S-Tec System, Vietnam’s Military Bank partner on security services

S-Tec System, a South Korean security services provider, announced Monday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam's Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank. The company aims to capitalize on the Vietnamese bank's network, which includes over 300 branches and 1,000 unattended locations throughout Vietnam. The agreement was signed Friday at S-Tec's headquarters in Seoul, with S-Tec System CEO Lee Byung-hwa and Chairman Luu Trung Thai of the Military Bank in attend

Nov. 21, 2023

S. Korea's exports of kimchi up 10% through Oct.

South Korea's exports of kimchi advanced 10 percent on-year through October this year, data showed Tuesday, with the amount widely anticipated to hit a record level for all of 2023. Outbound shipments of kimchi came to $130 million over the January-October period, rising from $118.6 million tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish typically made from fermented cabbage, salt and hot peppers, and is consumed

Nov. 21, 2023

Exports gain 2.2% from Nov. 1-20 on upbeat chip, auto sales

South Korea's exports rose 2.2 percent on-year in the first 20 days of this month on growing demand for semiconductors and vehicles, data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments reached $33.79 billion in the Nov. 1-20 period, compared with $33.07 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Per-day exports also went up 2.2 percent on-year to $2.18 billion during the cited period, it added. Exports grew for the first time in 13 months in October. They adva

Nov. 21, 2023

S. Korea maintaining stable LNG supply amid Israel-Hamas conflict

South Korea maintains a steady supply of liquefied natural gas and is actively preparing for potential contingencies amid Middle East geopolitical uncertainties, the industry ministry said Tuesday. "There have been concerns over the supply of gas following the Israel-Hamas incident amid the lingering war between Russia and Ukraine, but the supply currently remains stable," Director-General for Resource Policy Ryu Peob-min said during a meeting with industry officials. "However, in

Nov. 21, 2023

Korea draws W1.5tr in investments from US tech firms

South Korea has secured investment commitments from four major US companies, including General Motors, totaling 1.5 trillion won ($1.16 billion), following President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to the US for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last week. These investments, spanning the automotive and semiconductor sectors, are expected to significantly boost South Korea's exports and reduce imports, contributing to an estimated annual economic impact of over 4.5 trillion won. The Ministry of

Nov. 20, 2023

Trump vows to kill Asia trade deal being pursued by Biden if elected

Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, said on Saturday that he would kill off a Pacific trade pact being advanced by US President Joe Biden if he were to win the 2024 election and return to the White House. Speaking to supporters in Iowa, Trump said he was against the regional trade deal being negotiated by the Biden administration with 13 other countries, arguing that it would hollow out US manufacturing and trigger job losses. Talks on the trade sections of

Nov. 19, 2023

S. Korea, US explore ways to expand ties in energy, supply chains

South Korea and the United States discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy and supply chain sectors this week, the industry ministry said Friday. Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu and Jose Fernandez, US under secretary of state, hosted the clean energy business roundtable on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "The Carbon-Free Energy Initiative of Korea and the US Clean Energ

Nov. 17, 2023

S. Korea imposes 72% temporary anti-dumping duties on Egyptian white cement

South Korea has begun imposing temporary anti-dumping duties of 72.23 percent on white Portland cement imported from Egypt, officials said Friday. The finance ministry began levying the duties on white cement from Egypt on Wednesday to be effective for four months after the Korea Trade Commission under the industry ministry announced its preliminary anti-dumping findings against the imports and recommended the imposition in September. The anti-dumping deposit is meant to prevent potential damage

Nov. 17, 2023

Negotiating members of Indo-Pacific trade talks reach consensus on energy, fair economy

South Korea and other negotiating members of the United States-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) have reached a consensus on two additional sectors of the agreement, energy and fair economy, Seoul's trade ministry said Thursday. The IPEF was launched by US President Joe Biden in 2022 in a move to counter China's growing influence in the region, which involves a total of 14 member nations, including South Korea, Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Among th

Nov. 16, 2023

Korea to inject W1tr into youth employment programs

The Korean government will put up nearly 1 trillion won ($769 million) in a bid to encourage young people who are not in education, employment or training, known as NEET youth, to encourage them to return to the labor market. On the back of a strong job market, the employment rate of young Koreans aged 15 to 29 stood at 46.6 percent in October. Yet more than 414,000 people, or 4.9 percent of the age group, were found not to have actively sought jobs during the first nine months of this year, acc

Nov. 15, 2023

Container shipping costs for US west coast rise 7 pct in October

Container shipping costs from South Korea to the US west coast gained 7.1 percent on-month in October, data showed Wednesday. The average shipping cost for a 40-foot container for the route came to 4.38 million won ($3,358) last month, compared with 4.09 million logged a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marked the second on-month increase following 1.8 percent growth the previous month. On an on-year basis, however, the costs dropped 58.6 percent in October

Nov. 15, 2023

Finance minister calls for reenactment of corporate restructuring act

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho called on the National Assembly on Wednesday to reenact the now-defunct corporate restructuring act that makes it easier for insolvent companies to begin an out-of-court debt restructuring program. The Corporate Restructuring Promotion Act was legislated in 2001 with a sunset provision after South Korea was hit by the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and had been extended five times before expiring last month. It allows an insolvent company to start a debt workout pr

Nov. 15, 2023

Weak won pushes import prices up in October

South Korea's import prices climbed for a fourth consecutive month following the devaluation of the Korean won, central bank data showed Wednesday. Export prices rose as well in the period. The import price index for October stood at 140.38, rising 0.5 percent from the month before. The figure has been advancing for four straight months since July, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. Yet, compared to the same month last year when international oil prices surged, the figure

Nov. 14, 2023

Business groups condemn labor union immunity bill

South Korea's major business lobby groups on Monday requested that President Yoon Suk Yeol exert his veto power against a pro-labor union revision bill unilaterally passed by the main opposition party last week. The so-called Yellow Envelope bill, a revision to the Labor Union and Labor Relations Act, aims to limit companies from filing damage suits and provisional seizures against workers on strike, as well as to guarantee the bargaining rights of subcontracted workers. Six business grou

Nov. 13, 2023

Exports up 3.2% during first 10 days of Nov. on chip, auto sales

South Korea's exports rose 3.2 percent on-year in the first 10 days of November on the back of rising demand for semiconductors and vehicles, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments reached $18.24 billion in the Nov. 1-10 period, compared with $17.67 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Per-day exports also grew 3.2 percent on-year to $2.15 billion during the cited period, it added. Imports added 1.2 percent on-year to $19.98 billion during th

Nov. 13, 2023

AI startup Twelve Labs unveils video language AI foundation model Pegasus-1

Twelve Labs, South Korea's generative artificial intelligence (AI) startup, unveiled its video language foundation model Thursday in a bid to take the lead in the hyperscale large language model market. The model, named Pegasus-1, can accurately summarize long videos into a text and have a chat about the video with its users, offering 61 percent higher performance compared with the existing most advanced video language model, according to Twelve Labs. The company said Pegasus-1 has been tra

Nov. 9, 2023

KDI slashes 2024 growth to 2.2%

The state-run Korea Development Institute brought down the economic growth forecast for 2024 to 2.2 percent and 1.4 percent in 2023, slashing 0.1 percentage point each from the previous projections made in August, citing slowed growth of private consumption stemming from high rates. The local economy will show a gradual recovery backed by exports next year, yet the pace will be limited due to the slowdown in the domestic consumption growth, following persistently high rates. Korea's gross d

Nov. 9, 2023

National debt inches down to W1,099tr through September: data

South Korea's national debt issued inched down to fall below the 1,100 trillion-won ($838.5 billion) level as of end-September on the repayment of government bonds, though the fiscal deficit logged an on-month growth, data showed Thursday. The country's debt as measured in outstanding state bonds came to 1,099 trillion won in September, down 10.4 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. From the end of last year, the figure rose by 66.1 trill

Nov. 9, 2023

Agricultural ministry to step up monitoring of food prices

The agriculture ministry said Thursday it will step up monitoring of food sector prices, as part of the government's efforts to tame inflation. To that end, the ministry said it will appoint personnel to monitor the prices of 28 key food items. "Prices of agricultural and fishery products are showing signs of decreasing since the end of October, but there are still hurdles, including deteriorating weather conditions and the outbreak of an animal disease," Vice Agricultural Ministe

Nov. 9, 2023

Korea-Indonesia biz forum to kick off on Nov. 30

The Korea-Indonesia Cooperation Forum, under the theme "K-Wave & I-Wave, Together for the Future," will take place on Nov. 30 in Jakarta to commemorate the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties. Organized by Herald Corp., the publisher of The Korea Herald and Herald Business, jointly with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Embassy of Indonesia in Korea, the Embassy of Korea in Indonesia, and the Indonesian Employers’ Association, this forum aims to

Nov. 8, 2023