LG Electronics launches rollable TV in S. Korea for 100m won

LG Electronics Inc. on Tuesday released the world's first rollable TV in South Korea at a jaw-dropping price of 100 million won ($87,000) as the tech giant aims to target high-end consumers amid the pandemic. The company said overseas launch schedules of LG Signature OLED R have not been fixed yet due to the COVID-19 situation in each country. LG said the product, which uses flexible OLED display that leverages self-lighting pixel technology, is designed to deliver a differentiated user expe

Oct. 20, 2020

[Newsmaker] S. Korea to lift export ban on mask filters

South Korea said Tuesday it will lift the export ban on nonwoven fabrics this week that are used to produce protective masks as the domestic supply of the materials and masks stabilized. Under the decision, the country will lift the regulation that bans firms from exporting more than 15 percent of their production of nonwoven fabrics starting Friday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Earlier this year, the country ran out of melt-blown nonwoven fabric filters amid soarin

Oct. 20, 2020

[Monitor] Employment drops at SMEs, rises at conglomerates

According to the Korea Small Business Institute and Statistics Korea, the number of employees at small and medium-sized enterprises marked 24.314 million in September, which was 436,000 fewer than a year prior. The number of employees at SMEs continued to drop on-year for the past seven months, largely due to the economic slowdown upon the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of employees at large firms, on the other hand, increased 44,000 in September from to a year prior to reach 2.698 million. B

Oct. 20, 2020

Daewoo Shipbuilding develops world's first metalworking robot

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Tuesday it has developed an AI robot for metalworking in the construction of ships for the first time in the world. The AI hot working robot, called Goknuri, is now used to shape steel plates into curved ones at the front and the rear of a steel hull in Daewoo Shipbuilding's shipyard in Geoje Island, about 400 kilometers south of Seoul, South Korea's leading shipbuilder said. Hot working is the metalworking process carried out above 800 C

Oct. 20, 2020

Bond, CD issuance in S. Korea swells 14.1% in Q3

Sales of bonds and certificates of deposits (CDs) in South Korea climbed more than 14 percent in the third quarter of the year from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday. The value of those debt instruments issued in the July-September period came to 114 trillion won ($100 billion), up 14.1 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). The third-quarter amount, however, was down 14.8 percent from the previous quarter. The KSD didn't give reasons for

Oct. 20, 2020

LG Household tipped to outperform Amorepacific in Q3: poll

LG Household & Health Care Ltd. is estimated to have outperformed industry leader Amorepacific in the third quarter, thanks to a robust growth in the non-cosmetics business, a poll showed Tuesday. South Korea's No. 2 cosmetics company is projected to have logged an operating profit of 320.9 billion won ($281.5 million) in the July-September period, up 2.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The figure is abou

Oct. 20, 2020

Seoul shares open nearly flat amid stalled US stimulus talks

South Korean shares opened nearly flat Tuesday amid slower-than-expected progress in the new US stimulus talks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.3 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,348.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment remained risk-averse as negotiations for the fresh US stimulus scheme are showing meaningful progress. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.44 percent to 28,195 on Monday (New York time). The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite inde

Oct. 20, 2020

S. Korea's 5G download speed 2nd fastest globally: report

South Korea's 5G download speed is the world's second fastest, reaching an average speed of 336.1 megabits per second (Mbps), a report showed Tuesday. The country was only behind Saudi Arabia, which delivered an average 5G download speed of 377.2 Mbps, according to a report from industry tracker Opensignal, which tracked data between July 1 and Sept. 28 in 15 countries with 5G networks. South Korea's average 5G download speed over the period was also 5.6 times faster than its average 4G downlo

Oct. 20, 2020

LG Electronics tops TV consumer survey in Australia

South Korean electronics giant LG Electronics Inc. has placed first in a recent TV consumer satisfaction survey in Australia, overtaking rival Samsung Electronics Co., industry sources said Tuesday. In the annual survey conducted by Australian consumer tracker Canstar Blue, LG topped the list of best TV brands by earning five stars in five categories -- overall satisfaction, picture quality, ease of use, sound quality and smart compatibility. LG received four stars only in the value for money

Oct. 20, 2020

S. Korea's demand deposit turnover hits nadir in Aug.

South Korea's demand deposit turnover ratio hit an all-time low in August amid growing uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday, The ratio, or withdrawals of demand deposits divided by the average deposit balance, came to 15.5 for August, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It was the lowest figure since January 1985, when the BOK began tracking related data. The previous record low was 15.6 posted in May this year. The turnover ratio of de

Oct. 20, 2020

SK hynix to buy Intel's NAND memory chip unit for $9b

SK hynix Inc., South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker, said Tuesday that it will buy the NAND business of US semiconductor giant Intel Corp. in a deal worth 10.3 trillion won ($9 billion) to help the company vault to become the world's second-largest NAND flash chipmaker. SK hynix said it will acquire all of Intel's NAND flash business, except its Optane memory unit. The deal includes Intel's solid state drive (SSD) business and its factory in Dalian, China. SK hynix said it will pay Intel 8 trillion w

Oct. 20, 2020

Hyundai, Kia warn of $2.9 billion hit to earnings over US quality woes

Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Motors  warned of another $2.9 billion of provisions related to engine issues, bringing their total hit from the years-long quality problem that has tarnished their credibility to nearly $5 billion. Hyundai Motor Group said on Monday their third-quarter earnings would reflect quality-related costs of a combined 3.36 trillion won ($2.94 billion), of which Hyundai accounted for 2.1 trillion and Kia for 1.26 trillion. Hyundai and Kia, together the world’

Oct. 19, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] BMW Korea bids to take back throne with revamped 5, 6 GT Series

BMW Korea once led the foreign car market here, dating as far back as the importers association started to record sales in 2003 -- at least most of the time, until Mercedes-Benz took over in 2016. Now, BMW is stepping up its game against the archrival, with the revamped BMW 5 and 6 Gran Turismo Series. The automaker is making clear its intention to take back the throne, as it launched the upgraded version of its bestselling models on Oct. 5, just a week before Mercedes-Benz presented the fac

Oct. 19, 2020

Korean automotive companies witness jumps in sales, production

South Korea’s automotive industry has recovered to see sales and production grow by over 20 percent on-year in September, government data showed Monday. According to the data from Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the production of Korean cars increased by 23.2 percent in September, compared to the same time last year. Overall sales went up as well. In September, 137,771 Korean cars were sold in the domestic market, up 22.2 percent compared to the year earlier. The ministry als

Oct. 19, 2020

Anxiety mounts on S. Korea’s debt management outlook

Despite the government’s repeated reassurance that South Korea’s sovereign debts are under control, concerns continue to mount not only in the private sector but also among state-run think tanks, data showed Monday. The Korea Institute of Public Finance, a government-funded institution affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office, recently pointed out that Asia’s fourth-largest economy will see its level of debt without payment resource approach 900 trillion won ($787

Oct. 19, 2020

Hyundai, Kia set to shift to Q3 loss on provisions for massive recall

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Monday they plan to reflect a combined 3.4 trillion won ($3 billion) in provisions for product recall and quality control in their balance sheets for the third quarter of the year, indicating that they are set to swing to net losses in the July-September period. Hyundai and Kia, which together form the world's fifth-biggest carmaker by sales, set aside massive provisions for additional costs for the recall of a faulty engine and preempt

Oct. 19, 2020

5G accessibility in major subway lines at over 75%: data

The average accessibility of the fifth-generation network in major subway lines in South Korea reached over 75 percent, a lawmaker said Monday, as the country races to boost nationwide coverage. The high-speed network's accessibility stood at 76.3 percent across 12 subways lines in six major cities across the country, according to Rep. Kim Sang-hee of the ruling Democratic Party, citing data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The country's three major telecom operators -- SK Telecom Co., KT

Oct. 19, 2020

LG Chem introduces world’s 1st biodegradable plastic with identical properties, functions

LG Chem said Monday that it has developed a new material made of 100 percent biodegradable raw materials, the first in the world that is identical to synthetic plastic in its properties and functions. According to the South Korean chemical-to-battery firm, the new material -- made of glucose from corn and waste glycerol generated from biodiesel production -- offers the same properties and transparency as synthetic resins such as polypropylene, one of the most widely produced commodity plastics

Oct. 19, 2020

SK Broadband to build renewable energy-powered hyperscale data center in Saemangeum

SK Broadband will construct a renewable energy-powered hyperscale data center and a startup cluster in the Saemangeum area in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, according to the company Monday. SK Broadband planns to develop the Saemangeum area into Northeast Asia’s data center hub, together with SK group’s energy affiliate SK E&S. “South Korea has optimal conditions to emerge as the region‘s data center hub with its geographical advantage,“ SK Broadband said.

Oct. 19, 2020

S-Oil invests in startup developing safe water solution

S-Oil announced Monday that the company would secure certified emission reductions by helping a local startup specializing in developing solutions designed to improve access to safe water in developing countries. S-Oil will purchase certified emission reductions of around 13,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide by investing in Glory & Tech, the South Korean firm that is currently providing water solutions to foreign nations including Bangladesh. S-Oil said the latest decision is part of the

Oct. 19, 2020