Most Popular
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] Humor in Korea: Navigating the line between what's funny and not
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Yoon seeks rebound, taps 5-term lawmaker as chief of staff
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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Medical standoff deepens as doctors reject new med school plan, talks
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[Herald Interview] Why Toss invited hackers to penetrate its system
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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S. Korean envoys convene to navigate strategy amid Middle East tensions
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North Korea fires several short-range ballistic missiles into sea: JCS
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Samsung, SK hynix investors dump shares on Nvidia crash
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Homegrown app market draws spotlight as alternative to Google's Play store
South Korea's app market ONE store has drawn attention as a possible alternative to Google's Play store as local app developers worry about increasing costs over the US tech giant's decision to expand its 30 percent commission fee to all in-app digital goods purchases later this year. ONE store, a subsidiary of top wireless carrier SK Telecom Co., launched the app market in 2016 as a smaller rival to the Play store on Google's Android operating system. The app market has since steadily grown,
Feb. 21, 2021
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Celltrion to supply antibody treatment for COVID-19 without profit margin in Korea: chairman
South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion will supply its antibody treatment for COVID-19 without a profit margin in South Korea, its chairman has said. Celltrion’s CT-P59 won the South Korean drug safety agency’s conditional approval earlier this month, becoming the first locally made treatment for the virus. The drug began to be supplied to local medical institutions Wednesday. CT-P59 is administered to COVID-19 patients at higher risk, referring to people aged 60 and olde
Feb. 20, 2021
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BlackRock emerges as Kakao’s 5th-largest shareholder
US-based international investment manager BlackRock became a blockholder of South Korea’s internet giant Kakao, in an apparent bet on the corporation behind Korea’s most popular messenger app, a filing showed Friday. The US investor’s subsidiary BlackRock Fund Advisors and its 13 affiliates have spent 986.4 billion won ($891.9 million) to obtain 5.18 percent of common shares in Kakao as of Monday, according to the filing. As a result, BlackRock is expected to become the fif
Feb. 19, 2021
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BNP Paribas South Korea ramps up efforts for gender equality
As part of a move to promote gender equality at work, BNP Paribas South Korea has hosted an online event named Gender and Power Talks in partnership with law firm Shin & Kim LCC and the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Ahead of International Women’s Day slated for March 8, leaders from the three organizations discussed measures to foster female leadership across industries in the virtual event, which was held on Wednesday. “(BNP Paribas South Korea)
Feb. 19, 2021
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FSC chief reiterates call to salvage cash-strapped SsangYong Motor
South Korea’s top financial regulator Eun Sung-soo said Friday that its earlier call on its creditors to extend additional support to financially pinched commercial vehicle maker SsangYong Motor remains “valid.” Eun, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said that he found common ground “in a broader sense” with SsangYong’s main creditor Korea Development Bank, which has refused to extend an additional funding to the lossmaking Korean arm of India-ba
Feb. 19, 2021
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Gold prices drop to 10-month low while bitcoin rally continues
Gold prices have skidded to a 10-month low while bitcoin, which is considered by some as a digital replacement for gold, has been on a bull run. The price for a gram of gold declined for five trading days in a row on Thursday as it closed at 63,900 won ($57.67), down 0.48 percent from a day earlier, according to the Korea Exchange. The closing price is the lowest since April 6 when the gold price came in at 63,780 won. Compared to the record high of 80,100 won on July 28, the price has tum
Feb. 19, 2021
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SK hynix to see 70% surge in Q1 profit: report
SK hynix’s operating profit for the first quarter this year is expected to hit 1.36 trillion won ($1.2 billion), up 70.6 percent on-year, Shinhan Investment said Friday. The brokerage also forecast in its report that the company’s revenue during the three month period could go up 14.2 percent on-year to reach 8.2 trillion won. The on-year growth was mostly attributed to the increasing price in dynamic random-access memory products, or DRAM products, and the recent turnaround in ma
Feb. 19, 2021
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S. Korea to introduce contact-free boarding at airports
Contactless, airport check-in systems will be set up across the country by next year, South Korea’s Vice Finance Minister said on Friday, in a bit to digitalize the nation’s social infrastructure. “By 2022, (the government) will implement a contactless check-in system at 15 airports across the nation, which automatically confirms identification of passengers via biometric data, in order to increase convenience of residents using local airports,” Vice Finance Minister K
Feb. 19, 2021
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Moody's upgrades LG Electronics' credit ratings by one notch
Global rating agency Moody's Investors Service on Friday upgraded credit ratings of LG Electronics Inc. for the first time in seven years after the South Korean tech giant reported record earnings last year. Moody's raised the ratings of LG Electronics to Baa2 from Baa3, with its ratings outlook remaining "stable." This is the first time since February 2014 that Moody's has revised up its ratings on the major South Korean tech firm. "The upgrade reflects our expectation that, fo
Feb. 19, 2021
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LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-yeol named as next KITA chief
The Korea International Trade Association on Friday nominated LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-yeol, 68, as its 31st chairman. The leadership board of the trade organization, which represents over 70,000 member companies, met at the Trade Tower in Seoul’s eastern Samseong-dong and unanimously named Koo as the sole candidate for the post, officials said in a statement. Koo is slated to take office for a three-year term once his nomination is approved at KITA’s general meeting next Wednesday
Feb. 19, 2021
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Seoul stocks rebound amid virus woes, US Treasury yields climb
South Korean stocks rebounded Friday after swerving in and out of negative terrain amid woes over a virus resurgence and rising US Treasury yields. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 20.96 points, or 0.68 percent, to close at 3,107.63 points. Trading volume was high at about 3.4 billion shares worth around 19.4 trillion won ($17.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 555 to 306. Foreigners sold
Feb. 19, 2021
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Kepco shifts to black in 2020 on low fuel costs
Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) on Friday reported a net income of 2.09 trillion won ($1.9 billion) in 2020, turning from a loss of 2.26 trillion won a year earlier on the back of the low fuel costs. Operating profit for the year was 4.08 trillion won, compared with a loss of 1.27 trillion won from the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Annual sales fell 1 percent to 58.56 trillion won. During the fourth quarter, net profit reached 586 billion won, also shifting to the
Feb. 19, 2021
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Kakao Mobility receives $200 million investment
Kakao Mobility, South Korea’s largest mobility-as-a-service platform operator, is expected to accelerate its business expansion with a recent investment from Carlyle Group. International investment firm Carlyle Group Thursday agreed to invest $200 million in Kakao Mobility, valuing the South Korean mobility platform operator at 3.42 trillion won ($3.09 billion). Kakao Mobility currently operates Kakao T, the country’s most popular taxi-hailing platform used by around 28 million u
Feb. 19, 2021
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SK chief underscores cooperation in battery ecosystem
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Friday underscored the importance of cooperation among players in the lithium-ion battery industry during a webinar hosted by the group’s foundation. During the online seminar hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, the chairman attributed the recent success of the battery industry to “the longtime cooperation among researchers from the academia and industry.” “Such cooperation is crucial to expand the battery ecosystem i
Feb. 19, 2021
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S. Korea's overseas financial assets touch new high in 2020
South Korea's overseas financial assets hit a new high in 2020, mainly due to increased stock investments, central bank data showed Friday. The nation's external financial assets came to $1.93 trillion at the end of December last year, up $236.3 billion from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The net international investment position came to $441.4 billion as of the end of December, down $59.5 billion from a year earlier, the data showed. The position
Feb. 19, 2021
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NPS commits $150m to global timberland in push for diversification
The National Pension Service said Friday it has committed $150 million to global timberland investment for the first time, in its push for portfolio diversification. The investment by the world’s third-largest pension fund, overseeing 807.3 trillion won ($729 billion) in assets as of November, will go to Stafford International Timberland IX, a ninth flagship timberland fund managed by London-based Stafford Capital Partners. Through the partnership, the NPS will be able to get exposure t
Feb. 19, 2021
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Apple likely to launch second store in S. Korea this month
Apple Inc. is expected to open its second store in South Korea later this month, expanding its presence in the country to compete with local tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. The company said Friday it will hold a press preview event for the store in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Feb. 24. While Apple did not specify when the store will be open to the public, it opened its first store in southern Seoul in 2018 just a few days after a press event. The company is reportedly planning to further exp
Feb. 19, 2021
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Kia tops J.D. Power mass-market dependability rankings
Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, said Friday it became the best-scoring mass-market brand in this year's J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Study results. Kia beat perennial No. 1 Toyota Motor Corp. and 16 other mass-market brands to become the most dependable mainstream brand in terms of problems owners of three-year-old cars have experienced in the United States, the company said in a statement. Kia's Optima (or K5) midsize sedan, Sportage compact SUV and Sorento midsize SUV
Feb. 19, 2021
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S. Korea closely watching prices of food, oil
South Korea is closely monitoring rising prices of agricultural and oil products, the vice finance minister said Friday, amid concerns that inflation may pick up amid an economic slowdown. First Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said the government plans to draw up measures to respond to a potential surge in such prices, if needed. "Not only prices of agricultural and livestock products but also those of raw materials, including crude oil and nonferrous metal, have continued to stay fir
Feb. 19, 2021
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Economic uncertainty persists amid protracted pandemic: finance ministry
The South Korean economy faces lingering uncertainty as domestic demand and the job market remain sluggish amid a flare-up in new coronavirus cases, the finance ministry said Friday. The manufacturing sector and investment are improving amid robust exports, but the service segment is suffering setbacks amid the third wave of the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. "The real economy faces persistent uncertainty as domestic demand remains sluggish and job data point
Feb. 19, 2021