Mobile carriers tipped to log robust Q4 results on 5G growth

South Korean mobile carriers are expected to report improved earnings for the final quarter of 2020 on the back of steady growth in 5G users, analysts said Monday. The combined operating profits of the country's three major telecom operators -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- are estimated at 670.9 billion won ($620.3 million) in the Oct.-Dec. period last year, compared with 497.9 billion won the previous year, according to a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap Ne

Jan. 4, 2021

Banking groups face challenge as pandemic-led digitalization accelerates

      The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of the financial industry, pushing local banking groups to cater services to require less contact. The heated competition to gain a digital foothold in the industry pose as a key task for the firms this year, experts and head of the groups said Monday. “Local banks must bolster their risk management, while seeking for fresh revenue sources in the era of near-zero interest rates and improve the com

Jan. 4, 2021

S. Korean builder sentiment falls in Dec. amid coronavirus resurgence

South Korean builders' business sentiment edged down in December from a month earlier due to a resurgence of coronavirus infections, a poll showed Monday. The construction business survey index (CBSI) came to 84.6 last month, down 0.7 point from the previous month, according to the survey by the Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea. The December figure marks the first on-month drop in four months. The index rose for three months from September to November. A reading below 100

Jan. 4, 2021

S. Korea targets 3.2% growth, housing market stabilization in 2021

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Monday reiterated the government’s commitment for economic growth of 3.2 percent this year and stressed its drive to stabilize soaring housing price at the same time. Urging ministry officials to prepare for structural changes in the post COVID-19 era, Hong vowed to make all-out efforts to achieve the target of a 3.2 percent economic growth and to create 150,000 additional jobs this year. “We must promote domestic consumption as much as possible un

Jan. 4, 2021

Daewoong to initiate phase 3 trial of camostat in combination with remdesivir

Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s pancreatitis treatment Foistar (DWJ1248) is to enter a new phase 3 clinical trial in combination with Gilead Science’s remdesivir, the company said in a regulatory filing Monday. Foistar, which is administered orally in tablet form, uses camostat as its active ingredient and is hoped to reduce the viral load of COVID-19 in an infected person’s body. In the beginning of the race for COVID-19 treatments, scientists believed that repurposing drugs such

Jan. 4, 2021

GS chairman vows focus on digital competency in New Year’s address

GS Group will focus on digital competency and environmentally-friendly management to discover new business projects, the chairman of the group Huh Tae-soo said on Monday. In a livestreamed New Year’s address from the company‘s headquarters in Seoul, Huh said his company will push for “new businesses in various fields” and urged employees to adjust their ways of working to adapt to change. While last year was a “period of change” marred by the uncertainty sur

Jan. 4, 2021

Wine imports hit record high as home drinking catches on

Wine imports soared to a record high in Korea last year, apparently helped by more people drinking at home amid the pandemic, new government data revealed Monday. South Korea imported 38,969 tons of wine worth $239.2 million from January to November in 2020, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. Though data on the month of December has yet to be added, last year’s figure has already beat the previous record of $204 million for 2019. Wine imports have grown over the years and

Jan. 4, 2021

Daewoo E&C wins W2.9tr port deal in Iraq

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., a major South Korean builder, said Monday it has signed a 2.9 trillion-won ($2.7 billion) deal with the Iraqi government to build port facilities. Daewoo E&C has obtained the deal from the state-run General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI) to build a tunnel, a container terminal and roads to the Al Faw port in Basra, the company said in a statement. "The company participated in the port construction project from 2013. In the previous deal, we

Jan. 4, 2021

NCSoft's Lineage 2M to land in Japan, Taiwan in Q1

Lineage 2M, a mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), will land in Japan and Taiwan during the first quarter of this year, South Korean online game maker NCSoft said Monday. The mobile version of the mega-hit game Lineage 2 will be simultaneously available on Google's Android and Apple's iOS devices in the two Asian countries, the company said. Lineage 2M, which integrates NCSoft's technology and expertise built over the past 20 years, features full 3D graphics and 4K U

Jan. 4, 2021

S. Korea's FTA networks set to further expand in 2021

South Korea's free trade deals may further increase this year in line with its efforts to revitalize its ailing pandemic-hit exports and cope with the growing protectionism around the globe, a trade promotion agency said Monday. South Korea and Britain implemented their bilateral FTA on Friday to maintain their trades regardless of London's departure from the European Union. Following the move, the country now has 17 free trade pacts that cover 56 countries around the globe. The free trade pa

Jan. 4, 2021

More efforts to be focused on stabilizing housing market this year: finance minister

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday that the government will spare no efforts this year to stabilize housing prices that have been rising despite a series of measures to cool down the property market. The minister also said that policy efforts will be put into place to pull off a "fast and strong" economic recovery this year as Asia's fourth-largest economy faces growing uncertainties such as a resurgence in new coronavirus cases. "From the beginning of the new year, we wil

Jan. 4, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on 1st day of 2021

South Korean stocks kicked off higher Monday, the first session of the new year, led by strong chip and auto gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.48 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,877.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.37 percent, but No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 2.95 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor soared 6.77 percent, and its auto part making affiliate Hyundai Mobis spiked 12.13 percent. Leading chem

Jan. 4, 2021

[Graphic News] S. Korea’s 5G download speed fastest globally

　South Korea has the fastest 5G download speed in the world, reaching over 350 megabits per second, a report showed. 　The country’s 5G download speed stood at an average 351.2 Mbps, followed by Saudi Arabia at 272.8 Mbps and Taiwan at 247.7 Mbps, industry tracker Opensignal said in a report, citing data collected between Sept. 1 and Nov. 29 in 15 global markets with 5G networks. 　The result marks an improvement for South Korea from a previous report by Opensignal in October, which ha

Jan. 4, 2021

More than 330 Korean exhibitors to attend CES 2021

More than 330 South Korean exhibitors are expected to introduce their new products and cutting-edge services at the world's largest tech expo next week, data from its organizer showed Monday. So far, 338 firms, institutions and colleges from South Korea have registered for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021, according to the US Consumer Technology Association. This year's tech show will take place online from Jan. 11 to 14 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The number of South Korean

Jan. 4, 2021

Samsung to unveil Galaxy S21 smartphone next week

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday confirmed that new models of its flagship smartphone lineup will be unveiled next week as the South Korean tech giant tries to fend off challenges from Apple Inc. and Chinese brands. Samsung's Galaxy S21 smartphone series will be introduced at the Galaxy Unpacked online event at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Jan. 14 under the theme of "Welcome to the Everyday Epic." "Over the past year, mobile technology has taken center stage in everyday lif

Jan. 4, 2021

S. Korea's wine imports hit new high in 2020 amid coronavirus outbreak

South Korea's wine imports soared to a record high in 2020 as more people enjoyed drinking and partied at home due to the coronavirus outbreak, government data showed Monday. South Korea imported $239 million worth of wines in the January-November period last year, much higher than the $204 million for the whole of 2019, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service. If the December numbers are included, last year's value of wine imports will far exceed the previous year's tally. Last ye

Jan. 4, 2021

Number of delisted firms quadruples in 2020

The number of companies delisted from the South Korean stock market rose fourfold in 2020 from the previous year due to poor financial health or other reasons, data showed Monday. A total of 16 firms, including solar-battery parts maker Woongjin Energy Co., were delisted from the country's main KOSPI and secondary KOSDAQ markets last year, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. Three companies were removed from the main bourse and the remainder from the tech-laden KOSDAQ market. Of th

Jan. 4, 2021

Pandemic-hit oil refiners' losses estimated at W5tr won in 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have come as a big draw on South Korean oil refiners last year as their low refining margins ate into their profitability, industry sources said Sunday. Whipsawed by weak oil prices and sluggish refining margins, industry leader SK Innovation Co. and three other players are projected to have posted a combined net loss of more than 5 trillion won ($4.6 billion) last year. The situation didn't improve much in the third quarter of last year despite rising dem

Jan. 3, 2021

LG Display to showcase 48-inch flexible sound-making display at CES 2021

LG Display Co., a major display panel maker in South Korea, said Sunday it will showcase a 48-inch flexible display that can generate sound without speakers at the world's largest tech expo next week. LG Display said its 48-inch bendable cinematic sound OLED (CSO) will make its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021, which will be held online from Jan. 11 to 14. The world's top large-size OLED panel maker said the latest product is optimized for gaming. "Its paper-thin screen

Jan. 3, 2021

S. Korea’s EV market poised for take-off in 2021

For South Korea’s electric vehicle business, 2020 apparently served as a turning point with global players such as Tesla on the up and up and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic raising the alarm about environmental pollution by internal combustion engines. In the new year, this growing market is anticipated to take long strides on the back of prolonged government subsidies and carmakers’ paradigm shift towards ecofriendly vehicles. The number of newly registered passenger EVs here came

Jan. 3, 2021