Court ruling on Samsung heir adds to stock woes

South Korea’s stock market was dealt a further blow following a conviction of Samsung group heir apparent Lee Jae-yong on Monday, with large-cap stocks posting bigger losses. This comes as a recent rally, largely driven by massive retail investor participation since late 2020, has been followed by a stock market correction in the last two trading days. 　 The Korea Exchange’s main board Kospi closed at 3,013.93 points, down 2.3 percent from Friday, despite retail investors’ c

Jan. 18, 2021

Hyundai Motor chairman sees March stock buy triple in value

Stocks in carmaker Hyundai Motor and its auto parts-making affiliate Hyundai Mobis that Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun bought during the peak of the coronavirus crisis last year have tripled in value, according to data on Monday. When Hyundai Motor Group stocks hit the rock bottom in March last year, Chung purchased stocks valued more than 80 billion won. The purchase price of a Hyundai Motor share was 69,793 won and 135,294 won for a share in Hyundai Mobis. Based on the closing pri

Jan. 18, 2021

SK hynix to launch consumer SSDs

SK hynix will launch consumer solid state drives here for the first time, the company said Monday, as the remote working trend boosted demand for personal storage devices. The chipmaker will introduce two models -- Gold P31 and Gold S31 – which were launched in the US market in 2020 and 2019, respectively, and received positive reviews. Gold P31 is an PCI Express SSD model, the world‘s first consumer SSD with 128-layer NAND, that can be used for any motherboard that has an availab

Jan. 18, 2021

Korea's ICT exports grow 3.8% in 2020

South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology products in 2020 increased 3.8 percent on-year, data showed. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on Monday, exports of ICT products reached $183.6 billion for the whole of 2020, the third-highest amount ever. Shipments had declined in the first half of the year due to a sharp contraction in global demand during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but bounced back in the following half, largely driven by semicon

Jan. 18, 2021

[Feature] Fear of missing out: Psychology behind Kospi rally

　The nickname “ants” has been used to describe South Korean retail investors, as a diligent but minor group seeking profit from the market with little in the way of knowledge or funds. The recent stock craze that pushed up the nation‘s main bourse Kospi, however, shows how those minor players are transforming. Armed with abundant funds and wider access to limited information thanks to advanced technology, the ants are marching toward the territory of the institutional and for

Jan. 18, 2021

Korea’s battery industry powers through pandemic

South Korea is projected to set a new record in rechargeable battery exports this year. Overseas shipment of rechargeable batteries is expected to grow 5.7 percent from a year earlier to reach a record high of $7 billion, according to a projection by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Battery Industry Association on Monday. In 2020, the country’s battery exports increased 2.9 percent year-on-year to $6.57 billion, marking a fifth consecutive year of growth. By

Jan. 18, 2021

Tesla’s Model Y SUV to feature Hankook Tire’s tires

Hankook Tire, the world’s seventh-largest tire maker by sales, will be one of the tire suppliers for Tesla’s electric sport utility vehicle Model Y, industry officials said Monday. The Korean tire manufacturer’s 19-inch tires are currently fitted on Model Y vehicles that are produced in Tesla’s Shanghai plant, which accounts for the Chinese market and other countries around the world. The Korean market, however, is likely to be excluded from the Hankook Tire production

Jan. 18, 2021

[Newsmaker] Blow for Samsung as heir Lee sent back to prison for bribery

South Korea’s largest conglomerate, Samsung Group, is facing another watershed as chief Lee Jae-yong was once again taken into custody Monday after receiving a jail term for bribery and embezzlement. The departure of Lee from the helm of the group comes at a time when the IT giant is seeking to make progress on its long-pending management succession and to press forward amid the post-coronavirus economic recovery. “Lee should be held responsible for the suggested bribery and embez

Jan. 18, 2021

[Gadget Review] This time, Galaxy S21 over Galaxy S21 Ultra?

Entry models are often a compromise for consumers, second-best to the fancy and expensive premium models. When it comes to Samsung Electronics’ latest smartphone lineup, however, that may not be the case. With its sleeker design and slashed price tag, the Galaxy S21, the entry model in the latest series, immediately caught my attention. Then after getting my hands on it and the premium Ultra model over the weekend, I came to favor the cheaper phone over the extra-premium one. The two

Jan. 18, 2021

Seoul stocks dip over 2% on Samsung, bio stocks

South Korean stocks tumbled more than 2 percent Monday amid strong profit-taking sell-offs and a plunge in Samsung affiliates. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dipped 71.97 points, or 2.33 percent, to close at 3,013.93 points. Trading volume was high at about 1.5 billion shares worth around 22.8 trillion won ($20.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 715 to 164. Foreigners sold a net 220 billion won, while retail investo

Jan. 18, 2021

Hanmi touts production capacity for COVID-19 vaccines

Hanmi Pharmaceutical on Monday said it has enough production capacity to contract manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. “Hanmi Pharmaceutical has various capabilities and facilities where we can produce nucleic acid vaccines as a contract manufacturing/development organization,” said CEO Kwon Se-chang. 　 “We are open to potential collaboration with various companies to contribute to ending the global pandemic.” Among others, the executive pointed to its newly built Bio Plant

Jan. 18, 2021

Yuhan’s lung cancer treatment lazertinib wins approval

The title for Korea’s 31st homegrown novel drug goes to Yuhan’s lung cancer treatment, Leclaza. On Monday, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced its approval for the third-generation non-small cell lung cancer treatment, bringing relief to some 100,000 lung cancer patients in the country. Leclaza is a swallowable tablet that can be taken at a fixed time every day, regardless of meals. In clinical trials, the drug has shown an overall response rate of 58 percent and a pro

Jan. 18, 2021

Singapore’s Prestige Biopharma eyes Feb. IPO on Kospi

Prestige Biopharma, a Singapore biopharmaceutical firm dedicated to biosimilars and new antibody therapeutic developments, said Monday it is looking to raise as much as 490.9 billion won ($444.5 million) in an initial public offering on the Korean main bourse early next month. It plans to issue some 15.34 million depository receipts in a price band of 25,000-32,000 won. The exact share price will be set through the two-day book building that is set to wrap up Wednesday. Retail investors’

Jan. 18, 2021

Residents' foreign currency deposits touch new high in December last year

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea hit a new high in December last year on increased retail holdings of the US dollar deposits, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $94.2 billion as of end-December, up $590 million from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Residents' foreign currency deposits renewed their record for the third consecutive month after plunging by $3.1 bi

Jan. 18, 2021

S. Korea requires Google, Facebook and 4 others to provide stable online services

South Korea's ICT ministry said Monday it has required global tech giants Google, Facebook and Netflix as well as local rivals Naver, Kakao and Wavve, to comply with the country's new law under which large data-hungry online companies must provide stable services. Last year, South Korea passed a law revision holding online content service providers accountable if they fail to maintain stable services amid growing complaints against streaming giants Netflix and Google, which operates YouTube, af

Jan. 18, 2021

Doosan Infracore's sales up 18% in S. Korea in 2020

South Korea's top construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. said Monday that the number of its construction equipment sold here rose 18 percent last year from a year ago on increased demand. "Despite the coronavirus pandemic, demand for high-end excavators increased last year here on the back of enhanced safety regulations and increased use of excavators in construction sites," a company official said over the phone on condition of anonymity. Doosan Infracore said it sold ove

Jan. 18, 2021

[Graphic News] Exports of OLED displays forecast to hit new high this year

　South Korea’s exports of organic light-emitting diode displays are expected to jump nearly 20 percent on-year to an all-time high in 2021 on growing global demand, sources said. 　Overseas shipments of OLED panels are projected to soar 19.6 percent on-year to $13 billion this year, accounting for more than 70 percent of overall display exports, according to the Industry Ministry and the Korea Display Industry Association. 　Bolstered by the sharp increase, South Korea’s overall

Jan. 18, 2021

Seoul stocks open sharply lower on profit-taking

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Monday as foreign and retail investors sold local stocks to take profits. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 42.26 points, or 1.37 percent, to 3,043.64 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Samsung Electronics shed 1.93 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 1.18 percent. Leading chemical firm LG Chem dipped 2.25 percent, and rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI slumped 2.99 percent. Internet portal operator Naver fel

Jan. 18, 2021

S. Korea's rechargeable battery exports gain for 5th year in 2020

South Korea's exports of rechargeable batteries rose for the fifth consecutive year in 2020 despite the coronavirus impact, data showed Monday. Overseas shipments of rechargeable batteries came to 7.2 trillion won ($6.6 billion) last year, up 2.9 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the industry ministry and the Korea Battery Industry Association. Exports of rechargeable batteries expanded for five years running in 2020, setting a new record. Rechargeable battery product

Jan. 18, 2021

Robo-advisers thrust in spotlight amid coronavirus pandemic

The amount of funds entrusted to South Korea’s three leading robo-adviser firms exceeded 1 trillion won ($906 million), highlighting the fast growth of non-face-to-face investment services during the coronavirus crisis, according to market data on Sunday. Robo-adviser or automated asset management companies Fount, AIM and December & Company currently manage a total of 1.25 trillion won, up 402.9 percent from 247.9 billion won a year ago. Robo-advisers offer highly tailored asset mana

Jan. 17, 2021