Corporate loan growth in South Korea slightly picked up in the second quarter from three months earlier, central bank data showed Wednesday, mainly due to a modest gain in loans for the service sector. The outstanding loans extended to local companies came to 1,478.5 trillion won ($1.27 trillion) as of end-June, up 42.7 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). By industrial sector, loans to manufacturing firms rose 4.9 trillion won on-quarter

Economy Sept. 1, 2021

South Korean banks saw their financial health improve in the second quarter from three months earlier as they reported high net profits and raised capital amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The average capital adequacy ratio of 16 commercial and state-run banks stood at 15.65 percent as of end-June, up 0.29 percentage point from the end of March, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). A key barometer of financial soundness, the ratio measures the pr

Market Sept. 1, 2021

Insider stock ownership at South Korea's family-run conglomerates rose this year as more founding members and their families sought to tighten their grip on management, the antitrust regulator said Wednesday. The insider stock ownership rate of 60 conglomerates having group owners reached 58 percent his year, up 1 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). Insider stock ownership refers to the stocks held by the founding members and his or her im

Market Sept. 1, 2021

South Korea has adopted tougher measures to block the inflow of the lambda variant of the novel coronavirus as the country is struggling to contain the spread of variant cases amid the fourth wave of the pandemic, according to health authorities. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced Tuesday that arrivals from Peru and Chile will go through a mandatory seven-day quarantine at designated facilities starting Sept. 10. The arrivals from the two countries will receive th

Social Affairs Sept. 1, 2021

Global shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. said on Wednesday that it has signed a partnership deal with British defense company Babcock to cooperate on a project to build South Korea's first aircraft carrier. Under the deal, the two companies will team up to receive an order for the 30,000-ton aircraft, Hyundai Heavy Industries said. The project, CVX, has been pushed by the country's Navy, which is scheduled for completion in 2033. Hyundai Heavy and Babcock carried out a conceptual desig

Industry Sept. 1, 2021

South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed Wednesday to deepen trade ties to cope with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and make efforts to increase the supply of vaccines. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi virtually to share ideas on ways to maintain their supply chain, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, ASEAN acknowledged that South Korea's New Southern Policy meant to ex

Industry Sept. 1, 2021

South Korea's real estate trust market expanded nearly 19 percent in the first half of the year from a year earlier amid a brisk property market, data showed Wednesday. Fourteen local real estate trust companies registered combined sales of 779.9 billion won ($673 million) in the January-June period, up 18.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Their combined net profit soared 19.7 percent on-year to 325.7 billion won, with operati

Economy Sept. 1, 2021

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, on Wednesday unveiled the mini SUV Casper in the latest move to diversify its product lineup. The Casper comes with a 1.0-liter multi-point injection engine or a 1.0-liter gasoline direction injection engine, the company said in a statement. Hyundai plans to launch the entry-level SUV in the domestic market within this month, a company spokesman said, without elaborating on prices or other details. (Yonhap)

Mobility Sept. 1, 2021

DRAM prices in the spot market have recently been declining amid expectations for weaker demand stemming from widening COVID-19 vaccinations around the globe, industry sources said Wednesday. According to market tracker DRAMeXchange, the average contract price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAMs for PCs came to $3.889 on Monday, the lowest level in seven months. It was also down 36.8 percent from this year's high of $5.3 at the end of March. Spot prices of PC DRAMs topped the $4 mark in February before s

Industry Sept. 1, 2021

  South Korea's exports have extended their gains to 10 months, jumping 35 percent on the back of robust demand for chips and automobiles, and underpinning recovery momentum in Asia's fourth-largest economy, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments came to $53.2 billion last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports climbed 44 percent to $51.5 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $1.67 billion. It marked the 16th consecutive month for

Economy Sept. 1, 2021

South Korea's 5G user base continued to expand in July to reach over 17 million users, data showed Wednesday, with the growth expected to pick up later this year on the back of launches of new devices. The total number of 5G subscriptions stood at 17.08 million in July, up around 616,000 from the previous month, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The latest figure accounts for around 24 percent of the total 71.71 million mobile network subscriptions in the country. So

Industry Sept. 1, 2021

The National Assembly is poised to open its 100-day regular session Wednesday, the last such gathering under President Moon Jae-in's five-year term. The regular session will start off with an opening ceremony scheduled for 2 p.m. to process the 2022 state budget bill of a record high 604.4 trillion won ($521.8 billion), as well as other controversial legislative bills down the road. The unicameral South Korean parliament opens its regular session on Sept. 1 every year for a 100-day run. Th

Politics Sept. 1, 2021

South Korea and China on Wednesday held a ceremony to casket the remains of 109 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War for their return to the homeland this week, the defense ministry said. The ceremony took place at an Army base in the western city of Incheon ahead of the repatriation of the remains -- discovered from former battle sites last year -- to China on Thursday, according to the ministry. The repatriation will be the eighth of its kind since Seoul pledged in 2014 to rep

Foreign Affairs Sept. 1, 2021

Almost 1 in 4 people recognized as victims of deadly humidifier sterilizer products in South Korea have died, a civic group said Wednesday. Marking the 10th anniversary of the humidifier sterilizer scandal, the Asian Citizen's Center for Environment and Health released a report showing that a total of 7,535 people -- 1,687 deceased and 5,848 survivors -- had reported they were victims of toxic humidifier sterilizer products as of Aug. 20. Of the total, 4,120 had been granted damage relief as

Social Affairs Sept. 1, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 2,000 on Wednesday, with the more transmissible delta strain rising sharply ahead of a major holiday this month. The country added 2,025 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,992 local infections, raising the total caseload to 253,445, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally marked a sharp rise from 1,487 on Monday and 1,372 on Tuesday. Daily cases have stayed above 1,000 for 57 consecutive days.

Social Affairs Sept. 1, 2021