[THE INVESTOR] Attention is being drawn to the size of a currency swap deal to be resumed between South Korea and Japan.During their meeting in Seoul in August, finance ministers of the two countries agreed to launch talks on resuming a currency swap line that had been closed last year.Korea and Japan signed their first swap deal worth $10 billion in 2001. The size of the swap arrangement between them expanded to $70 billion in 2011 before shrinking to $13 billion in 2012 and $10 billion in 2013

Oct. 3, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean drugmaker Hanmi Pharmaceutical 's plans to globally commercialize its novel lung cancer therapy are in jeopardy after a patient died of a severe skin-related side effect linked to the drug’s use.The future of Hanmi’s lung cancer drug began to turn bleak Friday -- when Hanmi’s licensing partner Boehringer Ingelheim announced it would return the drug‘s development and commercialization rights it had purchased from the Korean drugmaker in July 2015 in a deal valued at $7

Oct. 3, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s financial authorities will investigate into Hanmi Pharmaceutical as to whether the company's announcement of a breakup with German drug giant Boehringer Ingelheim on a lung cancer treatment last week was delayed intentionally for alleged insider trading, officials said Monday. 　"Since it is a significant case causing immense losses to investors, we will look into possible insider trading," Nam Chan-woo, an official at Korea Exchange, told The Korea Herald. "The inves

Oct. 3, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics' new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone has sold about 30,000 units in two days after the suspended sales resumed in Korea over the weekend. 　Even though some of the purchases included preorders made before the recall, sources said the new Note phone has made a successful comeback considering a daily 10,000 unit sales are considered a “hit” within the industry.  Samsung Electronics opens Galaxy Note 7 experience zones at several shopping malls in Seoul over the weekend s

Oct. 3, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Sales at South Korean department stores have increased about 10 percent on-year in the first three days of a nationwide shopping event, called Korea Sales Festa that kicked off on Sept. 29. 　Lotte Departments Store, one of the top three chains, said its sales jumped 12.1 percent over the weekend, comapred with the Korea Grand Sale last year. The latest shopping event aims to connect the retail indsutry with the tourism and cultural sectors in line with the major Chinese holiday se

Oct. 3, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] The brand value of Lotte Group companies has been sharply falling amid prosecutors’ probe into the retail giant and the owner family’s corruption and slush fund creation recently. According to market research firm Brand Stock on Oct. 3, Lotte Department Store, the flagship unit of Lotte, the nation's fifth-largest conglomerate, saw its brand rank tumble from eighth in the second quarter to 16th in the third quarter. The figures for other rental car service, fast food chain, superm

Oct. 3, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Shares of South Korean automotive parts maker Mando tumbled more than 13 percent on the local bourse on Sept. 30 after a news report that German engineering giant Bosch has sued it for patent violations in the US. Adding to the prolonged strike by Hyundai Motor, its key client, the patent suit dragged down the company’s stock price to close at 247,000 won (US$225), down 38,000 won from the previous trading day. According to Bloomberg, Bosch filed a lawsuit against Mando for violat

Sept. 30, 2016

[THE INVESTOR]  Samsung Electronics on Sept. 30 projected that the ongoing Galaxy Note 7 recall worldwide would cost Samsung Electronics a combined 2 trillion won (US$1.80 billion) in the coming months this year. “We are adjusting our estimates of the third-quarter operating profit from 7.8 trillion won to 7 trillion won,” said the securities firm. “Following the Galaxy Note 7 recall, the costs will be 1.5 trillion won in the third quarter and 500 billion won in the fourth quarter.”Despite the r

Sept. 30, 2016

[THE INVESTOR]  Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SoftBank Group Chairman Masayoshi Son, who is more widely known as Sohn Jeong-eui here, were spotted meeting at the Korean tech giant’s Seoul headquarters on Sept. 29. The two firms declined to reveal details of the high-profile meeting. Industry watchers see they may have discussed possible partnership on the Internet of Things services and semiconductors. Their meeting comes after the Japanese tech and telecom behemoth acquired

Sept. 30, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Lotte Group is likely to seek a stock debut of Hotel Lotte again after an arrest warrant request was rejected for Chairman Shin Dong-bin, according to eBest Securities on Sept. 29. Under Shin’s leadership, Hotel Lotte had considered an initial public offering on the local bourse since August last year as part of the retail giant’s effort to resolve cross-shareholdings among affiliates and improve transparency overall. But the efforts have been suspended amid a large-scale investig

Sept. 29, 2016

[THE INVESTOR]  South Korean internet giant Naver and its Japanese affiliate LINE said on Sept. 29 they have decided to invest a combined 100 million euros (US$112 million) into a startup accelerator fund running in Europe. The K-Fund 1 will be operated by Korelya Capital, an investment firm established by Fleur Pellerin, the former Korean-born French minister overlooking small and medium enterprises and the digital economy, who resigned from the post in August. Fleur PellerinRelated article: Na

Sept. 29, 2016