LG Chem to teach teenagers how to reuse CO2 through mentorship

LG Chem said Tuesday it has launched the “Like Green” mentorship program for elementary and middle school students to raise their awareness on sustainability. Here, Green is an acronym that stands for global warming, recycling, energy, ecosystem and next-generation technology, according to the company. The Like Green mentorship program will educate 100 young students from January to March regarding the five topics. They will be put in small groups with university students with

Dec. 8, 2020

Hanwha Techwin suggests new trends for video security industry in 2021

South Korean surveillance solution provider Hanwha Techwin on Tuesday suggested five key phrases to describe the trends in the video security industry next year. The security camera subsidiary under Hanwha Aerospace offered an acronym “Rodeo,” which stands for “Ready for the era of edge computing,” “Ongoing trend, cloud,” “Don’t worry about cyber hacking, cybersecurity,” “Everyone can join in, open platform” and “Only whe

Dec. 8, 2020

Seoul stocks dip over 1.5% on virus concerns

South Korean stocks dipped more than 1.5 percent Tuesday, snapping a five-session winning streak on concerns over the new coronavirus resurgence around the globe. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 44.51 points, or 1.62 percent, to close at 2,700.93. Trading volume was high at about 1.4 billion shares worth some 16.9 trillion won ($15.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 567 to 277. Foreigners sold a net 846 bi

Dec. 8, 2020

GV70 to target luxury SUV market

Genesis, a luxury automobile brand from Hyundai Motor Group, unveiled its second sport utility vehicle online Tuesday, the GV70. The new vehicle will be introduced in South Korea as early as January. Genesis aims to lead the luxury SUV market through the GV70. “The domestic luxury SUV market was expected to be somewhat slower than the growth of luxury SUVs abroad due to its high price. But, GV80 is writing a new history and GV70 will continue to lead the sales of mid-sized luxury SUVs

Dec. 8, 2020

LG Uplus to test mmWave 5G at university campus

LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Tuesday it will start testing millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G at a university campus under a government-led program as the country prepares to roll out the fastest version of the latest generation network. The mobile carrier said it has completed installing 5G network infrastructure at Kumoh National Institute of Technology in Gumi, about 200 kilometers south of Seoul, allowing the carrier to test mmWave 5G in certain areas of the campus.

Dec. 8, 2020

KB Securities, Jefferies sign co-brand alliance

South Korea’s brokerage house KB Securities said Tuesday it has teamed up with New York-based multinational investment bank Jefferies Group to establish a co-brand alliance for equity research, sales and trading. Under the term, Jefferies will distribute equity research on listed companies in Korea produced by KB Securities on a co-branded basis to Jefferies’ global institutional client base. KB Securities will also offer Korean equity brokerage services to Jefferies and its interna

Dec. 8, 2020

Transportation industry sales hit new high in 2019

Sales of South Korea's transportation industry reached an all-time high in 2019 thanks to a surge in demand for home deliveries, government data showed Tuesday. The transportation sector's top line stood at nearly 152 trillion won ($140 billion) last year, up 3.5 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the industry's largest annual sales figure since 1964, when data tracking began. The transportation industry's sales also increased for the fifth c

Dec. 8, 2020

Samsung Biologics appoints John Rim as new CEO

Samsung Biologics on Tuesday appointed John Rim as the new chief executive officer to replace former-CEO Kim Tae-han. Kim’s departure from Samsung Biologics comes nearly 10 years after the company’s foundation in 2011. The new CEO Rim is a Korean American with 34 years of experience working for global pharmaceutical firms such as Yamanouchi, Genentech and Roche, where he had been chief financial officer. Rim has been with Samsung Biologics since 2018, where his first role was as e

Dec. 8, 2020

[Herald Interview] LAKA: Gender-neutral makeup brand seeks to break boundaries

From facial masks to BB creams, Korean beauty products -- often dubbed K-Beauty -- have become one of South Korea’s biggest exports in recent years, riding the wave of the country’s rise in soft power typified by TV shows and K-pop. But one brand is making small waves in a way unprecedented by any others in the country before. Launched by a former advertising director in 2018, LAKA Cosmetics is South Korea’s first gender-neutral makeup brand. “Every product of ours do

Dec. 8, 2020

S. Korean banks' average capital adequacy ratio gains in Q3

South Korean banks saw their financial health improve in the third quarter from three months earlier as they reported higher net profits and raised capital amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The average capital adequacy ratio of 19 commercial and state-run banks stood at 16.02 percent as of end-September, up 1.46 percentage points from the end of June, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). A key barometer of financial soundness, the ratio measure

Dec. 8, 2020

Portion of single-member households tops 30% last year

The portion of single-member households in South Korea surpassed 30 percent of the total for the first time in 2019, data showed Tuesday, amid a delay in marriage and rapidly aging population. One-person families accounted for 30.2 percent of the total last year, up 29.3 percent from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Households consisting of a single member totaled 6.15 million in 2019, up from 5.85 million the previous year, the statistics agency said. One-person

Dec. 8, 2020

[News Focus] Korea, 34th of 37 OECD members in labor participation

SEJONG -- South Korea’s labor force participation rate was the 34th-highest among the 37 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as of 2019. In the Paris-based organization’s comparison of labor participation rates for those aged 25-64, Korea posted 76.6 percent. This means about 1 in 4 Koreans in that age bracket were not engaging in economic activities last year. This contrasts with an 85.5 percent labor force participation rate in neighboring Japan,

Dec. 8, 2020

Korea Electronics Show to kick off amid pandemic

The 2020 Korea Electronics Show will kick off Wednesday for a three-day run amid caution due to an ongoing wave of coronavirus cases in Seoul and nearby areas. According to the event’s organizer, around 200 companies in the fields of semiconductors, consumer electronics, smart home technologies and future mobility will take part in the biggest IT trade show in South Korea. The number of participating firms was over 450 last year, but this year many foreign businesses weren’t ab

Dec. 8, 2020

S. Korean shipyards outpace Chinese rivals for 5th month in terms of orders

South Korean shipbuilders outpaced their Chinese rivals in terms of new orders for the fifth consecutive month in November, industry data showed Tuesday. According to the data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service, South Korean shipyards won new orders totaling 990,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs), representing 60 percent of the 1.64 million CGTs ordered globally in November. The South Korean shipbuilders were followed by Chinese shipbuilders with 600,000 CGTs, or 37

Dec. 8, 2020

Late Samsung chief's stock value rises more than 21% this year

The stock value of Lee Kun-hee, the late chief of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, soared more than 21 percent this year due largely to a surge in the share price of group flagship Samsung Electronics Co., data showed Tuesday. The value of stocks held by Lee, who died on Oct. 25 after being bedridden following a heart attack in 2014, totaled 21.04 trillion won ($19.4 billion) as of Wednesday, according to the data from market researcher CXO Institute. It was up 21.1 percent from L

Dec. 8, 2020

[Monitor] Korean carmakers to enjoy highest sales in 18 years

South Korean carmakers are forecast to notch their highest combined sales figures in 18 years, according to industry data released Sunday. The country’s five finished automobile manufacturers sold a total of 1.47 million vehicles in Korea between January and November this year. The figure was up 6.2 percent from the same period last year. If the trend continues, total sales will surpass 1.6 million vehicles at the end of the year. This would mark the highest total since 2002. The com

Dec. 8, 2020

S. Korea's tax revenue up W6.8tr in October

South Korea's tax revenue grew 6.8 trillion won ($6.3 billion) in October due largely to a rise in income tax revenue, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The country collected 39.1 trillion won in taxes in October, compared with 32.3 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The rise in tax revenue mainly came as income tax revenue rose 4.1 trillion won on-year to 10.5 trillion won. In October, the government's total revenue, including tax income, amoun

Dec. 8, 2020

Hyundai halts truck assembly line over virus outbreak

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, said Tuesday it suspended the truck assembly line of its local plant as seven workers at the plant were confirmed to have been infected with the new coronavirus. Seven employees at Hyundai's Jeonju plant, 243 kilometers south of Seoul, tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. Some 2,000 workers took coronavirus tests on the same day, Hyundai said. "The truck assembly line of the Jeonju plant has been suspended from Monday. The com

Dec. 8, 2020

Seoul stocks open lower on Wall Street losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, taking a cue from overnight losses on Wall Street amid concerns over the new coronavirus resurgence in global markets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 8.83 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,736.61 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.49 percent to 30,069.79 points on rising COVID-19 cases and disappointing jobless data. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.45 percent, but the S&P 500

Dec. 8, 2020

Over 70% of state fiscal spending to be implemented in H1 2021 amid pandemic

The finance ministry said Tuesday it has allocated 72.4 percent of state fiscal spending to be implemented during the first half of next year in an effort to cope with the new coronavirus outbreak and an economic slowdown. The government plans to front-load 331 trillion won ($305.2 billion) of next year's fiscal spending totaling 459.9 trillion won in the January-June period, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The amount is higher than 71.4 percent of the budget spending allocat

Dec. 8, 2020