S. Korea's card spending grows 5.4% in Oct.

Payments made with cards in South Korea grew more than 5 percent in October amid the new coronavirus outbreak, industry data showed Wednesday. Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards came to 77.3 trillion won ($69.7 billion) in October, up 5.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Credit Finance Association. Credit card spending stood at 60.1 trillion won, with payments made with debit cards reaching 17.1 trillion won. The association attributed the October in

Dec. 2, 2020

Large firms' social contributions dip 9% amid pandemic

Large South Korean companies' social contributions fell nearly 10 percent in the first nine months of the year amid a coronavirus-caused economic downturn, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Out of the country's top 500 firms by sales, 247 business concerns contributed a combined 1.13 trillion won ($1.02 billion) to social activities during the January-September period, down 9 percent from a year ago, according to CEO Score, which tracks corporate management. The decrease was ascribed to grea

Dec. 2, 2020

S. Korea's stock price gain in Nov. ranks 10th among G-20

South Korea's stock prices rose at the 10th-fastest pace among the Group of 20 (G-20) nations with major economies posting double-digit surges, data showed Wednesday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 14.30 percent in November from the prior month, outpacing the previous record monthly increase of 13.52 percent recorded in April 2009. It was the 10th highest hike among the G-20 economies and outperformed their average 14.1 percent expansion. All G-20 members saw

Dec. 2, 2020

S. Korea's consumer prices grow at faster pace in Nov.

South Korea's consumer prices grew at a faster pace in November than a month earlier as prices of agricultural products and service charges went up, data showed Wednesday. The consumer price index rose 0.6 percent on-year last month, compared with a 0.1 percent on-year gain in the previous month, according to the data by Statistics Korea. In October, the country's inflation rate grew at the slowest pace in four months due to state subsidies for mobile phone bills. Compared with a month earlie

Dec. 2, 2020

OECD sees sharper-than-expected retreat for S. Korean economy this year

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday forecast a sharper-than-expected contraction for the South Korean economy this year, citing the fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak. The OECD expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to retreat 1.1 percent this year, steeper than its September forecast of a 1 percent contraction. The Paris-based club of major economies predicted the Korean economy to grow 2.8 percent next year and 3.4 percent in 2022. Despite the dow

Dec. 1, 2020

Carmakers' Nov. sales dip 5 percent amid pandemic

South Korean carmakers' sales fell 5 percent last month from a year earlier as the coronavirus outbreak continued to sap demand around the globe, industry data showed Tuesday. The five carmakers in South Korea -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- sold a combined 674,040 vehicles in November, down from 710,466 units a year ago, according to data from the companies. Weak overseas demand and a series of strikes weighed on th

Dec. 1, 2020

Mercedes-Benz Korea launches new E-Class Coupe, Cabriolet

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Tuesday it has officially launched new models for its revamped E-Class -- two Coupe models and a Cabriolet -- completing the lineup of its bestselling luxury sedan family. The automaker presented a four-seater coupe, the new Mercedes-Benz E 450 Coupe, and the high-performance AMG variant, the new Mercedes-AMG E 53 4Matic+ Coupe. Also launched was a four-seater open-top model, the new Mercedes-Benz E 450 4Matic Cabriolet. The launch of the new E-Class Coupe and E-Class

Dec. 1, 2020

Mirae Asset wins lawsuit over $5.8b US hotel deal

Mirae Asset Global Investments, one of South Korea’s largest asset management firms, said Tuesday that it won a US court case against Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group over legal disputes involving a $5.8 billion deal to acquire luxury hotels. The Delaware Court of Chancery rejected Anbang’s demand of Mirae Asset to pay off the rest of the deal, and ordered the Chinese insurer to return $580 million it received from the South Korean company as a deposit of the deal, with inte

Dec. 1, 2020

Court clears path for Korean Air to buy Asiana

A court on Tuesday rejected an injunction request against Korean Air’s plans to take over Asiana Airlines, in the latest step giving a boost to the high-profile acquisition deal involving South Korea’s two national flag carriers. “The case involving issuance of new shares is in accordance with the commercial law and Hanjin KAL’s articles of incorporation and has been done within necessary boundaries to achieve the goal of managing a consolidated airline,” the Seou

Dec. 1, 2020

South Korea's exports bounce back in November

South Korea’s exports in November increased by 4 percent on-year to reach $45.8 billion, rebounding from a 3.8 percent decrease last month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Tuesday. The nation’s daily exports in November also marked a 6.3 percent rise on-year, the ministry said. It is the first time since November 2018 that the nation posted increases in both monthly and daily exports. The country’s exports, from March to August, posted on-year decr

Dec. 1, 2020

LG Energy Solution launches, aiming for W30tr revenue by 2024

LG Chem's battery business has been officially launched as the wholly-owned “LG Energy Solution” Tuesday, taking its first independent step as the world‘s leading batterymaker and overall energy solution provider. LG Energy Solution will be led by Chief Executive Officer Kim Jong-hyun, whose mission is to almost quadruple the revenue of the battery business to 30 trillion won ($27 billion) by 2024 from the 8.2 trillion won it made last year. “LG Energy Solution has led

Dec. 1, 2020

GM Korea workers vote against 2020 wage deal

Unionized workers at GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., voted down a tentative wage deal for the year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said Tuesday. In a vote held from Monday to Tuesday, 54 percent of 7,364 union workers rejected the tentative deal, GM Korea and its union said. Union leaders will meet Wednesday to "decide what (additional or revised) demands it will make to the company and whether to hold an industrial action to get their voice heard,&quo

Dec. 1, 2020

S. Korea invests $9.8m in World Bank green trust fund

South Korea has decided to invest $9.8 million in green and digital projects in developing nations through the World Bank’s Korea Green Growth Trust Fund, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Tuesday. The KGGTF, launched in 2011, is a Korean government-financed trust fund that has helped more than 100 green growth programs in WB lending, according to the ministry. The latest investment will involve 23 developing nations and projects in digital, green and health care fields. It aims t

Dec. 1, 2020

Nikola-GM fallout spills over to Hanwha

Nikola shares nose-dived 26.9 percent Monday after General Motors announced that it would revoke its initial plan to acquire an 11 percent stake once worth $2 billion in the electric truck startup. Upon the news, attention in South Korea quickly shifted to Hanwha Solutions and its President Kim Dong-kwan, who decided in November 2018 to invest $100 million to acquire a 6.13 percent stake in Nikola. Nikola, which was touted as a promising partner for Hanwha’s renewable energy push, ha

Dec. 1, 2020

Seoul stocks soar to new record high on economic recovery hopes

South Korean stocks rebounded from a sharp decline the previous session to hit a new all-time high Tuesday on the back of upbeat economic data, lifting hopes for a faster-than-expected recovery amid the pandemic. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 42.91 points, or 1.66 percent, to close at 2,634.25. Trading volume was high at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 15.7 trillion won ($14.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering los

Dec. 1, 2020

Naver Cloud, GS Global join hands for overseas market

Naver Cloud and GS Global will collaborate on their overseas services, the companies said Tuesday. The new alliance with GS Global gives Naver Cloud a channel to liaise with large-scale corporate clients in target countries, while for GS Global it allows for a business expansion opportunity into information technology, they said. “Naver Cloud has the most global region services among cloud platforms developed by Korean firms,” said Park Won-ki, CEO of Naver Cloud. “It has h

Dec. 1, 2020

Unity, ONEstore to operate W1b support program for game developers

Unity Technologies Korea will raise 1 billion won ($904,000) in funding together with ONEstore to operate a technology support program for game developers in Korea, it announced Tuesday. At an online press conference held a day ahead of the opening of its annual Unite Seoul 2020, Unity Korea reviewed its yearly performance and laid out the road map for the Unity game developing engine next year. “More than 64.8 percent of Korea's top 1,000 mobile games in 2020 were developed using

Dec. 1, 2020

SsangYong's Nov. sales rise 10% on increased exports

SsangYong Motor Co. said Tuesday its sales jumped 10 percent last month from a year earlier, helped by increased exports. SsangYong Motor sold 11,859 vehicles in November, up from 10,754 units a year ago due to strong overseas demand for its SUV models despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales rose 0.3 percent to 9,270 units from 9,240 during the same period, and exports surged 71 percent to 2,589 from 1,514, it said. The SUV-focused carmaker said it wil

Dec. 1, 2020

Mobile carriers consolidate tech biz for new growth drivers

Mobile carriers consolidate tech biz for new growth driversSouth Korean mobile carriers are merging their tech subsidiaries and consolidating new businesses to boost synergy as they search for new growth drivers beyond their telecommunication operations. Telecom giant KT Corp. announced it will merge its digital content distribution and television commerce subsidiary KT Hitel Co. and its mobile coupon and advertisement unit KT mhows Co. by July next year. KT said the consolidation of KT Hitel'

Dec. 1, 2020

Ex-FSC vice chief likely to lead stock market operator

Sohn Byung-doo, former vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, was named as the single candidate for the new chair post of the Korea Exchange, South Korea’s sole bourse operator, according to industry sources Tuesday. After conducting final interviews of three candidates a day earlier, the KRX’s chairman recommendation committee chose Sohn, insiders said without giving the names of the two others. The securities exchange operator is slated to hold a shareholders’ g

Dec. 1, 2020