Seoul stocks open sharply lower on US slump

South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Thursday, taking a cue from overnight drops on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 49.67 points, or 1.59 percent, to 3,072.89 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Foreign selling increased as the US Fed did not announce new measures to quicken the economic recovery. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite retreated 2.61 percent, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closing down 2.05 percent and 2.57

Jan. 28, 2021

SK Telecom forms partnerships for flying car development

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top wireless carrier, said Thursday it has joined hands with local defense company Hanwha Systems Co., Korea Airports Corp. and the Korea Transport Institute to speed up development of urban air mobility (UAM) services. Last year, South Korea unveiled its plan to commercialize UAM services by 2025 to help overcome urban traffic congestion by using unmanned drone taxis. SK Telecom said they will work together to develop the infrastructure and aircraft required for

Jan. 28, 2021

Samsung's 2020 operating profit up nearly 30% on-year

Samsung Electronics reported a 29.62 percent increase in operating profit in 2020, achieving the company’s fourth-largest profit despite the pandemic situation, according to its earnings announcement on Thursday. The South Korean tech giant posted 236.87 trillion won ($212.43 billion) in revenue and 35.99 trillion won in operating profit last year. While the annual revenue rose slightly by 2.78 percent from a year earlier, the operating profit surged nearly 30 percent on-year. 

Jan. 28, 2021

S. Korea needs additional stimulus dose for quick recovery amid pandemic: IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended Thursday that South Korea further carry out accommodative fiscal and monetary policies, including rate cuts, in a bid to accelerate its economic recovery amid the pandemic. Despite rising budget deficit, the country also has fiscal room for increasing targeted support to people and businesses hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak, according to Andreas Bauer, Korea mission chief at the IMF. An IMF team, led by Bauer, unveiled the outcome of i

Jan. 28, 2021

Daewoo Engineering & Construction 2020 net income up 40.5% to W282.6b

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. on Thursday reported its 2020 net profit of 282.6 billion won ($255.9 million), up 40.5 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 558.3 billion won in operating profit for the year, compared with 364.1 billion from the previous year. Annual revenue fell 6 percent to 8.13 trillion won. (Yonhap)

Jan. 28, 2021

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Q4 net income up 417.5% to W112.3b

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. on Thursday reported its fourth-quarter net profit of 112.3 billion won ($101.7 million), up 417.5 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 253.3 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 44.8 billion won a year ago. Sales fell 0.8 percent to 2.29 trillion won. The operating profit was 123.7 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial

Jan. 28, 2021

Watchdog advises banks to cut dividends amid coronavirus impact

South Korea's financial watchdog said Thursday it has decided to advise local banks to reduce dividends this year to help them better cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The decision, among other things, recommends lenders to keep their dividends below 20 percent of earnings, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). But the recommendation doesn't apply to dividends that banks pay out to their holding companies. Two state lenders -- the Korea Development Bank and the

Jan. 28, 2021

Imports of Japanese beer tank in 2020 on anti-Japan campaign

South Korea's imports of Japanese beer plunged nearly 86 percent in 2020 due to a local boycott of goods from the neighboring country, data showed Thursday. Seoul brought in $5.67 million worth of Japanese beer last year, down 85.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the liquor industry. The tumble follows a drop to $39.76 million in 2019 from a peak of $78.30 million a year earlier. South Koreans launched the boycott in protest of Japan's exp

Jan. 28, 2021

Naver 2020 net more than doubles to W836b amid pandemic

South Korea's top internet portal operator, Naver Corp., said Thursday its net profit jumped more than twofold in 2020 from the previous year on the back of the non-contact trend amid the coronavirus pandemic. Net profit reached 836.2 billion won ($757.2 million) last year, compared with 396.8 billion won in the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating income reached 1.21 trillion won for all of 2020, up 5.2 percent from the year before. Sales reached 5.3 trillion won

Jan. 28, 2021

Manufacturers' business sentiment rises in February

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment rose in February, but concerns about sluggish consumption persisted amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The business sentiment index (BSI) for local manufacturers came to 81 for February, up from 77 for January, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures manufacturers' outlook on business conditions in the following month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. In Decemb

Jan. 28, 2021

Samsung Electronics 2020 net income up 21.5% to W26.4tr

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday reported its 2020 net profit of 26.4 trillion won ($23.9 billion), up 21.5 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that operating profit for the year rose 29.6 percent on-year to 35.99 trillion won. Annual sales increased 2.8 percent to 236.8 trillion won. (Yonhap)

Jan. 28, 2021

Korean kids eat too much sugar: Food Ministry

Young people in South Korea eat too much sugar from processed food, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday, citing the World Health Organization’s recommendations. Using data from a health and nutrition survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the Food Ministry looked into the daily sugar consumption patterns of some 7,000 Koreans in 2018. The daily sugar intake from processed food accounted for 10.1 percent of total calories for children aged 3

Jan. 27, 2021

'Commit, operationalize, engage' to tackle climate change: LG Chem chief

LG Chem Vice Chairman and CEO Shin Hak-cheol shared the company’s strategies on tackling climate change at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. During the “Mobilizing Action on Climate Change” session, which was held online, Shin suggested three keywords to business and industry leaders to address climate change -- commit, operationalize and engage.   “In 2019, LG Chem emitted 10.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. If we keep growing at the current ra

Jan. 27, 2021

Venture investment hits record high in 2020

South Korea’s venture investment set records in 2020 both in the number of deals and their value, despite the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced Wednesday. The country’s investment in startups reached 4.30 trillion won ($3.89 billion) in 2020, adding 26.8 billion won, or 0.6 percent, from the previous year. The number of investment deals also hit a record high of 4,231 while the number of invested companies logged an all-time high

Jan. 27, 2021

LG Electronics collaborating with Qualcomm to develop 5G automotive platforms: exec

LG Electronics Inc. is collaborating with Qualcomm Technologies Inc. for the development of 5G automotive platforms, its senior executive has said, as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its presence in the automotive business for future growth. Qualcomm, the No. 1 semiconductor supplier in telematics and wireless car connectivity, announced Tuesday (US time) that it aims to deploy "reliable, connected, intelligent and location-aware next generation vehicles" with partners inc

Jan. 27, 2021

[Eye on Business] The story behind Korea’s ‘screen golf’

Once considered an exclusive hobby for rich elites, golf has now become much more affordable and accessible, thanks to “screen golf,” or golf simulator rooms. Virtual reality allowed golf aficionados to be rid of the inconvenience of having to travel far out to countryside golf courses, letting them tee off after work in their neighborhood “screen golf lounges” for the cost of about $20 for an 18-hole game. Pioneering this indoor golf culture was Golfzon, which introd

Jan. 27, 2021

Nonghyup Hongsam reveals Lunar New Year ginseng gift sets

In time for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, Nonghyup Hongsam is holding a buy-one-get-one-free event for its flagship ginseng products, officials said Wednesday. The promotion, which runs until Feb. 17, is for gift sets comprising ginseng extract products and wild ginseng. The company also offers 15 percent discounts on standalone items, including Hansamin Red Ginseng Extract Prime, Red Ginseng Extract stick, and Pure Liquid of Red Ginseng Gold. Hansamin is the company’s ginseng b

Jan. 27, 2021

Selective support to pandemic-hit sectors is desirable: IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday that it would be desirable for South Korea to selectively provide assistance to sectors and people hit hard by the pandemic as economic recovery is uneven. During a conference call with Finance Minister Hong Nam-Ki, Andreas Bauer, Korea mission chief at the IMF, said South Korea needs to maintain policy support to tackle economic slumps caused by the new coronavirus outbreak. An IMF team held its annual meetings with South Korea's finance mi

Jan. 27, 2021

KB Securities wraps up sale of UK logistics facility

South Korean brokerage firm KB Securities said Wednesday that it had completed the sale of a UK logistics facility, in which it jointly invested with LB Asset Management in 2017. The two Korean companies bought the facility through funds designed to invest in UK property assets in 2017. The exact investment amount for the acquisition was not unveiled at the time. KB Securities and LB Asset Investment sealed the sale deal of the facility in January. The facility is leased to UK supermarket ch

Jan. 27, 2021

GS Caltex boils down 53 years of history in 6-minute video

GS Caltex said Wednesday it has recently unveiled a 6-minute-long video on YouTube that shows the essence of company’s 53 years of history. Titled “Energy Plus Journey,” the clip chronicles the company’s beginning as the nation’s first private oil company in 1967 and the journey it took to become today’s energy giant. The video, created with an aim of sharing GS Caltex’s vision with a global audience, supports 10 languages including Korean, English,

Jan. 27, 2021