Most Popular
-
1
N. Korea jams GPS signals, affecting ships, civilian aircraft: JCS
-
2
[Weekender] AI is silently changing our work: 7 professionals share how
-
3
Yoon struggles amid lowest approval rating
-
4
Raising bookworms or robots? Why private reading academies thrive
-
5
Fire erupts at POSCO Pohang plant; 1 worker injured
-
6
LG Display unveils world's most stretchable display
-
7
Drug use rises, but 13 addiction clinics treated no one last year: report
-
8
BTS’ Jin to spread happiness with 1st solo album ‘Happy’
-
9
US announces charges in alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump
-
10
[What to Watch] Three classic Korean fall films you should watch this month
-
S. Korean O2O services grow fast in COVID-19 pandemic
South Korea’s online-to-offline, or O2O, services marked rapid growth amid the booming stay-at-home economy last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Thursday. According to data from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the total trading volume created through local O2O services for the whole of last year reached 126 trillion won ($112.83 billion), up 29.6 percent from 97 trillion won a year earlier. The increase largely stemmed from expanded transactions in the
April 8, 2021
-
[Herald Interview] Despite high hurdles, Korea bent on developing drugs
When it comes to new drug development, South Korea has built strength in cancer treatment fields, but it lacks attention to infectious disease treatments, said the country’s point man on new drug development support. “The local infectious diseases pipelines account for around 9 percent of the total, compared to around 18 percent of the global drug market. The area has been less developed largely as the country has been considered as being relatively safer from infectious diseases
April 8, 2021
-
Renault Samsung brings back XM3, eyes growing SUV market
Renault Samsung, the South Korean unit of French carmaker Renault, has successfully brought back its popular XM3 model to the market after dealing with technical issues, officials said Thursday. The subcompact SUV comeback follows after facing a string of challenges right from the beginning. Its launch in March last year came amid the country’s first mass outbreak of COVID-19 but the automaker managed to pull off the event by introducing contactless promotion and sale strategies. Anot
April 8, 2021
-
Bitcoin on rollercoaster ride amid government warnings
Bitcoin prices remained unstable Thursday after falling more than 10 percent late Wednesday in a roller-coaster movement that coincided with the government’s warning and a widening price gap with overseas exchanges. The price for a bitcoin stood at about 71 million won ($63,600) as of 3 p.m. on Thursday, falling from 79 million won a day ago. The price of the largest cryptocurrency climbed sharply in recent days especially in domestic markets, showing a widening “Kimchi premium,&rd
April 8, 2021
-
Seoul stocks up for 6th day on global recovery hope
South Korean stocks gained for a sixth consecutive session Thursday amid global economic recovery hope. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.85 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 3,143.26. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 16.8 trillion won ($15 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 487 to 352. Foreigners bought a net 107 billion won, while institutions sold 479 b
April 8, 2021
-
New Seoul Mayor's deregulation pledge excites market, draws concerns
Expectations for Seoul’s grand-scale redevelopment grew Thursday after the opposition candidate won the Seoul mayoral race, partly on a pledge to lift regulations affecting high-rise apartments along the Han River and in other parts of the city. Oh Se-hoon’s election pledges, however, are expected to face headwinds as they contradict central government policies that favor community-based urban restoration projects and strictly limit large-scale redevelopment. Among the projects tha
April 8, 2021
-
SKT to support vaccination monitoring with AI
SK Telecom, South Korea’s top telecom company, is utilizing its artificial intelligence technology to support the country’s health authority in monitoring recipients after COVID-19 vaccination, it said Thursday. Dubbed NUGU Vaccine Carecall, SKT’s NUGU AI platform will provide guidance to those subject to vaccination through calls, and monitor any abnormal signs after shots are administered. The telecom company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Korea Disease C
April 8, 2021
-
[Newsmaker] Innisfree forced to clarify ‘paper bottle’ packaging after customer discovers plastic bottle inside
Innisfree, a cosmetic brand under Amorepacific, has been forced to clarify its eco-friendly “paper bottle” packaging after a customer’s complaint about plastic usage and a “misleading” label went viral online. In a post on a Facebook group called “No Plastic Shopping,” a customer shared photos of what is inside the package for the brand’s face serum product after cutting the bottle in half. Despite the label reading “Hello, I‘m Paper
April 8, 2021
-
S. Korean households’ stock investment hits record-high
South Korean households spent a record-high net 83.3 trillion (74.5 billion) won in stock investment last year, central bank data showed Thursday, but their borrowing also surged to an unprecedented level, indicating where their money for investment came from. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, local households and nonprofit agencies serving households invested a total 63.2 trillion won in Korean stocks and 20.1 trillion won in overseas shares in 2020, according to the preliminary data by the Ba
April 8, 2021
-
Oh’s election win likely to boost construction shares
Construction businesses in the South Korean stock market are likely to benefit from an election win by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon over his pledges focusing on housing redevelopment plans. “Based on plans such as expanding floor area ratio, supplying 360,000 housing units in five years and abolishing the restriction on building apartments with more than 35 floors near the Han River, reconstruction and redevelopment businesses are expected to be revived,” said Kim Dae-jun, an analyst at K
April 8, 2021
-
Exports tipped to expand 18.1% in 2021: think tank
South Korea's exports are expected to expand 18.1 percent on-year in 2021 to set a fresh record high on the back of global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, a think tank said Thursday. Outbound shipments for the year are estimated at $605.3 billion, rising sharply from the previous estimate of a 10 percent gain in October last year, according to a report by Hyundai Research Institute released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The amount would beat the previous record o
April 8, 2021
-
‘Korea’s private equity market hindered by chaebols’
Foreign investors have a hard time navigating South Korea’s “unique” private equity investment landscape, having to face obstacles such as family-run conglomerates’ dominance in the domestic industry, a private equity professional said in a virtual seminar on Thursday. “South Korea is very unique market,” Chue En Yaw, managing director and head of private equity funds at Temasek-owned Azalea Asset Management, told audience of the virtual seminar hosted by ca
April 8, 2021
-
State pension operator cuts number of big-stake firms in Q1
South Korea's state pension operator reduced the number of listed firms in which it has a stake of 5 percent or more in the first quarter of the year, a financial information provider said Thursday. The National Pension Service (NPS) owned 5 percent or more of 261 listed companies as of Wednesday, down 12 firms from three months earlier, according to FnGuide. The combined market value of the NPS stakes in those corporations stood at 167.6 trillion won ($150 billion), up 4.4 percent from the en
April 8, 2021
-
Samsung Asset, Manulife IM ink strategic alliance
Seoul-based Samsung Asset Management and Canadian counterpart Manulife Investment Management have signed a memorandum of understanding for the bilateral strategic alliance, Samsung Asset said Thursday. The largest asset management firm in South Korea, overseeing some 280 trillion won ($250 billion) assets in March, will team up with Manulife IM to explore opportunities in overseas alternative investing, private assets and specialized public market strategies. The partnership will also allow the
April 8, 2021
-
Short-term bond sales dip 7.2% in Q1
Sales of short-term corporate bonds in South Korea sank more than 7 percent in the first quarter of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. Local companies issued 257.2 trillion won ($230 billion) worth of bonds maturing within one year in the January-March period, down 7.2 percent from three months earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). Compared with a year earlier, the amount was also down 12.4 percent. Sales of general short-term bo
April 8, 2021
-
Households' excess funds more than double in 2020 amid pandemic
Excess funds held by South Korean households and nonprofit agencies more than doubled in 2020 from a year earlier due mainly to an extended slump in private consumption amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the central bank said Thursday. Net financial funds -- the value of financial assets minus financial liabilities -- held by local households and nonprofit organizations serving households amounted to 192.1 trillion won ($172 billion) last year, sharply up from 92.2 trillion won a year earlier, accord
April 8, 2021
-
Average monthly household spending down 2.3% in 2020 amid pandemic
SEJONG -- Average monthly household spending fell 2.3 percent on year in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hurt private consumption, data showed Thursday. South Korean households spent an average of 2.4 million won ($2,144) per month last year, compared with 2.45 million won per month in 2019, according to the data released by Statistics Korea. Average monthly expenditures on food and nonalcoholic beverages came to 381,000 won last year, up 14.6 percent from a year ago, the data showed. The da
April 8, 2021
-
Online food delivery transactions hit over W20tr in 2020
Transactions on online food delivery apps in South Korea last year soared to over 20 trillion won ($17.9 billion), data showed Thursday, as stay-at-home practices amid the pandemic propelled demand for online services. Total transactions on food delivery apps, such as Baedal Minjok, stood at 20.1 trillion won last year, up 43.5 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The latest data from the ministry's survey on the broader online-to-offline
April 8, 2021
-
Daewoo Shipbuilding opens digital center for shipbuilding process
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Thursday that it has opened a center to control the shipbuilding process at its shipyards. The center at its Okpo shipyard on Geoje Island, 398 kilometers south of Seoul, is made up of two parts -- the smart production management center and smart sea trial center -- Daewoo Shipbuilding said. The smart production management center will check the locations of blocks being built at the shipyard and will help workers make quick decisions by sha
April 8, 2021
-
LG to support smartphone OS updates for up to 3 yrs even after closure
LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday it will offer extended software upgrades for its smartphones as the company is set to depart from the mobile business. LG's mobile operating system (OS) update guarantee will be extended by one year. LG's premium smartphone users can now get OS updates for three years, while people using LG's budget handsets can receive upgrades for up to two years. Users of LG Velvet and LG Wing smartphones that were launched last year, for instance, can get support for OS
April 8, 2021