Korean Air to charge additional fees on emergency exit seats

Korean Air Lines Co. said Monday it will begin charging additional fees on emergency exit row seats when booking international flights next year. South Korea's biggest carrier said on its website that optional fees will be charged on exit row seats with extra legroom, which are located in the front row of each section of the economy class, starting Jan. 14. Emergency exit row seats will be limited to passengers that satisfy the official safety requirements, and those who book the seats will b

Dec. 7, 2020

Foreign IBs slightly upgrade S. Korea's growth outlook

Foreign investment banks (IBs) have slightly upgraded their forecasts for South Korea's economic growth for this year on growing hopes of a recovery, a report showed Monday. However, economic uncertainties are high over a third wave of coronavirus infections, with the country reporting more than 600 daily new cases for the second straight day. As of end-November, nine major global IBs, including Barclays and Goldman Sachs, projected Asia's fourth-largest economy to shrink 1.1 percent this ye

Dec. 7, 2020

Daewoo Shipbuilding inks initial deal for 10 crude carriers

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Monday it has signed an initial deal with a European company to build 10 very large crude carriers (VLCC). The deal is expected to be concluded by the first quarter of next year, Daewoo Shipbuilding said in an emailed statement. The 300,000-ton crude carriers will be propelled by both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fuel oil, the shipbuilder said. Daewoo Shipbuilding will have a chance to build vessels to be fueled by the two energy sou

Dec. 7, 2020

LG Uplus has fastest 5G download speed in S. Korea: report

LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, has the fastest 5G download speed among South Korean mobile carriers, a report showed Monday. The mobile carrier's median 5G download speed in Seoul stood at 476.5 megabits per second (Mbps), followed by the country's largest mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. at 436.2 Mbps and telecom giant KT Corp. at 425.8 Mbps, according to a report by market researcher RootMetrics, RootMetrics added that LG Uplus had greater accessibility to 5G in the cap

Dec. 7, 2020

Almost 30% of instructors at private institutes lost jobs amid pandemic: survey

More than one out of four instructors at private institutes lost their jobs during the course of the new coronavirus pandemic, predominantly without unemployment benefits, a survey showed Monday. In an online survey on the effect of COVID-19 on 500 instructors released by Gabjil 119, a workers' advocacy group, 27 percent of the respondents said they experienced unemployment in the past 10 months since the virus outbreak. Commissioned by Gabjil 119, the survey was conducted from Nov. 20-24 on

Dec. 7, 2020

Naver's live-streaming shopping platform logs 45 million views in 4 months

Naver Corp., the operator of South Korea's dominant internet portal, said Monday that more than 45 million accumulated views have been made at its live-streaming shopping platform in the four months since its launch. More than 45 million accumulated views were recorded and 400,000 purchases made at Shopping Live since the platform was launched on July 30, Naver said. Live commerce, or TV home shopping-style mobile shopping, has recently emerged as a potential game changer for the country's ret

Dec. 7, 2020

[Graphic News] 40% of delivery drivers work over 14 hours per day during peak season

　About 40 percent of parcel delivery drivers in South Korea work more than 14 hours a day during peak seasons, government data showed. 　The Labor Ministry released its study on the working conditions and health of couriers following a recent series of deaths of workers, apparently from overwork. The survey was conducted online on 1,862 workers at four major logistics companies from Nov. 1-13. 　The survey found that 41.6 percent worked 14 hours per day during busy times of year, including

Dec. 7, 2020

Seoul stocks open tad higher on pharmaceutical, chip gains

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Monday due to strong pharmaceuticals and chip gains, following the government's decision to toughen the quarantine measures against the new coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 3.65 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,735.1 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks lifted after closing at an all-time high Friday, as hopes of vaccine development and chip demands continued to run high in the financial markets. The gain

Dec. 7, 2020

Gold prices on downswing amid stock market surge

Gold prices in South Korea have been on the skids in recent months amid a soaring local stock market, data showed Monday. A gram of gold changed hands at 64,320 won ($59.23) on the domestic market Friday, down 0.80 percent from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. The closing prices were down 19.7 percent from an all-time high of 80,100 won per gram recorded on July 28 this year. International prices of the yellow metal have also dropped to the $1,800 range per ounce from th

Dec. 7, 2020

S. Korea's imports of Japanese beer jump in Oct. amid weaker boycott

South Korea's imports of Japanese beer spiked in October from a year earlier due to stepped-up marketing activities amid a weaker local boycott of goods from the neighboring country, data showed Monday. Seoul brought in $370,000 worth of Japanese beer in October, up a whopping 873.7 percent from the same month last year when the boycott was in full swing, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the liquor industry. Imports of Japanese beer had been on the upswing in recent mon

Dec. 7, 2020

Foreigners remain net buyers of S. Korean stocks in November

Foreign investors remained net buyers of South Korean stocks in November, extending their buying spree for a second straight month, partly thanks to the weak US dollar, data showed Monday. Foreigners bought a net 6.12 trillion won ($5.6 billion) worth of local stocks in November, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). British investors net purchased 2.2 trillion won worth of stocks, while American investors bought a net 989 billion won last month, according to the

Dec. 7, 2020

[Women in Finance] Finance industry faces gender equality test in time of crisis

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of special reports on the glass ceiling in the financial industry, focusing on South Korea’s market compared to other major economies. Funded by The Korea Press Foundation, the series will evaluate where Asia’s fourth-largest economy stands in terms of gender equality, reflect on changes being made, and explore ways to boost inclusion in the sector. -- Ed. In the face of the unprecedented pandemic crisis, improved gender equality is no long

Dec. 6, 2020

Upbit Developer Conference discusses future of blockchain, CBDC

Riding momentum recently created in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries, cryptocoin exchange operator Dunamu held a five-day conference for domestic and global blockchain developers last week to discuss the future of the industry as central banks around the globe experiment with digital money. Due to the global pandemic, the third annual Upbit Developer Conference was organized as a free online event, broadcasting a series of sessions from Nov. 30 to Friday, but still drew over 3,000

Dec. 6, 2020

US slaps 15% anti-dumping tariffs on Korean oil pipelines

The US has decided to impose anti-dumping duties on South Korean oil pipelines of up to 15 percent. According to the Korea International Trade Association on Sunday, the US Department of Commerce recently made a final ruling at an annual review of anti-dumping duties on Korea oil pipelines to levy tariffs between 9.33 percent and 15.07 percent. Compared to last year’s figure, which stood at 22.7 percent to 38.87 percent, the tariffs have been slashed by more than half. The US Departme

Dec. 6, 2020

SK chief Chey underscores ESG

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won called for an incentive system that compensates for companies’ ESG -- environmental, social and governance -- efforts, according to industry sources Sunday. Speaking at Beijing Forum 2020, an event held jointly by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies and Peking University, Chey stressed the necessity of an ESG incentive system that provides reasonable compensations for companies to promote ESG value creation in both private and public sectors. Chey s

Dec. 6, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] Mercedes-Benz 2021 E-Class gets fresh, modern touch

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is South Korea‘s most beloved imported sedan. Since its launch in 2016, the 10th generation E-Class models have sold about 160,000 units, making it the best-selling imported car in Korea. Last year, the E-Class was the top-selling luxury car among both Korean and imported cars. Maintaining the highest spot in the luxury sedan market, however, is not an easy job. Hyundai’s luxury sedan Genesis G80 came on fast this year, overtaking the E-Class. By October

Dec. 6, 2020

Recovery of private consumption needs more expenditure by high-income group: report

The high-income group should spend more to revive South Korea's public consumption amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a report said Sunday. Public consumption has recovered slightly from the second quarter of the year, but it is still lackluster compared with before the new coronavirus pandemic occurred, said the report by the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF). According to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK), private consumption rose an average 0.7 percent from 2017 to 2019. But the first quarter o

Dec. 6, 2020

KT supports partner firms to enter foreign markets

KT, South Korea’s leading telecommunications firm, will provide support to local companies to join a foreign tech fair to help them enter the global market, the company said Sunday. The telecommunications firm recently selected four partner firms that it will provide support in introducing products at KT‘s designated exhibition booth at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition 2020. The fair, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, has been attracting some 4,000 firms

Dec. 6, 2020

Samsung Electronics to hold global strategy meeting next week

Samsung Electronics, which completed its annual executive reshuffle Friday, is expected to hold a global strategy meeting next week with the participation of all executives from the global offices to establish business strategies for next year. Samsung’s global strategy meeting, which is held twice a year in June and December, is a venue where executives at local and global units gather to review the business conditions of each sector and discuss new growth engine plans. Convention

Dec. 6, 2020

S. Korea's economy forecast to recover in 2nd half of next year: report

South Korea's economy is predicted to recover from the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the second half of next year unless the pandemic resurges, a report said Sunday. But the report by the Hyundai Research Institute said the South Korean economy is expected to face another downturn in the first quarter of next year if the pandemic resurges. A resurgence of the pandemic next year would cause the economic recovery of the country to be delayed till the first half of 2022, the repor

Dec. 6, 2020