Cargo volume at seaports down 2.3% in Feb.

The volume of cargo processed at South Korea's seaports declined 2.3 percent in February from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, amid economic jitters caused by the new coronavirus pandemic. Local seaports handled 118 million tons of cargo last month, compared with 121 million tons posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Processed export-import cargo, meanwhile, rebounded after 14 months of decline, rising 0.4 percent on-year. The ministr

March 21, 2021

Launch of Korean satellite postponed in Kazakhstan

The launch of South Korea's next-generation midsized observation satellite, slated for Saturday afternoon at a space center in Kazakhstan, has been postponed, government officials here said. The 540-kilogram satellite, loaded on Russia's Soyuz 2.1a, was scheduled to take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:07 p.m. (11:07 a.m. local time). But the launch has been postponed, reportedly due to problems detected from the upper part of the carrier rocket, according to officials at

March 20, 2021

Seoul stock market to suffer volatility next week on reverberating rate hike woes

South Korean stocks are likely to suffer an extended choppy trading next week as concerns about the rising US Treasury yields are expected to be eclipsed by simmering hopes for quicker-than-expected economic recovery. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 3,039.53 points Friday, down 0.49 percent from a week ago. Volatility ran high globally this week, as investors were largely swayed by the news related to the bond yield movement. This week, foreigners sold a net 864 b

March 20, 2021

[Newsmaker] Imprisoned Samsung heir undergoes surgery for appendicitis

Lee Jae-yong, the imprisoned de facto leader of Samsung Group, underwent surgery for appendicitis, officials here said Saturday, according to Yonhap News. Lee, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., was transferred to Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul and received the surgery on Friday night due to a ruptured appendix, the report said. In January, the 52-year-old tycoon was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in a retrial of a bribery case involving former President Par

March 20, 2021

Work ban on Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong ‘unclear’: compliance committee

  An external compliance monitoring committee on Samsung Electronics and its affiliates concluded on Friday that the restriction on Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong’s employment was “unclear.” The committee, led by former Chief Justice Kim Ji-hyung, discussed during its regular meeting the ongoing controversy involving the Ministry of Justice’s latest ban on Lee from being employed by Samsung for five years due to his conviction in a bribery scandal involving forme

March 19, 2021

New dividend payout rule to take center stage at banks’ shareholders meetings

New dividend payout programs are set to take center stage at shareholders meetings next week as banking giants seek to appease shareholders amid growing discontent over new regulations that limit the size of earnings distribution.  Earlier in January, the policymaking Financial Services Commission advised banks and their holding companies to keep their dividend payouts below 20 percent of net income during the first half of this year to secure enough capital needed to counter impacts of

March 19, 2021

Bank of America’s Korea office names new chiefs

The South Korean office of Bank of America named Shin Jin-wook, the former head of its corporate finance and banking unit, as its new country manager, the company said Friday. Shin has built his career at BofA for the past 15 years, establishing a wide client base including many corporations and financial institutions. BofA Securities, the company’s investment banking unit, named Cho Chan-hee to lead its operations. Cho is the youngest chief of any global investment bank operating in Ko

March 19, 2021

Samsung BioLogics to accelerate global expansion

Samsung BioLogics, the pharmaceutical arm of Samsung Group, vowed Friday to further expand its range of drug products down the road, in a move to grow beyond the conventional antibody drug conjugate business. The blue print was delivered by CEO John Rim during the company’s 10th shareholders meeting held at the headquarters in Incheon. Rim, who was named CEO in December last year, said the company plans to secure related technologies and facilities that are capable of producing cell and

March 19, 2021

Coupang announces early stock lockup agreement release; employees allowed to sell stocks

About a week into its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, Coupang is allowing some of its workers to sell their shares. Coupang announced an early stock lockup agreement release for about 34 million shares held by employees, which became eligible for sale at the opening of trading Thursday US time. According to the South Korean e-commerce platform company, the condition of the release -- that its stocks must close at or above the initial public offering price, $35 -- was satisfied as of th

March 19, 2021

Seoul stocks retreat on US Treasury yields hike

South Korean stocks retreated Friday amid inflation uncertainties, as investor sentiment weakened from an overnight hike in long-term US Treasury yields. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 26.48 points, or 0.86 percent, to close at 3,039.53 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 15.9 trillion won ($14.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 447 to 378. Foreigners sold a net 584 billio

March 19, 2021

Money supply reaches all-time high in January

The money supply in the market has reached a record high, with companies increasingly issuing corporate bonds amid lower interest rates, data released by the Bank of Korea showed Friday. The nation’s M2 money supply increased by 41.9 trillion won ($37 billion), or 1.3 percent, to an all-time high of 3,233.4 trillion won in January, according to the BOK. The 41.9 trillion won increase also marked the largest monthly growth since the central bank began compiling related data in 2001.

March 19, 2021

Samsung ranks 5th in 2020 smartphone AP market: report

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's fifth-largest smartphone application processor (AP) vendor last year, a report showed Friday, as the South Korean tech giant eyes to expand its presence in the mobile microprocessor sector with more sales of its Galaxy devices. Samsung, which makes the Exynos chipsets, represented 9 percent of the global smartphone AP market in terms of revenue in 2020, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. "The company's in-house customer's underperfo

March 19, 2021

Vice finance minister says global oil prices to see limited rise

It is unlikely that global oil prices will rise further, South Korea’s first vice minister of finance said Friday, citing the supply capacity of major oil producers as well as the recent surge in US Treasury bond yields. “Prices of the country’s benchmark Dubai crude, which stood at $42 per barrel last year, surged to more than $60 per barrel this month,” said Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom during an economic meeting. “Oil prices, however, are less likely

March 19, 2021

S. Korea set to launch next-generation observation satellite over weekend

South Korea will launch its next-generation midsized observation satellite this week, the latest in the country's efforts to boost its space industry and develop its own space technologies. The 540-kilogram satellite loaded on Russia's Soyuz 2.1a will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday morning (local time) and contact the Svalbard Satellite Station in Norway after reaching its target orbit, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. Equipped with an imaging sens

March 19, 2021

LG Group looks to improve governance with ESG initiative

LG Corp., LG Group’s holding company, said Friday that its board had launched an exclusive committee to deal with environmental, social and governance issues as part of its efforts to reinforce self-monitoring by listed affiliates for governance and compliance issues. The ESG Committee, which will be the top decision-making body on ESG management, will report policies to the board concerning environment and safety, corporate social responsibility, customer value, shareholder value and

March 19, 2021

NPS denies rumors of adjusting targets of domestic equity allocation

South Korea’s largest public pension body, the National Pension Service, on Friday denied local news reports that it was considering reweighting its investment portfolio and raising its domestic stock allocation in contrast with an earlier pledge to cut its exposure. “The NPS Investment Management Committee does not plan to discuss readjusting its target asset allocation with regards to the hike of domestic equity exposure,” the NPS said in a statement. The statement rebutt

March 19, 2021

Samyang Foods tops W600b in sales in 2020, setting record

Samyang Foods achieved record sales of 648.5 billion won ($572 million) and an operating profit of 95.3 billion won in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Korean food company said Friday. Samyang Foods, which produces the globally popular Buldak Spicy Chicken Noodle, said both its sales and operating profit jumped last year from a year earlier, by 19.3 percent and 21.9 percent, respectively. Sales from overseas backed the sales growth, having increased 35.8 percent on-year to reco

March 19, 2021

S. Korea, IDB agree to expand loan program for Latin America

South Korea said Friday it has agreed to expand a joint loan facility program with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in a bid to support infrastructure development in Latin America. The finance ministry and the IDB signed a letter of intent to extend the cooperative loan program between the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), the country's lower-interest loan scheme with emerging countries, and the regional development bank, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. T

March 19, 2021

LG unveils measures to improve corporate governance, transparency

LG Group, South Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate, on Friday unveiled measures to improve its corporate governance and transparency in management. LG said its listed affiliates will establish an environmental, social and governance (ESG) committee and an in-house trading committee within their boards. The newly established ESG committee will comprise of outside directors, with the company's CEO also participating as a member to better execute its plans. LG said the committee, which will cov

March 19, 2021

Domestic demand suffers extended slumps amid pandemic: finance ministry

The South Korean economy is on a recovery track on robust exports and investment, but domestic demand remains sluggish amid the pandemic, the finance ministry said Friday. But the government did not say in its monthly economic assessment report that economic uncertainty persists. "The Korean economy is seeing an improvement in exports and investment and the country's job losses eased, but domestic demand has slackened amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases," the Ministry of Economy and

March 19, 2021