[Monitor] Over 10,000 restaurants in Seoul go out of business amid pandemic

With the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of commercial facilities such as restaurants and PC rooms have shut down in Seoul, a survey by the Agency for Traditional Market Administration shared by Real Estate 114 showed. As of the second quarter of this year, the number in commercial districts dropped by 5.4 percent to 370,321 from 391,499 in the first quarter. By type of business, restaurants shut down the most, followed by retailers such as convenience stores and supermarket

Sept. 9, 2020

Korean Air begins using converted planes to transport cargo

Korean Air Lines Co. said Wednesday it has begun to use two converted planes to transport cargo on routes to the United States in the latest move to offset a sharp decline in air travel demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. The biggest carrier in South Korea has recently converted two B777-300ER jets into cargo planes after obtaining approval from the transport ministry. "One of the two converted aircraft flew to the Rickenbacker International Airport in Ohio on Tuesday, and the other is

Sept. 9, 2020

[Graphic News] Retail sales up 4.4% in July on online sales of groceries amid pandemic

　Retail sales in South Korea advanced 4.4 percent in July from a year earlier as online platforms enjoyed a spike in demand for groceries and home appliances amid the new coronavirus pandemic. 　The combined sales of 26 major offline and online retailers reached 11.46 trillion won ($9.67 billion) last month, up from 10.98 trillion won a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. 　Online platforms led the growth, with their revenue advancing 13.4

Sept. 9, 2020

Seoul stocks open sharply lower on Wall Street plunge

South Korean shares opened sharply lower Wednesday, taking a cue from a drop in tech stocks on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 27.2 points, or 1.13 percent, to 2,374.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment worsened as key US stock indexes tumbled, with tech shares in particular falling deep. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite plummeted 465.44 points, or 4.11 percent, to 10,847.69 on Tuesday (New York time). The Dow Jones Industrial Av

Sept. 9, 2020

Kakao Games to debut on Kosdaq on Thursday

Kakao Games, the game developing unit of South Korean mobile giant Kakao, will debut on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market Thursday, the Korea Exchange said Tuesday. The company's public offering price is 24,000 won per share. It logged record-breaking IPO subscription early this month, far outperforming SK Biopharmacueticals, which went public in July. Subscription deposits for Kakao Games shares were estimated at 58.55 trillion won ($49.4 billion), almost double the 30.99 trillion won deposited fo

Sept. 8, 2020

Fitch lowers S. Korea growth forecast 0.2% on COVID-19 fallout

Fitch Ratings lowered the growth forecast for South Korea this year by 0.2 percentage point due to the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, the credit appraiser said Tuesday. The downgrade, would mean Asia's fourth largest economy will backtrack 1.1 percent this year from 2019. Fitch earlier predicted Seoul's economy to post negative growth of 0.9 percent. This is slightly better than the 1.3 percent contraction announced by the Bank of Korea last month. Fitch predicted that while the impact o

Sept. 8, 2020

BOK to buy up to W5tr in state bonds to combat market uncertainties

South Korea’s central bank announced Tuesday that it plans to directly purchase state bonds worth some 5 trillion won ($4.2 billion) by the end of this year to combat uncertainties stemming from the resurgence of the coronavirus here. “With the resurgence of the coronavirus leading to bigger market uncertainties, the government is expected to issue additional bonds,” the Bank of Korea said in a statement. “This is a preemptive move to alleviate risks from a possib

Sept. 8, 2020

Korea reveals details of ‘Netflix law’

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Tuesday provided advance notice of its ordinances under the revised Telecommunications Business Act, which includes clauses that will bind foreign platform operators like Netflix and YouTube to share costs in securing stable services. The revision, dubbed the ”Netflix law,“ passed the National Assembly in May after local network operators raised complaints over foreign platform operators being exempt from costs for operating, expanding and using

Sept. 8, 2020

CLSA derides Moon’s New Deal fund

A report by Hong Kong-based investment bank CLSA lashed out at President Moon Jae-in‘s Korean New Deal initiative and the 20 trillion-won ($16.8 billion) fund to finance the projects, claiming his scheme promotes moral hazard and is designed to win votes. In the report titled “Moon’s debut as a fund manager,” Paul Choi, head of Korea research at CLSA, addressed possible negative impacts due to the government’s fund scheme, such as the “blowing of a bubble&rd

Sept. 8, 2020

Seoul’s housing prices show signs of cooling: finance minister

Home prices in Seoul and the neighboring area have shown some signs of stabilizing on the back of the government’s price-curbing measures, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Tuesday. He also rolled out plans to provide some 60,000 new public apartments in greater Seoul in 2021-2022, with subscriptions due to start next year. “A month passed since taking effect, the Aug. 4 (housing) supply measures appear to be paying off to a certain extent,” the

Sept. 8, 2020

BOK to buy 5tr won worth of state bonds by end-year to stabilize market

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday it plans to buy state bonds worth 5 trillion won ($4.2 billion) directly from the market by the end of this year in a bid to stabilize the debt market. The move is aimed at tackling potential market jitters and easing a sharp rise in market rates in a preemptive manner as the government is expected to increase bond issuance, the BOK said in a statement. The government plans to sell more bonds to finance the fourth extra budget designed to cushion the fallo

Sept. 8, 2020

Korean Air rolls out strict rules for mask-wearing on board

Korean Air announced Tuesday it will enforce stricter rules for passengers to wear masks on board planes as part of safety efforts to prevent COVID-19. Starting Sept. 8, the national flag carrier will not allow passengers to board if they refuse to wear a mask, in an effort to stop the spread of the virus, with the exception of toddlers younger than 24 months and those with health conditions. The move is part of the airline’s Care First program, which consists of prevention and disinfec

Sept. 8, 2020

Orders on food delivery apps break records amid pandemic

The total value of orders placed on food delivery apps in South Korea reached 1.2 trillion won in August, up 28 percent from July and setting a new monthly record, as the government introduced stricter social distancing regulations after COVID-19 cases rose again, according to data released by WiseApp Tuesday. Around 16 million people used the country‘s four biggest delivery apps -- Baedal Minjok, Yogiyo, Baedaltong and Foodfly -- during the month of August, the data showed. Users of Bae

Sept. 8, 2020

Seoul stocks surpass 2,400-level on European monetary easing hopes

South Korean shares gained for a second consecutive session on Tuesday as investors pin hopes on the possibility that the European Central Bank (ECB) may signal further easing moves in its upcoming monetary policy meeting. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 17.69 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 2,401.91. Trading volume was high at about 966 million shares worth some 17 trillion won ($14.3 billion), with losers outnumberi

Sept. 8, 2020

Number of self-employed people plunges amid deepening pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has hit small businesses in South Korea. The number of self-employed people decreased at an alarming rate in July compared with a year earlier, data showed Tuesday.  According to data compiled by the Korea Small Business Institute and Statistics Korea, the country had 5.548 million self-employed people registered as of last month, down 127,000 from the previous year. The sharp on-year drop was nearly five times as steep as in July last year, when the number of se

Sept. 8, 2020

Kakao’s Yanadoo secures W30b won investment

Education technology firm Yanadoo announced Tuesday that the company has recently secured investments worth 30 billion won ($25.2 million). Yanadoo, which merged with Kakao Kids to become a comprehensive education platform, is currently evaluated at 300 billion won, according to the company. Yanadoo previously offered online English programs, but started to add different education programs including ones related to health care after the merger. Yanadoo‘s sales in the first half this ye

Sept. 8, 2020

LG U+ develops SIM-less tech for smart devices

LG U+ announced Tuesday that the company and its global partners had developed a new technology enabling smart devices to work without SIM cards. Joining LG U+ in the development of the universal integrated circuit card, or iUICC, were cellular chipset developer Sony Semiconductor Israel, local communication module maker NTmore and German digital security solutions provider Giesecke+Devrient. SIM cards are responsible for storing users’ personal information, which is needed to identify

Sept. 8, 2020

Apartment prices in Seoul, elsewhere continue to soar

Despite the government’s claim that the housing market is stabilizing, apartment prices in Seoul increased in August from the previous month and the same was true for other cities across the nation, data showed Tuesday. The number of listings for “jeonse” rentals, which involve a large lump-sum deposit in lieu of monthly rent, and regular monthly rentals have dramatically decreased in recent weeks. Furthermore, landlords began raising rents before the government implemented

Sept. 8, 2020

Korean asset managers take heat from H2O fund freeze

Korean asset management houses are facing a ripple effect from London-based investor H2O Asset Management‘s decision to halt fund withdrawals for four weeks and to draw up measures to seek redress from the fund freeze, according to an announcement Tuesday. VI Asset Management and Kiwoom Asset Management, both based in Seoul, have their combined investment of 460 billion won ($387 million) suspended from the redemptions, as the asset managers had bought mutual funds managed by H2O through

Sept. 8, 2020

LG Electronics expands software testing capability

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday that it has been recognized as an international certification institute to test the functional safety of software systems. LG said Tuesday its software testing center was accredited by the Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme as an institute to verify the IEC 61508-3 standard. IEC 61508-3 focuses on the functionality safety of software to make sure no errors occur in electronic products or systems. LG can now issue a certificate proving software meets IEC

Sept. 8, 2020