Contactless technology takes spotlight in post-virus era

Moon Seon-woong, a junior at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, began his winter semester on December 23 by opening his laptop at home instead of going to campus. “It is nothing new,” Moon told the Korea Herald in a phone interview. “I have been taking classes online all year since the beginning of the spring semester.” “As the coronavirus outbreak became worse, all lectures suddenly turned into online classes and I did not know what to do at first,” he said.

Jan. 2, 2021

Retailers urged to cut ties with Japan beauty firm DHC over racism scandal

Retailers around the world including Target and Superdrug face pressure to cut ties with DHC as the Japanese cosmetics company refuses to apologize for its CEO’s racially discriminatory remarks against Koreans. Activists have launched a campaign to boycott DHC products after CEO Yoshiaki Yoshida’s use of the term “Chon” -- a racial slur for Koreans -- came to light earlier this month. “By selling DHC products, they are supporting the business of an openly racist c

Jan. 2, 2021

Assignment left to solve in contactless era: digital divide

Living in a crowded urban city, one can realize in the daily routine that the proportion of “going digital” has drastically increased over the year -- waking up to use smartphones for running bank errands, standing in front of digital kiosks for takeout orders during lunchtime and ordering groceries online after sunset. The unforeseen COVID-19 pandemic has pushed us further to a society where non-face-to-face interactions are strongly recommended across different tasks to halt furt

Jan. 1, 2021

S. Korean stock market cap exceeds GDP

The ratio of the total market capitalization of listed firms on the benchmark Kospi to the nation’s gross domestic product hit an all-time high last year amid a retail stock fad, according to the Korea Exchange on Friday.  The Kospi market cap amounted to 1,980.5 trillion won ($1.82 trillion) as of Wednesday, the last trading day of 2020, hitting 104.2 percent of the year’s estimated nominal GDP of 1,900 trillion won, it said. The size of the stock market compared to the rea

Jan. 1, 2021

S. Korea's exports fall 5.4% in 2020 on COVID-19 fallout

South Korea's exports decreased 5.4 percent in 2020 from the previous year amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Friday, but the decline was partially cushioned by the latest recovery in the outbound shipments of chips.  Outbound shipments came to $512.8 billion last year, and imports moved down 7.2 percent on-year to $467.2 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $45.6 billion in 2020, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It marked the

Jan. 1, 2021

[New Year Special] What will lead Korea’s economic recovery in 2021?

With 2020 behind us, the question now is what the recovery will look like for Korea Inc. With COVID-19 still raging here and abroad, and the prospects for vaccination in South Korea appearing hazy, optimism and pessimism coexist. But not much will change, economy-wise, for the next two quarters at least unless vaccines become easily accessible, according to a recent report from global consulting firm Deloitte. Seoul-based consulting firm KPMG Samjong offers positive outlooks for sectors r

Jan. 1, 2021

S. Korea's 5G users near 11m in November: data

South Korea racked up nearly 11 million users on fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks as of end-November, data showed Thursday.  The country had 10.9 million 5G users last month, accounting for 15.5 percent of the total 70.5 million mobile subscriptions, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT.  Subscriptions to the high-speed networks jumped by nearly 1 million from the previous month amid launches of new 5G phones, such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone 12 series, th

Dec. 31, 2020

Asiana Airlines appoints new CEO in executive reshuffle

Asiana Airlines named Jung Sung-kwon as the new CEO in a major executive reshuffle on Thursday. Jung, who previously served as the head of the airline’s China operations, will replace current CEO Han Chang-soo to lead the country‘s second-largest carrier. Born in 1963, Jung joined Asiana in 1988 and had taken on multiple roles including finance and human resources. In the shakeup, Ahn Byung-suk, Asiana Airline‘s management director, has been tapped to head Air Busan, its s

Dec. 31, 2020

Top 8 purchases of 2020

We are what we buy. Our purchases reflect our needs and desires, formed by the circumstances and trends of the time. If before, people spent money on goods that would enhance their exteriors, such as garments and cosmetics, in pandemic-ridden 2020, confined to homes for the most part and always hidden behind masks when outdoors, many opted to buy items that would enrich their lives at home instead. In this listicle, we decided to pay tribute to the buys that made this weary year more bearable.

Dec. 31, 2020

Lingering COVID-19 risks cloud S. Korea’s anticipated recovery in 2021

Despite heightened hopes that vaccinations would put an end to the still ongoing pandemic in the new year, the South Korean economy is expected to face another series of challenges, uncertainties and risks. The COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest threat to Asia’s fourth-largest economy last year, dragging down its GDP in the second quarter to minus 3.3 percent, the lowest since the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis when the country went through massive restructuring nationwide. Reflecting c

Dec. 31, 2020

Bio sector output up 16.2% at over W12tr in 2019: data

Output in South Korea's bio industry increased 16.2 percent in 2019 from the previous year on the back of robust growth of outsourced business, industry data showed Thursday. The value of output in the local bio industry was estimated at 12.32 trillion won ($11.36 billion) last year, compared with 10.48 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization. Noticeably, the value of outsourced services that include contract manufacturing organizat

Dec. 31, 2020

Businesses’ 2021 wish: Clear line between politics and economy

Deregulation is what South Korean business entities want badly for the new year, with many of them raising concerns about a slew of legislation that they say will constrain business activities. According to New Year’s messages from heads of the country’s major business lobby organizations, Korean companies are calling on the government to cut them some slack in operating their businesses in the harsh environment that is expected to unfold amid the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 202

Dec. 31, 2020

Consumer prices grew 0.5 % in 2020

South Korea‘s consumer price inflation hovered below 1 percent this year for the second consecutive year, data showed Thursday. According to data by Statistics Korea, the consumer price index stood at 105.42 in 2020, up 0.5 percent from a year earlier. In 2019, the index rose 0.4 percent. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and oil prices, grew 0.4 percent in 2020, the lowest since a 0.2 percent fall in 1999. It marks the first time annual inflation has stayed below 1 percent

Dec. 31, 2020

Yuhan-Kimberly appoints Chin Jae-seung as new CEO

Yuhan-Kimberly will get a new chief executive on Friday -- Chin Jae-seung, the company’s vice president of marketing and innovation. He will replace Choe Kyoo-bok as CEO. The appointment of Chin was decided at a board meeting in December. 　 According to Yuhan-Kimberly, Chin, 56, has served in several management roles since joining the company in 1989. After years in product research and development, the executive has since 2010 led business segments including baby and child care, fe

Dec. 31, 2020

BOK chief to pay more attention to jobs in 2021 monetary policy

South Korea's central bank will pay more attention to jobs in its monetary policy next year, Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the labor market. The BOK will "take into consideration the employment situation as an important factor of decisions in guiding monetary policy," Lee said in his New Year's address. Lee's remarks came amid growing calls for the BOK to have legal responsibility for the job market's stability in an econo

Dec. 31, 2020

Insurers' financial health improves in Q3

South Korean insurance companies saw their financial health improve in the third quarter as more profits and share price gains bolstered capital, data showed Thursday. The risk-based capital (RBC) ratio of local insurance firms stood at 283.9 percent at end-September, up 7.5 percentage points from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their RBC ratio rose for the second consecutive quarter in the July-September period on the back of greater e

Dec. 31, 2020

Cash-strapped Doosan Heavy improves financial health via self-rescue plan

Cash-strapped Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. has improved its financial health this year by selling new shares and assets and receiving financial help from its holding company Doosan Corp. and key shareholders, a local rating appraiser said Thursday. "Doosan Heavy has been improving its financial status and reducing its debts on the back of Doosan Group's self-rescue plan," NICE Investors Service said in its report. The rating agency retained Doosan Heavy's long-term

Dec. 31, 2020

LG Energy Solution ranks second in EV battery market in Jan.-Nov. period

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. was the second-biggest supplier of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in the first 11 months of the year following China's CATL, a market research firm said Thursday. LG Energy Solution, which spun off from LG Chem Ltd. earlier this month, shipped 26.4 gigawatt-hour (GWh) equivalents of EV batteries in the January-November period, accounting for 22.6 percent of the global market, according to the data by SNE Research. China's CATL supplied 24.4 G

Dec. 31, 2020

S. Korea's consumer prices grow less than 1% for 3rd month in Dec.

South Korea's consumer prices grew less than 1 percent for the third straight month in December, data showed Thursday, indicating low inflationary pressure in Asia's fourth-largest economy amid the new coronavirus outbreak. For the whole year, the annual inflation rose by less than 1 percent for the second consecutive year for the first time due largely to the fallout of the pandemic. The consumer price index rose 0.5 percent on-year in December, slowing from a 0.6 percent on-year gain the pre

Dec. 31, 2020

Iraq signs $2.625b Faw port contract with Daewoo E&C

  Iraq agreed a $2.625 billion deal with South Korea's Daewoo Engineering & Construction on Wednesday to build the first phase at its planned Faw commodities port in the south of the country. Under the contract, signed in Baghdad by representatives of Iraq's transportation ministry and the South Korean company, Daewoo E&C will handle construction work including building fiveberths to unload ships and a yard for containers. (Reuters)

Dec. 30, 2020