S. Korean carmakers' US market share rises above pre-COVID levels

South Korean carmakers' market share in the United States rose above pre-coronavirus levels in the March-August period, helped by new models, an industry association said Monday. Local carmakers accounted for 8.9 percent of the US passenger car market during the cited period, up from the 7.7 percent during the December-February period, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) said in a statement. South Korea reported its first confirmed coronavirus case on Jan. 20, with its tota

Oct. 5, 2020

BTS agency begins 2-day IPO subscription from individuals

Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of K-pop superstars BTS, attracted a promising amount of deposits from retail investors on the first day of a two-day subscription for its initial public offering (IPO) next week, probably the biggest share sale on the local market. The IPO subscription runs Monday to Tuesday, prior to the company's listing on Oct. 15. Small investors deposited some 8.6 trillion won ($7.4 billion) on the first day of their subscription. IPO managers said Big Hit E

Oct. 5, 2020

Big conglomerates report sales of 12tr won from collusion

SEJONG -- South Korea's big conglomerates have reported sales of some 12 trillion won ($10.3 billion) from collusion and price-fixing practices over the past six years, a report showed Monday. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) found that 21 business conglomerates colluded a total of 162 times between 2015 and August this year. The conglomerates reported sales of 11.7 trillion won from collusion during the period, the KFTC said in the parliamentary audit report. The KFTC fined them 654

Oct. 5, 2020

Carmakers to promote new models in Q4 amid pandemic

South Korean carmakers are set to launch aggressive promotions to boost sales with new vehicles in the fourth quarter to offset weak sales in the previous three quarters amid the coronavirus outbreak, industry sources said Monday. The country's five carmakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- reported an 18 percent on-year decline in sales to 4.2 million vehicles during the January-August period. Their domestic sales

Oct. 5, 2020

Seoul stocks open tad higher on auto gains

South Korean shares opened a tad higher Monday, led by gains in automakers, after a long holiday. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.95 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,333.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment was boosted by hopes for fresh economic stimulus in the United States. Most large caps traded lower in Seoul. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.17 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shedding 0.6 percent. Hyundai Motor, the country's

Oct. 5, 2020

Postech team develops ultrasensitive devices for microwave detection

Samsung Electronics said Sunday that a South Korean research team it funded has developed sensors that can detect microwaves with the highest degree of sensitivity that is theoretically possible. The research was led by professor Lee Gil-ho of Pohang University of Science and Technology and jointly conducted with Raytheon BBN Technologies, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology in Spain and the National Inst

Oct. 4, 2020

BTS agency chief to be stock-rich after IPO

The chief of Big Hit Entertainment, the creative force behind K-pop superstar BTS, will become the 14th-richest stockholder in South Korea after his company's initial public offering (IPO) in mid-October. The company is scheduled to open subscription for retail investors Monday and Tuesday at an IPO price of 135,000 won ($115). Bang Si-hyuk holds 12,377,337 shares, or a 36.6 percent stake valued at about 1.67 trillion won based on the IPO price, in Big Hit Entertainment, according to the agenc

Oct. 4, 2020

Prolonged slump bodes ill for Korean shipyards in Q3

An extended slump is expected to undermine South Korean shipbuilders' earnings in the third quarter of the year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a meaningful recovery in the near future not in sight. According to the data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service, global new orders for ships more than halved to 8.12 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) in the first eight months of the year from 17.47 million tons a year earlier. "South Korean shipbuilders may log a

Oct. 4, 2020

Telecommuting, automation to continue long after pandemic: survey

Business leaders around the world expect remote working and automation will continue after the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end, a recent survey has found. According to the survey conducted by global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers with 699 chief executive officers of firms in multiple countries, remote collaboration and automation were chosen as the most likely long-term trends in the post-pandemic world, with 78 and 76 percent of the respondents respectively saying so. Having fewer p

Oct. 4, 2020

Business community optimistic about Japan easing entry restrictions

South Korea’s business community expects to see the imminent relaxation of entry restrictions for travelers to Japan amid hopes of improving economic relations between the two countries, according to industry sources on Sunday. Regarding the possibility of the two governments pounding out an agreement easing the seven-month-long restrictions on entry to Japan amid the COVID-19 pandemic, industry officials are optimistic about maintaining better business relations with their Japanese pa

Oct. 4, 2020

SK Telecom's subsidiaries eye IPOs

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top telecom operator, is eyeing initial public offerings (IPO) for its digital service subsidiaries starting next year, analysts said Sunday, as the company seeks to realign its business structure. The move has been widely expected after the mobile carrier announced its IPO ambitions for its wide ranging digital units of internet protocol TV (IPTV) operator SK Broadband Co. to video streaming service operator Content Wavve Corp. in its second quarter earnings call

Oct. 4, 2020

Pandemic boosts credit card firms’ profits from loans, cash advances

Korean credit card companies saw their combined earnings rise in the first half of this year from a year earlier due to increased profits from card loans and cash advance services during the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Sunday. The combined borrowing expenses of seven card issuers came to 957.2 billion won ($821 million) in the January-June period. Through the financing, the firms raised profits of 2.56 trillion won, recording earnings of 167 percent. The profit figures were up 100 bill

Oct. 4, 2020

High-rise apartments account for 80% of ‘reverse mortgages’

More than 80 percent of applicants for reverse mortgages in recent years have been owners of high-rise apartments, data from the Korea Housing Finance Corp. showed Sunday, spurring concerns about inequitable access. Reverse mortgages were introduced in South Korea in 2007 and allow homeowners, mainly senior citizens, to receive payments on a monthly basis by borrowing against the value of their homes. From January to August, 6,636 people signed contracts with banks to borrow money by providi

Oct. 4, 2020

Kospi-listed firms expected to see operating profits gain 19% in Q3: report

The companies listed on Korea’s main bourse Kospi are likely to see their operating profits post a V-shaped recovery in the third quarter this year and jump 19 percent from a year earlier, a financial market tracker said Sunday. Local brokerages forecast that 147 listed firms will post a combined 35.44 trillion won ($30.39 billion) for the July-September period, up 19.4 percent from last year’s 29.68 trillion won, according to the poll by FN Guide. They also predicted that the agg

Oct. 4, 2020

No. of foreign visitors to S. Korea dips 75% during H1: lawmaker

The number of international visitors to South Korea plummeted by more than 70 percent during the first half of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a lawmaker Sunday. The number of inbound foreign travelers during the January-June period reached 2.14 million, marking a 74.7 percent plunge compared to the 8.44 million tally from a year ago, according to Rep. Lim O-kyeong of the ruling Democratic Party. Lim cited data submitted by the culture ministry ahead of the annual parliamentary

Oct. 4, 2020

Anxiety mounts over tax effect of new ‘large shareholder’ definition

While South Korea is set to expand its definition of a “large shareholder” starting next year, calls are escalating for the forthcoming rule to be alleviated for the sake of market stability and fair taxation. Some predicted that the stronger regulation might trigger a selling spree at year-end as retail investors seek to avoid a heavier tax burden, and others pointed to the possibility of double taxation. Under the Income Tax Act, revised in 2017 and due to take effect in 2021, t

Oct. 4, 2020

Steelmakers may see earnings improvement in Q3: analysts

South Korean steelmakers are expected to have performed better in the third quarter despite the new coronavirus fears, moving on from a slump a quarter ago, analysts said on Sunday. The country's major steelmakers are likely to have earned more in the July-September period, thanks to a rebound in global steel demand, according to the analysts. Posco, the world's fifth-biggest steelmaker by output, is forecast to have logged 492.9 billion won in operating profit on a consolidated basis, accord

Oct. 4, 2020

Employee crime cost banks W500b since 2016

South Korean banks and their customers lost nearly 500 billion won ($428 million) from employees’ financial crimes -- including embezzlement and fraud -- in the last five years, data compiled by the nation’s financial watchdog showed Sunday. Twenty local lenders saw losses worth a combined 488.4 billion won through 186 cases from 2016 to June this year, according to data submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service to Rep. Lee Young, a lawmaker of the main opposition People Power

Oct. 4, 2020

S. Korea to conduct population census this month amid pandemic

SEJONG -- South Korea will launch a national census this month, with census workers taking extra precautions amid the coronavirus pandemic, Statistics Korea said Sunday. The nation conducts a population census every five years, and this year's survey includes 27,000 census workers who will carry out door-to-door interviews with residents. To reduce door-to-door visits, people will be encouraged to use mobile phones, fixed-line telephones and personal computers to register their personal, fami

Oct. 4, 2020

[Herald Interview] Why data centers matter to foreign investors

After recent success in the market for Seoul office space, London-based investment firm Actis is looking to further invest in Seoul area real estate, this time with a focus on industrial assets. The company is among those looking to invest in data centers in South Korea, as demand spikes. As server requirements expand beyond what companies can accommodate in their main offices, firms are looking to relocate their servers to the cloud or a third-party facility. Both options require data cente

Oct. 4, 2020