Economy

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  Korean, UAE firms sign contracts, MOUs worth $6.1 billion SEOUL -- Domestic companies are vying to strike a deal with United Arab Emirates’ firms after the UAE promised to invest $30 billion (about 37 trillion won) in South Korea. On January 16, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a Korea-UAE business forum in Abu Dhabi to help South Korean corporations look for UAE partners as part of efforts to increase exports to the Middle Eastern country and explore business opportunities there. The business forum came after Pre 2023-01-17
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  CMG Pharmaceutical acquires animal nutritional supplement developer targeting pet healthcare market SEOUL -- CMG Pharmaceutical, a unit of South Korea's CHA biomedical group, will make a foray into the pet nutrition supplement market by acquiring ING Medix, a domestic animal nutritional supplement provider. The pharmaceutical company's distribution network will be used to sell various types of products such as softly chewable supplements. The number of South Koreans who own pets have consistently increased. When the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic swept across the 2023-01-17
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  ​Seoul to launch metaverse-based counseling services for students struggling in school SEOUL -- A metaverse-based counseling platform will be adopted in Seoul to help young students maintain their composure while facing various types of struggles such as academic concerns and friendship problems. Without revealing their faces, students can communicate with teachers using avatars capable of recognizing different emotions. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the number of young people feeling positive emotions has significantly decreased. In a 2021 survey of 862 people aged 2023-01-16
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  Foreign investors become net buyers this month, leading Korean stock market SEOUL -- Foreign investors have become net buyers on the main Seoul stock exchange this month, ramping up share prices. According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), foreigners’ net purchase was estimated at 2.88 trillion won ($2.33 billion) between January 2 and 13. The net buying trend was in contrast to their net selling of 1.69 trillion won last month, boosting the benchmark KOSPI by 6.7 percent from 2,236.40 on December 29 to 2,386.09 on January 13. Foreign portfolio in 2023-01-16
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  UAE decides to invest $30 billion in South Korea SEOUL -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to invest $30 billion (about 37 trillion won) in South Korea’s nuclear power, energy and defense sectors, the presidential office said on January 15. The decision came during a summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and his UAE counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. The office quoted the UAE president as telling Yoon that the Middle Eastern country has made the investment decision with confidence in the 2023-01-16
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  Korea-Singapore digital partnership pact to take effect on January 14 SEOUL -- The bilateral Digital Partnership Agreement (DPA) between South Korea and Singapore will take effect on January 14, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. The implementation of the agreement comes after the two countries exchanged documents stating that each state has completed the due process of approving the pact. In November, Korea and Singapore signed the DPA, a trade pact which is aimed at stepping up cooperation in the field of digital trade and industry. 2023-01-13
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  BOK raises interest rate again to 3.5% to tame inflation SEOUL -- The Bank of Korea (BOK) increased its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to 3.5 percent to tame inflation on January 13. It marked the seventh consecutive rate hike by the central bank since April 2022. “We concluded that it was necessary to increase the interest rate to ensure price stability as inflationary pressure still remains high and prices are expected to stay above the target rate for a considerable period of time,” the BOK’s rate-setting 2023-01-13
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  ​Korea to increase nuclear energy reliance to 32.4% by 2030 SEOUL -- South Korea has decided to increase the proportion of nuclear energy to 32.4 percent of its total power generation by 2030 and further to 34.6 percent by 2036, according to a long-term energy plan released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on January 12. The ministry also plans to raise the share of renewable energy to 21.6 percent by 2030, down 8.6 percentage points from the 30-percent target set by the previous Moon Jae-in administration. The proportion will 2023-01-13
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  Kakao Entertainment attracts $963.8 million investment from global funds SEOUL -- Kakao Entertainment Corp., South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp.’s entertainment and media unit, has attracted investment worth 1.2 trillion won ($963.8 million) from two global sovereign wealth funds, the company said on January 12. According to the company, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Singapore’s Pwarp Investment PTE have decided to invest 600 billion won equally in Kakao Entertainment. Kakao said that the sum is the largest invest 2023-01-12
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  Businesses worried about China's potential retaliation following pandemic-related visa dispute SEOUL -- South Korean businesses are concerned about a potential trade retaliation by China following Beijing’s decision to suspend short-term visas issuance and transit visa exemption for South Korean and Japanese citizens. Such concerns have arisen since the Chinese immigration office said on January 10 that South Korean and Japanese travelers cannot enjoy transit visa exemption which is to allow them to stay in a Chinese city for 72 hours to 144 hours while transiting thro 2023-01-12
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  Number of jobs increases by 810,000 in 2022, hitting 22-year high SEOUL -- The number of jobs increased by 810,000 to 28.08 million last year from a year before, boosted by stable economic growth and a return to normal life from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Statistics Korea. The increase was the largest since 2000 when the number climbed by 882,000. The previous record was set in 1987 when the figure rose by 849,000. Gong Mi-suk, director in charge of social data at the statistical office, said that the boom in the job market was attri 2023-01-11
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  LINE's subsidiary partners with blockchain company to co-develop global NFT platform SEOUL -- LINE NEXT, the non-fungible token-based service development wing of global messenger platform operator LINE, has forged a partnership with Finger Labs, a blockchain developer operated by digital marketing company Future Stream Networks, to co-develop a global NFT platform. A blockchain is a decentralized network where all connected users have a virtual ledger. When a change is made to a ledger, the same change is simultaneously made to all other ledgers, making the network 2023-01-11
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  Businesses reduce production targets amid economic slowdown SEOUL -- Domestic businesses have begun to reduce their production targets, battered by soaring inflation and high interest rates. Industry sources said that it is inevitable for companies to cut down on production as the economic downturn is likely to persist at least in the first half of this year. They warned that the production reduction could create a vicious cycle of growing unemployment, falling consumption, and sluggish investments. The output target cut by large fi 2023-01-11
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  Current account swings back to deficit in November SEOUL -- South Korea posted a current account deficit again in November last year amid a steep fall in memory chip exports, according to the Bank of Korea on January 10. The BOK said the deficit was estimated at $620 million, compared to a surplus of $682 million a year before. The shortfall came after the current account returned to a surplus of $880 million in October. The current account, a broad measure of a nation’s global trade in goods and services as well as net e 2023-01-10
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  Shipbuilders suffer acute manpower shortage SEOUL -- South Korean shipbuilders are suffering from an acute shortage of workforce when they already secured orders of vessels to be constructed in the next three years. The shortage has been caused not only by brisk orders, but also by negative factors such as low wages and difficult working conditions, according to industry and labor experts. They pointed out that more and more shipbuilding workers have quit their job and moved to other workplaces because their wages contin 2023-01-10
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  Broadcom offers fund worth $15.8 million to voluntarily correct unfair practices SEOUL -- Broadcom Inc., a U.S. chipmaker, has offered to set up a 20-billion-won ($15.8-million) fund as part of voluntary measures to correct its alleged unfair business practices, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said on January 9. The proposal is seen as a move by Broadcom to avert any penalty from the antitrust regulator, or criminal charges for allegedly violating competition laws here in Korea. The KFTC said that it has been investigating allegations that the Americ 2023-01-10
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  [CES 2023] Hyundai shipbuilding group's holding company partners with Estonian SOFC manufacturer to develop fuel cells for ships SEOUL -- Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the holding company of Hyundai shipbuilding group, has partnered with Elcogen, a solid oxide fuel cells manufacturer in Estonia, to develop fuel cells for vessels and power generation. The two companies will also work with a German-based applied science research institute specializing in energy storage and fuel cell systems. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are electrochemical conversion devices that produce electricity directly 2023-01-10
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  Sales of pet food items of Shinsegae's online shopping mall increase 30 percent on-year SEOUL -- Sales of pet food items at SSG.com, an online shopping mall operator run by South Korea's retail giant Shinsegae, significantly increased between January 2022 and January 2023, compared to a year ago. The online ecommerce operator said dog pads which are put on the floor when dogs defecate were best-selling products at its pet product shopping mall called "Molly's SSG." According to data released by SSG.com, dog pads were the most popular item as of Janua 2023-01-09
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  Korea to standardize core technologies such as self-driving, AI, digital transition SEOUL -- The South Korean government has decided to push for standardization of new core technologies such as self-driving, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital transition. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on January 9 that it will step up cooperation with the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) in standardizing the country’s new technologies as part of efforts to explore new markets and boost exports. The KATS, aligned with the ministry, 2023-01-09
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  Manufacturing industry leads economic slump: KDI SEOUL -- South Korea's manufacturing sector is losing steam in the face of sluggish exports affected by a worldwide economic downturn, according to the Korea Development Institute (KDI). The state-funded think tank said on January 8 that the country has entered the phase of an economic slowdown amid sluggish overseas shipments of Korean products. It added that the manufacturing industry is taking the brunt of the downturn. Falling exports of semiconductors, the country' 2023-01-09