Biz sentiment improves for 3rd straight month amid pandemic: poll

South Korea's business sentiment continued to improve on recovering demand in the non-manufacturing business sector, a local think tank said Wednesday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales reached 107.7 for next month, up 1.7 points from April, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. The index stayed above 100 for the third straight month after its March reading exceeded 100 for the first time in 34 months, it said. A reading ab

April 28, 2021

Samsung family decides on W1tr donation to boost medical sector

The founding family of Samsung Group will donate 1 trillion won ($899 million) to bolster the country’s medical infrastructure, including building Korea’s first hospital for infectious diseases, Samsung Electronics announced on Wednesday. The announcement was part of the bereaved family’s plan on inheritance tax payments on assets of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who died on Oct. 25. The Lee family has decided to donate 700 billion won to better equip the medical s

April 28, 2021

Auto exports rise 31% in Q1 on robust demand

South Korea's exports of autos grew 31.4 percent on-year in the first quarter on the back of brisk shipments of sedans and eco-friendly vehicles, data showed Wednesday. The country's outbound shipments of cars came to $11 billion in the January-March period, compared with $8.37 billion the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. Imports of autos rose 21.8 percent on-year to $2.9 billion, the data showed. Overseas shipments of sedans and eco-friendly vehicle

April 28, 2021

Major firms' overseas sales drop 4% in 2020 amid pandemic

Major South Korean companies saw their overseas sales shrink 4 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Combined overseas sales of 230 out of the country's top 500 firms by revenue totaled 804.1 trillion won ($723 billion) last year, down 33.4 trillion won from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. The figure accounts for 45.6 percent of the 83.6 trillion-won decrease in their sales at home and abroad. The 230 companies cover thos

April 28, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower ahead of US FOMC results

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as investors awaited the results of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 6.05 points, or 0.19 percent, to 3,209.37 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI traded bearish as the yield rate of the US 10-year Treasury bounced back above the 1.6 percent level amid expectations of faster-than-expected global recovery from the pandemic. Tech shares slumped, while insu

April 28, 2021

ADB ups its 2021 growth outlook for S. Korean economy to 3.5%

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday revised up its growth outlook for the South Korean economy this year, citing robust exports of chips and the country's fiscal and monetary support. The Manila-based bank expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 3.5 percent this year, up from its earlier estimate in December last year of 3.3 percent. The ADB forecast predicted the Korean economy to grow 3.1 percent for next year. The bank's outlook is higher than the growth estimates by the Ba

April 28, 2021

Consumer sentiment rises for 4th month in April

South Korea's consumer sentiment increased for a fourth consecutive month in April, as exports showed signs of a strong recovery and health authorities vowed to speed up the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, central bank data showed Wednesday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came in at 102.2 for April, up 1.7 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The latest reading marks the fourth on

April 28, 2021

S. Korea to press ahead with taxation on cryptocurrencies as planned: minister

South Korea will levy taxes on capital gains from cryptocurrencies next year as scheduled despite growing calls by investors to postpone the taxation, the finance minister said Tuesday. The government plans to impose a 20 percent tax on capital gains from transactions of virtual assets starting next year. Amid a bull run, investors of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have cried foul over the plan, claiming that authorities should apply the same taxation standards as those imposed on stock

April 27, 2021

PE-owned shipping firm inks deal with Malaysia’s Petronas

Hyundai LNG Shipping on Tuesday signed a 20-year contract to hire up to six liquefied natural gas carriers owned by Malaysia-based Petronas LNG starting in 2024, amid a global race to achieve economies of scale in the wet bulk shipping industry.　 The deal, which involves 174,000-cubic-meter LNG vessels, could be the largest in South Korea’s history in terms of cargo capacity, said IMM Private Equity, which controls the shipping agent dedicated to LNG carriers. The vessels will

April 27, 2021

SC Bank Korea to run incubator program for women-led fintech startups

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said Tuesday it signed an agreement with a city-funded women rights organization to nurture young talent and foster the development of the tech-driven financial services sector. Under the memorandum of understanding, the bank and Seoul Foundation of Women and Family will jointly run an incubator program dubbed Women in FinTech Academy, which is to target young women who aspire to launch fintech startups. The program is expected to increase women’s stake in

April 27, 2021

Genexine signs vaccine supply deal with Indonesia

Local vaccine developer Genexine has signed a contract with an Indonesian pharmaceutical company to supply 10 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the company said Tuesday. According to the firm, Indonesian pharmaceutical company PT Kalbe Farma will purchase 10 million doses of GX-19N, the vaccine candidate currently in the phase 2 clinical trial stage. Genexine will be provided with royalties based on sales of the vaccine, it added. Sale of the jabs would be possible only after

April 27, 2021

‘Inventive’ K-water eco-project draws attention

SEJONG -- The Korea Water Resources Corp., also known as K-water, is vitalizing an environmental project toward improving air quality around a mega industrial complex in the western part of the nation. The project is drawing wide attention at home and abroad for its ability to provide renewable energy to both the industrial and residential sector, alongside the original function of reducing pollutants emitted from the complex. The mega complex is composed of two industrial complexes -- Banwol

April 27, 2021

Hyundai Oilbank to transform oil refineries into renewable energy platforms

Hyundai Oilbank said Tuesday that it has partnered with Honeywell UOP, one of the world’s leading technology licensing firms, to repurpose its oil refineries as renewable energy platforms where vital ingredients for solar panels and electric vehicle batteries will be produced. Under the agreement, Honeywell’s crude oil-to-chemical technology will allow Hyundai Oilbank facilities to convert crude oil into high-value chemical products instead of traditional transportation fuels. Th

April 27, 2021

Hyundai Motor unveils Kona N, new SUV model under N Line

South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor has fully unveiled the all-new Kona N, adding the first sport utility vehicle to its high-performance N Line. The launch of the new SUV and the emphasis placed on the N Line are the Korean car giant’s strategy to subdivide sport-inspired products from conventional trims, which are swiftly evolving into eco-friendly battery-operated frames. The company held an online world premier named “Hyundai N Day” on Tuesday to fully unve

April 27, 2021

Business leaders plead for pardon of detained Samsung chief

South Korea’s leading business conglomerates have submitted a petition to the presidential office, pleading for a pardon of Samsung Group’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong, officials said Tuesday. Amid burgeoning concerns over a global semiconductor shortage, the industry’s move marked the first case in about 10 years that business circles have publicly called for the release of a jailed business figure. The nation’s top five business lobby groups submitted the joint st

April 27, 2021

Eyes on Lee Jae-yong’s share in inheritance of Samsung Life

As an official announcement on the biggest wealth inheritance in modern Korean history draws near, all eyes are on how much of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s assets would be given to his eldest son Lee Jae-yong, who has in effect already inherited the control of the mammoth business conglomerate. According to industry sources on Tuesday, the bereaved family of the late tycoon is anticipated to announce this week, before an April 30 deadline, a final inheritance plan, incl

April 27, 2021

Seoul stocks inch down ahead of US FOMC meeting

South Korean stocks edged down Tuesday amid increased valuation pressure, with investors taking to the sidelines ahead of a meeting of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 2.11 points, or 0.07 percent, to close at 3,215.42 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.5 billion shares worth some 16.8 trillion won ($15.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 437 to 417. Fore

April 27, 2021

Venture investment sets record in Q1

The country’s startups attracted a record amount of investment in the first quarter, data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups showed Tuesday. During the first three months of the year, the country’s venture investments jumped 61 percent from the same period last year to a record high of 1.24 trillion won ($1.18 billion). Some 989 venture capital rounds at 558 startups were closed during the first three months in the country, the best performance recorded since 2000. Of the tota

April 27, 2021

[From the scene] No. 1 window AC-maker Paseco aims to defend market position

Ansan, GYEONGGI PROVINCE -- Summer is fast approaching, and a new item to cool the scorching heat is on the rise: a window air conditioner. Made in compact sizes to be installed on windows, the home appliance is gaining popularity for its convenience and space efficiency. Inside the factory of the country’s No. 1 window AC maker Paseco on Monday, the hands of workers moved fast to assemble the company’s latest window air conditioner that was released just last week. On the U-shap

April 27, 2021

KIST applies chip technology to prevent fires from lithium-metal batteries

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology on Tuesday claimed to have found a new way of curbing lithium-metal battery fires using semiconductor technology. According to its researchers led by Lee Joong-kee, lithium-metal batteries, which use metals for anodes, or the negative side, are more powerful than lithium-ion batteries that use graphite for anodes. However, there is a trade-off. Lithium-metal batteries are more susceptible to fires because of dendrite issues. Dendrites are tiny, r

April 27, 2021