KCCI welcomes new chief of US business chamber

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a leading business representative group here, announced Wednesday that it has sent a congratulatory message to the new CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce Suzanne Clark. Clark, who is to assume her position on Thursday to fill the post of predecessor Thomas Donohue, is the first female figure to lead the USCC throughout its 109-year history. “Korea and the US have been trusted allies and close economic partners for almost 70 years,” wrote

March 10, 2021

Banks' loan delinquency rate inches up in January

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans edged up in January from the previous month, the financial regulator said Wednesday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.31 percent at the end of January, up 0.03 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the bank loan delinquency rate was down 0.1 percentage point. Banks' loan delinquency rate remains stable mainly bec

March 10, 2021

Coupang raises target price range ahead of NYSE listing

Coupang Inc., parent company of South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Corp., has raised its initial public offering target price range of $32 to $34 apiece, according to a regulatory filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. With the revised range, Coupang looks to raise its proceeds by 16 percent more than previously anticipated. The earlier prospectus submitted on March 1 showed the shares were marketed at $27 to $30. As it has planned to offer 120 million sh

March 10, 2021

Samsung relegated to 2nd in connected TV devices market in Q4: report

Samsung Electronics Co. was relegated to the runner-up spot in the market for connected TV devices, which includes smart TVs, streamers and gaming consoles, in the fourth quarter of 2020, a report showed Wednesday. Samsung, the world's largest TV maker, shipped 11.9 million units of connected TV devices in the October-December period, up 2 percent from a quarter earlier, to account for a 10.9 percent market share, according to industry researcher Strategy Analytics. Despite increase in sales,

March 10, 2021

S. Korean shipbuilders take up more than half of new orders in Feb.

South Korean shipbuilders accounted for more than half of new orders in the global shipbuilding market in February, surpassing their Chinese rivals for the eighth consecutive month, industry data showed Wednesday. South Korean shipbuilders led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. won new orders of 43 ships or 1.56 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), which represented 56 percent of 92 ships or 2.82 million CGTs ordered globally in February, according to the data provided by global market researche

March 10, 2021

S. Korea to invest W200b in developing automotive chip technology

South Korea plans to invest more than 200 billion won ($176 million) in developing automotive chip-making technology by 2022 in an effort to nurture the next-generation vehicle sector, the finance minister said Wednesday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government plans to cooperate with local automakers to find ways to ease a current supply shortage of automotive chips that may last until the third quarter. "As automotive chips are key parts of the car industry and demand for futur

March 10, 2021

Samsung launches 5G network with Spark in New Zealand

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday said it has launched a 5G network in New Zealand with the country's largest telecommunications service firm as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its presence in the network equipment market. In collaboration with Spark New Zealand Ltd., Samsung said its 5G network was installed in Christchurch in South Island of New Zealand. The launch marked New Zealand's first new network vendor in over a decade, and the company's first network installation in t

March 10, 2021

Hyundai, Kia target 23% gain in 2020 China sales

Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday they are targeting a 23 percent on-year gain in China sales this year. Hyundai and Kia aim to sell a combined 817,000 vehicles in China in 2021, up from 664,744 units a year earlier, a Hyundai spokesman said. To help achieve the goal, Hyundai launched the second generation of Mistra (or Mingtu in Chinese), a compact car exclusively developed for the Chinese market, earlier this month and plans to introduce the electrified Mistra compact

March 10, 2021

Seoul stocks open sharply higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street led by tech shares on eased inflation concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 36.3 points, or 1.22 percent, to 3,012.42 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 3.7 percent to 13,073.82, its largest one-day gain since Nov. 4, after the yield on the US 10-year Treasury note fell. The S&P 500 advanced 1.4 percent to 3,

March 10, 2021

Samsung Electronics' R&D spending hits record high in 2020: report

Samsung Electronics Co.'s research and development (R&D) spending last year hit a record high, its report showed Wednesday, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Samsung invested 21.2 trillion won ($18.6 billion) in R&D last year, up 1 trillion won from a year earlier, to mark its largest spending ever, according to its 2020 business report. Samsung's R&D investment was equivalent to 9 percent of its sales, up from 7.7 percent in 2018 and 8.8 percent in 2019. The South Korean tech

March 10, 2021

BOK purchases W2tr worth of state bonds

The Bank of Korea (BOK) on Tuesday purchased 2 trillion won ($1.76 billion) worth of government bonds as part of its market-stabilizing efforts amid the coronavirus crisis.    According to an announcement posted on its website, an auction of the first batch of BOK's 7 trillion won bond purchase program within the first half was closed after attracting bids of more than 4.2 trillion won.    The bank bought three-year government bonds at 1.17 trillion won, five-year Treasury

March 9, 2021

OECD revises up its 2021 growth outlook for S. Korean economy to 3.3 percent

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday revised up its 2021 growth outlook for the South Korean economy as the country's exports remain robust amid the pandemic.    The OECD expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 3.3 percent this year, up from its December estimate of 2.8 percent. Still, the Paris-based organization revised down its 2022 growth forecast for South Korea to 3.1 percent from 3.4 percent.    The upward revision for

March 9, 2021

Samsung SDI logs record battery R&D spending in 2020

Samsung SDI spent a record 808.3 billion won ($710.2 million) on research and development for next-generation electric vehicle batteries in 2020. According to its annual report, released Tuesday, the amount was 7.2 percent of its revenue last year. “The investment is the seed of Samsung SDI’s future growth engine as the company prepares for the upcoming era of electric vehicles,” a company official said. This is the first time that Samsung SDI’s battery R&D sp

March 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] Game firms under increasing scrutiny over loot box odds

Calls to regulate the gaming industry are growing in South Korea after local game companies have come under fire for what users call a “deceptive” system of randomized, for-purchase game items. Yeo Myung-sook, the former head of the Game Rating and Administration Committee, threw her weight behind the pro-regulation argument, saying that games with a loot box feature, which offers randomized in-game items for sale, should be subject to the same tax imposed on casinos. “Ga

March 9, 2021

Bithumb bans trading from countries with no anti-money laundering measures

Bithumb, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange operator, said Tuesday that it has put restrictions on crypto trading accounts held by users staying in regions that have not adopted anti-money laundering measures. A total of 21 nations are currently on the watchlist for failing to implement anti-money laundering measures issued by the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental body that sets international standards to prevent global money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Iran

March 9, 2021

Samsung SDI spends record high of over w810b in battery R&D in 2020

Samsung SDI Co., South Korea's No. 2 battery maker, said Tuesday it spent a record high of 808.3 billion won ($703.2 million) in research and development activities last year to develop advanced battery technologies. Samsung SDI's R&D spending accounted for 7.2 percent of its 2020 sales, according to its annual report. The company has been working on rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EV) that cost less, last longer and charge faster to meet growing demand from global automake

March 9, 2021

FSC extends eased liquidity rules for banks amid pandemic

South Korea’s financial regulator said Tuesday it has decided to further ease local lenders’ obligations to pile up liquid assets until September, in a move to encourage them to prop up the real economy reeling from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.  The liquid coverage ratio, or LCR, is the proportion of necessary assets held by financial institutions, which serves as a key indicator for a bank’s financial soundness.  Under the current LCR regulation designed to c

March 9, 2021

Samsung aims to boost Bespoke sales to 80% in Korea, expand overseas

Samsung Electronics has an aim to boost its sales of customizable Bespoke products to 80 percent of total consumer electronics sales, the company’s president said Tuesday. During an online press conference held to announce the new Bespoke Home products, Lee Jae-seung, president of Samsung’s consumer electronics business, said the company will expand the Bespoke lineup further both at home and abroad. “The company aims to expand the Bespoke sales to account for 80 percent of

March 9, 2021

Daewoong’s migraine treatment to enter phase two trial in US

Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s partner company in the US is to begin a phase two study of using botulinum toxin complex injections as a preventive treatment for migraines, according to the South Korean firm Tuesday. AEON Biopharma, a California-based private clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has licensed the ABP-450 injection from Daewoong Pharmaceutical and has exclusive development and distribution rights for ABP-450 in the US, Canada and the European countries. Last year, the US

March 9, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 4th day on inflation concerns

South Korean stocks slumped for a fourth consecutive session Tuesday amid growing concerns over post-pandemic inflation. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.99 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 2,976.12 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.5 billion shares worth around 18 trillion won ($15.8 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 570 to 276. Foreigners sold a net 642 billion won, while retail investors pur

March 9, 2021