Seoul stocks up for 4th day on global economic recovery hopes

South Korean stocks rose for the fourth straight session Tuesday as investors pinned their hopes on a faster-than-expected global economic recovery, backed by strong US economic data. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.25 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 3,127.08 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.26 billion shares worth some 13.5 trillion won ($12.06 billion), with losers outnumbering g

April 6, 2021

Starbucks Korea to do away with single-use cups by 2025

Starbucks Korea has vowed to stop the use of disposable cups by 2025. As part of its long-term sustainability “Better Together” project, the coffeehouse chain said Tuesday it will roll out reusable cups at all stores across the country and replace single-use cups completely in the next four years. The new eco-friendly cups will be rolled out first at a select few shops during the second half of this year. The reusable cups come with a deposit that will be returned to customers when

April 6, 2021

Creditor, authorities make last-minute efforts to revive SsangYong Motor

Market anticipations faded out on SsangYong Motor’s business restoration as its sole likely investor remained indecisive over acquiring the stake in the cash-strapped carmaker. While the carmaker struggles to stay afloat and financial authorities tilted toward allowing more time, eyes have turned to main creditor Korea Development Bank, which is likely to be the linchpin in the volatile scenario. State-run lender KDB is set to send its written statement to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court

April 6, 2021

Posco unit may sever its biz ties with Myanmar's military conglomerate

POSCO C&C, an affiliate of South Korea's steel giant POSCO Group, said Tuesday it is studying various options to reconsider its business ties with Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL), one of Myanmar's two largest military holding companies. The move by the maker of surface-treatment steel sheets came amid mounting international outcry against Myanmar's military over its bloody crackdown on citizens following a coup in February. POSCO owns a 70 percent stake in Myanmar PO

April 6, 2021

[Photo News] Music for everyone

S-Oil CEO Hussain A. Al-Qahtani (left) delivers 100 million won ($89,129) to Heart-to-Heart Foundation Chairman Oh Ji-chul at S-Oil’s headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Tuesday.  The money will be used to support the foundation’s orchestra, made up of youngsters with developmental disabilities. (S-Oil) (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

April 6, 2021

Tougher penalties come into force for naked short selling

Investors engaged in naked short selling will be fined up to 100 percent of their order amount, the nation’s top financial regulator said Tuesday.  According to the policymaking Financial Services Commission, the revised Capital Markets Act, which imposes tougher penalties for naked short selling, has taken effect on the same day.  Short selling is a trading tactic where investors immediately sell borrowed stocks on a bet that share prices will fall, allowing them to later re

April 6, 2021

Banking groups signal hope of launching internet-only banks

South Korean banking groups have approached the financial authorities in hopes of launching their own internet-only lenders, industry insiders said Tuesday, amid the growing popularity of platforms such as Kakao Bank. The Korea Federation of Banks, a body that represents commercial lenders here, recently received a joint message from the banking groups, including the five major ones -- KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH -- conveying their plans to foray into the internet-only banking business, if

April 6, 2021

KCGS downgrades ESG scores of Samsung, SKT, and LGD

The Korea Corporate Governance Service, a nonprofit organization that offers environmental, social and governance evaluations for companies, said Tuesday that it had downgraded the ESG ratings of nine companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom and LG Display. Samsung was given an overall rating of B+, down from the previous score of A. The company scored a B in the governance category after Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong received a 30-month jail sentence in January for bribery a

April 6, 2021

Stable US Treasury yields, market rallies support scenario of Kospi rebound in Q2

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi could log a fresh record high in the second quarter, a local analyst suggested Tuesday, citing stable US Treasury yields and market rallies on Wall Street as fundamentals. KB Securities analyst Lee Eun-taek wrote in a report that the rise in value of the Korean won against the US dollar is also another positive factor to foreigners’ net purchases in the local stock market. “Kospi is expected to continue its upward movement in the middle of the se

April 6, 2021

AeroK to launch its first scheduled flight next week

South Korean low cost carrier AeroK said Tuesday its first scheduled flight between Cheongju and Jeju will take off on April 15. The airline, which is based at Cheongju International Airport, will fly three round trips per day with its A320 aircraft between the largest city of North Chungcheong Province and Jeju Island. “Operation of our first scheduled flight had to be delayed as a result of the obstacle that is COVID-19, but we believe the news about our operation will be a silver lini

April 6, 2021

Budget carrier Eastar aims to pick new investor by early May: CEO

Financially troubled Eastar Jet aims to select a new investor by early May as several investors have shown an interest in the budget carrier, the company's chief executive officer said Tuesday. Eastar will decide whether to proceed with the investor selection process in the form of a "stalking-horse" bid or an open auction, by the end of this month, Eastar CEO Kim You-sang told Yonhap News Agency over the phone. In the stalking-horse bid, Eastar will select a preliminary preferred

April 6, 2021

NH Investment ‘fully responsible’ for W300b Optimus misselling: FSS

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Tuesday that it holds NH Investment & Securities, the nation’s second-largest brokerage firm by net assets, entirely accountable for the misselling practices associated with the Optimus Asset Management alleged hedge fund fraud. The Financial Supervisory Service ordered NH Investment to compensate end-investors for losses of some 300 billion won ($267 million) incurred in 326 cases they brought to the Financial Dispute Conciliation Committe

April 6, 2021

Financial holding firms' 2020 net down on increased provisions

South Korea's 10 financial holding firms saw their combined net profit edge down last year, due mainly to higher loan-loss provisions, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of KB Financial, Shinhan Financial and eight other financial holding firms stood at 15.11 trillion won ($13.4 billion) in 2020, compared with a profit of 15.23 trillion won for 2019, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The decline came as banks increased loan-loss provisions to prepar

April 6, 2021

Online shopping rises 15% in Feb. amid pandemic

Online shopping in South Korea grew 15.2 percent on-year in February as more people bought products via e-commerce platforms amid the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 13.7 trillion won ($12.2 billion) in February, compared with 11.9 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Online shopping has gathered pace since last year as people preferred shopping in a non-contact manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Purch

April 6, 2021

Lotte Chilsung fined W1b over unfair practice

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has decided to fine leading beverage maker Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co. and its wine-selling affiliate a combined 1.1 billion won ($978,000) for hampering market competition. Lotte Chilsung unfairly supported its wholly owned unit MJA Wine for 10 years since 2009 in a bid to improve the affiliate's profitability, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). Lotte Chilsung supplied wines to its affiliate at lower prices and shouldered lab

April 6, 2021

Seoul’s hotel transactions, occupancy shrink by half

Hotel transaction volume in South Korea’s capital city of Seoul fell sharply in 2020 as travel restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic sent shock waves through the accommodation industry, data showed Tuesday. The 22 hotel transactions that closed in Seoul last year amounted to 701.8 billion won ($624.8 million), down 53 percent from a year prior, according to data from real estate services firm GenstarMate. In the meantime Seoul’s hotel occupancy rate, a key indicator

April 6, 2021

SK to buy 16% stake in Vietnam's largest retailer

SK Group said Tuesday it will make a strategic investment in VinCommerce, Vietnam's largest retail group, to tap into the fast-growing e-commerce segment in the Southeast Asian market. SK said its Southeast Asian investment arm signed a deal to buy a 16.3 percent share in VinCommerce for 460 billion won ($410 million). VinCommerce, a retail subsidiary of Masan Group, operates about 2,300 convenience stores and supermarkets in Vietnam, taking about 50 percent of the nation's retail sector. In

April 6, 2021

S. Korea's wearable device market grows over 50% in 2020: data

South Korea's wearable device market grew more than 50 percent last year, industry data showed Tuesday, due to rising demand for IT products amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend.  Domestic shipments of wearable products, including smartwatches, wireless earphones and electronic wristbands, totaled 12.76 million units in 2020, up 50.7 percent from a year ago, according to the data from market researcher IDC Korea. Wireless earphones accounted for 74 percent of the market with 9.39

April 6, 2021

LG Innotek establishes AI-powered patent analysis system to boost R&D

LG Innotek Co., a major electronics parts maker in South Korea, said Tuesday it has established an artificial intelligence (AI) powered patent search and analysis system to beef up its research and development (R&D) efforts. With its deep learning technology, the affiliate of LG Electronics Co. said the system leverages sentence recognition algorithms which it developed with LG AI Research, an AI technology research hub for LG Group. Its solution can execute real-time analysis of context a

April 6, 2021

[Graphic News] S. Korea's pet fish market to grow 35% by 2025

　South Korea said 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

April 6, 2021