Jeonse price soars 44 percent since Moon’s presidency: data

Two-year apartment leases, known locally as jeonse, have jumped by some 44 percent in Seoul since the beginning of the current Moon Jae-in administration, data showed Monday. The average price of a two-year refundable lease on a high-rise apartment came in at 426.2 million won ($384,000) when the Moon administration began in May 2017, but the price had risen 44.2 percent to 614.5 million won as of last month. During the same period, the average jeonse price per square meter soared 43 percen

June 7, 2021

Seoul stocks close at fresh all-time high on eased tapering jitters

South Korea's stock market closed at an all-time high Monday as weaker-than-expected US jobs data helped ease concerns over the potential rollback of the country's expansive monetary policy. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 12.04 points, or 0.37 percent, to close at 3,252.12 points, marking the highest closing ever. Trading volume was high at about 1.7 billion shares worth some 18.8 trillion won ($16.9 billion), with lo

June 7, 2021

Signs of hope for air travel as vaccination speeds up in Korea

Hopes for air travel recovery are starting to coalesce around the vaccine rollout in South Korea, as booking sites and airlines prepare for a surge in travel demand. E-commerce platform WeMakePrice said Monday that bookings for international flights jumped 442 percent between May 27 and June 2 – the week when the government’s leftover vaccine appointments began. “With main travel destinations lifting quarantine requirements for vaccinated travelers and South Korean airlines r

June 7, 2021

Mirae Asset pools W10tr for retirement schemes

South Korean asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments said Monday its assets under management for retirement schemes have surpassed the 10 trillion-won ($9 billion) mark for the first time among Korean peers. As of June 1, assets pooled for Mirae Asset’s retirement schemes came to a total of 10.1 trillion won. The asset management unit of Mirae Asset Group pooled nearly 2 trillion won during the first five months of 2021. Since 2011, the figure has jumped more than eightfold

June 7, 2021

Hanhwa Techwin to install ultrahigh resolution cameras on Dokdo

Hanwha Techwin will deploy a cutting-edge surveilling camera system on South Korea’s easternmost Dokdo islets, the company announced Monday. Two cameras with 8K superhigh resolution from the firm will be installed at the residential accommodation and heliport. Offering a live feed of images, they will help authorities to monitor and prevent any disaster or accident near the islets, the firm explained. Hanwha Techwin, a unit of Hanwha Group specializing in video security solutions, deve

June 7, 2021

Lotte, Shinsegae submit bids for eBay Korea

South Korean retail giants Shinsegae and Lotte Shopping submitted their bids to take over South Korea's third largest e-commerce retailer, eBay Korea, a deal that will shake up the country's e-commerce retail segment, retail industry sources said Monday. According to the sources, the two retail behemoths submitted their letters of intent (LOIs) for the Korean unit of eBay. SK Telecom, South Korea's No. 1 mobile carrier, and MBK Partners, private equity firm and largest shareholder of discount s

June 7, 2021

Hanwha Defense eyes first UK export with upgraded version of K9 howitzer

After being selected as the sole preferred bidder for an Australian artillery gun procurement project last year, Hanwha Defense aims for its first export to the UK, as the British Army is looking for new self-propelled artillery. The British Army, which is using AS90 guns that are more than 30 years old, plans to procure 116 units of new self-propelled artillery guns within seven years, as part of the Mobile Fires Platform program worth approximately $1.08 billion. The authority will begin s

June 7, 2021

S. Korean economy recovering at modest pace on reviving consumption: KDI

The South Korean economy is on a modest recovery track as exports remain robust and a slump in private consumption has eased, a state-run think tank said Monday. The country's exports and facility investment have expanded amid a global economic recovery, while sluggishness in consumption has eased, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). "The Korean economy is recovering at a modest pace as exports maintain a favorable trend and the slug

June 7, 2021

Watchdog to beef up probe into unfair biz activity by platform operators

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Monday it has set up a division to better investigate alleged unfair business activity related to digital ads by online platform operators. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it has established a division in charge of digital advertisements under its ICT team amid growing influence by platform operators, such as Google and Facebook, in the customer-tailored online ads market. Established in November 2019, the ICT team has mainly conducted probes

June 7, 2021

[Behind the Wheel] Audi’s most powerful vehicles whizz on Inje Speedium

INJE, Gangwon Province -- A line of high-performance vehicles could be seen whizzing around the racing circuit of Inje Speedium in Gangwon Province on Wednesday, the growls from their engines echoing throughout the venue. It was part of the Audi Driving Experience, an annual event Audi Korea organizes to offer car enthusiasts an opportunity to try out its highest-end vehicles and its latest automotive technologies. This year, Audi Korea presented 10 vehicles, including the electric vehicle

June 7, 2021

S. Korea to release 80,000 tons of rice in June to cope with supply shortages

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Monday it plans to release 80,000 tons of rice into the market this month to cope with supply shortages and stabilize prices. The move will raise the amount of reserved rice released into the market since January this year to 290,000 tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The ministry earlier announced it plans to release up to 370,000 tons of reserved rice into the market this year. The combined production of rice came

June 7, 2021

S. Korea to add more shipping services to North America amid freight cost hike

South Korea said Monday it plans to increase the number of government-supported shipping services to North America starting next month to help local exporters cope with the hike in freight costs. Under the plan, the country will operate four shipping schedules to North America monthly starting July under cooperation with HMM Co., South Korea's largest shipper, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The figure marks a sharp rise from the previous plan to operate two shipping s

June 7, 2021

[Graphic News] PC shipments in S. Korea soar to 10-year high in Q1: report

　South Korea’s personal computer market expanded to its largest in 10 years in the first quarter of 2021, industry data showed, due to robust demand for online education and remote working amid the pandemic. 　Domestic PC shipments stood at 1.89 million units in the January-March period, up 30.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from market researcher IDC Korea. 　This was the largest PC shipment volume in Korea since the first quarter of 2012, when it recorded 1.94

June 7, 2021

SK Telecom denies report on selling stake in e-commerce unit to Amazon

SK Telecom Co., a major mobile carrier, denied a news report Monday that it is planning to sell a stake in its e-commerce unit 11Street to US retail giant Amazon.com Inc. in a bid to bolster its online retail business. Local media had earlier reported that Amazon will exercise its right to acquire a 30 percent stake in 11Street, and that the US retailer could acquire up to a 50 percent stake in the South Korean e-commerce company. SK Telecom and Amazon strengthened ties in November last year t

June 7, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on US jobs report

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as investor sentiment was boosted by slower-than-expected US jobs data that partially eased concerns of early inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 17.48 points, or 0.54 percent, to reach 3,257.56 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a bullish start as investors are relieved that the increase in US non-agricultural jobs in May turned out to be slower than the market consensus. The key stock i

June 7, 2021

Foreign investors turn to net sellers of S. Korean stocks in May

Foreign investors turned to net sellers of South Korean stocks last month, ending their one-month buying spree, data showed Monday. Foreigners sold a net 10.1 trillion won ($9 billion) worth of local stocks in May, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Investors from the United States sold 2.9 trillion won of stocks last month, while investors from Singapore purchased a net 654 billion won of stocks, according to the FSS. As of end-May, local stocks held by forei

June 7, 2021

[Herald Interview] Line Man Wongnai eyes district-level expansion in Thailand this year

Line Man Wongnai, a food delivery service firm distantly affiliated with South Korea’s Naver, has said it will expand its operation nationwide in all 77 provinces in Thailand by the end of this year and hopes to branch out into districts in an effort to continue its growth. CEO Yod Chinsupakul said the company is “well primed” for a fast expansion given its database and local expertise, in a Zoom interview this month with The Korea Herald. “Wongnai already is a restaur

June 6, 2021

[Herald Interview] AI for stock picking, and beyond

Every financial services company yearns for benefits from artificial intelligence, but oftentimes, the technology itself does not necessarily bring success. Amid the intensifying technology race, a local AI solution provider behind the actively-managed equity exchange-traded funds listed on the New York Stock Exchange is seeking to prove its effectiveness.  “AI-enhanced ETFs’ track record is a testament to the thesis that AI can be an efficient tool to the entire financial in

June 6, 2021

[Newsmaker] Tech firms under fire for toxic work environment

The South Korean IT powerhouses nestled in Pangyo Techno Valley, a tech hub modeled after Silicon Valley in the US, are best known for a progressive workplace culture shaped by young founders and their employees, something rare among traditional big companies. That reputation has drawn the nation’s brightest IT minds south of Seoul to Pangyo in recent years, but the IT and tech startup cluster is now under increasing scrutiny after a series of reports suggested a reality contrary to th

June 6, 2021

Concerns over real estate speculation rise in S. Korea

In recent years South Korea has seen a surge in real estate investment deals that were thought to be speculative, but some market watchers say the country still lacks effective measures to prevent property speculation and the resulting price hikes. Data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport showed that foreign individuals owned 21.35 million square meters of land in the nation in 2020, up 78 percent from 11.99 million square meters in 2016. Separate data from real es

June 6, 2021