Korean banks brace for India’s COVID crisis

South Korean banks have launched emergency safety measures for their businesses in India, as the country grapples with the world’s worst COVID-19 outbreak. The spiking coronavirus infections and deaths in the world’s second-most populous nation has set yet another major hurdle for the banks’ overseas expansion goals, after Myanmar’s military coup put a damper on their plans. According to the watchdog Financial Supervisory Service, a total of eight banks have entered t

May 11, 2021

S. Korea reviews cybersecurity readiness amid US pipeline disruptions

South Korea's industry ministry said Tuesday it is examining its cybersecurity readiness of its energy-related infrastructure, as the United States grapples with a major ransomware attack that has disrupted its pipeline system. Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook held a virtual meeting with officials from state-run energy firms to thoroughly prepare for potential cyberattacks, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Last week, US-based Colonial Pipeline, a major pipeline system o

May 11, 2021

Accelerator Future Play raises W10B for expansion

Future Play, a South Korea-based accelerator, said on Tuesday that it has raised 10 billion won ($8.9 million) in the latest funding for its business expansion. Its Series B funding drew investment from LG International, DB Financial Investment, Prophet Asset Management, Futura, Data Solution and Hashed, said the company’s CEO and founder Ryu Jung-hee. The company plans to enter Indonesia later this month and introduce FuturePlace.AI, an online platform to provide tailor-made resources

May 11, 2021

Government urged to take swift action as small businesses reel from COVID-19

Self-employed business owners suffered a major setback last year, with half of all sectors posting revenue drops from the previous year totaling 19.4 trillion won ($17.42 billion), new data revealed Tuesday. According to data from the National Tax Service obtained by Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the main opposition People Power Party, 29 out of 52 categories of self-employed business owners saw their revenue drop last year, with restaurateurs suffering the biggest loss as they saw 5.73 trillion evapor

May 11, 2021

LG Chem to commit W150b to local PEF in green bet

South Korea‘s battery materials maker and petrochemical firm LG Chem said Tuesday it plans to commit 150 billion won ($134 million) capital to a new private equity fund that targets promising companies dedicated to electric vehicle parts and ecofriendly plastics. The committed capital will be part of IMM Credit Solution’s upcoming growth-focused Korea Battery & ESG Fund, which aims to earmark a total of 400 billion won. IMM Credit Solution is a subsidiary of Korea‘s thir

May 11, 2021

Hanwha Asset unveils fund marketplace app

Hanwha Asset Management said Tuesday it has launched a new mobile app for retail investors wanting to buy a fund and go around third-party fund distribution channels. This is the latest move of South Korea‘s fourth-largest firm -- which has around 97 trillion won ($86.6 billion) in assets under its management -- to create its own online fund marketplace in a nation where tech-savvy consumers had few choices to buy funds other than through third-party sales channels of banks, securities br

May 11, 2021

Nonfungible token of historic human-AI Go battle up for auction

A nonfungible token of the historic match between between South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol and Google’s artificial intelligence Go player AlphaGo has been auctioned off as a digital content on OpenSea, the world’s largest marketplace for NFTs, officials said Monday.  A nonfungible token is a digital recreation of media contents such as videos and photos that is traded via the blockchain. Upon the purchase through the internet auction site, investors can declare ownership of

May 11, 2021

SKIET shares lose vitality after Kospi market debut

SK ie technology, a battery materials subsidiary of refinery and battery firm SK Innovation, rose on its market debut on the South Korean main board Tuesday, but lost value over the trading day, despite rosy market forecasts.  As soon as the opening bell rang, shares of SKIET started off at 210,000 won ($187.64), doubling its initial public offering price, but closed at 26.43 percent down from their opening price, at 154,500 won. On the first day of trading, the company’s market capi

May 11, 2021

Samsung loses top spot in 4 Southeast Asian smartphone markets in Q1: report

Samsung Electronics Co. lost its top spot in four major smartphone markets in Southeast Asia in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Tuesday, as it faced intensified competition with Chinese brands in the region. The South Korean tech giant logged a 19 percent market share in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in the January-March period, down from 22 percent a year earlier and slipped to the runner-up spot, according to the latest report from market researcher Counterpo

May 11, 2021

KT Q1 net surges on 5G user growth, new tech biz

KT Corp., a South Korean telecom giant, said Tuesday its first-quarter net profit rose 43.7 percent from a year earlier on the back of growth in 5G users and new tech businesses. Net income for the January-March period stood at 326.5 billion won ($292 million) on a consolidated basis, compared with 227.2 billion won from a year earlier, according to a company regulatory filing. Operating profit reached 444.2 billion won, up 15.4 percent over the cited period, while sales increased 3.4 percent

May 11, 2021

Service output in 8 provinces, cities rises in Q1 amid economic recovery

Combined service output rose in eight provinces and major cities in South Korea in the first quarter, led by production gains in Seoul, as the economy is on a recovery track, data showed Tuesday. Seoul, three other cities and four provinces posted an on-year increase in service output in the January-March period, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Among them, service output in Seoul -- home to about one-fifth of the country's 52 million population -- rose at the fastest rate of 6.3 p

May 11, 2021

S. Korean shipbuilders lag behind Chinese rivals in new orders in April

South Korean shipbuilders lost their No. 1 ranking to Chinese rivals in terms of new orders in April, nine months after taking the top spot since July, industry data showed Tuesday. South Korean shipbuilders led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. obtained new orders of 34 ships, or 1.19 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), falling behind their Chinese rivals with 53 ships, or 1.64 million CGTs, according to the data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service. South Korean sh

May 11, 2021

S. Korean airlines expand non-scheduled flights to India this month

Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's two biggest carriers, said Tuesday they will expand non-scheduled flights to India this month to bring home Koreans residing there amid the spreading COVID-19 pandemic. Korean Air and Asiana said they plan to provide two and seven flights, respectively, in May to the virus-hit South Asian country. It is up from one and four flights that Korean Air and Asiana originally planned for this month. Asiana already flew two flights on route

May 11, 2021

SK Telecom Q1 net nearly doubles on equity gains, 5G growth

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Tuesday its first-quarter net income nearly doubled on the back of increased equity gains and growth in its 5G subscriber base. Net profit stood at 572 billion won ($510.8 million), up 86.95 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit rose 29.04 percent to 388.8 billion won over the cited period, according to a company regulatory filing. Sales in the January-March period increased 7.41 percent on-year to 4.78 trillion won. The

May 11, 2021

S. Korea settles 53 non-tariff trade barriers in 2020

South Korea's trade ministry said Tuesday it has settled 53 cases of non-tariff trade barriers that had direct impacts on local exporters in 2020. Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) operated 3,354 technical barriers to trade (TBT) in 2020, up 30 percent from 2016, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Of them, 131 cases had adverse impacts on local exports. TBTs, which include consumer safety standards, energy and environmental requirements, a

May 11, 2021

S. Korea seeks to join DEPA, promote digital trade

South Korea held a public hearing on Tuesday on its bid to join a global pact on the digital trade sector that covers a wider array of issues beyond conventional free trade agreements. The hearing came as South Korea plans to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), which centers on expanding ties in the digital trade segment among its members, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The DEPA, which currently covers Singapore, New Zealand and Chile, came into eff

May 11, 2021

Eco-friendly cars take up 71% of new public vehicles in 2020: data

South Korea said Tuesday eco-friendly cars, including electric models, accounted for 71 percent of the total vehicles purchased by public organizations last year, as the country continued its efforts to go carbon neutral by 2050. The country's 609 public organizations purchased 7,736 automobiles in 2020, of which 5,494 were eco-friendly models, according to the government data. Eco-friendly models include electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid cars. The survey was based on public organizatio

May 11, 2021

S. Korea's tax revenue rises W19tr in Q1

South Korea's tax revenue increased 19 trillion won ($17 billion) in the first quarter from a year earlier due largely to an increase in the collection of income and corporate taxes, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The country collected 88.5 trillion won in the January-March period, compared with 69.5 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The tally came as capital gains tax income rose amid increased housing transactions and stock trading. Corpora

May 11, 2021

Korea Shipbuilding wins W850b order for offshore plant

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Tuesday that it has signed an 850 billion won ($762 million) deal to build an offshore plant. The deal is a part of a total 2.5 trillion won order to build a FPSO, which was placed by Brazilian state-owned oil firm Petrobras, KSOE said. FPSO is short for a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, a type of floating tank system used in the offshore oil and gas industry. The 2.5 trillion won deal was jointly obtained by KS

May 11, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower, tracking Wall Street decline

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday after the benchmark stock index closed at an all-time high the previous session, tracking a decline on Wall Street. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 17.05 points, or 0.52 percent, to 3,232.25 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stock prices declined as investors sold stocks to lock in gains. The stock index had advanced for the past four trading sessions until Monday amid eased tapering jitters on Wall Street. In Seoul, market

May 11, 2021