LG Electronics to launch hair growth helmet this month

LG Electronics Inc., a major home appliance maker, said Monday it will launch a hair loss treatment device in South Korea later this month. LG Pra.L MediHair was recently approved by Seoul's drug safety ministry as a laser apparatus for medical use and was also cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a Class II device for home use. The wearable device combines 146 laser and 104 LED lights to stimulate hair follicle stem cells in the bulge region and support hair growth and sl

Oct. 12, 2020

Seoul's top trade official to visit Europe to drum up support her WTO chief race

South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, who has recently made it to the final round of the selection process for a new leader at the World Trade Organization (WTO), plans to head to Europe later this week to win more support from its members. Yoo will visit Switzerland and other European nations starting Tuesday, to meet representatives from member countries of the WTO, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Last week, the trade official made it onto the shortlist of two f

Oct. 12, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on eased virus curbs

South Korean shares opened higher Monday, as the country loosened its antivirus curbs. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.51 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,399.47 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The local stock market got off to a strong start, as the country lowered the COVID-19 social distancing guidelines to the lowest level Sunday, raising hopes that the eased virus curbs will boost the economic recovery. Large caps traded mixed. Market bellwether Samsung

Oct. 12, 2020

Major foreign IBs cut S. Korea's growth outlook on virus resurgence

Major foreign investment banks (IBs) have downgraded their forecasts for South Korea's economic growth following the resurgence of the coronavirus here, a report showed Monday. As of end-September, nine major global IBs, including Barclays and Goldman Sachs, forecast Asia's fourth-largest economy to shrink 1.4 percent this year, compared with their median outlook of a 0.9 percent contraction offered a month earlier, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance. The out

Oct. 12, 2020

S. Korea's coal use for power generation dips 7% in 2019

South Korea's coal consumption for electricity generation decreased 7 percent in 2019 from a year earlier due to its efforts to cut carbon emissions, a report said Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy consumed 94 million tons of coal to generate electricity, compared with 101 million tons a year earlier, according to the report by the Korea Energy Economics Institute. It marks the second consecutive year of decline. South Korea's coal consumption for power generation rose from 101 million ton

Oct. 12, 2020

Exports drop 28.8% in first 10 days of October

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports dropped 28.8 percent on-year in the first 10 days of October amid the fallout from the new coronavirus outbreak, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $9.3 billion in the Oct. 1-10 period, compared with $13 billion a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Per-day exports, however, rose 2.8 percent on-year in the Oct. 1-10 period, the Korea Customs Service said. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted trad

Oct. 12, 2020

Hyundai Motor to recall overseas Kona EVs over potential battery fire risks

Hyundai Motor Co. has decided to voluntarily recall its Kona all-electric models sold overseas, industry insiders said Sunday, after the automaker vowed to take the same step on the home turf over potential battery fire risks. Hyundai will globally recall some 77,000 Kona Electric models manufactured between September 2017 and March, 2020, industry insiders said. The recall comes after 13 fires in the model have been reported since 2018. The South Korean automaker already decided to recal

Oct. 11, 2020

SK Innovation extracts solvent, lube base oil from plastic waste

SK Innovation said Sunday it has successfully extracted solvent and lube base oil from plastic waste to boost environmental, social and corporate governance under SK Group’s Green Balance initiative. According to South Korea’s refining-to-battery firm, researchers of SK Innovation Institute of Technology Innovation heated pieces of plastic waste and obtained high-purity pyrolysis oil by removing impurities in it significantly. With the pyrolysis oil, the researches manufactured s

Oct. 11, 2020

LG Electronics unveils teaser of world’s 1st rollable TV

LG Electronics released a teaser Sunday for the “LG Signature OLED R,” the world’s first rollable TV, which will go on sale at the end of this month. The home appliance giant uploaded a 17-second YouTube video that shows the LG Signature OLED R’s rollabe display slowly coming up from the inside of the TV’s base. As of 11:00 a.m. Sunday, the video has garnered more than 140,000 views. The price of the Signature OLED R is reportedly set at over 100 million won

Oct. 11, 2020

Hanwha Defense’s K9 self-propelled howitzers arrive in Estonia

The first two units of Hanwha Defense’s K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers have arrived in Estonia, according to a recent release from the country’s armed forces. The first batch arrived in Estonia in late August and the remaining 16 units purchased by the country will be delivered over the course of three years. After modification and refinement, the K9 howitzers will be deployed to the artillery battalion of the 1st Infantry Brigade to replace 155-millimeter artillery. The

Oct. 11, 2020

One-fifth of Korean exports generated by foreign-invested firms: report

Around 18.5 percent of South Korea’s total export volume last year was from foreign-invested firms, according to a Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency report Sunday. The export volume generated by firms with foreign investment reached $100 billion last year, while the nation’s total exports marked $542 billion, according to KOTRA’s report, which surveyed 14,000 local trading firms. The number of local firms with foreign capital reached 5,800 as of last year, the report

Oct. 11, 2020

KB, K-Growth to select partners for social impact investing

KB Financial Group and the Korea Growth Investment Corp. said Sunday that they would select two external partners to establish funds worth at least 30 billion won ($26 million) as part of their five-year social impact investing initiative. KB Financial Group will commit 15 billion won to the two external partners combined, and K-Growth will provide 5 billion won. The selected partners will pool at least 10 billion won to create the funds by the first half of 2021, according to K-Growth’s

Oct. 11, 2020

Kakao Bank's mid-rate lending total surpasses W2tr

Kakao Bank, South Korea’s leading internet-only bank and an affiliate of mobile platform operator Kakao, has supplied more than 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) in accumulated mid-range interest rate loans, officials said Sunday. The company has also already achieved its annual target of 1 trillion won and has vowed to sustain its mid-rate lending throughout the rest of the year in a gesture to provide liquidity to people with weak credit ratings. Kakao Bank’s mid-range lending so far

Oct. 11, 2020

Fund scam to take center stage in Assembly's financial audit

Tension is escalating at financial institutions as the National Assembly begins two weeks of auditing on financial bodies, focusing on a private equity fund scam and the government’s “Korean New Deal” program. This year, the inspected organizations are especially weighed down by advance paperwork, as only a limited number of people are allowed in the audit hall, as par of anti-coronavirus social distancing rules. The National Policy Committee of the National Assembly will

Oct. 11, 2020

Tencent-backed Maoyan divests W22b YG Entertainment stake

Tencent-backed online movie ticket booking platform Maoyan Entertainment has unloaded its stake in YG Entertainment worth a combined 22.1 billion won ($19.2 million) since August, disclosures showed Sunday. The selloff reduced the Chinese company’s control over South Korea‘s major entertainment powerhouse -- home to K-pop groups Big Bang, Blackpink and the newly-debuted Treasure -- to 5.78 percent, from the previous 8.09 percent. In September alone, Maoyan divested a combine

Oct. 11, 2020

No. of fitness centers soar in 10 years: data

The number of fitness centers in South Korea has soared in recent years, reflecting the rising demand for fitness and leisure activities in the midst of the work-life balance culture triggered by the government’s 52-hour workweek cap, an industry report showed Sunday. According to KB Financial Group’s report on self-employed workers here, nearly 9,900 fitness centers are in operation nationwide as of July, increasing 53 percent during the last 10 years. Of them, 1,109 opened last

Oct. 11, 2020

S. Korean workers' income rises to $42,300 a year: OECD

South Korean full-time employees' average annual income reached $42,300 last year, placing the country 19th among 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, data showed Sunday.  The figure was the highest ever for the nation’s fourth-largest economy. Korea’s next-highest average annual income was in 2003, when it posted $32,100 and ranked 24th, said Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the ruling Democratic Party, citing the OECD data.  The average ann

Oct. 11, 2020

Korea’s shipbuilding industry picks up thanks to Greece

On recent orders from Greek shipping companies, South Korea’s shipbuilding industry regained the No. 1 spot from China in the third quarter of this year, data showed Sunday. According to UK-based market research firm Clarksons Research, Greece placed orders for 18 ships worth 589,421 compensated gross tonnage from Korean shipbuilders this year, accounting for 20.7 percent of Korea’s total orders this year and making Greece the No. 1 source of its orders. During the same period,

Oct. 11, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] Volvo S90 taps into Korea’s cutthroat executive car market

With the launch of the facelifted luxury sedan S90 in Korea, Swedish automaker Volvo has thrown down the gauntlet to the German automotive brands that dominate the nation’s executive car market. In the executive car market, or E-segment, Koreans are avid buyers of German brands, such as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5-Series and Audi A6. The three models have a combined 77 percent share in the nation’s luxury E-segment market. Volvo, which boasts strong sales in sport utility

Oct. 11, 2020

[From the Scene] National Institute of Ecology out to consolidate research, conservation goals in COVID-19 era

SEOCHEON, South Chungcheong Province - The year 2020 has been tough for the National Institute of Ecology, with the number of visitors and exhibition opportunities plummeting from the coronavirus outbreak. The wildlife center in Seocheon, South Chungcheong Province, attracted 994,966 visitors on its first full year of opening and stayed relatively popular, with 823,826 visitors last year, but for the first 9 months of 2020, the NIE welcomed just 161,834 visitors. And when The Korea Herald visi

Oct. 11, 2020