S. Korea to ease regulations on EV battery recycling

South Korea on Monday eased regulations to allow for environment friendly ways to utilize used batteries from electric vehicles. The approval came as the number of scrapped EV batteries is anticipated to increase sharply down the road with the country's green energy drive, which centers on promoting EVs and hydrogen fuel-cell cars. "While the used EV batteries can have adverse impacts on the environment, they can create new business opportunities when recycled," the Ministry of Trade

Oct. 19, 2020

Retail giants' sales dip over 2tr won this year amid pandemic: poll

Combined sales by South Korea's retail giants are estimated to have declined more than 2 trillion won ($1.75 billion) on-year in the first nine months of this year on the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, a poll showed Monday. Industry leader Lotte Shopping and its rivals Shinsegae and Hyundai Department Store are projected to have posted a combined 17.3 trillion won in sales in the January-September period, down 2.2 trillion won from the previous year, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax

Oct. 19, 2020

LG Electronics signs partnership with Italian luxury furniture brand Molteni&C

LG Electronics Inc. said Monday it has signed a partnership with Italian luxury furniture maker Molteni&C SPA to better promote its high-end brand LG Signature. Under the deal, the two sides will collaborate in marketing, promotion and product development related with LG Signature home appliances, Molteni&C residential furniture and Dada kitchen furniture for the next three years. The South Korean tech firm said the collaboration will create synergy between their premium brands and d

Oct. 19, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on bargain hunting

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on investors' bargain hunting rush following a drop for four straight days. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 15.37 points, or 0.66 percent, to 2,356.9 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came to a strong start, led by gains in tech and bio firms. Most large caps traded higher, with top market cap Samsung Electronics adding 1.18 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gaining 1.88 percent. Giant pharmaceutical firm

Oct. 19, 2020

LG Display tipped to swing to black in Q3 on price hike, firm demand

LG Display Co., a major display maker in South Korea, is expected to return to the black in the third quarter of the year, analysts here said Monday, on the back of a price increase in LCD panels and solid demand for displays used in IT gadgets amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home economy. LG Display was projected to log 6.8 trillion won ($5.9 billion) in sales in the July-September period, up 17 percent from a year earlier, while its operating profit was estimated at 106 billion won, shiftin

Oct. 19, 2020

S. Korea eyes duty-free cap on overseas direct buying

South Korea may set an annual ceiling on duty-free direct purchases from foreign countries by its citizens starting in 2022, officials said Monday. The Korea Customs Service (KCS) has recently broached the idea of setting a cap on the duty-free amount of South Koreans' overseas direct purchases in an effort to enliven domestic consumption. Currently, South Koreans are exempt from duties or value-added taxes if the price of an item bought directly from overseas is $150 or lower. There is no up

Oct. 19, 2020

S. Korea's national debt to jump over next 4 years: report

South Korea's national debt is expected to soar over the next four years, which may have a negative impact on the country's creditworthiness, a report said Monday. In particular, Seoul's interest-bearing state debt is likely to rocket nearly 78 percent over the period based on the government's 2020-24 fiscal management plan, the report from the Korea Institute of Public Finance (KIPF) said. According to the government plan, South Korea's debt that has to be repaid with tax revenues is forecast

Oct. 19, 2020

PDI Seoul Forum turns virtual in 2020

London-based financial intelligence company PEI said Sunday it planned to hold PDI Seoul Forum Virtual Experience on Nov. 10. The virtual event, organized by PEI’s publication Private Debt Investor, is expected to offer participants a glimpse of private debt investment strategies, debt investor preferences in asset allocations and fund manager selection and monitoring processes amid challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the global capital market, PEI said. The event will feature

Oct. 19, 2020

S. Korea to resume distribution of coupons for museums, theaters, sports facilities

The government will begin distribution of a series of discount coupons this week to spur consumption in the live performance, film and sports industries hit-hard by the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Sunday. From Thursday, the government will gradually provide discount coupons, starting with 40 percent discounts for entrance to museums, 1,000 won ($0.87) to 3,000 won discounts for art exhibitions and 8,000 won discount for performances, according to the authorities. For movies, booking

Oct. 18, 2020

Kolon Life Science to separate bio manufacturing biz

Kolon Life Science will separate its biologics drug manufacturing business to an independent entity tentatively called Kolon Biotech. The separation is effective from Dec. 1, Kolon Life Science said through a shareholders’ notice on Friday. Kolon Biotech will be responsible for contract manufacturing of biologics drugs, using a facility that has been freed up after Kolon Life Science ceased production of the controversially revoked gene therapy Invossa. Kolon Life Science had battled an

Oct. 18, 2020

South Korea’s trade dependency slips in 2019 amid sluggish reports

  South Korea saw its trade dependency level slip for the first time in three years in 2019, as its export volume dropped amid global factors, data showed Sunday. The country’s trade dependency index -- the total trade volume proportion out of the gross domestic product -- came to 63.51 percent, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service run by Statistics Korea. This was down 2.57 percent from a year earlier and the lowest since the 60.11 percent observed in 2016. The

Oct. 18, 2020

[News Focus] Online shopping turnover for cooked food up 82% on-year

SEJONG -- Home delivery or takeout services for cooked food have posted a remarkable increase over the past year amid fast expansion of delivery apps on smartphones as well as the social distancing in the wake of the novel coronavirus. 　 Online orders have surged in particular, according to data held by Statistics Korea: The monthly turnover of retailers selling packed dish via online shopping platforms reached 1.67 trillion won ($1.45 billion) collectively in August, setting a record high. T

Oct. 18, 2020

[Green Paradox] What will Korea do with dead solar panels?

When solar panels are used for around 25 years, they are defined in Korea as being “dead.” They are typically composed of 76 percent glass, 10 percent polymer, 8 percent aluminum, 5 percent silicon and 1 percent other metals including copper and silver. Once “dead,” they are recycled or sent to other countries for use there. For countries like Germany that have advanced renewable energy ecosystems in place, 70 percent of dead solar panels are reused. In step with t

Oct. 18, 2020

Top proxy adviser ISS urges shareholders to endorse LG Chem’s battery split-off

International Shareholder Services, one of the world’s two largest proxy advisory firms, has advised shareholders to vote for LG Chem’s decision to split off of its battery business division as a wholly-owned subsidiary. According to industry sources Sunday, ISS said in a recent report that LG Chem’s split-off is reasonable considering that the company will be able to secure funding to finance the investment required for the expansion of its fast-growing battery business.

Oct. 18, 2020

Kogas overhauls LNG pricing method to tackle cherry-picking of power utilities

Korea Gas Corp. said Sunday it would impose a new format for supplying liquefied natural gas starting 2022 to address cherry-picking by electricity suppliers which it says ultimately leads to higher electricity bills. The state-run gas company has long provided supplied LNG to local power utilities at same prices based on the average import costs, dubbed as an “average tariffs” formula. Last year, Kogas imported LNG from about 15 countries including Qatar, Australia and the US an

Oct. 18, 2020

Retail investors perplexed as BTS agency stocks decline

Retail investors who bet on Big Hit Entertainment, the agency of K-pop group BTS, face high volatility, as foreign and institutional investors dumped shares to take profits on the new stock. The company’s stock price closed at 200,500 won ($175.45) per share Friday, plunging 57,500 won, or 22.29 percent, from the previous session’s close, South Korea’s sole bourse operator Korea Exchange said Sunday. On its market debut on the main bourse Kospi a day earlier, the stock price

Oct. 18, 2020

Korean Air seeks to sell assets to secure more cash

South Korea's top full service carrier Korean Air Lines Co. is seeking to raise an additional 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in cash to overcome a prolonged, industrywide slump amid the pandemic, industry sources said Sunday. Korean Air plans to sell a lot of land in downtown Seoul to the Seoul city government for at least 500 billion won and get a subsidy of 1 trillion won from the government within this year. Korean Air has been in negotiations with the city government to sell its land in

Oct. 18, 2020

Incheon Port announces smart port plan as part of Korean New Deal program

Incheon Port Authority announced on Sunday a multiproject plan to build a smart port, a move in line with the country’s New Deal program that seeks a way out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the plan, a total of 35 projects will take place to build a smart port that is eco-friendly, safe and beneficial to the local economy. The IPA said it set out the goals after co-opting the government’s new deal strategy. As part of efforts to go smart, the Incheon Port will adopt a completely a

Oct. 18, 2020

HMM injects 2 more container ships

HMM said Sunday the company will dispatch two more container ships to support South Korean exporters that are struggling to ship out their products to foreign countries amid the protracting COVID-19 pandemic. A 5,000-twenty-foot-equivalent-unit container vessel dubbed HMM Prestige and the 4,600-TEU BMM Integral will depart from Busan on Oct. 31 for Los Angeles with a schedule to arrive on Nov. 11. The company said demand for container ships has become tighter recently as the export volume to

Oct. 18, 2020

Foreigners scoop up W350b worth of Naver, Kakao shares in October

 Foreign investors purchased over 350 billion won ($306 million) worth of South Korean internet giants Naver and Kakao’s shares in October amid their strong preference for growth stocks in emerging markets due to unfavorable factors in the US market, data showed Sunday. According to data from the nation’s sole bourse operator, the Korea Exchange, offshore investors had purchased a net 187.4 billion won and 164 billion won worth of Naver and Kakao shares, respectively, as of Fri

Oct. 18, 2020