Shinhan Life OKs merger with ex-ING's Korean arm

Shinhan Financial Group has approved a merger of its two wholly-owned life insurer subsidiaries -- Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life Insurance -- into a single entity next year, filings showed Thursday. As a result of the move, Orange Life, formerly the Korean arm of Amsterdam-based ING Group, will be merged into Shinhan Life. The two firms’ combined valuation exceeded 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion), according to the filings. Orange Life‘s 82 million shares will be converted i

Dec. 24, 2020

Why alcohol brand mascots are making a comeback

Two major alcohol companies in Korea have one thing in common lately -- a high-profile retro mascot that has become the face of the company. Oriental Brewery brought back its nostalgic bear character from the 1980s known as “Lala Bear,” while its rival HiteJinro released a blue bottled soju featuring its famous toad mascot last year, a character that dates to 1954. Their foray into soft power territory comes following a year dominated by “Pengsoo,” a beloved giant peng

Dec. 24, 2020

S. Korean public sector debt grows at fastest pace in 5 years in 2019

South Korea's public sector debt climbed at the fastest clip in five years in 2019 to exceed the 1,100 trillion-won ($1 trillion) mark, the government said Thursday. The country's public sector debt, known as D3, which includes the debt of the central government and state-funded firms, came to 1,132.6 trillion won as of end-2019, up 5.1 percent, or 54.6 trillion won, from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The on-year increase in the public debt represents th

Dec. 24, 2020

SK Telecom teams up with AWS to launch 5G edge cloud service

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top wireless provider, said Thursday it has partnered with Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) to launch the country's first 5G edge cloud service. The business-targeted service, named SKT 5GX Edge, provides users ultra-low latency for data-intensive services by connecting to AWS Wavelength Zones installed in SK Telecom's telecommunications offices, making it unnecessary for traffic to go through regional aggregation sites, according to the carrier. SK Telecom said it

Dec. 24, 2020

[Graphic News] Samsung ranks 5th in global computer monitor market in Q3: report

　Samsung Electronics was the world's fifth-largest computer monitor vendor in the third quarter of the year, a report showed, as its shipments increased significantly amid the pandemic. 　The South Korean tech giant had a market share of 9 percent in the global computer monitor market in the July-September period, up from 6.8 percent a year ago, according to market researcher International Data Corp. 　Samsung’s computer monitor shipments jumped 52.8 percent on-year to 3.37 million u

Dec. 24, 2020

S. Korean stocks open higher on deals on COVID-19 vaccines

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as South Korea's deals to buy COVID-19 vaccines boosted investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 22.49 points, or 0.81 percent, to 2,782.31 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the country has signed deals to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen. The government plans to offer shots of Janssen's vaccine in the second

Dec. 24, 2020

S. Korea's top 3 shipyards fare relatively well despite pandemic

Despite the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, South Korea's big three shipbuilders have fared relatively well this year as they clinch a majority of global orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships and very large crude carriers (VLCCs), industry sources said Thursday The trio -- Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. -- have achieved 91 percent, 65 percent and 75 percent of their order targets, r

Dec. 24, 2020

S. Korea deploys 5G tech in airport virus check

South Korea said Wednesday it has introduced mobile edge computing (MEC) technology at Incheon International Airport to operate an artificial intelligence (AI) system that screens potential COVID-19 patients in a move to step up preventative measures against the pandemic. 　 The Ministry of Science and ICT said the system will check for passengers without masks or with COVID-19 symptoms, such as high temperature, at the arrival and departure halls of the country‘s main gateway, located west

Dec. 23, 2020

Han Sung Motor celebrates graduation of Dream Gream students

For Han Sung Motor, Korea‘s official Mercedes-Benz dealer, year-end celebrations aren’t complete without a graduation ceremony for recipients of its art scholarship program. This year, the event honored four students who completed the Dream Gream program. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event was held Friday virtually for the first time since the firm launched the program in 2012 Only a small number of people gathered at a cafe in Seoul on Friday, while gradu

Dec. 23, 2020

30% of COVID-19 relief funds spent on boosting consumption: KDI

Around 30 percent of the COVID-19 relief funds universally handed out by the government in May were spent to boost sluggish domestic consumption, with the rest used for debt payments or savings, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. According to a report released by the Korea Development Institute, some 4 trillion won ($3.65 billion) has been spent through credit and debit cards, accounting for between 26.2 percent and 36.1 percent of an estimated 11.1 trillion to 15.3 trillion won granted by

Dec. 23, 2020

KCCI vies to beef up Korea-ASEAN biz partnership

Leaders of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in ASEAN countries discussed how to strengthen the strategic business partnership between the two regions at a meeting held online Tuesday. The Association of ASEAN Korean Chambers took place at the Four Seasons Hotel in central Seoul, joined by government officials and businesspeople. At the meeting, Ahn Byung-hwa, deputy chief of the Presidential Committee on New Southern Policy, introduced seven major tasks, such as comprehensive colla

Dec. 23, 2020

Seoul stocks rebound nearly 1% on tech gains

South Korean stocks rebounded by almost 1 percent Wednesday after the previous session's plunge, backed by strong advances by tech giants. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 26.14 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,759.82. Trading volume was high at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 19.9 trillion won ($18 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 491 to 360. Foreigners bought a net 83 billion won, snapping a four-session

Dec. 23, 2020

Residents to be selected for Korea’s first smart community

Residents of South Korea’s first smart community, to be built in the southern port city of Busan, will be selected Thursday in a 148:1 competition, the company behind the project said Wednesday. The state-run Korea Water Resources Corp., also known as K-Water, will hold a drawing at BEXCO convention center to pick the lucky 36 households who will experience the cutting-edge technologies incorporated in prototype smart residences at the Busan Eco Delta City. They will join eighteen househ

Dec. 23, 2020

Will Apple’s EV benefit Korean battery industry?

Upon the news that Apple will launch a self-driving electric vehicle by 2024, attention quickly shifted to which batteries it will use. Industry watchers predict that the Apple Car is likely to be loaded with LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries made by China’s CATL, but local lithium-ion batteries manufacturers, namely LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI, will benefit from the US firm’s entry into the field in the long term. “Apple’s autonomous EV project, also know

Dec. 23, 2020

IBK partners with Naver’s cloud platform for fintech innovation

The Industrial Bank of Korea joined hands with a platform operated by Naver’s cloud affiliate for digital innovation and development of fintech services, the state-run bank said Wednesday. The new partnership will enable them to bolster their cloud and artificial intelligence capabilities, IBK said. To keep pace with each other, both plan to establish a solid communication channel to review Naver’s technologies capable of upgrading banking business. Discovering and recommending

Dec. 23, 2020

COVID-19 consumption defined by ‘home, indoor life’

When the novel coronavirus made its appearance across the world earlier this year, optimistic market observers anticipated that “revenge spending” would eventually rebound to counter the damaging effect of the initial outbreak. South Korea, which had successfully retained its domestic virus spread in the first half of the year, had hopes for a while of seeing its domestic market get back on track within the year. But with a third wave of infections here and the stronger social dist

Dec. 23, 2020

LG Electronics to launch joint venture with Magna

LG Electronics will set up a joint venture with the world’s third-largest auto part maker Magna International in a bid to raise the competitiveness of its vehicle component business, the company said Wednesday. Tentatively named “LG Magna e-Powertrain Co,” the envisioned entity will launch in July 2021. It will be headquartered in Incheon, west of Seoul, and will have around 1,000 employees. 　 According to the plan approved by LG’s board of directors, the joint venture

Dec. 23, 2020

Korea to launch 1st tranche of New Deal policy fund by March

The South Korean government is poised to launch the first batch of its 20 trillion-won ($18 billion) government policy fund aimed at supporting Korean New Deal projects by March, the Finance Minister said Wednesday. With the first batch to start in March, the government is looking to raise 4 trillion-won commitments in the first year of the five-year scheme, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who doubles as deputy prime minister, said in a pangovernmental meeting held at Seoul Government Complex.

Dec. 23, 2020

'Changes in spending trend to affect commercial property market next year' report

The growing number of small businesses, including restaurants and mom-and-pop stores closing down their operations amid the lingering coronavirus crisis, has seriously affected commercial real estate markets as well, a report said Wednesday. The report published by KB Financial Group suggested that commercial property markets will continue to suffer next year, along with hotel, commercial space rental, and retail businesses, among others, facing serious challenges. The number of vacant commer

Dec. 23, 2020

Samsung set to introduce more customizable appliances

Samsung Electronics is set to further expand its customizable home appliance lineup, putting greater emphasis on the personal tastes of consumers through its product design and development. On Wednesday, the tech giant said it has added Cube Air, Samsung’s conventional air purifier model, to the Bespoke category, and unveiled a total of eight combinations of panel colors and patterns for the customizable air purifier. “The Bespoke Cube Air provides a sense of unity when it’

Dec. 23, 2020