[Behind the Wheel] Porsche Taycan 4S shows what EVs are capable of

After Porsche unveiled its first electrified sports car, the Taycan, in 2019, the automaker faced questions from car enthusiasts. What makes a sports car a sports car? Could a battery-powered car really ever offer the same thrilling ride as a high-performance conventional sports car? But after taking the Porsche Taycan 4S for a 350-kilometer trip in a mountainous region of Gangwon Province, this reporter was impressed. The car not only proved as capable as any sports car that runs on gasoline

May 13, 2021

Samsung shares fall despite Moon’s chip strategy

Market kingpin Samsung Electronics saw its shares retreat over 1 percent for the second day in a row Thursday and dropped below the 80,000-won ($70.83) mark, putting a damper on President Moon Jae-in’s ambitious drive to turn South Korea into a “chip-friendly country.” Shares of Samsung Electronics closed at 78,500 won -- down 1,500 won, or 1.88 percent, from the previous session’s close -- on both foreign and institutional investors’ sell-offs. It started off at

May 13, 2021

Major business leaders to accompany Moon on US summit trip

Leaders of South Korea’s major conglomerates will accompany President Moon Jae-in on his trip to the United States for his first summit with US President Joe Biden, industry sources said Thursday. Unlike previous presidential visits, this one will not include an official business delegation due to safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the government has reportedly asked select companies in the fields of semiconductors, biopharmaceuticals and batteries to join Moon, as wel

May 13, 2021

S. Korea top shipper HMM sees boom amid global demand surge

While HMM Co., formerly known as Hyundai Merchant Marine, saw its stock value zoom upward amid soaring shipping demands, market responses remained divided on whether the nation’s top shipper can maintain its bullish run throughout the year. The company and its creditors remained hopeful, citing the successful synergy of business strategy and government policy actions, but some observers pointed out that the shipper should take more precautions in expanding ship orders. The company saw i

May 13, 2021

Samsung SDS simplifies freight shipping like online shopping

Samsung SDS on Thursday introduced Cello Square 4.0, a digital logistics platform that makes air and ocean freight shipping as easy as online shopping. According to the IT solutions unit of Samsung Group, the new platform, set for launch in August, is designed to support export activities of small and mid-sized companies who lack experience in large-scale shipping. “When clients export big cargo or a large amount of goods from point A to point Z, they have difficulties in finding the r

May 13, 2021

UN office demands explanation on Korean firms’ alleged link to Xinjiang rights issue

The United Nations on Thursday accused South Korean companies, including Samsung and LG, to have allegedly sourced items from factories in China’s Xinjiang region that has been embroiled in forced labor allegations. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, its special rapporteurs dealing with issues including slavery, torture and human trafficking sent a letter to the Korean government on Wednesday demanding explanations on the case. “We note that the

May 13, 2021

Seoul sets out to protect chip prowess

South Korea on Thursday announced a sweeping set of new government policies aimed at safeguarding and further expanding the country’s prowess in chips, which include the most generous tax credits ever given to chipmakers -- up to 50 percent. The chip manufacturers, led by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, responded to the support package by committing investments of over 510 trillion won ($458.1 billion) in total over the next 10 years. Samsung unveiled plans to spend 171 trillion won on

May 13, 2021

BOK seeks authority to monitor crypto transactions

The Bank of Korea is seeking the authority to monitor cryptocurrency transactions made through users’ real-name bank accounts, a document recently submitted to a lawmaker here by the central bank showed. “We plan to utilize our legal authority over requesting document submittal from financial institutions to monitor the volume of cryptocurrency transactions made through bank accounts,” the document submitted to Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the main opposition People Power Party on W

May 13, 2021

Coupang deliver record-breaking revenue of W4.7tr in Q1

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang posted a record-breaking 4.7 trillion won ($4.2 billion) in revenue during the first quarter of this year as the business continues to grow in size but its operating loss nearly doubled due to an increase in operating and administrative costs. According to the firm’s earnings report, revenue was up 74 percent compared to one year ago, its biggest Q1 sales figure to date. “We ended the quarter with 16 million active customers, a 21 percent year-

May 13, 2021

Samsung heir becomes richest Korean

Lee Jae-yong, the only son of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, has become the wealthiest entrepreneur in South Korea, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Thursday. The index shows a ranking of 500 richest people around the world. The list of the world’s top billionaires, compiled by media firm Bloomberg, showed the junior Lee owns $12.6 billion of assets as of May 12 to take the 170th spot among the 500 richest people. He inherited shares of Samsung Group affiliat

May 13, 2021

FTC gives go ahead for merger deal between V Live and Weverse

The Korea Fair Trade Commission said on Thursday it has approved a merger deal between web portal giant Naver’s streaming platform V Live and Weverse, a fan community platform created by entertainment company HYBE. The decision, which was made last week, comes after the FTC concluded the move is unlikely to reduce competition in the market following a review. Following a greenlight from the regulators, the move will see Weverse Company, a subsidiary of HYBE, take over V Live and Naver wi

May 13, 2021

Real estate fiasco sidelines Moon’s income-led growth drive

Transforming South Korean economy into a fairer and more transparent one was what President Moon Jae-in had in mind when entering office in 2017.  To soothe the public enraged over high-profile corruption involving the former president, his political archrival Park Geun-hye, Moon and his campaigners unveiled a series of economic policies pursuing the income-led and innovation-based growth, painting the rosy picture on mitigating the nation’s widening wealth disparity.  Now wi

May 13, 2021

Real estate investors drift away from Seoul, toward logistics

Real estate investors searching for deals in South Korea were seen shifting their attention away from the capital city of Seoul in the first quarter of 2021 as demand for logistics assets rose, data showed Thursday. Commercial property deals that closed in Seoul during the first quarter with tickets of over $10 million added up to $2.2 billion, down 25.8 percent on-year, while investment in other parts of Korea rose 3 percent to $2.6 billion, according to data from New York-based capital marke

May 13, 2021

Tax agency launches another round of probe into property-related tax evasion

South Korea's tax agency said Thursday it has launched another round of probe into suspected tax evasion by hundreds of people who sought to take profit from speculative or illegal property transactions. The National Tax Service (NTS) said it has cracked down on 289 individuals and entities over alleged tax evasion. It marked the second time that the agency has carried out investigations into property-related tax evasion this year since April. The NTS said it has expanded the scope of the pro

May 13, 2021

Banks' loan delinquency rate inches down in March

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans edged down in March from the previous month, the financial regulator said Thursday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.28 percent at the end of March, down 0.05 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the banks' loan delinquency rate was down 0.11 percentage point. Banks' loan delinquency rate remains stable mainly b

May 13, 2021

S. Korea's money supply grows in March

South Korea's money supply continued to grow in March, as loans to households and firms increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's M2 stood at 3,313.1 trillion won ($2.9 trillion) as of end-March, up 1.2 percent from a month earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year earlier, M2 jumped 11 percent, the BOK said. A key economic indicator closely monitored by authorities, M2 is a measure of the money supply that co

May 13, 2021

Customs office seizes W7.2b worth of smuggled cigarettes

South Korea's customs office said Thursday it has seized around 1.79 million trafficked cigarette packs worth 7.2 billion won ($6.3 million) and arrested 41 smugglers and local distributors. The Korea Customs Service said the number of smuggled cigarettes more than doubled from about 754,000 packs a year earlier as it carried out a sweeping crackdown on tobacco trafficking in the first quarter. In particular, the number of cigarettes smuggled from China reached 890,000 packs, the largest-ever

May 13, 2021

Doosan Heavy teams up with state utility firm for hydrogen biz

South Korean power plant builder Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. said Thursday that it has signed a deal with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) to cooperate on hydrogen-related business. Under the deal, Doosan Heavy and nuclear power plant operator KHNP will develop technologies to produce and store hydrogen by using small- and mid-sized nuclear reactors and water power systems. Doosan Heavy also said its fuel cell manufacturing affiliate Doosan Fuel Cell Co., which has

May 13, 2021

SK Innovation suffers loss in Q1 on EV battery settlement

SK Innovation Co., South Korea's refinery-to-battery company, said Thursday it continued to suffer losses in the first quarter despite its strong earnings from its petrochemical business as it reflected hefty settlement costs for a battery suit with its bigger rival LG Energy Solution Ltd. SK Innovation booked a net loss of 368.1 billion won ($325.3 million) in the January-March period, narrowing from 1.5 trillion won of loss from the pandemic-driven slump a year earlier. Its operating profit

May 13, 2021

[News Focus] Foreign ownership of Samsung Electronics hits 29-month low

SEJONG -- Foreign investors’ total stake in Samsung Electronics dipped to the lowest level in over two years Wednesday, with their daily trading of the nation’s flagship stock drawing close attention. The market’s interest comes as short selling -- which had been under a provisional ban for about 14 months -- has been allowed again in the local stock market since May 3. While most retail investors had called for the government not to lift the ban, or issue the ban perma

May 13, 2021