Samsung Electronics, SK hynix likely to be subjected to new global tax rules

South Korean conglomerates Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are likely to be subject to a global minimum tax rate that multinational companies will have to pay regardless of where their headquarters are. Some 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 90 percent of global gross domestic product, endorsed a set of tax plans aimed at addressing the tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and D

July 2, 2021

S. Korea to maintain expansionary fiscal policy, slowly shift toward monetary tightening

South Korea’s fiscal policy will be expansionary but its monetary policy could turn slightly more hawkish, the respective chiefs in charge of each said Friday. Both said their solutions would minimize the economic woes stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki met Friday with Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol amid controversy over policy discord. There have been strong signals of a rate hike by the end of the year from the central bank, and the government recently unv

July 2, 2021

LG Chem chief takes initiative to attract top talent

LG Chem Vice Chairman Shin Hak-cheol has rolled up his sleeves to recruit top-tier talent who could lead the company’s future research and development under environmental, social and governance standards. The chemical affiliate of LG Group on Friday held a conference at InterContinental Seoul COEX in southern Seoul, inviting 45 engineers who are pursuing master’s or doctorate degrees at local universities and research institutions. LG Chem’s executives joined the conferenc

July 2, 2021

NPS logs 9.6% annual investment return in 2020

South Korea’s public pension fund National Pension Service posted an annual return rate of 9.58 percent last year, marking the second-highest record in a decade, the nation’s welfare minister said Friday. “Last year’s figure stood at 0.99 percentage point higher than our benchmark of 8.59 percent. ... The amount of profit earned from the investment also came to 72.1 trillion won ($63.6 billion),” said Kwon Deok-cheol, minister of health and welfare, who chairs the

July 2, 2021

Hyundai Motor, Kia record all-time high sales in US

Hyundai Motor and Kia witnessed all-time high sales in the United States in the first half of this year, the companies said Friday. The two automotive brands of the largest Korean automobile group sold a combined 804,944 vehicles in the US in the first half of this year, a 48.1 percent increase from a year earlier, according to Hyundai and Kia’s US branches. Hyundai Motor America said its sales grew 49.4 percent on-year, selling 407,135 units, while Kia America sold 378,511 units, up 4

July 2, 2021

13 biz group owners hold stocks worth over W1tr

Thirteen out of South Korea's top 50 business group heads hold stocks worth more than 1 trillion won ($881 million) as of end-June, with Samsung Group's chief being the richest, a corporate tracker said Friday. The number, which came amid a bullish local stock market, was up from 12 recorded in the first quarter of this year, according to CXO Institute Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto chairman of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, owned the largest amount

July 2, 2021

Korean biz community expresses concerns about OECD ‘digital tax’

South Korea’s business community expressed concerns Friday about a global move toward additional taxes on technology companies that would affect Korean tech giants such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The Federation of Korean Industries, an organization that represents the interests of Korean businesses, said in a statement, “We express concerns about the side effects of an agreement on the digital tax announced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

July 2, 2021

LG Electronics to post strong Q2 earnings on home appliance biz: analysts

LG Electronics Inc. is likely to report strong second-quarter earnings, analysts said Friday, as its mainstay home appliance business continued to rack up solid results. The South Korean tech company was projected to log 17.6 trillion won ($15.5 billion) in sales in the April-June period, up 37 percent from a year earlier, while its operating profit was estimated to soar 140 percent on-year to 1.2 trillion won over the period, according to the data from seven local brokerage houses compiled by

July 2, 2021

S. Korean, French finance ministers discuss cooperation ahead of G-20 meeting

The finance ministers of South Korea and France have held a virtual meeting to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation and agenda items ahead of a key international financial meeting, Seoul's finance ministry said Friday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire had an online meeting on Thursday ahead of next week's meeting of finance chiefs from the Group of 20 (G-20) economies, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The G-20 finance ministers

July 2, 2021

Fleets of Hyundai Xcient fuel cell trucks exceed 1m km driving

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday its fleets of Xcient fuel cell trucks have surpassed 1 million kilometers of driving since they hit the roads in Switzerland nearly a year ago. Hyundai Motor has shipped a total of 46 Xcient heavy-duty truck trucks to the European nation since July 2020, which came in service for 25 Swiss companies in logistics, distribution and supermarket fulfillment. Over that distance, the hydrogen-powered trucks, which only emit water, have reduced carb

July 2, 2021

Hyundai, Kia's US sales up 44% in June

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Friday their combined sales jumped 44 percent in the United States last month from a year earlier on strong demand for their SUVs. Hyundai and Kia sold 140,951 vehicles in the US in June, up from 98,005 units in the same month of last year, the companies said in separate statements. Hyundai's sales rose 45 percent to 72,465 units last month from 50,135 a year ago, while Kia's also advanced 43 percent to 68,486 from 47,870 during the cited per

July 2, 2021

Inflation growth hits over 2% for 3rd straight month in June

South Korea's consumer prices grew more than 2 percent for the third straight month in June on higher prices of farm and oil products, data showed Friday, underscoring expectations that a rate hike within this year may become more plausible amid an economic recovery. The consumer price index rose 2.4 percent on-year in June, slowing from a 2.6 percent on-year gain the previous month, the fastest rise in more than nine years, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The inflation gai

July 2, 2021

Seoul stocks rise on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Friday, taking a cue from Wall Street gains that stemmed from positive economic data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.38 points, or 0.13 percent, to trade at 3,286.44 points as of 9:15 a.m. Stocks advanced despite rising concerns over the new coronavirus outbreaks, backed by hopes of a fast global economic rebound. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.38 percent on improving manufacturing and jobless da

July 2, 2021

Krafton lowers IPO price amid overvaluation concern

South Korean game developer Krafton has decided to lower its initial public offering price range ahead of its market debut on the country’s benchmark Kospi next month, following criticism from both financial authorities and market watchers saying that its valuation is “overrated.” The company made some corrections on its prospectus Thursday via DART -- the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board -- by reducing a target price band and the number of ne

July 1, 2021

Hanwha Group chief links up with Heritage Foundation founder

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon met with Edwin John Feulner Jr., the founder of the Heritage Foundation, in Seoul on Wednesday, continuing their friendship that dates back almost 40 years, the Korean group said Thursday. Meeting over dinner at the Plaza Hotel Seoul, Kim and the former president of the Heritage Foundation exchanged candid thoughts on many things including how relations between South Korea and the US can prosper in the post-coronavirus era, Hanwha said. Kim was accompan

July 1, 2021

Kosdaq refreshes yearly-high closing above 1,035 points

South Korea’s tech-heavy Kosdaq set its new yearly-high closing mark on Thursday, surpassing 1,035 points. The secondary bourse closed at 1,035.64, up 5.68 points, or 0.55 percent, from the previous session’s close. This year’s previous closing high was 1,031.88, set on April 20. The index once reached as high as 1,036.47 in afternoon trading, thanks to foreigners and institutional investors’ extending buying sprees. It was the second highest point in nearly 21 years,

July 1, 2021

KIC vows to increase alternative exposure to 21% by 2024

Korea Investment Corp., South Korea‘s sole sovereign wealth fund, pledged to increase its exposure to alternative assets to 21 percent by 2024, from 16.1 percent as of May 2021, its Chief Executive Officer Jin Seung-ho told reporters Thursday. The institutional investor, managing $183.1 billion in assets as of end-2020, aims to maximize its long-term expected return by capitalizing on the risk of tying up capital in less liquid assets, and to spread out the risk into various asset classe

July 1, 2021

LG Chem receives positive phase 2 clinical study results for gout treatment candidate

LG Chem announced Thursday that the company received positive results from the phase 2 clinical trial of its gout treatment candidate LC350189 in the US. LC350189 is a novel nonpurine selective inhibitor of xanthine oxidase, which oxidizes both hypoxanthine and xanthine to uric acid. High uric acid levels can increase the risk of gout. The phase 2 clinical trial in the US, which involved 156 patients, showed efficacy of the gout treatment candidate in lowering uric acid levels, accordi

July 1, 2021

Seegene inks partnership with Bio-Rad to sell its diagnostic tests in the US

South Korean diagnostics company Seegene said Thursday that the company has partnered with Bio-Rad Laboratories for the clinical development and commercialization of diagnostic products in the US. Under the agreement, Seegene will provide the company’s diagnostic tests for use on Bio-Rad’s molecular diagnostic CFX96 Dx Real-Time PCR Detection Systems. The contract will run for five years from the date that the two companies win approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration.

July 1, 2021

Internet-only banks in war for talent ahead of IPO

South Korea’s internet-only banks are battling to secure top talents as they prepare to take on their next big challenges -- a public listing for KakaoBank and the official launch of Toss Bank. KakaoBank said Thursday that it had exceeded 1,000 employees as of the end of June, more than doubling the workforce of 390 it had in 2017 when it launched. The company is preparing for its initial public offering, which is expected to raise more than 2 trillion won ($1.77 billion). Toss Bank a

July 1, 2021