Coronavirus sends S. Korea's consumer spending indoors plunging: expert

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a plunge in South Korean consumers' spending at department stores, cinemas and other large indoor facilities, an expert said Friday. In contrast, consumer spending at outdoor and small facilities, including neighborhood grocery stores and camping sites, has gone up, said Lee Jae-ho, head of the Digital Economy Institute of Kakao Mobility. "The COVID-19 outbreak has caused the frequency of visits to duty-free shops and department stores and large di

Sept. 25, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on US tech rebound

South Korean shares opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street helped by a US tech rebound.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 12.68 points, or 0.56 percent, to 2,285.38 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index got off to a strong start after a 2.59 percent plunge the previous session. Stocks lifted despite uncertainties from the US presidential election in November, thanks to a rebound in tech heavyweights, such as Apple and Microsoft

Sept. 25, 2020

Prosecutors raid KEB Hana Bank over Optimus fund fiasco

Prosecutors on Thursday raided KEB Hana Bank‘s headquarters in Seoul in an apparent move to add fresh fuel to the investigation of Optimus Asset Management’s private equity fund misselling. KEB Hana Bank was one of trustee banks of the disputed funds. According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, investigators searched the lender’s consignment sales unit to seize computer drives and documents related to the case. The main purpose of the search is to fi

Sept. 24, 2020

[Newsmaker] Korean lawmakers to summon Google, Netflix chiefs

The National Assembly of South Korea has selected the chiefs of Google and Netflix’s Korean operations as witnesses at the upcoming audits scheduled for October to ask questions about their business practices. According to the country’s legislative body Thursday, Nancy Mable Walker, who represents Google Korea, will be asked to testify at the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee’s first audit on Oct. 7. The committee’s decision to summon Walker co

Sept. 24, 2020

Standard Chartered CEO says S. Korea has potential to be Asia’s financial hub

London-based Standard Chartered Group CEO Bill Winters said South Korea has the potential to rise as Asia’s key financial hub in a meeting with the head of the financial regulator here, the lender’s Korean subsidiary said Thursday. “(Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo and Winters) agreed on the potential of Seoul as Asia’s financial hub given the size of the Korean economy and Korea’s presence in global trade,” Standard Chartered Bank Korea

Sept. 24, 2020

Korean lenders struggle with New York hotel-retail project investment

Major South Korean lenders’ decision to invest some $100 million in a hotel and retail project at 20 Times Square in New York in 2018 has come back to bite them two years later, with the property’s foreclosure last year continuing to wreak havoc amid the coronavirus pandemic, sources said Thursday. In 2018, French Bank Natixis syndicated to local banks KB Kookmin, Hana and NH Nonghyup -- three of the five major lenders here -- and other Korean institutional investors. Some combined

Sept. 24, 2020

Netmarble launches storytelling game BTS Universe Story, second collaboration with BTS

Netmarble said Thursday it has launched BTS Universe Story in 173 countries, a storytelling game featuring 3D-scanned avatars of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. According to the South Korean game maker, in BTS Universe Story, users can create and participate in interactive, choose-your-own-adventure-style stories where their choices throughout the game lead to different outcomes. “BTS Universe Story is the second game Netmarble has made in collaboration with the boy ba

Sept. 24, 2020

Afreeca TV provides fishing boats for free to streamers

Afreeca TV said Thursday it will provide fishing boats named “Ati” to streamers who wish to create fishing content. According to the Korean streaming services company, streamers will be able to rent Ati motorboats at a reservoir in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, and the Ati fishing boat at Kukdong harbor in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, from Afreeca TV for free when creating fishing content.  “The Ati motorboat can carry up to three passengers, while the 9.7-

Sept. 24, 2020

Vice Minister warns against forex market volatility

South Korea’s vice finance minister on Thursday warned that the local foreign exchange market may face higher volatility amid external factors such as the COVID-19 resurgence in Europe and the reignited US-China conflict. “There are currently various factors which may increase volatility in the global financial market, including the resurgence of COVID-19 in Europe and the escalating tension between the US and China ahead of the US presidential election,” said Kim Yong-beom

Sept. 24, 2020

Shin & Kim LLC augments international tax service

Shin & Kim LLC, South Korea’s fifth-largest law firm by number of lawyers, said Thursday that it has enhanced its international tax practice by hiring four leading experts. Sunny Kim, a senior foreign attorney and expert in international tax and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, was named head of the international tax practice, the company said in a release. Kim frequently serves as a consulting expert for the Korean government on issues such as consolidated tax regime, partn

Sept. 24, 2020

Hyundai Motor Group works with leading AI scholars

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday it has scouted Tomaso Poggio and Daniela Rus, experts on artificial intelligence, to work together on various projects of AI technology development. Poggio and Rus are serving as technology consultants and have been giving advice on utilizing AI to build planning and technological strategies for new business models, to establish a global research organization and to set investment directions for research infrastructures. Poggio, who heads the Center for Br

Sept. 24, 2020

Posco receives dividends worth W50b from Roy Hill

Posco, a South Korean steelmaker, said Thursday it received dividends of about 50 billion won ($42.6 million) from Roy Hill Holdings, which operates an iron ore mine in Australia. According to Posco, the Roy Hill Holdings board of directors agreed to start profit-sharing for the first time, seeing the improved financial solvency and profit. Hancock Prospecting owns 70 percent of Roy Hill Holdings, and the remainder of the shares is held through a consortium, in which Posco is included along w

Sept. 24, 2020

Proptech startup Kasa Korea attracts W9.2b in pre-series B funding

Kasa Korea, a property technology startup, said Thursday it has raised some 9.2 billion won ($7.8 million) in a pre-series B funding round. The latest funding was led by the state-run Korea Development Bank. Silicon Valley venture capitals and domestic investment firms, including Northern Light Venture Capital, and Kona I Partners, participated in the fundraising round as financial investors and interior firm Kukbo Design was involved as a strategic partner. The proptech startup has so far

Sept. 24, 2020

Seoul stocks tumble to over 1-month low on withering global

South Korean shares plunged to a more than one-month low on Thursday, as investors turned risk-averse following overnight Wall Street decline over withering hopes of a quick economic recovery. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 60.54 points, or 2.59 percent, to close at 2,272.7. Trading volume was moderate at about 706 million shares worth some 12.3 trillion won ($10.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 831 to 68. Fo

Sept. 24, 2020

Asiana Airlines launches ‘hotel-like’ flights to nowhere

Asiana Airlines will offer a special two-hour flight to nowhere next month, becoming the first among local airliners to provide the service to ordinary customers. Known as the “hotel in the sky,” the airline’s A380 aircraft will fly out of Incheon Airport and travel over Gangneung in Gangwon Province, Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province, Gimhae in South Gyeongsang Province and Jeju Island, before coming back after a flight of one hour and 20 minutes on Oct. 24 and 25. Seats be

Sept. 24, 2020

Ssangyong E&C chief travels to Dubai to oversee $1b hotel project

Chairman and CEO of Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co. Kim Seok-joon is visiting Dubai in the midst of a pandemic to supervise the details of the company’s $1 billion Royal Atlantis Hotel project, the company said Thursday. Kim, who left for the United Arab Emirates city earlier this week, will visit the construction site of the hotel whose work is set to be complete by June next year. He will also meet with the project owners during his trip. “Videoconferencing has had

Sept. 24, 2020

Renault Samsung to suspend plant operations amid pandemic

Renault Samsung Motors Corp. said Thursday it will suspend its sole plant in South Korea until mid-October to control inventories amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Renault Samsung will halt the operation of the Busan plant, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, from Friday through Oct. 18, a company spokesman said over the phone. "The plant will be suspended for 11 working days as the Chuseok holiday falls on Sept. 30 and lasts through Oct. 5 for carmakers," he said. The company and its l

Sept. 24, 2020

Companies on pandemic alert ahead of holiday

As daily confirmed coronavirus cases in South Korea returned to three-digit figures ahead of the Chuseok holiday, tensions are mounting at large companies, which recall painful memories of shutting down their factories during the first wave of the pandemic early this year. The nation’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor said it sent letters of cooperation to all of its employees at its Ulsan plant twice in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In the letter, the carmaker asked emplo

Sept. 24, 2020

Merck gives $29,000 to Ansan multicultural children care center

Merck has donated 25,000 euros ($29,000) to an Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, multicultural children care center, the Merck Korea said Thursday. The fund will be used, among other things, for a Korean-language tutor, a computer room and a multimedia facility, according to nonprofit organization Loving Neighbors. This was the first official activity undertaken by Kim Woo-kyu, the new managing director of Merck Korea, since taking post. Kim emphasized the importance

Sept. 24, 2020

Samsung Biologics to develop Kanaph Therapeutics' retinal disease treatment

Samsung Biologics will contract develop Kanaph Therapeutics’ retinal disease treatment, the company announced Thursday. Kanaph’s KNP-301 is a C3bg Inhibitor-VEGF binder novel drug candidate that treats dry and wet macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. Samsung Biologics will undertake all steps of the drug development, spanning cell line development, development process optimization and preclinical and clinical sample manufacturing. “For a b

Sept. 24, 2020