Household income surplus surges as people cut spending

South Korea’s household income surplus increased sharply last year as people tightened their belts to weather the protracted economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Monday. The nation’s household income surplus rate posted 32.9 percent, 32.3 percent, 30.9 percent and 30.4 percent, respectively, in the first through fourth quarters of 2020, according to a report from Statistics Korea. The figure has surpassed 30 percent only five times since 2003, when the

March 22, 2021

Samsung launches customizable water purifier in S. Korea

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday launched a customizable water purifier in South Korea as the tech giant eyes to expand sales amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. Samsung said the BESPOKE water purifier, which was first unveiled at the all-digital Consumer Electronics Show 2021 in January, is now available in South Korea at prices between 739,000 won ($650) and 1.299 million won. The overseas launch schedule of the product has yet to be determined, Samsung added. The new water pu

March 22, 2021

Imported commercial car sales fall 24% in February

Sales of imported commercial vehicles in South Korea fell 24 percent in February from a year earlier on lower demand amid the extended coronavirus pandemic, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered imported commercial vehicles fell to 261 units last month from 344 a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. Sales of all imported commercial vehicles declined last month as COVID-19 containment measures and u

March 22, 2021

LG Electronics still mulling fate of its smartphone biz

LG Electronics Inc. is still mulling the fate of its money-losing mobile business, industry insiders said Monday, amid rumors that the South Korean tech giant may shut down the unit instead of selling it. In January, LG announced its mobile communications division is open to "all possibilities" for its future operations after years of poor performance. LG's mobile business has been in the red since the second quarter of 2015. Its accumulated operating losses reached nearly 5 trilli

March 22, 2021

S. Korea to raise W400b for tech innovation fund

South Korea said Monday it plans to raise 400 billion won ($354 million) through 2024 to support businesses seeking to innovate their products and services by utilizing high-end technologies. The first batch of the digital technology innovation fund, amounting to 102 billion won, will be rolled out throughout this year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The amount surpassed the original target of 80 billion won. The fund, raised jointly by the public and private financ

March 22, 2021

S. Korea's pet fish market to grow 35% by 2025

South Korea said Monday it will seek to expand the size of the local pet fish market by 35 percent through 2025 by developing more homegrown species while encouraging the public to adopt them. Under the goal, the size of the local pet fish market will reach 657 billion won ($581 million) in 2025, up 35 percent from 487.3 billion won tallied in 2020, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Over the period, the number of farms raising pet fish will increase to 186 from the current 151

March 22, 2021

Kepco keeps electricity rate amid virus pandemic

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) on Monday said it has decided to maintain the current electricity rate for the second quarter despite increased fuel costs, in line with the country's efforts to ease the burden on the public amid the virus pandemic. KEPCO adopted flexible electricity rates linked to global fuel prices this year, in a move to improve its profitability. South Koreans were previously charged under a fixed-rate electricity billing system. Under the current system,

March 22, 2021

LG Uplus opens first unmanned store amid pandemic

LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Monday it has launched its first store that operates without the help of retail workers, joining other mobile carriers to offer services that minimize physical contact amid the coronavirus pandemic. LG Uplus' new store in Seoul's central ward of Jongno incorporates automation technology, such as digital kiosks that allow customers to change their data plans and buy new phones or USIM cards without the help of store workers. Customers

March 22, 2021

Samsung claims its wireless earbuds effective for people with hearing impairments

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday its study showed its Galaxy Buds Pro wireless earbuds could help people with hearing impairments. The study, which was published last week in Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology (CEO), a renowned scientific journal dedicated to ear, nose and throat research, suggested that the Galaxy Buds Pro's Ambient Sound feature could assist those with mild to moderate hearing loss to better engage in conversation with others, according to Samsung. Its Ambien

March 22, 2021

SK Innovation’s two decades in lithium-ion battery biz

SK Innovation, the battery and new energy affiliate of SK Group, entered the battery market in 1996 and started off with large-storage lithium-ion batteries just two years later. Thanks to two decadeslong coating technologies accumulated at chemicals maker SKC, the company was able to complete world-class coating and assembly technologies for lithium-ion batteries at the time. SK’s focus was on lithium polymer batteries, making them lighter and in new form factors like the prismatic-ty

March 22, 2021

GS Energy to build LNG-powered plant in Vietnam

GS Energy Corp., an energy unit of South Korean conglomerate GS Group, said Monday it will build and operate a power plant fired by liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Vietnam. GS Energy said it will build a 3 gigawatt LNG-fired power plant in southern Vietnam in a deal estimated at 3.5 trillion won (US$3 billion). The Korean company said it will sign a power purchase agreement with the state-run Vietnam Electricity Group to begin commercial production in 2027. In 2019, GS Energy signed an initial

March 22, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on bond yields woes

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday, as investors' concerns about the bond yields hike reduced their appetite for risky assets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.8 points, or 0.06 percent, to 3,037.73 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks turned lower after a choppy start, due to increasing bond yield concerns over earlier-than-expected post-pandemic inflation. The yields of the 10-year US Treasury finished last week at the highest levels in about

March 22, 2021

S. Korea's exports grow 12.5% in first 20 days of March

South Korea's exports rose 12.5 percent on-year in the first 20 days of March on robust shipments of chips and autos amid the pandemic, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $33.9 billion in the March 1-20 period, compared with $30.1 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports increased 16.3 percent on-year to $33 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $820 million during the cited period, the data showed. By sector,

March 22, 2021

Naver invested 25% of revenue in R&D projects last year

Naver spent 1.33 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in research and development last year, nearly a quarter of its total annual sales, the company said Sunday. Its investment-to-sales ratio of 25.11 percent was the highest among all South Korean companies that release annual performance reports. According to the company’s annual report, its investment in R&D activities was larger than its annual operating profit last year, which was 1.2 trillion won. Compared to a year earlier, the R&D

March 21, 2021

Posco rolls out new midterm plan under Choi’s leadership

Posco Group, the world’s fifth-largest steelmaker by output, said Sunday that it would increase investment in future business opportunities, while making efforts to improve corporate governance in announcing its new midterm plan covering the three years from 2021 to 2023. Under the second term of its chairman Choi Jeong-woo, the group expects to see improved outcomes from its key growth businesses, including hydrogen, liquefied natural gas, food and battery materials. The group expects

March 21, 2021

Frequent listing and delisting of cryptocurrencies raise concerns and risks

The number of listed cryptocurrencies has soared in the past four years, as the rapid rise of the price of Bitcoin attracts investor attention to digital assets. However, investors should be cautious as digital coins easily get listed and delisted. Upbit, one of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, launched in October 2017 with only one digital token -- Bitcoin -- but it now has 114 coins trading on the platform. Bithumb had eight digital coins in May 2017, but now it trades 1

March 21, 2021

Mobile, TVs, home appliances to bolster electronics’ Q1 results

South Korea’s electronics industry expects robust first-quarter results thanks to strong sales in televisions, the mobile sector and home appliances, despite complications in the chips sector. According to Shinhan Investment, one of the country’s major financial investment companies, Samsung Electronics is projected to register revenue and operating profit worth 61.7 trillion won ($54.6 billion) and 8.96 trillion won, respectively, in the first quarter thanks to strong performanc

March 21, 2021

Can offshore wind farms coexist with fish farms?

South Korea will launch a pilot project to combine an offshore wind farm with aquaculture, as it pushes to tap the unlimited potential of water, which surrounds the country on three sides, as a future source of energy. The project, set to kick off in the second half of this year, involves a 60-megawatt wind turbine foundation installed in waters off Buan, North Jeolla Province, integrated with artificial reefs and aquaculture systems. The trial-run will last until Dec. 31, 2022. Similar pr

March 21, 2021

Hyundai, Kia’s RV sales account for over half of sales so far this year

In a company first, recreational vehicles accounted for more than half of Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp.’s annual sales so far this year, the automakers said Sunday. According to the latest sales data, Hyundai Motor sold 87,923 vehicles during the first two months of this year, of which 41,027 units were classified as recreational vehicles, accounting for 46.7 percent. Recreational vehicles by Korean classification are designed for recreational purposes such as camping and include the likes

March 21, 2021

S. Korean bankers received an average salary of W100m in 2020

South Korean bankers under four major lenders here saw an average median pay increase of over 8 percent in the past three years, making nearly 100 million won ($88,500) on average last year despite a shrinking workforce due to digitalization, data showed Sunday. The average annual income gained 8.6 percent from end-2017 to 98 million won as of end-2020, data provided by the four major banks – KB Kookmin, Hana, Woori and Shinhan – showed. Of the banks, employees under KB Kookmin re

March 21, 2021