Finance minister expresses concerns over COVID-19, economic impact in talks with Fitch

South Korea's top economic policymaker expressed concerns over the resurgence of the novel coronavirus in the country hurting growth and said efforts are under way to bolster the economy during an online meeting with a global credit appraiser, the finance ministry here said Saturday. The teleconference between Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki and James McCormack, the general manager at Fitch Ratings, took place late Friday, with a focus on actions being taken by Seoul to stem the s

Sept. 5, 2020

Doosan Group to repay debt by selling new shares of Doosan Heavy, other assets

    SEOUL (Yonhap) --Cash-squeezed Doosan Group said Friday that it will repay 3 trillion won (US$2.5 billion) in debt to its main creditors by selling new shares of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. and other affiliates' assets.    Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is to float new shares worth 1.3 trillion won and sell them first to its shareholders and then to the public, the group said in an emailed statement.    Earlier, the power plan

Sept. 4, 2020

Hypermarkets sell, shut stores amid COVID-19 fallout

South Korea‘s hypermarket chain operators are working quickly to sell their discount stores to improve their balance sheet, as fallout from the coronavirus deepens and the domestic retail industry’s makes a shift to online. As of Friday, Homeplus has agreed to sell three discount stores to undisclosed real estate developers since July, with the proceeds of the sales also under wraps. One is located in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province and the other two are in Daejeon. At least one more dis

Sept. 4, 2020

Seoul stocks dip more than 1% on Wall Street plunge

The South Korean stock market dipped by more than 1 percent to snap a three-day winning streak on Friday as market heavyweights came under heavy selling pressure in line with a plunge on Wall Street. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 27.65 points, or 1.15 percent, to close at 2,368.25, after falling by 2.6 percent at one point. Trading volume was high at about 1.33 billion shares worth some 19.4 trillion won ($16.3 billion

Sept. 4, 2020

Sign of an exit? Hahn & Co. moves to reduce Ssangyong Cement capital

Ssangyong Cement Industry has proposed reducing its equity capital to pursue higher dividend and enhance shareholder value. Market watchers say the move makes the case for a possible exit of South Korea‘s second-largest private equity house Hahn & Co. from the nation’s No. 1 cement maker by market share. Ssangyong Cement on Tuesday proposed to reduce equity capital to one-tenth to 50.4 billion won ($42.4 million) by November. As a result, the remainder, 455 billion won, will t

Sept. 4, 2020

[Photo News] Amorepacific Group celebrates 75th anniversary online

Sept. 4, 2020

LG Wing chosen as name for new dual-display smartphone

LG Electronics has finalized the name of its new dual-display smartphone to be released on Sept. 14 as “LG Wing,” the company confirmed Friday. When choosing the name, LG Electronics reportedly narrowed down its options to LG Wing and LG Swing, but picked the former as consumers have become familiar with the name after months of exposure to the new phone’s codename “Wing.” The price of LG Wing is expected to be approximately 1.5 million won ($1,260), as the ph

Sept. 4, 2020

NCSoft’s new rhythm game ‘Fuser’ set for release on Nov. 10

NCSoft said Friday its North American subsidiary NC West will release a new rhythm game “Fuser” for both PC and console in North America and Europe on Nov. 10. Fuser is an interactive DJ music game developed by Harmonix -- a US-based video game development company -- and will be published by NC West. Fuser will be available on PC and three major console platforms -- PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. In Fuser, players will become music festival DJs, mixing vocals, bas

Sept. 4, 2020

Diageo Korea appoints Dan Hamilton as new CEO

Diageo Korea said Friday it has appointed Dan Hamilton as a new CEO. According to the world‘s largest distiller and producer of major whisky brands including Johnny Walker and Windsor, Dan Hamilton has become the new CEO starting Friday as his predecessor Robert Rhee, who had led the company since 2018, will leave the business on Oct. 31. After joining Diageo in 2011, Hamilton served several senior leadership and general management roles in India, China, Japan and Europe. As the CEO

Sept. 4, 2020

S. Korea sets aside W170b for COVID-19 vaccine development next year

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said Friday it has assigned a budget of 170 billion won ($142.8 million) for 2021 to develop a homegrown vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Designed to support local companies’ research and development of the COVID-19 vaccine, the government will inject 31.9 billion won into clinical trials of candidate materials for the drug and 7.4 billion won for non-human clinical trials, the ministry said.  Also,131.4 billion won will be spent on a seri

Sept. 4, 2020

KakaoPage to enter US, China and Southeast Asia markets by 2022

KakaoPage, an entertainment company specializing in online cartoons, web novels, film, and TV series, will expand its business overseas, according to the company’s announcement on Friday. KakaoPage will expand its investments in mergers and acquisitions to enter the market in the US, China and nations in Southeast Asia by 2022, KakaoPage CEO Lee Jin-soo said Thursday during a talk with Vivek Couto, an APOS organizer at Media Partners Asia. Lee‘s session was held as part of APOS

Sept. 4, 2020

Coupang to set up large-scale logistics base in Gwangju

Coupang began procedures for the construction of a large-scale high-tech logistics base in Gwangju in partnership with the regional government, the firm said Friday. Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop and Coupang’s new business division head Park Dae-joon met Friday and signed a business agreement. Under the deal, the firm and Gwangju agreed to establish a mega-sized high-tech logistics center in the region and cooperate to boost the local economy and create jobs. The nation’s leading

Sept. 4, 2020

S. Korea to provide selective cash relief to small biz to cushion COVID-19 impact

South Korea on Friday said it will implement a second round of state emergency relief funds targeted at small business operators and beleaguered families most affected by an explosive surge in COVID-19 cases. “Discussions are underway to identify the most damaged small business sectors. (The government) plans to announce a comprehensive plan for the second round of emergency relief grants as early as next week,” Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said Friday in an interview with

Sept. 4, 2020

Naver to recruit over 200 developers this year

Naver announced that it would start recruiting new platform developers and engineers starting on Friday. The IT firm said it would hire more than 200 developers this year. The business units that Naver are recruiting for include IT infrastructure unit Naver Business Platform, workplace collaboration tool developer Works Mobile, Snapchat-like camera app developer Snow, online cartoon platform operator Naver Webtoon and online financial platform operator Naver Financial. Those eligible to apply

Sept. 4, 2020

Mercedes-Benz Korea appoints Thomas Klein as new president and CEO

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Friday it appointed Thomas Klein, the current president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Middle East, as the new president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea, effective Jan. 1, 2021. Klein began his career with Daimler AG at the University of Cooperative Education program of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Germany in 1999. In 2014, Klein was appointed managing director of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in South Africa, before he assumed responsibility for sales at Daimler AG in Germany

Sept. 4, 2020

Hyundai Motor joins IFA 2020 to unveil eco-friendly vehicle technology

Hyundai Motor participated in the IFA 2020 exhibition in Berlin, Germany, for the first time, demonstrating its brand vision based on eco-friendly vehicle technology, the firm said Friday. The automaker, which is pushing to shift from a traditional car manufacturer to a smart mobility company, aims to strengthen its leadership in eco-friendly mobility technology in the European market. In Europe, demand for eco-friendly cars such as hydrogen and electric vehicles is rapidly increasing due to s

Sept. 4, 2020

[Monitor] Kakao Games’ subscription deposit hits record high in Korea

Kakao Games set new records this week in South Korea’s initial public offering market, with the highest competition rate and the largest subscription deposits. The competition rate for Kakao Games’ IPO subscription surpassed 1,500:1, hitting record highs in Korea’s IPO market. The estimated subscription deposits were 58.5 trillion won ($49.3 billion) as of Wednesday, surpassing the record of 30.8 trillion won recently set by SK Biopharm in June. By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@her

Sept. 4, 2020

[Graphic News] About two-thirds of SMEs suffer sales setbacks on virus: poll

　More than two-thirds of South Korean small and medium-sized enterprises have suffered setbacks in their sales following the coronavirus outbreak in February, a poll showed. 　According to a nationwide survey of 1,000 SMEs with sales of 100 million won ($84,300) or more, 77 percent of respondents said their sales had dipped since the COVID-19 outbreak, compared to a year earlier. 　Those companies reported an average decrease of 39.2 percent in sales over the cited period. 　Of the companies

Sept. 4, 2020

Seoul stocks open sharply lower on Wall Street plunge

South Korean shares opened sharply lower Friday, taking a cue from an overnight plunge on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 39.52 points, or 1.65 percent, to 2,356.38 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Thursday (New York time), Wall Street was roiled by panic selling as investors dumped tech stocks. The tech-laden Nasdaq 500 plummeted 598.34 points, or 4.96 percent, to 11,458.1, marking the steepest fall since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Ave

Sept. 4, 2020

HMM signs deal to set up JV with Singapore port operator

HMM Co., South Korea's biggest shipping company by sales, said Thursday that it has signed a deal with Singapore port operator PSA International to set up a joint venture. HMM said it will have a 42 percent stake in the HMM-PSA Singapore Terminal while the rest will be held by PSA International. The deal will pave the way for HMM to secure its terminal in Singapore, the world's busiest container transshipment hub. Currently, HMM has seven terminals -- one in South Korea and two each in the U

Sept. 3, 2020