeo said in his inauguration speech. In line with such efforts, Yeo added the

Aug. 9, 2021

MBK Chairman to donate W30b to build public library in Seoul

Seoul-based private equity house MBK Partners founder and chairman Michael Byung-ju Kim has pledged to donate 30 billion won ($26.5 million) to the Seoul Metropolitan Government to build a public library in Seoul, MBK Partners said Sunday. The gift represents the first case where an individual‘s donation covers the entire cost of building a civic institution by Seoul’s municipal government, MBK said in a statement. The Seoul Public Kim Byung-ju Library, named after the donor, wil

Aug. 8, 2021

Samsung Electronics union, management to sign first collective agreement

Labor and management at Samsung Electronics are to sign a collective agreement Thursday, the first in the company’s history. The IT firm officially abandoned its controversial “no union” policy in 2019. According to the two sides, representatives of management and labor agreed on a 95-clause pact dealing with compensation for occupational injuries, human resources management and the protection of union activities. A signing event will take place Thursday, with the location y

Aug. 8, 2021

[Newsmaker] Samsung chief’s parole to be decided

Every summer around this time, South Korea releases hundreds of prisoners either on parole or pardons, in celebration of Liberation Day on Aug. 15. This year, the traditional practice of clemency has drawn particular attention as it could include one of the richest men in the country: Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de-facto chief of Samsung Group. Come Monday, a parole committee within the Ministry of Justice will convene for a final review of candidates, which will det

Aug. 8, 2021

Invesco’s blockchain ETF sheds W10b stake in Nexon GT as NXC founder resigns

An exchange-traded fund managed by US-based Invesco Investment Management sold 2.4 percent in Nexon GT just a day after its founder Kim Jung-ju stepped down from the top post of gaming giant Nexon’s holding company NXC, a filing showed Sunday. The instrument, Invesco Elwood Global Blockchain UCITS ETF, unloaded 837,817 common shares of Nexon GT -- the only South Korea-listed subsidiary of NXC -- to cash in 10.3 billion won ($9 million) on July 30. The equity ETF dedicated to blockchain i

Aug. 8, 2021