SK Biopharmaceuticals shares plummeted as much as 10 percent Monday as almost 5 million shares were released after a lock-up period. Shares in the pharmaceutical company declined 8.58 percent to close at 154,500 won ($142) after plunging as much as 10 percet during trade as the last batch of shares that were locked in after the initial public offering were freed to the market. The benchmark Kospi rose 2.47 percent to 2,944.45 points on Monday.  Over 4.9 million additional shares held by

Market Jan. 4, 2021

K bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, said Monday that it had revamped its mobile application to provide tailored services to its customers. Designed as a personal finance platform, the app operates an open banking system that allows users to transfer and withdraw money from accounts registered at separate banking institutions. Once a customer logs in, the main page of the K bank app displays the list of all accounts held by that customer. Customers can also personalize the

Market Jan. 4, 2021

The number of employees with total paychecks exceeding 100 million won ($91,400) reached a record high of 852,000 in 2019, up some 50,000 from the previous year, data showed Tuesday. According to the National Tax Service, earners of over 100 million won accounted for 4.4 percent of the total 19.17 million salaried workers. An employee here earned 37.4 million won on average, before tax, last year, rising 2.7 percent, or 970,000 won, from 2018. Those who reported non-salary financial income

Economy Dec. 29, 2020

Consumers who order more than 20,000 won ($18.30) on designated delivery apps with a credit card will get 10,000 won as a cash back reward or discount, the government said Tuesday. Currently, seven delivery apps including Baedal Minjok, Yogiyo, Payco and Coupang Eats are participating, and four more apps are expected to join as soon as they complete system maintenance. 　 Payments have to be made on the delivery apps with credit cards issued by nine card companies -- KB Kookmin, NH Nonghyup,

Economy Dec. 29, 2020

A state visit to South Korea by the Chinese leader and the recovery of the world’s second-largest economy will improve trade and business ties between the two countries next year, a report suggested Monday.　 Comparing business sentiment between the two countries on a timeline, the Federation of Korean Industries said the relationship could get better than it was in 2016, just before the two started to bicker over the US decision to deploy an anti-missile system on Korean soil. The report

Economy Dec. 28, 2020

The world of venture investments is largely constrained to experts like venture capitalists and entrepreneurs who are well-versed in the industry. But what if the role of finding promising startups was extended to everyday people? This is exactly what Ho Chang-seong and Moon Ji-won, the co-founders of TheVentures, a South Korea-based investor and incubator for early-stage startups, did with their Impact Collective, a community-driven accelerator program. Launched this year, Impact Collective,

Industry Nov. 16, 2020

What would you think of a friend who earns $2,000 a month but spends $3,500? Most people would see it as an unsustainable lifestyle bound for bankruptcy. In his latest book “There is no second earth,” which addresses climate issues in a palpable way, TV personality Tyler Rasch compares the status of humanity’s exploitation of nature with that spendthrift friend. He warns that we are all debtors to the earth because we are using resources 1.75 times faster than the rate at wh

People Oct. 17, 2020

“I’m very excited about this year, which will be the first year our beverage has truly made a foray into the US market,” Jo Un-ho, CEO of Hite Jinro Beverage, said in a recent interview. Hite Jinro Beverage is a subsidiary of Korea’s leading liquor conglomerate Hite Jinro and produces the group’s nonalcoholic drinks, including purified water and various tea products. This year, the company extended its market by adding US grocery chain Trader Joe’s as a ne

Industry Sept. 9, 2020

  4EN is a South Korean startup with an ambition to become Asia’s largest greenhouse gas reduction initiative. The company aims to tackle the climate change problem using sustainable businesses ideas such as mitigating greenhouse gases and reducing toxic agricultural by-products, produces solid fuel, organic fertilizers, and bioplastic from coffee grounds and agricultural by-products, such as peanut shells. Up until a few years ago, the 9-year-old company was best-known for coff

Industry Sept. 1, 2020

At a forum held in Jeongseon last month, Kang Tae-sun, founder and CEO of leisure clothing brand BYN Black Yak Korea, showed off the company’s new black shirts, which have been made in Gangwon Province. “We made this T-shirt from recycled plastic bottles carefully collected in Gangwon to help the province reduce its environmental impact and encourage customers to become more comfortable using products made from harmless recycled materials, such as these,” Kang said. “I

Industry Sept. 1, 2020

The Leonardo DiCaprio environmental movie awards are one of Choi Yeol’s current ambitions. As a prominent South Korean environmental activist who leads the Environment Foundation, Choi, who is a big believer of cultural ripple effects, has already carried out several movie events and exhibitions to promote environmental awareness. His interests in the cultural movement and international collaboration are not coincidental. He believes that climate change is the most pressing environmental

Industry Sept. 1, 2020

The Asia Culture Center, an international arts and cultural exchange organization based in Gwangju, announced Friday that it will be hosting a multimedia art project titled the Hall of Night Light, designed to illuminate the night sky through a range of light shows and interactive art installations from August 15 to December 31. Throughout the event, the center will transform into a colorful playground packed full of interactive multimedia art pieces, and feature dazzling light shows which w

Arts & Design Aug. 14, 2020

Looking for a home, whether to rent or own, is an extremely time-consuming and painstaking job in South Korea. House hunters have to jump from one real estate agency to another to find the right one to fit their budget. Many factors contribute to this decision, including proximity to educational resources, commute times, and the neighborhood itself. And the mission of finding a perfect house for Matthew Shampine, former general manager of coworking space giant WeWork Korea, was also difficul

Market July 12, 2020

Toss Lab, the maker of innovative collaboration tool JANDI, has established itself at the top of South Korea’s growing work communication platform market. The fledgling company, in just six years, has managed to go head-on with not only domestic competitors such as Flow and Collabee but also global companies like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Ironically, however, these direct competitors offer far less of a challenge than that of the immensely popular messenger service KakaoTalk, in JANDI

Technology May 27, 2020

They may look like Bluetooth neckband headsets, but Linkflow’s FITT360 and NEXX360 are cameras that allow users to capture 360-degree shots of their surroundings. FITT360 and NEXX360 each have four cameras which constantly take photos and instantaneously process them into 360-degree videos. This camera concept was born out of founder Kim Yong-kuk’s romantic desire to capture the beautiful scenery of his honeymoon in Hawaii in all its glory.  Kim, who had at that point had

Technology May 25, 2020