Seoul stocks slip on institutional profit-taking

South Korean stocks slipped Monday after choppy trading, roiled by foreign and institutional investors who sought to take profits before their stock options expire later this week. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 3.73 points, or 0.12 percent, to close at 3,148.45 points, breaking its two-day winning streak. Trading volume was exceptionally high at about 1.7 billion shares worth some 44.1 trillion won ($40.2 billion), with

Jan. 11, 2021

Hanwha launches new collaborative robots to target $1b market

Hanwha has introduced a new line of collaborative robots, making a foray into the fast-growing global collaborative robot market, it said Monday. “The HCR-3A, HCR-5A and HCR-12A models can handle an object weighing 3 kilograms, 5 kilograms and 12 kilograms, respectively, with enhanced designs and compatibility compared to previous models,” the company said in a press release, introducing its three new Hanwha Collaborative Robots with five new functions. 　 Robot AI 3D Vision improv

Jan. 11, 2021

S. Korea reaches air traffic deal with China and Japan

South Korea, China and Japan have agreed to accept a United Nations aviation agency's proposal for an agreement critical for the safety of flights near Korea's southern resort island of Jeju, the transport ministry said Monday. South Korean and Japanese air traffic controllers have been directing north-south flights and east-west flights, respectively, in the "Akara corridor," which is part of South Korean airspace. Japan has shepherded flights between Shanghai and Japan on behalf of

Jan. 11, 2021

Retail investors’ net buying of Kospi stocks hits record high

Retail investors turned to strong net buyers, loading up on over 4.47 trillion won ($4.08 billion) worth of shares on South Korea’s benchmark Kospi market Monday, double the previous record. The previous record was set on Nov. 30 last year, when they net purchased some 2.22 trillion won. Amid growing expectations of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor’s partnerships with US tech giants, small domestic investors went on a speculative binge, gobbling up shares in the market heavy

Jan. 11, 2021

Seoul will actively pursue CPTPP: finance minister

The South Korean government will actively consider joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, and improve systems to engage in the new global trading order evolving in the region, its fiscal chief said Monday. Stressing that megasized free trade pacts such as the Asia-Pacific agreement will become foundations for changes in the global economic order, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government will begin unofficial talks with member countri

Jan. 11, 2021

Korean food 2nd-most-popular delivery option on Vroong app

Korean food overtook fried chicken as the second-most-popular delivery food last year, according to on-demand delivery platform Vroong on Monday. While burgers remained the most popular food ordered via Vroong in 2020 and fried chicken was pushed to third place, desserts swapped places with “bunsik” -- a category that includes popular street food items such as gimbap, tteokbokki and fish cakes. Mesh Korea, the company behind the food delivery app, attributed the greater popularit

Jan. 11, 2021

KB Financial chief vows to accelerate digital transformation

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo on Monday urged the group’s employees to strive to gain a digital foothold in the banking industry to become the nation’s No. 1 financial platform company.  “While maintaining traditional core values as a financial institution, KB Financial Group should become a complete digital organization as well as financial platform company in the long run,” said Yoon at a strategic management meeting held online. During the online

Jan. 11, 2021

LG Display vows to make OLEDs mainstream

LG Display will push to ship 7 million to 8 million units of its organic light-emitting diode TV panels this year, aiming to catapult OLEDs into the mainstream global TV market. The Korean display firm on Monday showcased an upgraded OLED technology with a broader panel size spectrum for the Consumer Electronics Show 2021. The company’s high-end OLED panels feature newly developed diodes that emit 20 percent brighter light than previous OLED models. The new technology will first be appl

Jan. 11, 2021

S. Korean bond sales soar 23% in 2020

Bond issuance in South Korea shot up more than 23 percent in 2020 due to a surge in government debt sales to tackle the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, data showed Monday. The value of bonds issued in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 844.7 trillion won ($774 billion) in 2020, up 23.2 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. The spike was attributed to sharply increased sales of state and special-purpose bonds designed to h

Jan. 11, 2021

Korea Shipbuilding wins W288b in orders

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Monday that it has won a combined 288 billion won ($263 million) in orders from three companies in Liberia, Oceania and Asia. Under the deal with a Liberian company, a 174,000-cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier to be built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. will be delivered by the second half of 2023, Korea Shipbuilding said. The deal has an option to build two 174,000-cubic meter LNG carriers and one liquefied petroleum g

Jan. 11, 2021

Doosan Infracore's excavator sales up 22% on-year in 2020 in China

South Korea's top construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. said Monday that its excavator sales in China rose 22 percent last year from a year earlier on the back of infrastructure investment expansion by the Chinese government. Doosan Infracore sold 18,686 excavators in the country last year, compared with 15,270 units in 2019, which is its highest annual sales since 2011, when it sold about 16,700 units, the company said. Doosan Infracore sold 21,800 excavators in 2010 in China, whi

Jan. 11, 2021

LG Electronics inks partnership with esports firm Gen.G

LG Electronics Inc. on Monday said it has signed a partnership with the global esports organization Gen.G to better target young consumers amid the pandemic. Under the deal, the two sides agreed to seek various business opportunities in the global esports industry and cooperate in promoting LG UltraGear gaming monitor and notebook products. LG believes the partnership can boost its marketing for the MZ generation, which refers to those born between 1980 and the early 2000s as a combination of

Jan. 11, 2021

[Graphic News] South Korea's eco-friendly car exports jump 40% in 2020

　South Korea’s exports of environment-friendly vehicles jumped 40 percent in 2020 from a year earlier on growing demand for eco-friendly cars, the Trade Ministry said.  　Exports of all-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles climbed to $4.6 billion last year from $3.3 billion a year ago, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. 　Eco-friendly vehicles accounted for 12 percent of the country’s overall vehicle shipments last year, up from 7.7 perce

Jan. 11, 2021

Seoul stocks open sharply higher on Samsung, Hyundai Motor surge

South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Monday on the back of stellar advances by Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, as investors pinned rosy expectations on the top caps' possible partnership with US tech giants. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 55.85 points, or 1.8 percent, to 3,209.03 in the first 20 minutes of trading. Samsung Electronics spiked 5.18 percent, following reports that it is rivaling with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. over a chip outsourcing

Jan. 11, 2021

S. Korea's exports fall 15% in first 10 days of Jan.

South Korea's exports declined 15.4 percent on-year in the first 10 days of January, customs data showed Monday, amid the prolonged fallout from the new coronavirus outbreak. The country's outbound shipments stood at $11.2 billion in the Jan. 1-10 period, compared with $13.2 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports decreased 22.9 percent on-year to $11.8 billion in the 10-day period, resulting in a trade deficit of $636 million, the data showed. By

Jan. 11, 2021

State bonds worth W48tr to mature this year: govt. data

South Korean state bonds worth nearly 48 trillion won ($44 billion) are slated to mature in 2021, with the amount rising further in the next couple of years due to more fiscal spending to weather the coronavirus fallout, government data showed Monday. Treasurys worth 48.2 trillion won, including state debt and inflation-indexed bonds, are scheduled to come due this year, according to the data from the finance ministry. The value of maturing state bonds is forecast to soar to an all-time high o

Jan. 11, 2021

Hyundai halts plant in S. Korea on coronavirus case

Hyundai Motor Co. said it halted operations at one of its domestic plants Monday morning as an employee was infected with the new coronavirus. Hyundai Motor suspended its Asan plant, which produces the Sonata and Grandeur sedans, at 6:45 a.m., and the suspension will continue until 3:30 p.m., a company spokesman said over the phone. Hyundai has adjusted production at its local plants since early last year when the coronavirus outbreak began to affect vehicle sales. Last month, Hyundai halted

Jan. 11, 2021

Brokerages downgrade Q4 earnings outlook for major listed firms

South Korean brokerage houses have slightly revised down their fourth-quarter earnings outlook for major listed companies amid the coronavirus pandemic, a market tracker said Monday. The combined operating income forecast for 164 major listed firms came to 32.7 trillion won ($29.9 billion) for the October-December period as of Friday, up 52.4 percent from a year earlier, according to FnGuide. Yet it represents a 2.6 percent decrease from their estimate of 33.6 trillion won made a month earlier

Jan. 11, 2021

S. Korea's power sales dip 2.4% in Jan.-Nov. on coronavirus impact

South Korea's electricity consumption fell more than 2 percent in the first 11 months of 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Power sales in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 464,243 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the January-November period, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from state utility Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco). Electricity sales are thus projected to decline for all of 2020 from a year earlier due to sluggish demand stemmin

Jan. 11, 2021

Samsung SDI to reinforce safety for defective battery cells

Samsung SDI is charting a hard course to ward off battery defects, holding a symbolic ceremony to put an end to faulty small lithium-ion batteries. According to a source familiar with the matter, the South Korean battery producer will hold an internal ceremony this week at its facility in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, under the resolute will of CEO Jun Young-hyun to eradicate any lax attitude toward potential fire hazards stemming from faulty batteries. Included will be a kind of vow by

Jan. 10, 2021