Toss seeks talent to gear up for competition

Viva Republica, the operator of leading finance app Toss, on Wednesday announced that it plans to add 330 new staff in the first quarter ahead of the launch of an internet-only bank and an online securities arm later this year. The latest hunt for talent comes as the 6-year-old startup prepares to become the country‘s third internet-only bank, expected to launch in July, and to kick off the mobile securities firm Toss Securities next month. With five units under its umbrella, including f

Jan. 20, 2021

LG mulls exit from smartphone market

LG Electronics may exit the smartphone business after losing about 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) over the past five years. Its CEO Kwon Bong-seok on Wednesday sent out a message to staff that hinted there would be a major change in the operation of the smartphone segment. “Regardless of any change in the direction of the smartphone business operation, the employment will be maintained, so there is no need to worry,” he said. “Since the competition in the global market for

Jan. 20, 2021

Samsung introduces thinner, more advanced capacitors for 5G phones

Samsung Electro-Mechanics has begun supplying slimmer three-socket multilayer ceramic capacitors, or MLCCs, to global smartphone makers, the electronic components maker said Wednesday.　 The company’s latest MCCC model, 0.65 millimeter thin, is 18 percent smaller than existing products, allowing phone designers to spare internal space in mobile devices. It has also one additional earth socket than existing products and reduces high-frequency power noise, the company said. A MLCC is a k

Jan. 20, 2021

Samsung announces global launch of new SSD series

Samsung Electronics Wednesday announced the global launch of its new consumer solid state drive series. The 870 EVO SSD series will be available in around 40 countries, starting with South Korea and the US, according to the company. Samsung Electronics’ new SATA solution, which features the company’s latest V-NAND and controller, allows maximum sequential read and write speeds of 560 and 530 megabytes per second, respectively. It also boasts 38 percent faster read and write spee

Jan. 20, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 2nd day on tech, auto gains

South Korean stocks advanced for a second consecutive session Wednesday, as auto and tech stocks continued to rebound. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 15.97 points, or 0.71 percent, to close at 3,114.55 points. Trading volume was high at about 1.2 billion shares worth some 24.3 trillion won ($22.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 511 to 322. Foreigners sold a net 236 billion won, while retail investors purchased

Jan. 20, 2021

Davos Forum invites LG Chem chief for his climate change plans

LG Chem Vice Chairman and CEO Shin Hak-cheol has been invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to share the company’s strategies on the climate change. According to South Korea’s leading chemical company, Shin will give a speech on the subject during the “Mobilizing Action on Climate Change” session of the forum which will be held online Jan. 25-29. “Korean business leaders have participated in the forum before, but Shin will be the first to t

Jan. 20, 2021

Hyperconnect launches global project SLIDE in North America

Hyperconnect has officially launched SLIDE, a video-first dating and social discovery app with plans to roll out in select markets. The launch comes as online social discovery channels continue to grow rapidly in the era of COVID-19. After a year of development, SLIDE is now available in North America, enabling users to express themselves three-dimensionally and vividly through a video-based dating experience. Slide is the product of a multinational development effort, involving resources acros

Jan. 20, 2021

W38.4tr set to support liquidity-strapped companies ahead of holiday

The government will extend some 38.4 trillion won ($34.86 billion) in financial support for companies and small merchants suffering from liquidity crunch ahead of Lunar New Year’s Day, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The size of the financial support package, usually planned weeks before the holiday to spur spending, has increased by 2.1 trillion won from last year. The three-day Lunar New Year holiday kicks off on Feb. 11. “Although the third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic

Jan. 20, 2021

Korean business leaders get ready for Biden era

As the United States prepares to inaugurate Joe Biden as its 46th president, South Korea’s business community on Wednesday took swift steps to align itself with the new Democratic US government that will take charge of the world’s largest economy for at least the next four years. Given that Biden’s policy direction largely centers on reviving multilateralism and boosting green and digital growth -- in tune with President Moon Jae-in’s Korean New Deal package -- local

Jan. 20, 2021

Korea eyes Novavax deal for 20 million people: Moon

South Korea may be able to secure additional vaccines for 20 million people from US drugmaker Novavax, President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday. The deal is still under negotiation, Moon said, while earlier Korean media reports suggested only being able to cover 10 million people. Earlier on this day, Moon had a virtual meeting with Novavax’ CEO Stanley Erck, during which they held an amicable discussion regarding the latter’s probable technology license issuance to SK Bioscience this

Jan. 20, 2021

S. Korea adopts stricter forex rules for brokerages, insurers

South Korea’s financial authorities said Wednesday they plan to adopt stricter guidelines, regulations and monitoring for foreign exchange trading by local non-banking institutions such as brokerages and insurers. “Three types of new monitoring standards will be adopted to keep an eye on forex liquidity in non-banking financial institutions,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in a press briefing. “We will improve the effectiveness of the monit

Jan. 20, 2021

Speculation over eBay’s sale of Korean unit grows amid appointment of new local CEO

EBay Korea appointed Chun Hang-il as its new chief executive officer on Wednesday, amid growing speculation that the US e-commerce firm is poised to sell its business interests in South Korea. Chun, who previously led the Japanese unit of eBay, will take over from outgoing CEO Byun Kwang-yun from Thursday. The leadership shakeup comes a day after the online retail giant announced it was looking at “alternatives for its Korea business” amid growing competition from the likes of Cou

Jan. 20, 2021

Mirae Asset picked as lead manager of pension fund investment pool

South Korean asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments is poised to become a lead manager of the state-supervised investment pool of 63 Korean pension funds, according to the government on Wednesday. The pension fund investment pool has been under the monitoring of the Ministry of Economy and Finance since it was established in December 2001 on the basis of the National Finance Act. Mirae Asset will take the place of one of the current lead managers, Korea Investment Management, wh

Jan. 20, 2021

Kwon Chil-seung nominated to be minister of SMEs and Startups

Two-term Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kwon Chil-seung was named President Moon Jae-in’s nominee for minister of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Startups on Wednesday. If confirmed, he will take over the role previously held by Park Young-sun since April 2019 and will oversee the organization to strengthen competitiveness and support innovation of SMEs and micro enterprises. Park resigned from her position early on Wednesday amid speculation that she will soon announce her bi

Jan. 20, 2021

GC Pharma to apply for COVID-19 plasma therapy EUA in April

Drug maker GC Pharma will apply to expedite the use of its plasma-derived COVID-19 treatment in April in Korea, the company said on Wednesday. The plasma therapy, GC5131A, which uses donated blood plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients, targets those infected who display serious symptoms. In the previous year, the company had said on multiple occasions that it anticipates to release the drug in the market within the first quarter of 2021. The company only wrapped up administration of the the

Jan. 20, 2021

KB Asset closes W220b ESG bond fund

Seoul-based investment firm KB Asset Management said Wednesday it had closed a 220 billion won ($200 million) bond-investing private fund in order to embolden its focus on environmental, social and governance factors. The new private fund -- the largest of its kind in Korea -- will deploy at least 70 percent of its cash to certified South Korean green, social and sustainability bonds or issuers that received integrated ESG rating of “B+” or higher from evaluator Korea Corporate Gove

Jan. 20, 2021

LG Electronics to further expand smart factory scheme

LG Electronics Inc. on Wednesday said it plans to promote its smart factory push as the home appliance maker targets improving its productivity. LG announced it will spend 50 billion won ($45 million) from February to set up a new home appliance product testing facility at its second factory in Changwon, some 400 kilometers south of Seoul. The new facility will integrate all existing testing labs at the factory, according to LG. The South Korean tech giant said the forthcoming facility will a

Jan. 20, 2021

S. Korea to enhance monitoring of non-bank institutions' FX liquidity

South Korea plans to monitor foreign exchange liquidity conditions for non-banking institutions on a monthly basis in a bid to ease potential market jitters caused by their dollar crunch, the finance ministry said Wednesday. The Ministry of Economy and Finance unveiled a set of measures to reduce non-bank institutions' FX liquidity risks as a market rout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the fore their vulnerability to external shocks. "The government drew up measures to manage F

Jan. 20, 2021

S. Korea to remove import duties on egg products amid supply shortage

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday it plans to temporarily remove tariffs on imported egg products to resolve a supply shortage sparked by the outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu here. The move, which is set to be finalized next week, would allow local companies to import up to a combined 50,000 tons of fresh eggs and seven other types of egg products without tariffs until the end of June, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This will mark a sha

Jan. 20, 2021

Public sector's job additions largest-ever in 2019

Jobs offered by the government and state-run companies grew by the largest-ever in 2019 on the back of a state policy to increase hiring in the public sector, data showed Wednesday. A total of 2.6 million people were employed in 2019 by the public sector, up 151,000, or 6.1 percent, from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Jobs offered by the public sector are positions in central and provincial governments and state-run firms. The tally marked the largest on-year

Jan. 20, 2021