FSC to allow Naver, Kakao sell insurance products

The Financial Services Commission said Tuesday it will draft a policy framework this month to allow local platform operators, including Naver and Kakao, to enter the insurance market to expand customer access to digitized financial products. Under the envisioned plan, the financial regulator will ease the current regulations to enable the internet companies to develop and sell micro insurance products, in accordance with its “sandbox” program. The regulatory framework is aimed a

Feb. 9, 2021

Kia to invest W29tr in future mobility, others by 2025

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker by sales, said Tuesday it will invest 29 trillion won ($26 billion) in car manufacturing facilities and future mobility technologies by 2025. Kia will spend 18.8 trillion won on enhancing profitability in the existing car manufacturing business and 10.1 trillion won on generating business opportunities through investments in future mobility technologies, the company said at this year's CEO Investor Day event. The maker of the K5 sedan and the Te

Feb. 9, 2021

S. Korea's e-commerce market ranks 5th worldwide in 2020 amid pandemic

South Korea's e-commerce market expanded nearly 20 percent in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic to rank fifth in the world, a report showed Tuesday. Local e-commerce sales came to $104.1 billion last year, up 19.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the report released by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and based on data from market researcher eMarketer. China topped the global e-commerce market list with $2.8 trillion, trailed by the United States with $709.8 billion, Britain with $

Feb. 9, 2021

S. Korea's tax revenue down W7.9tr last year

South Korea's tax revenue fell 7.9 trillion won ($7.1 billion) in 2020 from a year earlier as corporate tax earnings declined amid the pandemic, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The country collected 285.5 trillion won in taxes last year, compared with 293.5 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Last year, the collection of corporate taxes declined 16.7 trillion won on-year to a four-year low of 55.5 trillion won, as business activity remained slug

Feb. 9, 2021

KT Q4 net turns to black amid 5G growth

KT Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Tuesday it shifted to a net profit during the final quarter of last year on the back of growing 5G users. Net income reached 39.1 billion won ($35 million) in the October-December period on a consolidated basis, compared with a loss of 10.2 billion won the previous year. Operating income rose 6.4 percent on-year to 166.8 billion won, while sales stood at 6.2 trillion won, up 0.2 percent over the cited period. KT said an increase in its 5G

Feb. 9, 2021

Service output in 15 provinces, cities falls in Q4 amid pandemic

Combined service output declined in 15 provinces and major cities in South Korea in the fourth quarter of last year as the pandemic hit the segments providing face-to-face services, data showed Tuesday. Except for Seoul, six cities and nine provinces posted an on-year fall in service output in the October-December period, according to Statistics Korea. Service output in Seoul -- home to about one-fifth of the country's 51.6 million population -- rose 0.9 percent on-year in the fourth quarter,

Feb. 9, 2021

Banks' loan delinquency rate falls in December

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans fell in December last year from the previous month, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.28 percent at the end of December, down 0.07 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the bank loan delinquency rate was also down 0.09 percentage point. Banks' loan delinquency rate remains sta

Feb. 9, 2021

Shipyards get off to robust start in new orders in Jan.

South Korean shipbuilders held on to their global No. 1 status in terms of new orders of ships in January, outpacing their Chinese rivals for the seventh straight month, industry data showed Tuesday. According to the data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service, South Korean shipyards bagged new orders totaling 910,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs), representing 54 percent of the 1.7 million CGTs ordered globally in January, or 24 of 66 ships. The South Korean shipbuilde

Feb. 9, 2021

Renault warns against low productivity at its S. Korean plant amid pandemic

A senior Renault Group executive on Tuesday said its South Korean operations should ramp up production and cut manufacturing costs to stay afloat amid the coronavirus crisis. Jose Vicente de Los Mozos, executive vice president in charge of manufacturing and supply chain at Renault, made the comments in a video message delivered to workers at the French carmaker's sole Korean plant in Busan, 450 kilometers south of Seoul. Last year, Renault Samsung Motors Corp. promised to improve productivity

Feb. 9, 2021

Petrochemical firms join carbon neutral drive

South Korean petrochemical companies said Tuesday they will join the country's green energy drive, which centers on achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The country launched a new committee on achieving carbon neutrality under ties with the private sector, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The Moon Jae-in government has vowed to achieve carbon neutrality by that year, which means effectively reducing carbon emissions to zero. It is also pushing a Green New Deal aimed at

Feb. 9, 2021

Doosan Mobility Innovation to develop hydrogen-fueled firefighting robots

Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI), a producer of portable fuel cell power packs, said Tuesday it has signed a deal with a Chinese robot maker to jointly develop hydrogen fuel cell-powered firefighting robots. Under the deal with CITIC HIC Kaicheng Intelligence Equipment Co., DMI will work together to establish sales networks in China and other countries, the company said. The two companies plan to release a prototype of hydrogen fuel cell-propelled robots in the first half of the year and to st

Feb. 9, 2021

S. Korean ad market edges down in 2020 amid coronavirus impact

South Korea's overall advertising expenditure inched down in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the digital ad market expanded at a double-digit rate, a report showed Tuesday. Advertising expenses in Asia's fourth-largest economy amounted to 11.99 trillion won ($10.7 billion) last year, down 0.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the report from Cheil Worldwide Inc. The country's leading advertising agency attributed last year's sluggish market growth to the COVID-19 outbreak tha

Feb. 9, 2021

China's Skyworth apologizes over misusing image of LG's rollable TV

Chinese electronics giant Skyworth has apologized over misusing an image of LG Electronics Inc.'s rollable TV during its presentation at a tech expo last month, industry insiders said Tuesday, following the South Korean tech firm's complaint. Skyworth USA Corp., the American unit of Skyworth, recently issued a statement acknowledging its unauthorized use of LG's rollable TV image during its Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021 online event. "Skyworth USA Corporation misused an LG Rollable

Feb. 9, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street rallies

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street that stemmed from growing hopes of progress in the US stimulus talks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 24.52 points, or 0.79 percent, to 3,115.76 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics added 1.81 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix hiked 3.2 percent. Hyundai Motor gained 1.07 percent following heavy losses the previous session after saying tha

Feb. 9, 2021

LG Electronics ramps up EV motor production amid mobility push

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday some of its electric vehicle (EV) motor production lines will be in operation even during the Lunar New Year's holiday as the tech giant eyes to expand its presence in the future mobility sector. LG recommends its local production sites allow workers to go on vacation on Wednesday for the Lunar New Year's Day, which falls on Friday, but its EV motor factory in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, will run during the holiday period to meet growing demand. The S

Feb. 9, 2021

Kakao swings to black in 2020 on robust platform, e-commerce

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Tuesday it shifted to the black in 2020 on the back of robust growth of its e-commerce services based on its messenger platform amid the pandemic. Net profit reached 167.1 billion won ($149.2 million) last year on a consolidated basis, swinging from a loss of 341.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales jumped by 35.4 percent on-year to reach an all-time high of 4.15 trillion won

Feb. 9, 2021

Green Whale Global supplies compostable plastic products to fashion, cosmetic industries

Green Whale Global, the first South Korean firm to produce 100 percent biodegradable plastics, has successfully supplied international and Korean clothing brands with biodegradable hardened plastics, the company said. The clothing brands such as Recto, Nounou, and Nohant are soon to offer environmentally friendly packaging and hangers using plastics manufactured by GWG, according to the company. GWG also said it had also signed an agreement to supply cosmetic brands with biodegradable harden

Feb. 9, 2021

Medical AI company Vuno to make IPO on Feb. 26

Vuno, one of South Korea’s leading medical artificial intelligence companies, will make an initial public offering Feb. 26, CEO Kim Hyun-joon said at a press event Monday. Advance subscriptions for Vuno’s stocks will take place Feb. 16 and 17 through underwriters Mirae Asset Daewoo and Samsung Securities. Vuno is newly issuing 1.8 million shares upon going public. At an estimated 15,000 won to 19,500 won per share, Vuno is attempting to raise as much as 35.1 billion won with the li

Feb. 8, 2021

Google to comply with ‘Netflix Law’

The South Korean government has asked US tech giant Google to take preemptive measures to ensure stable services, while demanding the company notify local users in Korean language should there be service errors. Google will also operate a customer service space through which users can ask questions. South Korea’s ICT Ministry announced Monday its follow up measures regarding the global outage of Google’s services in December, during which users were unable to connect to Google pr

Feb. 8, 2021

Hyundai, Kia ‘not in talks’ over Apple Car project

South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia confirmed Monday that they are “not in talks” with Apple over the manufacturing of the “Apple Car,” denying weeks of speculative reports. While the crucial dealbreaker yet remains uncertain, market observers suggested that this latest case may deliver some impact on the auto group’s credibility when it comes to confidential global deals. In their respective regulatory filings, the two automake

Feb. 8, 2021