LG Chem to set up Korea’s 1st hydro-treated vegetable oil factory

LG Chem said Thursday it will establish South Korea’s first hydrogen-treated vegetable oil factory to bolster its green product portfolio. The HVO factory will be built at the Daesan petrochemicals complex in South Chungcheong Province by 2024, according to the nation’s leading chemical firm. LG Chem will first form a joint venture with Dansuk Industrial, a local chemicals company, to build the factory together. HVO is a diesel substitute made from vegetable oil or waste cookin

Sept. 2, 2021

HMM unions accept wage deal, end labor strife

Labor unions of South Korea’s largest shipping company HMM on Thursday scrapped a strike plan after reaching a new wage deal with management. HMM officials and representatives of the two unions, separately representing land-based and longshore workers, agreed to a 7.9 percent increase in wages, a bonus payment amounting to 650 percent of their monthly salary and a 2.7 percent increase in welfare benefits. The deal, reached early Thursday morning after marathon negotiations, ended 77 d

Sept. 2, 2021

Sacha Askidjian tapped as new head of AVK Volkswagen division

Audi Volkswagen Korea has appointed Sacha Askidjian as the new managing director of the Volkswagen brand in Korea, the company announced Thursday. He will replace Stephan Krapp starting from Oct. 1, who will move to the company’s headquarters in Germany to take charge of pricing strategies of Volkswagen cars in Europe. Joining the Audi Volkswagen Group in 2000, Askidjian built a 10-year career in customer service and marketing at the group’s French office. He moved on to the gr

Sept. 2, 2021

New FSC chief stresses unity with FSS

Koh Seung-beom, the new chairman of the policymaking Financial Services Commission, vowed Thursday to bolster cooperation with the market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service in a gesture to ease the long-standing power struggle between the two agencies. “I’ve stressed that the FSC and FSS should move in unison. As the FSC’s new head, I will ramp up efforts to strengthen communication with the FSS’ chairman in terms of promoting financial policies,” Koh told repo

Sept. 2, 2021

Naver Webtoon inks deals with Hybe, DC Comics

Naver’s storytelling and comic platform has the greatest number of creators and users in the world. Some 6 million creators are registered with Naver Webtoon and its recently acquired Wattpad, and up to 167 million users visit the sites each month. The fact that Naver’s storytelling arm has a vast pool of creators and a global fandom appeals to top global entertainment companies with high-value intellectual properties that are interested in having characters or stories they own made

Sept. 2, 2021

[Graphic News] Samsung maintains 2nd spot in tablet market in Q2: report

　Samsung Electronics stayed on as the world’s second-largest tablet computer vendor in the second quarter of the year, a report showed, as it strives to catch up with industry leader Apple. 　The South Korean giant logged a market share of 18 percent in the April-June period, after shipping 8.2 million Galaxy Tab tablets, up 19 percent from a year ago, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. 　Apple defended its top position with a 35 percent share as its iPad shipments ju

Sept. 2, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on profit-taking

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as investors attempted to lock in recent gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 6.6 points, or 0.21 percent, to trade at 3,200.42 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a lackluster start amid sell-offs in banking, bio and auto large caps after the index rose for four straight sessions. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics edged down 0.13 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix slipped 0.46 percent. P

Sept. 2, 2021

Inflation growth hits over 2% for 5th straight month in Aug.

South Korea's consumer prices rose more than 2 percent for the fifth straight month in August due to high prices of farm and oil products, data showed Thursday, indicating a continued build-up of inflationary pressure amid an economic recovery. The consumer prices rose 2.6 percent in August from a year earlier, the same growth as the previous month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Compared with a month earlier, consumer inflation rose 0.6 percent last month, accelerating fr

Sept. 2, 2021

S. Korea's Q2 economic growth faster than expected at 0.8%

South Korea's economy grew slightly faster than expected in the second quarter, thanks to a robust recovery of exports and service sectors, central bank data showed Thursday. The nation's economy grew 0.8 percent in the April-June period from three months earlier, 0.1 percentage point higher than earlier expected, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The country's annualized growth in the April-June period was also revised up to 6 percent, up 0.1 percentage point. Sout

Sept. 2, 2021

Asset managers' Q2 net up 3.2% on commission fees

The combined net profit of asset management firms in South Korea rose 3.2 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier on a modest rise in commission fees, data showed Thursday. Their net income amounted to 609.4 billion won ($526 million) in the April-June period, compared with 590.4 billion won in the first quarter, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, their net profit surged 91.6 percent, it said. The solid earnings were mainly due

Sept. 2, 2021

Using big data analysis to chart a new course

The top three mobile apps in South Korea -- KakaoTalk, YouTube and Naver -- attracted over 40 million users each in June this year, accounting for the bulk of the country’s population of 52 million, according to data compiled by research firm Mobileindex Insight. The list of popular apps also includes Chrome, a web browser from global search engine Google, Korea’s top online retailer Coupang and popular photo-based social media Instagram, a unit of Facebook. The common thread conn

Sept. 1, 2021

Upbit’s blockchain conference discusses NFTs, DeFi and CBDC

Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit on Wednesday kicked off its signature annual Upbit Developer Conference with global industry experts. The company said that its two-day conference features pressing issues in the industry such as nonfungible tokens, decentralized finance, smart contracts, central bank digital currencies, with 18 global blockchain industry leaders including Lee Jung-bong , CEO of Seoul Auction Blue, and Cuy Sheffield, vice president and

Sept. 1, 2021

[From the Scene] Yido takes on last 1.1% of construction waste

INCHEON -- Dust flew through the air as three yellow forklifts busily scooped up a huge chunk of torn wallpaper, green plastic safety nets and steel rebar from a mountain of construction waste. The ground was covered in mud as sprinklers misted the area to suppress the dust. Obviously wearing white shoes was a mistake. On Aug. 26, The Korea Herald visited an automatic construction waste recycling facility located in Incheon.  Sa Gong-myeong, a director at Yido, a South Korean waste man

Sept. 1, 2021

Aug. car sales fall 4.5% amid chip shortage

South Korean carmakers' sales fell 4.5 percent last month from a year earlier as an extended global chip shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on vehicle production and sales, industry data showed Wednesday. The country's five carmakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- sold a combined 544,992 vehicles in August, down from 570,601 units a year ago, according to data from the companies. Their domestic sales dec

Sept. 1, 2021

Google hits wall in Korea, says will comply with local rule

Hit by an unprecedented law aimed at curbing their app market duopoly in South Korea, the world’s most powerful tech giants Google and Apple are seeking ways to readjust their profit models within the bounds of the new regulation. Immediately after the bill passed Parliament late Tuesday, Google released a statement through its Korea office, saying it will comply with the new rule. “The commissions are used to provide Android for free, while enabling developers to reach customers

Sept. 1, 2021

Incheon Airport to get new aircraft maintenance facility

Global cargo airliner Atlas Air has agreed to build a freighter aircraft maintenance facility at Incheon Airport. Atlas Air signed a deal in July to set up a joint venture with Sharp Technics K to build the maintenance, repair and overhaul facility slated to open in 2025. Sharp Technics K Chief Executive Paik Soon-suk said the new facility wouldbe able to accommodate multiple wide-body aircraft at the same time and contribute to the growth of airfreight and e-commerce on a global scale as Inch

Sept. 1, 2021

Renault Samsung's Aug. sales up 17% on exports

Renault Samsung Motors Corp. said Wednesday its sales rose 17 percent last month from a year earlier on strong exports of its SUV models. The South Korean unit of Renault S.A. sold 8,846 vehicles in August, up from 7,570 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 25 percent to 4,604 units from 6,104 during the same period, while exports jumped to 4,242 units from 1,466 on strong demand for the XM3 and QM6 SUVs, it said. From January to August, its sales decline

Sept. 1, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 4th day on robust trade data

 South Korean stocks rose for the fourth consecutive session Wednesday as strong exports boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 7.75 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 3,207.02 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 738.27 million shares, worth some 13.29 trillion won ($11.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 589 to 239. Foreigners purchased a net 119 billion won worth of local s

Sept. 1, 2021

‘High school economics textbooks biased, lack practical knowledge’

Economics textbooks used in South Korean high schools lack practical knowledge about real-life issues, such as personal finance, and are biased against corporations, a study released by a big business lobby claimed Wednesday. In its report, the Federation of Korean Industries claimed that young adults in Korea were falling behind in terms of economic knowledge compared to older generations, due to a lack of proper education. FKI commissioned Yang Joon-mo, an economics professor at Yonsei Univ

Sept. 1, 2021

SK E&S bets future on carbon-neutral LNG, blue hydrogen

SK E&S, a natural gas provider under SK Group, said Wednesday that renewables and batteries have limits in fighting climate change and suggested carbon-neutral liquefied natural gas and blue hydrogen as answers. During a press conference held at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, CEO Choo Hyung-wook said the firm will ramp up production of carbon-neutral LNG to 1.3 million tons and blue hydrogen to 250,000 tons by 2025 to rise as the No. 1 hydrogen player in the world and achieve a market cap of

Sept. 1, 2021