Hyundai-Kia climb to top credit ranks among global automakers

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have just secured their place among the world’s most financially sound automakers. According to industry sources Monday, both companies received A ratings from the world’s three major credit rating agencies -- Moody's, S&P and Fitch. This positions Hyundai and Kia alongside just three other automakers -- Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Honda -- that have earned A ratings from all three major credit rating agencies. Credit ratings from these agencies i

Aug. 26, 2024

Seoul shares down for 2nd day after Fed chief's remarks; won at over 5-month high

South Korean shares closed slightly lower for the second straight day on Monday as investors sought to cash in on recent gains after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at a potential rate cut next month. The local currency rose to its highest level in over five months against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 3.68 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 2,698.01. Trade volume was moderate at 329 million shares worth 8.97 trillion won ($6.77 billion), with l

Aug. 26, 2024

HD Hydrogen acquires fuel cell company Convion

HD Hydrogen, a recently established hydrogen fuel cell subsidiary of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, recently acquired Finnish fuel cell firm Convion at 72 million euros ($81 million), HD KSOE said Monday. Established in 2012, Convion specializes in manufacturing solid oxide fuel cells, or SOFC, and solid oxide electrolyzer cells, or SOEC, both of which are key technologies for hydrogen energy. According to HD KSOE, the intermediate holdings company under Korean shipbuilding co

Aug. 26, 2024

Kioxia's IPO expected to bring windfall for SK hynix: analysts

Japan’s Kioxia Holdings, the world’s third-largest NAND flash memory company, applied to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, making it the largest stock debut since SoftBank in 2018. Now keen attention is being paid to SK hynix, the world's No. 2 maker of memory chips, which has invested 4 trillion won ($3 billion) in the Japanese rival. With the aim for an October initial public offering, Kioxia is expected to achieve a market capitalization of over 1.5 trillion yen ($1

Aug. 26, 2024

Mastern eyes in US tech hubs for opportunities

Mastern America, the US arm of Mastern Investment Management, said Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with US real estate investor Woods Capital to attract investment for tech hub projects across the US. In October 2023, the US Economic Development Administration designated 31 regional technology and innovation hubs, which are regional coalitions dedicated to core technologies such as quantum computing, precision medicine, autonomous systems, clean energy and critical mineral sup

Aug. 26, 2024

[Photo News] LG Tech Fair

LG Electronics Science Park President Park Il-pyung speaks during the opening of Spark 2024, LG's festival combining culture and tech, at LG Science Park in Seoul on Monday. The company kicked off the three-week event with its first LG Tech Fair, bringing together tech experts from eight LG affiliates including LG Electronics, LG Chem and LG Energy Solution, and others to discuss future technologies and share insights. (LG Corp.)

Aug. 26, 2024

Homeplus achieves strong sales increase with summer promotion

South Korean discount chain Homeplus said Monday it saw a significant sales increase during it latest promotional event, which featured discounts on meat, vegetables and fruit, targeting peak demand in the summer vacation season. The event, which ran from July 25 to Aug. 11, resulted in growth across both physical stores and online. According to the company, sales at Homeplus' five major branches surged by over 50 percent, with some branches seeing sales increases of up to 90 percent. Meanw

Aug. 26, 2024

GI Innovation partners with MSD for new cancer drug combination

South Korean biotech company GI Innovation announced Monday a new partnership with Merck Sharp & Dohme, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., to test its drug GI-102 in combination with MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for treating patients with immunotherapy-resistant liver cancer, melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. This marks GI Innovation’s second collaboration with MSD, building on their earlier work for GI-101A. The trial will specifically t

Aug. 26, 2024

Coupang hosts global hackathon to seek innovative solutions

E-commerce giant Coupang announced Monday the company became the first domestic distributor to co-host a global hackathon event. Dubbed as "Hackseoul," the event, held on Saturday and Sunday, brought together some 200 software developers from 10 countries, including the US, Canada, Uzbekistan and India, at the company's headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul. AngelHack, a US-based company that has organized numerous hackathon events since 2011, designed the overall contest. The event wa

Aug. 26, 2024

Tajikistan holds cultural day to share heritage with Korea

The Embassy of Tajikistan in South Korea announced Monday that it hosted a special event dedicated to celebrating Tajikistan Cultural Day, while strengthening cultural exchanges between the two nations. The event also marked the publication of the Korean edition of "Tajiks in the Mirror of History: From Aryans to Samanids," a book authored by Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon. Rahmon’s book reportedly offers an in-depth exploration of the history and cultural development of the

Aug. 26, 2024

Celltrion gets European approval for Stelara biosimilar

South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion announced Monday that it has received the European Commission’s final approval for Steqeyma, a Stelara (ustekinumab) biosimilar used to treat various autoimmune conditions. Steqeyma, or CT-P43, has been approved for use in all indications of reference product Stelara, including plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and Crohn's disease, following recent approvals in Korea and Canada in June and July, respectively. According to market resear

Aug. 26, 2024

Seoul shares open higher on US rate cut hopes

South Korean shares opened slightly higher Monday amid growing hopes for a US rate cut. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 2.85 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,704.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The increase follows sharp gains on Wall Street, prompted by remarks from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that hinted at the start of US rate cuts in the near future. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.14 percent to close at 41,175.07 Friday (US time), with

Aug. 26, 2024

Delayed payments of Tmon, WeMakePrice spike to W1.3tr

Overdue settlements for vendors on ecommerce platforms Tmon and WeMakePrice have surged to 1.3 trillion won ($978 million) in total, impacting over 48,000 businesses, according to data released by the government on Sunday. The final figures showed the two struggling online marketplaces owned by Singapore-based Qoo10 owe a total of 1.3 trillion won to their vendors, surpassing the government’s initial forecast of 1 trillion won. The figure also marks a jump of over 400 billion won from the

Aug. 25, 2024

Dongsuh enhances marketing strategy for instant coffee leadership

Korean food and beverage manufacturer Dongsuh Foods said Sunday it is ramping up marketing efforts to retain its unrivaled leadership in the nation’s instant coffee market. The company has topped instant coffee sales over the last three decades with its flagship Maxim Mocha brand. More recently, it has been diversifying its marketing strategy to appeal to a wide range of consumer groups and further boost sales of its best-selling products. Dongsuh has operated its flagship store, called Ma

Aug. 25, 2024

Chaebol leaders to join Yoon in Czech Republic

South Korea’s top chaebol leaders are set to join President Yoon Suk Yeol on his state visit to the Czech Republic next month, according to industry sources Sunday. Yoon’s Czech visit comes after a Korean consortium, led by Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, was recently named a preferred bidder for a major nuclear plant project in the European country. The project size is estimated at around 24 trillion won ($17.3 billion). Along with the mega project, the summit is expected to cover to

Aug. 25, 2024

[Test Drive] Audi's A7 PHEV, an all-around beauty

The popularity of hybrid vehicles has been gaining steam in South Korea as the country is still in an early phase of adapting electric vehicles. Audi’s A7 55 TFSI e quattro Premium, an upgraded plug-in hybrid vehicle, offers an ideal choice for drivers seeking comfortable city driving on electricity and sporty maneuvering on highways. Measuring at a length of 4,975 millimeters, a wheelbase of 2,926 mm, a width of 1,910 mm and a height of 1,425 mm, the A7 PHEV looks longer, wider and lower

Aug. 25, 2024

Hyundai Steel's low-emission plate push gains momentum

Hyundai Steel, Korea’s second-largest steelmaker, is moving to target the global low-emission steel market amid increasing demand from carmakers moving toward net zero emissions. Hyundai Steel recently signed a memorandum of understanding to supply low-emission steel plates to Tawesco, a leading Czech auto parts manufacturer, and Eusider, an Italian firm specializing in automotive steel plate processing. Both companies supply major European automakers, such as Volkswagen and Stellantis, an

Aug. 25, 2024

Samsung Electro-Mechanics to boost sales of high-end chip substrates

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, the electronic parts manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Electronics, said Sunday it will ramp up the sales portion of high-end flip chip ball grid array (FCBGA) substrates for servers and artificial intelligence to over 50 percent by 2026. FCBGA is a semiconductor package substrate applied to high-performance semiconductors, such as central processing units and graphic processing units for servers and PCs. It can be used in various applications requiring high-performan

Aug. 25, 2024

Korea's 'value-up' efforts stall on 0.7% corporate participation

Nearly three months after the government launched the "Corporate Value-up Program" in May, participation by South Korean companies remains minimal. As of Friday, just eight companies had released value enhancement disclosures, representing a mere 0.3 percent of the 2,585 firms listed on the Kospi and Kosdaq, according to Korea Exchange data. Including the 10 firms that have preannounced disclosures, just 0.7 percent have joined the program. The "value-up" initiative, rolled o

Aug. 25, 2024

[Advertorial] Eximbank, LS Cable to bolster supply chain for rare-earth magnets

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea, or Eximbank, on Friday signed a business agreement with the nation's leading cable manufacturer, LS Cable & System, and its Asia-focused subsidiary, LS Eco Energy, to support building a stable supply chain for rare-earth permanent magnets, a key component for electric vehicles and turbines. Under the agreement, the three parties will share business information related to rare-earth permanent magnets and other electric drive system projects and

Aug. 25, 2024