Most Popular
-
1
Hybe-Ador CEO conflict gets messier
-
2
Seoul vows action over Naver's Line, Yahoo dispute
-
3
[KH Explains] Hyundai Motor’s plan for new landmark keeps hitting bumps
-
4
Key S. Korean, USFK special operations officials to hold rare meeting amid NK threats
-
5
Samsung doubles down on Vietnam
-
6
In Beijing, S. Korean top diplomat aims to jumpstart ties with China
-
7
Prosecutors summon pastor involved in Dior bag scandal
-
8
Suspect behind murder of Korean tourist in Pattaya arrested
-
9
[Graphic News] Over 80% of people filing bankruptcy in Seoul in their 50s and older
-
10
NewJeans' members' parents complained to Hybe, email shows
-
Kia launches localized MPV model in India
Kia Corp., a smaller affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., on Thursday launched the Carens multi-purpose vehicle in India to gain a share in the local family car market. The seven-seat Carens MPV comes with a 1.5-liter diesel engine, a 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine or a 1.6-liter gasoline engine model, the company said in a statement. The 1.6 gasoline model is equipped with a six-speed manual transmission, with the 1.4 gasoline turbo model mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission or
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Fed’s move to have limited impact on Korean market: officials
SEJONG -- The local financial market will not face a high-level volatility despite the news that US monetary policymakers will accelerate their exit from quantitative-easing, Korea’s senior officials expected Thursday. At a meeting for macro economy and finance in Seoul, officials clarified that their prediction was based on Korea’s preemptive measures, involving hikes in the benchmark interest rate earlier this year. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said that the possibil
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Amorepacific shifts China strategy for sales rebound
South Korean beauty giant Amorepacific is mulling drastically reducing the number of its Chinese stores amid faltering sales, while also ramping up efforts to expand its luxury portfolio and online sales. President Kim Seung-hwan reportedly hinted at a strategic shift in the company’s China business in a meeting with local analysts this week. As of 2019, Amorepacific operated 1,280 stores of five budget brands -- Hera, IOPE, Mamonde, Etude and Laneige -- in China. In 2020 that number fe
Dec. 16, 2021
-
[GBF] ‘Metaverse stands as biggest challenge for finance sector’
Integrating the world of finance and the virtual space of metaverse is currently the biggest challenge for the global finance sector, among other tasks in the path towards digital transformation, the chief strategist for Shinhan Financial Group’s digitalization said Wednesday. “The biggest issue at hand for the global finance sector is metaverse,” said Sunny Yi, chief digital officer of Shinhan Financial Group, at The Korea Herald’s Eurasian Economic & Cult
Dec. 16, 2021
-
’High inflation could hinder Korea’s sustainable economic growth': BOK chief
South Korea’s central bank chief expressed concerns of high inflation Thursday, saying it could pose as a major hurdle for the economy’s sustainable growth. “If the sentiment surrounding inflation expectations continues to sour, the ties between wages and inflation could drive up inflationary pressure, as observed in other economies,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a press briefing. “The longstanding high inflation could hinder households’ purchasin
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Seoul stocks advance for 2nd session on eased FOMC uncertainties
South Korean stocks advanced for a second straight session Thursday amid eased uncertainties from the FOMC meeting results. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 17.02 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 3,006.41 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 397 million shares worth some 8.4 trillion won ($7.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 416 to 406. Foreigners bought a net 183 billion won, while institutions sold
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Dabang launches non-contact real estate contract service
South Korean mobile realtor app operator Dabang said Thursday it has unveiled a contact-free signing service for real estate contracts, accelerating innovation in the country’s property technology industry. According to the property technology company, the mobile signing service, Dabang Sign, offers users the ability to sign real estate contracts via Dabang’s app. If landlords request to register their houses or apartments with Dabang Sign, the company’s inspection team chec
Dec. 16, 2021
-
SK Inc. invests $50m in US waste-to-fuels company Fulcrum
SK Inc. said Thursday it has joined in on a $50 million investment into Fulcrum BioEnergy, a US-based firm that turns household waste into low-carbon transportation fuels including those for airplanes. According to the holdings company of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, the investment will allow SK Inc. to make a foray into the Korean bioenergy market. SK Inc. is jointly investing in Fulcrum with a Korean private equity fund and did not disclose the exact amount it h
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Who gets the blame for iPhone 13 call malfunction?
Concerns reignited among iPhone 13 users subscribed to telecoms service provider LG Uplus on Thursday as they were still unable to receive calls or had calls disconnected despite the latest but a belated software update. Angry customers blamed Apple on online communities for posting a notice about its latest software update -- the iOS 15.2 -- more than a month after they demanded fixing the problem. Both the manufacturer and the mobile carrier have also been silent over the defects for over a m
Dec. 16, 2021
-
[Global Business Forum] ESG, metaverse key to sustainable capitalism: Mirae Asset
Expanding environmental, social and governance investment and building digital businesses make capitalism sustainable, the research chief of Mirae Asset Securities said Wednesday. “It’s all about quality, not quantity, when it comes to growth in capitalism. ESG offers a fresh perspective, while metaverse makes possible a digital world built on private property and a free market, which is the essence of capitalism,” said Seo Cheol-soo, head of research at South Korea’s la
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Samsung rolls out chips for self-driving cars
Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has begun mass-producing cutting-edge memory chips for an undisclosed auto manufacturer to power a range of connected features including autonomous driving. The newest lineup of chips includes 2-gigabyte GDDR6 graphic dynamic random access memory chips, as well as 128-gigabyte universal flash storage. Both products are designed to support autonomous driving features, including advanced driver assistance systems. Samsung unveiled the industry‘s first u
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Builders' 2020 sales fall for first time in 21 years on pandemic
South Korean construction companies' sales dropped on-year in 2020 for the first time in 21 years due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday. The combined top line of local builders reached 396.9 trillion won ($336 billion) last year, down 1.1 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marks the first on-year decline since the 11.1 percent decrease recorded in 1999 in the wake of the country's foreign exchange crisis. Their domestic s
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Income gap narrows to record low in 2020 on emergency cash handouts
The income gap between the haves and have-nots in South Korea narrowed to a record low in 2020 on the back of the government's provision of emergency cash handouts amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday. The Gini coefficient measured with disposable income, a gauge of income inequality, came in at 0.331 last year, down from 0.339 the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. A reading of zero means complete income equality, while higher numbers nearing one indicate a widenin
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Once-popular Cyworld aims to revive past glory with metaverse
Long before the metaverse and cryptocurrency craze, South Korea had Cyworld, the microblogging platform where people used “dotori” digital money to decorate their personal avatars. It didn’t just exist. It was rabidly popular, counting 32 million users out of the country’s population of 50 million at one point. The once-mighty homegrown platform, however, became a relic of the past with the rise of Facebook, Twitter and the like. It suffered a similar fate to MySpace
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Seoul stocks open higher on eased FOMC uncertainties
South Korean stocks opened steeply higher Thursday, backed by eased uncertainties from the FOMC meeting results. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 25.88 points, or 0.87 percent, to 3,015.27 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks advanced, largely as the FOMC results, particularly the Fed's stimulus withdrawal and interest rate hike, stayed within the market expectation. The Fed said it would double the speed of its tapering of bond purchasing program and
Dec. 16, 2021
-
S. Korea's 2022 economic growth target set at early 3% range: finance minister
South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday the government plans to make efforts to help the country's economy grow in the early 3 percent range next year amid heightened economic uncertainty. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the country plans to focus on boosting domestic demand and conducting fiscal spending in the fourth quarter to achieve the 4 percent range growth target for this year. The finance ministry plans to unveil its 2022 economic policy directions next week. Hong said
Dec. 16, 2021
-
BMW Korea signs MOU to build R&D center by 2023
BMW Group Korea said Thursday it has signed an initial pact with a provincial government to build a research and development center to provide advanced mobility services to local customers. BMW Korea signed a memorandum of understanding with the Incheon metropolitan city and the Korean Free Economic Zones to build the BMW R&D Center Korea in the Cheongna Incheon Hi-Tech Park by 2023 to advance R&D projects involving autonomous driving, connectivity and electrification, the company said
Dec. 16, 2021
-
[Graphic News] Overseas card spending down 14.8% in Q3 on weak won
South Koreans’ overseas card spending declined 14.8 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier as the government tightened rules on withdrawals of money from automatic teller machines and the won depreciated against the dollar, central bank data showed. According to the data by the Bank of Korea, the amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, came to $2.88 billion in the July-September period, down from $3.37 billion
Dec. 16, 2021
-
S. Korea's $60b currency swap deal with US to expire on Dec. 31: BOK
South Korea's $60 billion currency swap contract with the United States will expire as scheduled later this month as financial and economic situations at home and abroad remain stable, Seoul's central bank said Thursday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) and the US Federal Reserve signed the currency swap contract in March 2020 to ease financial anxiety caused by the coronavirus pandemic and had since extended the deal three times. It is set to expire on Dec. 31. "The temporary currency swap will e
Dec. 16, 2021
-
Outcome of Fed meeting to have limited impact on S. Korean market: official
The US Federal Reserve's announcement of plans to accelerate the tapering of its asset purchases is expected to have a limited impact on the South Korean financial market as the outcome was in line with market expectations, a senior government official said Thursday. After a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday (US time) it will double the pace of tapering its bond purchases and likely end them in March. The US central bank signaled three rate hikes by the end of 2022 amid
Dec. 16, 2021