All S. Korean airlines except Korean Air post Q1 operating losses for first quarter

All South Korean airlines except Korean Air suffered operating losses during the first quarter of this year, as the coronavirus pandemic, which dealt a particularly severe blow to budget airlines, shows no sign of stopping soon. Asiana Airlines posted an operating loss of 11.2 billion won ($10 million) and a net loss of 230.4 billion won on Monday, though the losses narrowed compared to the same time a year ago. The country’s second-largest airline saw its revenue drop by 30.6 percent co

May 18, 2021

SK Innovation to form battery material JV with Chinese firms

SK Innovation Co., a South Korean refinery-to-battery maker, has agreed to form a joint venture with Chinese companies to produce cathode, a key material for electric vehicle batteries, in China, industry officials said Tuesday. Chinese battery maker EVE Energy's board of directors has approved the joint venture with SK Innovation and Chinese battery material producer BTR to build a cathode manufacturing factory in China, according to local reports. SK Innovation is expected to invest 25 per

May 18, 2021

Anonymous social media firm attracts $37m in series C funding

Team Blind, the operator of anonymous social network platform Blind, has raised $37 million won in its latest funding round, picking up the pace to go public in the US stock market, the company said on Tuesday. Blind has more than 5 million users who spend an average of 40 minutes a day. In Korea, 85 percent of employees working for companies with 300 workers or more have joined the social media. In the US, the platform is often used as a venue to discuss workplace topics, such as job openi

May 18, 2021

NH NongHyup launches biometric boarding service

NH NongHyup Bank, one of South Korea‘s five major banks, said Tuesday it has launched biometric boarding service via mobile applications for the first time as a financial institution here. Customers who registered their palm vein patterns at the bank’s branches will be able to travel aboard a domestic flight through contactless biometric boarding process at Gimpo International Airport, Jeju International Airport and Gimhae Airport, the bank said. Up until now, registration of bio

May 18, 2021

GS25 opens 3 convenience stores in Mongolia

Convenience store chain GS25 is opening three locations in Mongolia, in its second major overseas foray, the company said on Tuesday. According to GS Retail, the firm behind the chain, it has partnered with Shunkhlai Group, one of leading conglomerates in the country, to enter the Mongolian market. A launch event was held in both South Korea and Mongolia, livestreamed online on Tuesday, with company officials as well as dignitaries from both countries in attendance, including the South Kore

May 18, 2021

Han Sung Motor rolls out third signature perfume

Han Sung Motor, the largest Mercedes-Benz dealer here, presented its third signature perfume, Passion Mystique, as part of efforts to better connect with its customers, the company said Monday. To create a new brand experience, Han Sung Motor has sought to link its unique fragrances with the brand’s identity, and launched its first signature perfume Hansung Interior Fragrance in 2015 upon the company’s 30th anniversary. The company released Han Sung No. 2 in the following year. A

May 18, 2021

Eximbank to fund purchase of containers by HMM for $30m

The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Tuesday that it would provide $30 million to fund the purchase of 34,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers by the nation’s top shipper, HMM Co. The state-run lender will provide the senior debt, while Multi Asset Global Investment, an alternative investment fund operator under financial giant Mirae Asset Financial Group, will manage subordinated debt funds worth $10 million. Mirae Asset Securities, the key brokerage unit of Mirae Asset Financial G

May 18, 2021

Ex-presidential adviser named head of Korea’s sovereign wealth fund

Sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corp. said Tuesday that Jin Seung-ho, the former presidential adviser for balanced national development, had started his three-year term as its chief executive officer. Jin is the eighth CEO of South Korea’s only sovereign wealth fund, overseeing $183.1 billion worth of dollar-denominated assets entrusted by the Bank of Korea and the Finance Ministry as of 2020. He succeeded Choi Hee-nam, whose three-year term started in 2018. In an inaugural speech

May 18, 2021

LG to invest $100m to build massive computer system for AI development

LG Group announced Monday that it plans to invest over $100 million over the next three years to develop high-performance computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence development. LG Group’s AI research and development unit LG AI Research will build computing infrastructure with 600 billion machine learning parameters. The new computing system, capable of making 95.7 quadrillion calculations per second, will be introduced during the second half of the year and followed by an AI m

May 18, 2021

LG Innotek holds online and offline exhibitions for partners, general public

LG Innotek, LG Group’s cutting-edge manufacturer of materials and components, is holding an exhibition to showcase its business history, current market status and product lineups. It will take place online and offline simultaneously. The purpose of the event is to help LG Innotek’s business partners and the public to better understand the company, it said. The online exhibition comprises two separate segments. One is designed especially for the company’s corporate partners,

May 18, 2021

Samsung unveils 3 new power management ICs for DDR5 DRAM modules

Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday unveiled new power-controlling chips that minimize overall power consumption while boosting performance of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). The world's largest memory chip producer said its three power management integrated circuit (PMIC) products -- S2FPD01, S2FPD02, and S2FPC01 -- are available for DDR5 DRAM modules. A PMIC is an integrated circuit that receives the main power input and distributes the power to each electronics part with efficiency an

May 18, 2021

Clubhouse to launch Android version in S. Korea

Audio-based social networking service Clubhouse will launch on Google's Android operating system in South Korea this week, its US-based developer Alpha Exploration Co. said Tuesday, in a move to expand its growing user base. While the app had previously been available only on iPhones, the company said it will upload a beta version of the app available for download on Google Play in South Korea on Wednesday. The audio social media app, in which users enter rooms to chat with one another by voic

May 18, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on institutional buying

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as institutional investors sought to pick up oversold shares after the index declined the previous session amid lingering inflation concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.13 points, or 0.51 percent, to 3,150.65 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The local index rebounded, led by institutional buying, after the KOSPI dipped 0.6 percent the previous session, shrugging off an overnight decline on Wall Street. In

May 18, 2021

Budget carriers suffer extended losses in Q1 over prolonged pandemic slump

South Korea's low-cost carriers suffered an extended loss in the first quarter as the coronavirus continued to weigh on travel demand, data showed Tuesday, raising concerns over their ability to stay afloat even after the pandemic. Budget carriers have grounded most of their flights on international routes since early 2020 as many countries placed restrictions amid virus fears, facing cutthroat competition for cheap domestic flights. While the nation's full-service carriers have managed to ma

May 18, 2021

KakaoBank’s Q1 net profit jumps 150%

KakaoBank, South Korea’s biggest online bank, saw more than a 150 percent growth in its first-quarter net profit due to an increase in interest income and transaction fees, the firm said Monday. Its net profit stood at 46.7 billion won ($41.1 million) in the first quarter, up 152.4 percent from 18.5 billion won from the same period last year, according to the banking unit of mobile giant Kakao. The company’s profit from transfer fees turned around from a net loss of 3.1 billion w

May 18, 2021

Coupang launches “Global Shopping Day,” offers up to 40% discount

Coupang, South Korea’s e-commerce giant, is offering discounts of up to 40 percent on overseas direct purchases and Coupang direct import items for three days through through Wednesday, as part of its “Global Shopping Day.” Items are organized by theme for the three-day event to help customers shop with more ease and convenience. Under the theme “Get ready for summer now,” customers can shop for home gym equipment and dietary supplements such as protein supplem

May 17, 2021

N.Thing to export smart farms to UAE after $3 million deal

South Korean agriculture technology company N.Thing said Monday that it has recently inked a $3 million deal with Sarya Holdings in the United Arab Emirates to export smart farms. The contract, set to proceed next month, will allow the firm to construct vertical smart farming containers in the UAE by December this year. The container can reduce the use of water up to 98 percent compared to a typical farm and cultivate crops in any environment, whether that is in Siberia, the Middle East, or

May 17, 2021

MMAA hires ex-Lotte insurance CIO

South Korean institutional investor Military Mutual Aid Association has named Lee Sang-hee, former top investor at Lotte Non-Life Insurance, as its new chief investment officer, the firm said Monday. Lee’s three-year term will start on Thursday, according to the institutional investor who manages 12.7 trillion won ($11.18 billion) in assets as of 2020. He will be responsible for overseeing 5 trillion-won worth of financial assets at MMAA -- including equities, fixed-income and alternative

May 17, 2021

Climate response fund to be set up in 2022 to bolster renewable energy transition

The South Korean government will support the development and commercialization of clean energy technologies and set up a climate response fund next year to achieve the goal of going carbon neutral by 2050. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday that preparation for the scenario to achieve net zero emissions is “in full swing,” while stressing the importance of a preemptive policy response related to climate cooperation. South Korea plans to bolster its original target of reduci

May 17, 2021

Will Samsung’s $17b US investment be enough to survive chip race?

The race to outpace competitors with massive capacity expansions is intensifying among global chip manufacturers and the time for Samsung Electronics to announce its own investment plans is approaching. While South Korea is pinning its hopes on Samsung, the world’s No. 1 memory player, to announce massive investments as early as this week, the market is paying close attention to the size of its spending commitment and whether it will be enough for the Korean chipmaker to maintain its p

May 17, 2021