East Asian medical encyclopedia, Korea’s first coin telephone under review as scientific heritage items

The National Science Museum, operated by the Science and ICT Ministry, said Monday that it was reviewing a list of eight items that may qualify for official recognition as part of South Korea’s scientific heritage. They include an early coin-operated public telephone and a series of books about East Asian medicine that was recognized as a national treasure in 2015. Donguibogam, compiled and edited by Joseon-era physician Heo Jun, is an encyclopedia of East Asian medical knowledge and tec

Nov. 30, 2020

Kia workers to continue strike for higher pay amid pandemic

Unionized workers at Kia Motors Corp. will extend their partial strike for several days to demand higher wages and bonuses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the union said Monday. Daytime and night-duty workers will hold a four-hour strike at Kia's three domestic plants in Gwangmyeong and Hwaseong, both near Seoul, and Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, on Dec. 1-2 and 4, union spokesman Hwang Hyo-dong said over the phone. "The company didn't contact the union to narrow differences over

Nov. 30, 2020

Volvo Cars Korea donates W300m to support disabled children

Volvo Cars Korea said Monday it delivered a donation of 300 million won ($271,000) to a nonprofit organization to support children with disabilities. Since 2017, Volvo Cars Korea has been working with Purme Foundation to support children with disabilities undergoing rehabilitation, the company said. The funds delivered will be used to provide assistive devices to 100 children and teenagers under 18, and for operation of a children’s rehabilitation hospital, the automaker said. &ldquo

Nov. 30, 2020

SsangYong Motor approved to test Level 3 autonomous vehicle

SsangYong Motor said Monday it has gained government approval to test-run Level 3 self-driving technology for its Korando model, and will start test-driving the vehicle on regular roads next month. The autonomous vehicle of the company’s compact crossover sport utility vehicle Korando is the second model for the automaker to receive such approval, following the Tivoli Air, the company said. South Korea‘s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has introduced a permission s

Nov. 30, 2020

Pulmuone’s tofu achieves carbon trust standard

Pulmuone, a South Korean food company, said Monday its tofu products achieved a global standard for carbon footprints by Carbon Trust. According to Pulmuone, 10 of its tofu products attained Carbon Trust Standard for Carbon by Carbon Trust, a UK-based organization for climate impact reduction. “We are delighted to congratulate Pulmuone for being the first Korean food company to have its product carbon footprint certified by the Carbon Trust,” Morgan Jones, associate director of C

Nov. 30, 2020

Seoul stocks sink over 1.5% on profit-taking

South Korean shares dropped more than 1.5 percent Monday after hitting an all-time high the previous session as investors attempted to cash in gains. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 42.11 points, or 1.6 percent, to close at 2,591.34. Trading volume was high at about 1.28 billion shares worth some 20.4 trillion won ($18.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 511 to 331. Foreigners sold a net 2.4 trillion won, while

Nov. 30, 2020

Korean Air to sell Incheon yacht marina

Korean Air Lines is inching closer to selling its yacht marina operation in Incheon to a new Korean buyer for roughly 130 billion won ($117 million). The investor group of Consus Asset Management and Mirae Asset Daewoo said Monday it has signed a memorandum of understanding as a preferred bidder to buy 100 percent stake in Wangsan Leisure Development, operator of Wangsan Marina, which is wholly controlled by the nation’s No. 1 flag carrier.　 Wangsan Marina was built in 2016. Part of the

Nov. 30, 2020

Ministry's frequency redistribution price still higher than carriers' offer

The ICT ministry said Monday the redistribution price for past generation network frequency bands used by the country's major mobile carriers should be at least 3.17 trillion won ($2.9 billion). The ministry and the three telecom operators -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- had been locked in a fierce debate in recent months over the redistribution price of 2G, 3G and 4G frequency bands that are set to expire next year. The Ministry of Science and ICT's final price offer, howeve

Nov. 30, 2020

Percentage of 50,000 won notes returned to central bank falls to all-time low

South Korea’s central bank said Monday that the percentage of 50,000 won ($45.26) notes returned to the bank plummeted to a record low due to sentiment surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The return rate fell to 25.4 percent for the first 10 months of this year, the lowest level since the notes began circulating in June 2009 and 39.4 percentage points lower than for the same period last year, the Bank of Korea said in a report. The BOK issued 21.9 trillion won worth of 50,000 won notes

Nov. 30, 2020

Warren Buffett’s favorite market indicator suggests Korean stocks may be overvalued

While South Korea’s benchmark index hit an all-time record of 2,633.45 on Friday, a global market gauge also reached a new high, suggesting the country’s stock market may be overvalued. The Buffett indicator -- US investor Warren Buffett’s preferred market indicator -- marked 112.7 percent as of Friday, according to data from the Bank of Korea and Korea Exchange on Monday. The indicator is calculated by dividing combined listed stocks’ market capitalization by the coun

Nov. 30, 2020

Massive year-end sales open on online shopping platforms

With the end-of-year shopping season in full swing, South Korea’s major online shopping platforms including Coupang, WeMakePrice and Olive Young have announced big discounts and special deals. Coupang, the largest e-commerce platform in the country, is holding a Christmas sale until Boxing Day offering a range of Christmas-related items at a special price including home decor products and gifts. Discounts of up to 50 percent are being offered for some of the most popular kids’ toys

Nov. 30, 2020

HMM dispatches new vessel to help small exporters to US market

Shipping company HMM said on Monday that it is dispatching a fifth vessel for the US West Coast sea lane in an “emergency move” to help South Korean exporters to the US market. The 4600-twenty-foot-equivalent-unit container vessel named Integral will depart from the Port of Busan on Monday evening and head to Los Angeles, the company said. HMM said nearly 64 percent of the vessel’s shipping capacity is products from small and medium-sized enterprises, including air purifiers

Nov. 30, 2020

Apple to make harder push in Korea with 2nd Apple Store

Apple Korea announced Monday it would open its second South Korean store in Yeouido, the financial district in northwestern Seoul, as part of a strategy to expand its sales and services in the country. Although the Seoul branch didn’t reveal an official date for the opening of the new Apple Store, the second shop is likely to open within the year. The second Apple Store of the global tech giant will be located in the first basement floor of the IFC Mall in Yeouido. Apple is opening

Nov. 30, 2020

Will rumors of ‘no Galaxy Note in 2021’ turn out to be true?

Several moves recently made by Samsung allude to a major change in the tech giant’s smartphone lineup strategy for 2021, according to various news reports on Monday. One of the biggest changes would be a reduction of the Galaxy Note, which used to be Samsung’s flagship smartphone model along with its signature S Pen and has been released in the second half of each year for the past 10 years. High-profile tipsters like Max Weinbach and Ice Universe, as well as smartphone-focus

Nov. 30, 2020

S. Korea's 5G users near 10m in Oct.: data

South Korea's number of 5G users reached nearly 10 million as of end-October, ministry data showed Monday. The number of 5G subscribers stood at 9.98 million as of the end of October, up 735,113 from the previous month, according to data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The 5G subscribers accounted for 14.2 percent of the country's mobile subscriptions totaling 70.4 million. South Korea commercially rolled out 5G in April 2019 for the first time in the world. The latest figure comes as

Nov. 30, 2020

Foreign firms say biz environment deteriorated over past 3 years

Foreign-invested companies rated South Korea’s business environment as excellent overall, but were unsatisfied with the labor environment and the passive attitude of the authorities, survey showed Monday. The Federation of Korean Industries conducted a survey for trade and investment officers as well as foreign economic organizations of the top 50 foreign investment countries in Korea about the business environment in the nation. The survey took place from Oct. 12 to Nov. 6.　 While givi

Nov. 30, 2020

Corporate direct financing up 20% in October

South Korean companies’ stock and bond sales rose 19.7 percent in October from a month earlier due mainly to a robust gain in bond sales by financial firms, data showed Monday. Local companies raised a combined 20.6 trillion won ($18.6 billion) by selling stocks and bonds in October, up 3.4 trillion won from September, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Last month, six companies raised a combined 1.07 trillion won through initial public offerings, up 52.5 perce

Nov. 30, 2020

Celltrion cautious against COVID-19 spread as treatment nears approval

Celltrion, located in Songdo, Incheon, is being extra vigilant against the sudden spike of COVID-19 patients in the city, as it awaits conditional approval of its antibody treatment, according to a person familiar with the matter, Monday. “Employees at Celltrion are now advised to take their work laptops home with them every day, so that in the case we become confirmed patients, we can immediately work from home under quarantine,” a Celltrion employee told The Korea Herald under the

Nov. 30, 2020

S. Korea refutes China's claim on industrial standard for kimchi

Kimchi is not just fermented cabbage but a central part of Korea's food culture, and the process of making it has already been recognized as a global standard for nearly two decades, Seoul's agriculture ministry said Monday. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs made the remark to refute Chinese media's claim that Beijing has won a certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for its kimchi making process. The ministry said Beijing won ISO certific

Nov. 30, 2020