S. Korea seeks to supply more homes to newlyweds, first-time homebuyers

SEJONG -- South Korea plans to supply more homes to newlyweds and first-time homebuyers through public and private development projects, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday. About 92 percent of newlyweds and first-time homebuyers will be eligible to purchase housing units as the government plans to ease some rules for them, Hong said in a meeting with property-related ministers. Currently, the government requires public and private construction firms to sell a certain amount of new h

Oct. 14, 2020

IMF slightly upgrades S. Korea's growth forecast for this year

  The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that South Korea's economy will shrink 1.9 percent this year as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged exports and consumption. The IMF's latest forecast represented a slight upgrade from its previous prediction of 2.1 percent contraction in June. The IMF also painted a somewhat brighter picture of the global economy as advanced nations reopened their economies, although the pandemic has showed no signs of weakening. The global economy is expect

Oct. 13, 2020

Hyundai heir Chung Euisun set to become group chairman

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun is set to take the helm of the nation’s largest automaker through the group’s emergency board meeting on Wednesday morning, according to industry sources on Tuesday. This promotion is interpreted as reflecting growing concerns that a chairman should lead the group and has responsible management as the automobile industry has been suffering from the recent coronavirus. His father Chung Mong-koo, 82, who was hospitalized in J

Oct. 13, 2020

Hyundai Motor breaks ground for open mobility innovation center in Singapore

Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday it had begun the construction of its open mobility innovation center in Singapore. The automaker held an online groundbreaking ceremony for its new global lab called Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore, or HMGICS, at Hyundai-Kia Motors Namyang R&D Center and Jurong Town Hall in Jurong, in western Singapore. The ceremony was held online by connecting the venues in the two countries by video link in consideration of the COVID-19 situation. Th

Oct. 13, 2020

SK Biopharm licenses out cenobamate to Japan‘s Ono for $503m

SK Biopharmaceuticals has licensed out its breakthrough epilepsy drug cenobamate to Japan’s Ono Pharmaceutical for 53.1 billion yen ($503 million), the company said via shareholders’ notice, Tuesday. The contract gives Ono the rights to develop and commercialize cenobamate in Japan. SK Biopharmaceuticals’ CEO Cho explained that this is a strategic decision to enter Japan, one of Asia’s largest pharmaceuticals market. Cenobamate is a drug for partial-onset seizure pa

Oct. 13, 2020

IBK provides online PR channel for coronavirus-hit local SMEs

The Industrial Bank of Korea said Tuesday that it will help local small and medium-sized enterprises promote their products via online channels amid the prolonged market fallout of COVID-19. The state-run lender, in partnership with the Seoul Business Agency, will hold an online promotion campaign for a selected list of quality SME products. After receiving applications in May, the bank singled out 10 beneficiaries and created video advertisements that will be posted on IBK and SBA’s cha

Oct. 13, 2020

Kakao affiliate Kids Note sets its eyes on IPO in 2022

Kids Note, an operator of a mobile platform for nursery schools and parents in South Korea, said Tuesday it was preparing to go public in 2022. As part of its initial steps for the planned initial public offering, the company has recently picked Daishin Securities as a lead underwriter. Founded in 2012, Kids Note runs a communication service between child care centers and parents. In 2015, it became an affiliate of mobile tech behemoth Kakao. Mimicking Kakao’s free-of-charge business mod

Oct. 13, 2020

State trade insurer fails to recover overseas debt worth W1.4tr: data

South Korea’s state-run trade insurance firm has failed to retrieve some 1.4 trillion won ($1.2 billion) so far spent to cover local exporters' losses in their deals with foreign companies, data showed Tuesday. The Korea Trade Insurance Corp. also known as K-Sure under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, mainly offers guarantees to banks that extend loans to Korean overseas developers that require large-scale and long-term financing and issue bonds to exporters. But it also offers

Oct. 13, 2020

LS Cable & System Asia’s operating profit soars 827% on-quarter

LS Cable & System Asia announced Tuesday that the company‘s operating profit in the third quarter recovered from that of the previous quarter, jumping by 827 percent. The South Korean company’s operating profit in the third quarter reached 5.1 billion won ($4.4 million), while sales marked 145.9 billion won. Compared to the same three-month period last year, the company‘s operating profit decreased by 20 percent, when the sales increased by 6 percent, according to the co

Oct. 13, 2020

Yoon under siege in Assembly audit over hedge fund fiasco

Troubled hedge fund mis-selling scandal that led to losses for South Korean investors and the fund managers’ alleged collusion with ruling party lawmakers and former Cheong Wa Dae officials were at the center stage during the parliamentary audit on the Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday. FSS Gov. Yoon Suk-heun pledged to take stern actions against those responsible for the mis-selling, as the financial watchdog‘s investigation into managers such as Lime Asset Management and O

Oct. 13, 2020

Korean shipbuilders likely to win more orders for LNG ships this year

South Korean shipbuilders are expected to win orders later this year to build liquefied national gas (LNG) ships in Africa, analysts said Tuesday. In the January-September period, local shipbuilders fell far short of achieving their annual order targets as the new coronavirus pandemic continued to affect the shipbuilding industry, according to their order data. Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering received $4.5 billion worth of orders in the first nine months, achieving 29 percent o

Oct. 13, 2020

SK Innovation’s battery project in Georgia wins state support

SK Innovation’s battery project in the US has garnered support from a state official who called the project an “economic game-changer.” In a recent column posted on Main Street News by Pat Wilson, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the official endorsed SK Innovation’s construction of two battery plants, worth $2.6 billion, to be completed in Jackson County, Georgia, by 2023, citing the economic opportunities they have already generated and

Oct. 13, 2020

GS Caltex links drone and self-driving robot for delivery service

GS Caltex said Tuesday it has combined drones and self-driving robots to establish contact-free logistics platforms for islands and mountainous areas. According to the South Korean refiner, it held a drone delivery test event at its gas station in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, to test the economic feasibility of the automated delivery service. During the test, a customer living in a nearby island placed an order through a mobile app of GS25, a convenience store chain owned by GS Retail. The

Oct. 13, 2020

Seoul stocks turn lower late Tue. morning on virus resurgence

South Korean stocks turned lower late Tuesday morning, as investors went risk-averse over the local resurgence of the new coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 14.43 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,389.3 as of 11:20 a.m. The KOSPI fell back into negative terrain after opening a tad higher following the overnight Wall Street rally. Investor sentiment worsened as the country's new COVID-19 infections bounced back to the triple digits, stoking fears that the p

Oct. 13, 2020

Jeju Air applies for grant, Eastar Jet to make more job cuts

Low-cost carrier Jeju Air is poised to receive a government grant to keep the business afloat, according to industry sources, as another budget airline, Eastar Jet, will proceed with further job cuts on Wednesday. Low-cost carriers along with the entire aviation and travel industry, have been reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that has sharply cut travel domestically and internationally. Jeju Air has applied for the grant known as the key industry stabilization fund, which is wor

Oct. 13, 2020

Seoul stocks snap 8-day winning streak on virus resurgence

South Korean stocks ended their eight-session winning streak Tuesday, as investors went risk-averse over a resurgence of the new coronavirus. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 0.58 point, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,403.15. Trading volume was moderate at about 715 million shares worth some 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 504 to 322. Foreigners bought a net 209 billion won, while instituti

Oct. 13, 2020

BMW Korea donates 12 cars to schools for research

BMW Korea said Tuesday it donated 12 cars to be used for research and study to high schools and universities that specialize in automobiles. The 12 BMW vehicles, which include BMW Minis, were delivered to five high schools, five universities and two government entities, including Korea Transportation Safety Authority and Korea Petroleum Quality & Distribution Authority. “The donated cars would be the driving force for the students to take a step further toward their future dreams,

Oct. 13, 2020

Massive cash floating around stock markets after BTS agency's IPO subscription

Tens of trillions of won are floating around stock markets after last week's fierce competition for the subscription of Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of K-pop superstar BTS, data showed Tuesday. Retail investors, including BTS fans, chipped in 58.4 trillion won ($50.8 billion) in the agency's two-day subscription from Oct. 5-6. Of that amount, about 26 trillion won stayed floating in cash management accounts (CMA) and investor deposits, according to the data from the Korea Finan

Oct. 13, 2020

NTS returns W300b tax to overseas funds after losing lawsuits

South Korea’s tax agency has returned over 300 billion won ($260.89 million) of corporate tax to overseas funds over last five years, after losing lawsuits related to tax returns.　 According to data compiled by the National Tax Service, NTS had a total of 14 administrative litigation cases regarding overseas funds and lost six cases between 2015 and 2019. The tax authority reimbursed a total of 314 billion won of tax receipts over the period, according to the reports submitted to ruling

Oct. 13, 2020

[News Focus] Korea No. 2 in OECD in growth of property taxes

SEJONG -- Compared with other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in recent years South Korea saw its property taxes grow at the second-fastest rate. Taxes levied on property in Korea -- including real estate and other wealth -- came to 3.3 percent of the gross domestic product in 2018, the latest year for which figures are available. By comparison, those taxes amounted to 3.144 percent of the nation’s GDP in 2017. The increase -- 0.156 percentage point

Oct. 13, 2020