Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
Korea counters US' ‘discriminatory’ drug pricing claim
South Korea has submitted a document hitting back at a claim by a US trade group representing its pharmaceutical industry that Korea’s drug pricing policies favor its domestic industry, ministries said Wednesday.The document was prepared by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and submitted Thursday to the US Trade Representative, a US counterpart in the bilateral free trade deal, by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, according to a ministry spokesperson. In the 36-page document submitted
Industry Feb. 28, 2018
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Hyosung chairman extends outreach to Asia on back of tech prowess
Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon’s recent series of visits to Asian countries appears to be laying the ground for more business opportunities there. Cho has held talks with leading figures of Asian countries, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Feb. 18 and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Feb. 8.Following Cho’s meeting with Modi, Hyosung announced a plan to build its first spandex plant in Maharashtra, India. The move is expected to serve as the “cornerstone” in penetrati
Industry Feb. 27, 2018
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Brokerages' net profit hits 10-year high
´South Korean brokerages’ combined yearly net profit in 2017 hit a 10-year high, mainly on the back of a stock market boom that led to an upshot in revenue from brokerage fees and trades of shares and derivatives, data showed Tuesday.The total net profit for the 55 securities firms came to 3.83 trillion won ($3.57 billion) in 2017, up 79.6 percent from a year prior, according to a preliminary set of data by the Financial Supervisory Service. The figure was the highest since 2007, whe
Market Feb. 27, 2018
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Assets under management in Korea hit record high in 2017
South Korean financial firms’ assets under management hit a record high of 950 trillion won ($880.9 billion) in 2017, up 4.7 percent from the previous year, data showed Sunday.The hike in the volume of professionally managed assets was driven by a surge in private funds’ increase in property investment, as well as increased capital for discretionary investment in domestic shares and overseas bonds, according to preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service.Despite the recor
Market Feb. 25, 2018
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[Herald Interview] Corda eyes private, inclusive global banking network: R3 chief engineer
Distributed ledgers like the blockchain system are increasingly setting a new standard for paperwork-free global banking in various financial areas, such as the management of a cash pool for currency exchanges or payments, as well as trade finance. Spearheading the trend to minimize and possibly eliminate the manual business process in interbank transactions is a technology called “smart contract,” through which records of direct transactions between parties can be protected on a dec
Market Feb. 25, 2018
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Samsung BioLogics’ 3rd plant secures $16.6m order from US drugmaker
Korean drugmaker Samsung BioLogics’ third plant has secured a manufacturing order worth at least 17.9 billion won ($16.6 million) from an undisclosed US pharmaceutical firm, according to the firm’s regulatory filing on Thursday. The contract is equal to roughly 6 percent of the Korean firm’s net revenue as of 2016, according to the disclosure. The order could increase in size to $148.2 million, depending on whether the US firm succeeds in bringing the drug to market. The US firm also may extend
Industry Feb. 22, 2018
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Korea-Japan political gridlock haunts currency swap renewal: BOK Gov.
Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Tuesday that while lingering political deadlock has held back talks to renew a currency swap deal with Japan, Korea would not be rushing it, during his visit to Zurich to sign a swap agreement with Swiss National Bank.“The talks of extending a deal (with the Japanese central bank) are being suspended since the deal expired, in the wake of a diplomatic and political row (between Korea and Japan),” Lee told Korean correspondents in Zurich on Tuesday.
Market Feb. 21, 2018
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Hana extends patronage to national luge team
South Korea’s national luge team -- made up of nine sliders and six coaches – improved their performance in the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games overall.In the team relay, Korea climbed up three notches and came in about 26 seconds faster compared to Sochi Winter Games in 2014. In the women’s individual event, Sung Eun-ryung jumped 11 notches to finish in 18th with an improvement of about 20 seconds.On the back of such performance stood Hana Financial Group, which has extended sup
Market Feb. 21, 2018
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[Herald Interview] Finda envisions online financial marketplace
The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 10th installment. - Ed.Despite living in the era of information technology, financial consumers in South Korea have found it hard to gain access to trustworthy information online about financial products to compare and choose what suits the best.Lee Hye-min, co-chief executive officer of financial technology startup Finda, said financial consumers’ basic necessities
Market Feb. 20, 2018
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Lendit's accumulated volume of loan tops W100b
Lendit, a peer-to-peer lending platform operator in South Korea, has extended a combined 101.8 billion won ($95.4 million) in nearly 7,300 consumer loans as of Monday to midrange borrowers seeking lower interest rates, according to the fintech startup Monday. After its 33 months of operation, Lendit marked the first local P2P lending platform operator fully devoted to consumer loan products to see the accumulated volume of loans top the 100 billion won mark, the company said. Borrowers from
Market Feb. 19, 2018
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Raonsecure to develop blockchain-based biometric authentication for online banking
Raonsecure, a South Korean biometric authentication firm, has teamed up with Seoul-based blockchain developer The Loop, to develop an authentication system for online financial services.The firms signed a memorandum of understanding on Feb. 12. Through the partnership, Raonsecure is expected to build a biometric authentication system on a decentralized platform provided by The Loop.Raonsecure follows the “fast identity online” security standard, which uses fingerprint, iris and
Market Feb. 19, 2018
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Highways clogged on last day of Lunar New Year holiday
Traffic volume rose sharply on expressways and highways in South Korea on Saturday, as hordes of travelers hit the road to return home at the end of the three-day Lunar New Year holiday.As of 1 p.m. Saturday, the 420-kilometer trip from the southeastern port city Busan to capital Seoul would take seven hours and 40 minutes via highways, about two hours longer than on a typical weekend, according to an estimate from the state-run Korea Expressway Corp. Over a 50-kilometer stretch of highway from
Social Affairs Feb. 17, 2018
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Top listed firms’ total profit jumps nearly 50%: data
South Korea’s top 100 listed firms in terms of market capitalization saw their net and operating profits surge nearly 50 percent in 2017, on the back of a global tech super cycle that buoyed local manufacturers, data showed Wednesday. The firms on either the top-tier Kospi and second-tier Kosdaq recorded a total of 121.7 trillion won ($112.4 billion) in net profit and 155.6 trillion won in operating profit, up 48.5 percent and up 45.8 percent on-year, according to data compiled by local market t
Industry Feb. 14, 2018
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[Weekender] Koreans spend century standing by Lunar New Year
A scene that may seem weird or unique to foreign bystanders is the common ritual in South Korea to celebrate the Lunar New Year: younger family members make a full bow, or saebae, to their elders, as they receive envelopes -- of cold, hard cash -- as gifts carrying messages of the best wishes for the future.As relatives gather for the Seollal holiday, usually at the home of the “highest-ranking” member of the extended family, they dress in neat garments, sometimes traditional hanbok, and take pa
Culture Feb. 14, 2018
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Kona I joins Visa biometric card pilot
Smart card manufacturer Kona I said Tuesday it has been selected as card supplier of a pilot project by US card firm Visa to develop a biometric payment card using fingerprint recognition technology. The Seoul-based firm will supply battery-free card components featuring energy harvesting technology to create pilots that capture, store and validate the card holder‘s fingerprint on the card, according to the firm. The move is expected to “endorse (Kona I’s) advanced technology a
Market Feb. 13, 2018
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