2 in 5 company heads to be women in Korea in coming years

Samsung C&T said it has signed a deal to build an undersea high-voltage direct current network that connects the United Arab Emirates’ offshore oil production facilities and Abu Dhabi’s land power network. Samsung C&T said it would form a consortium with Belgian construction company Jan De Nul for the engineering, procurement and construction project worth 3.5 trillion won ($3 billion). Samsung...

South Korean shares could recede early next year but will gradually pick up speed in robust rebound on upbeat corporate earnings and consumer sentiment, while the home price rise will slow but with room for a moderate hike, market experts here said. The benchmark Kospi -- which hit a record high in July 6 this year at 3,305 points amid ample liquidity and pandemic recovery hopes -- could reach...

Seoul shares closed higher on Tuesday as foreign and institutional investors scooped up market heavyweights following overnight US gains. The local currency fell against the US dollar. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) went up 20.69 points, or 0.69 percent, to 3,020.24 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 593 million shares worth some 11.9 t...

Lotte Card recently launched a new credit card series that aims to offer best deals for shopping, dining out and more for millennials and Gen Z customers. The four cards under its so-called Loca Likit series – Loca Likit 1.2, Loca Likit Eat, Loca Likit Play and Loka Likit Shop – offers its users different discounts and cost-effective options for the shops they want. Loca Likit 1.2 pays 1.2 perc...

Failed digital transition cited as key reason for falling profits

SEJONG -- The number of small companies in South Korea expanded nearly 5 percent in 2020 from a year earlier despite the pandemic, but their profit fell sharply, government data showed Tuesday. The country had 2,902,000 companies with fewer than five workers as of the end of 2020, up 4.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Small and Medium...

SEJONG -- The number of businesses in South Korea rose nearly 18 percent over the past five years as almost all industrial sectors posted gains, data showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had a total of 6,013,000 businesses as of the end of 2020, up 17.8 percent from five years earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. One-man operations accounted for the biggest proportion ...

A Seoul court has rejected a Hong Kong-based private equity firm's request for Kyobo Life Insurance Co. to carry out its obligation with regard to a put option that it has been trying to exercise, the South Korean insurer said Tuesday. The ruling appears to have removed a major hurdle for Kyobo Life's push to list shares on the local stock bourse in the first half of next year, according to comp...

The government will lift restrictions on sales of urea solution as the supply of the essential fluid used in diesel vehicles to cut emissions has been stabilized, the finance ministry said Tuesday. South Korea had struggled to cope with a shortage of urea solution after China imposed export curbs on urea to ease domestic supply bottlenecks. The government has imposed curbs on where and how much ...

South Korea’s exports of kimchi climbed nearly 14 percent in the first eight months of 2021 on growing overseas demand for healthier food amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed. Outbound shipments of kimchi reached $111.5 million in the January-August period, up 13.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the food industry. In contrast, imp...

SEJONG -- South Korea will lower tariff rates on a total of 90 products next year to strengthen competitiveness of small businesses and stabilize prices of key materials, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The number is higher than the 83 items subject to temporary tariff cuts under a tariff quota system this year, according to the ministry. Those products include crude oil, liquefied natural g...

South Korean shares opened lower Tuesday, bucking the overnight advance on Wall Street amid concerns over the spread of the omicron variant. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.20 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,994.35 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. US shares advanced on optimism that the global economy can ride out the COVID-19 pandemic and tightening monet...

South Korea's consumer sentiment index dropped for the first time in four months in December due to concerns over the resurgence of the coronavirus, central bank data showed Tuesday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came to 103.9 in December, down 3.7 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. This marked the first decline since August when the in...

South Korea plans to sell 13 trillion won ($11 billion) in government bonds in January, the finance ministry said Monday. The ministry will issue 900 billion won in Treasurys with a two-year maturity, 2.5 trillion won with a maturity of three years, 2.5 trillion won in five-year government bonds and 2.6 trillion won with a maturity of 10 years, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. ...