[Exclusive] LG’s overseas phone factories may face closure

Preparing to bid adieu to its 26-year-old mobile device business, LG Electronics is mulling over what to do with its overseas phone plants, with outright closure being considered as one possible option, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. Closure could mean hundreds of employees losing their jobs within a few months. LG’s head office in Seoul, when announcing the handset business exit on Monday, said it planned to “convert” the overseas facilities and use them for o

April 6, 2021

South Korea’s total liabilities surpass GDP for first time

South Korea has seen the largest and fastest increase in total national liabilities last year, as it neared the 2,000 trillion won ($1.78 trillion) mark and exceeded the country’s gross domestic product for the first time, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday. The total liabilities reached 1,985.3 trillion won ($1.76 trillion) in 2020, up 241.6 trillion won, or 13.8 percent, from a year earlier, according to the 2020 settlement of accounts endorsed by the Cabinet. The figure is a record hi

April 6, 2021

Netmarble signs up star composer Joe Hisaishi for new game

From legendary Studio Ghibli composer to K-pop megastar Blackpink, South Korean game companies are recruiting big names to take things up a notch for their marketing schemes. On April 1, Korean game publisher Netmarble hired composer Joe Hisaishi as a spokesperson for the company’s new game Second Country: Cross Worlds, set for release on April 14. Often linked to “Star Wars” composer John Williams, Hisaishi is the artist behind the music for Japanese animation studio&rsq

April 6, 2021

[Photo News] Korea sets yet another world record in perovskite solar cell

A researcher from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology holds out a perovskite solar cell, which it says boasts the world’s highest efficiency rate, Tuesday.  Co-developed by UNIST, the Korea Institute of Energy Research and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, the next-generation solar cell can convert solar energy into usable energy at a rate of 25.6 percent.  The previous record holder was the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, whi

April 6, 2021

LG Innotek introduces AI patent analysis solution

South Korean electronics components maker LG Innotek said Tuesday it has launched an artificial intelligence-based patent search and analysis system that can handle a task 900 times faster than human. According to the affiliate of LG Group, the system can process 50,000 pieces of patent data in four hours, which would otherwise require five workers to work eight hours a day for 100 days. “This is possible thanks to the AI-powered automatic sentence recognition model co-developed with

April 6, 2021

[News Focus] Mobile carriers speed up business transitions

South Korean telecommunications companies, which in 2019 made Korea the world’s first country to launch a commercial 5G network, are ditching their “telco” identity. No longer content to stay within the traditional boundaries of the telecommunications business, they are seeking business opportunities in areas where growth might come from in future. For KT Corp., the industry’s No. 2, the new direction entails producing its own original cultural content, such as drama

April 6, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 4th day on global economic recovery hopes

South Korean stocks rose for the fourth straight session Tuesday as investors pinned their hopes on a faster-than-expected global economic recovery, backed by strong US economic data. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.25 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 3,127.08 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.26 billion shares worth some 13.5 trillion won ($12.06 billion), with losers outnumbering g

April 6, 2021

Starbucks Korea to do away with single-use cups by 2025

Starbucks Korea has vowed to stop the use of disposable cups by 2025. As part of its long-term sustainability “Better Together” project, the coffeehouse chain said Tuesday it will roll out reusable cups at all stores across the country and replace single-use cups completely in the next four years. The new eco-friendly cups will be rolled out first at a select few shops during the second half of this year. The reusable cups come with a deposit that will be returned to customers when

April 6, 2021

Creditor, authorities make last-minute efforts to revive SsangYong Motor

Market anticipations faded out on SsangYong Motor’s business restoration as its sole likely investor remained indecisive over acquiring the stake in the cash-strapped carmaker. While the carmaker struggles to stay afloat and financial authorities tilted toward allowing more time, eyes have turned to main creditor Korea Development Bank, which is likely to be the linchpin in the volatile scenario. State-run lender KDB is set to send its written statement to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court

April 6, 2021

Posco unit may sever its biz ties with Myanmar's military conglomerate

POSCO C&C, an affiliate of South Korea's steel giant POSCO Group, said Tuesday it is studying various options to reconsider its business ties with Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL), one of Myanmar's two largest military holding companies. The move by the maker of surface-treatment steel sheets came amid mounting international outcry against Myanmar's military over its bloody crackdown on citizens following a coup in February. POSCO owns a 70 percent stake in Myanmar PO

April 6, 2021

[Photo News] Music for everyone

S-Oil CEO Hussain A. Al-Qahtani (left) delivers 100 million won ($89,129) to Heart-to-Heart Foundation Chairman Oh Ji-chul at S-Oil’s headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Tuesday.  The money will be used to support the foundation’s orchestra, made up of youngsters with developmental disabilities. (S-Oil) (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

April 6, 2021

Tougher penalties come into force for naked short selling

Investors engaged in naked short selling will be fined up to 100 percent of their order amount, the nation’s top financial regulator said Tuesday.  According to the policymaking Financial Services Commission, the revised Capital Markets Act, which imposes tougher penalties for naked short selling, has taken effect on the same day.  Short selling is a trading tactic where investors immediately sell borrowed stocks on a bet that share prices will fall, allowing them to later re

April 6, 2021

Banking groups signal hope of launching internet-only banks

South Korean banking groups have approached the financial authorities in hopes of launching their own internet-only lenders, industry insiders said Tuesday, amid the growing popularity of platforms such as Kakao Bank. The Korea Federation of Banks, a body that represents commercial lenders here, recently received a joint message from the banking groups, including the five major ones -- KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH -- conveying their plans to foray into the internet-only banking business, if

April 6, 2021

KCGS downgrades ESG scores of Samsung, SKT, and LGD

The Korea Corporate Governance Service, a nonprofit organization that offers environmental, social and governance evaluations for companies, said Tuesday that it had downgraded the ESG ratings of nine companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom and LG Display. Samsung was given an overall rating of B+, down from the previous score of A. The company scored a B in the governance category after Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong received a 30-month jail sentence in January for bribery a

April 6, 2021

Stable US Treasury yields, market rallies support scenario of Kospi rebound in Q2

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi could log a fresh record high in the second quarter, a local analyst suggested Tuesday, citing stable US Treasury yields and market rallies on Wall Street as fundamentals. KB Securities analyst Lee Eun-taek wrote in a report that the rise in value of the Korean won against the US dollar is also another positive factor to foreigners’ net purchases in the local stock market. “Kospi is expected to continue its upward movement in the middle of the se

April 6, 2021

AeroK to launch its first scheduled flight next week

South Korean low cost carrier AeroK said Tuesday its first scheduled flight between Cheongju and Jeju will take off on April 15. The airline, which is based at Cheongju International Airport, will fly three round trips per day with its A320 aircraft between the largest city of North Chungcheong Province and Jeju Island. “Operation of our first scheduled flight had to be delayed as a result of the obstacle that is COVID-19, but we believe the news about our operation will be a silver lini

April 6, 2021

Budget carrier Eastar aims to pick new investor by early May: CEO

Financially troubled Eastar Jet aims to select a new investor by early May as several investors have shown an interest in the budget carrier, the company's chief executive officer said Tuesday. Eastar will decide whether to proceed with the investor selection process in the form of a "stalking-horse" bid or an open auction, by the end of this month, Eastar CEO Kim You-sang told Yonhap News Agency over the phone. In the stalking-horse bid, Eastar will select a preliminary preferred

April 6, 2021

NH Investment ‘fully responsible’ for W300b Optimus misselling: FSS

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Tuesday that it holds NH Investment & Securities, the nation’s second-largest brokerage firm by net assets, entirely accountable for the misselling practices associated with the Optimus Asset Management alleged hedge fund fraud. The Financial Supervisory Service ordered NH Investment to compensate end-investors for losses of some 300 billion won ($267 million) incurred in 326 cases they brought to the Financial Dispute Conciliation Committe

April 6, 2021

Financial holding firms' 2020 net down on increased provisions

South Korea's 10 financial holding firms saw their combined net profit edge down last year, due mainly to higher loan-loss provisions, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of KB Financial, Shinhan Financial and eight other financial holding firms stood at 15.11 trillion won ($13.4 billion) in 2020, compared with a profit of 15.23 trillion won for 2019, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The decline came as banks increased loan-loss provisions to prepar

April 6, 2021

Online shopping rises 15% in Feb. amid pandemic

Online shopping in South Korea grew 15.2 percent on-year in February as more people bought products via e-commerce platforms amid the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 13.7 trillion won ($12.2 billion) in February, compared with 11.9 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Online shopping has gathered pace since last year as people preferred shopping in a non-contact manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Purch

April 6, 2021