South Korean shares lost ground late Tuesday morning as institutions engaged in profit-taking. The won traded higher against the dollar.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index surrendered 1.30 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,369.60 as of 11:20 a.m.Institutional investors offloaded a net 232 billion won ($204 million) worth of stocks.Foreigners and individuals bought stocks worth a combined 217 billion won, keeping the main index from falling further.Large-cap stocks were mixed acros

Market June 20, 2017

Dunhill maker British American Tobacco plans to sell its own tobacco heating device in August in the country, its local unit said Tuesday, joining the intense race for the burgeoning heated tobacco market.BAT Korea opened a teaser website for its tobacco heating device, the Glo, on Monday, which will be available later this year. Earlier this month, the company completed the expansion of its production facility in Sacheon, 437 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to produce non-burning tobacco sticks

Industry June 20, 2017

South Korea's state-controlled banks issued an ultimatum Tuesday urging Kumho Asiana Group to make a concession to resolve a dispute over the usage fee of the Kumho Tire brand with China's Qingdao Doublestar Co. At a meeting of shareholders, creditors threatened to "reconsider" financial ties with the group if a deal to sell Kumho Tire to the Chinese company falls through. Creditors, including the Korea Development Bank, also plan to force Kumho Asiana Chairman Park Sam-koo to revoke t

Economy June 20, 2017

The demand for Hyundai Motor Co.'s all-electric Ioniq is steadily rising in the United States following its launch in March, industry sales data showed Tuesday. Hyundai Motor sold only 75 pure-electric Ioniqs in the world's most important market in May. But they jumped from five in March and 19 in April, numbers by US car sales provider hybridcars.com said.The sales figure accounted for 0.93 percent of the US all-electric car market last month when the Tesla Model X and Model S ranked first and

Mobility June 20, 2017

Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean star Son Heung-min on Tuesday was discharged from a Seoul hospital where he underwent surgery on his broken right forearm.Son went under the knife last Friday to fix a fractured forearm, which he sustained during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Qatar at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha a week ago. The 24-year-old, however, still has to visit the hospital for additional treatment before starting rehabilitation.South Korean footballer Son Heung-min

Soccer June 20, 2017

The fruit price index soared to the highest level in four years last month, government data showed Tuesday, caused by unseasonably high temperatures that affected output.The index of the prices of 15 major fruits, including apples, pears, grapes, strawberries and tangerines, surged to 118.15 in May, the highest since May 2013, when the figure stood at 118.18, data by Statistics Korea showed. The index is calculated by comparing the prices with a base figure of 100 set in 2015. The number has mov

Economy June 20, 2017

Despite a stock-market bull run, movie theater operators and distributors in South Korea have suffered severe setbacks in their share prices this month due to a drop in the number of cinemagoers.Shares of South Korea's top cinema chain CJ CGV listed on the main bourse closed at 72,600 won ($63.9) on Monday, down a whopping 12.5 percent from June 1, according to the Korea Exchange on Tuesday.Media company Jcontentree Corp., the operator of multi-screen theater chain Megabox, which is registered w

Market June 20, 2017

South Korean duty-free shops saw sales to foreign customers increase for the first time in three months in May, industry data showed Tuesday, a sign that Beijing's trip restrictions may be wearing off. The sales to foreigners at local duty-free shops reached $655.9 million last month, up a solid 11.1 percent from the previous month, where they stood at $590 million, according to the data from the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. The on-month increase marks the first rebound following a big dro

Industry June 20, 2017

South Korea's construction investment, one of the economy's main drivers, will likely start to lose ground in the second half due to tougher regulations and a housing glut, analysts said Tuesday.Some even painted a gloomier picture of the country's construction investment for 2018, warning it could plunge into negative growth in the aftermath of the tightened rules. Growth of the nation's construction investment has been in positive territory since 2012.According to the Korea Center for Internat

Industry June 20, 2017

South Korean chipmakers are paying closer attention to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a leading foundry chipmaker that has won a series of major deals to solidity its presence, industry watchers said Tuesday.Earlier this month, TSMC was tapped to produce 7-nanometer chips for MediaTek, the world's No. 2 player in the smartphone AP sector. US Qualcomm also earlier decided to have TSMC produce its 7-nano Snapdragon AP, sources said. (Yonhap)The foundry business refers to making chip desig

Industry June 20, 2017

The head of SK Group, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, stressed on Monday a need for his firm to play a bigger role in "sharing the profit" with smaller companies, in an apparent move to be in step with the new government's policy drive. "SK should feel deeply responsible for, and be more actively engaged in resolving social issues as a large conglomerate," SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said at a management meeting in Icheon, south of Seoul.  The file photo, provided by SK Group, shows

Industry June 20, 2017

The city of Busan on South Korea's southeastern coast said Monday it will strengthen cooperation with the Argonne National Laboratory, a research institute funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, on decommissioning nuclear reactors following the shutdown of a commercial nuclear reactor in the city.Busan Mayor Suh Byung-soo has visited the U.S. laboratory outside Chicago as part of efforts to form a memorandum of understanding between Busan and Argonne to seek cooperation in nuclear reactor deco

Industry June 19, 2017

The ICT ministry said Monday it is pushing to expand the discount rate of household communication fees, such as mobile phone rates, as the expenditures on telecommunication services are viewed as a burden for many South Korean consumers.The plan by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning was announced during a regular briefing to President Moon Jae-in's policy advisory panel, the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee.The two sides discussed ways to expand the discount rate from the

Economy June 19, 2017

South Korean stocks ended slightly higher Monday as foreigners turned net buyers. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 9.07 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 2,370.90. Trade volume was moderate at 288 million shares worth 5.35 trillion won ($4.7 billion), with decliners outnumbering advancers 418 to 388.Foreigners bought 124.19 billion won worth of stocks, turning net buyers after dumping 163 billion won worth of stocks in the previous

Market June 19, 2017

South Korean venture firms that received investments created more than 30,000 new jobs in the last five years, government data showed Monday.According to the data from the Small and Medium Business Administration, 2,838 companies that received 5.9 trillion won ($5.2 billion) in investments from 2012 to 2016 created 30,603 new positions as of 2016.This photo, taken on June 5, 2017, shows officials of the Small and Medium Business Administration at its headquarters in Daejeon, central South Korea.

Industry June 19, 2017