SoftBank Group founder and CEO Masayoshi Son plans to meet with Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong to discuss a potential strategic alliance between the South Korean tech giant and ARM, a U.K.-based chip designer owned by SoftBank."I'd like to talk with Samsung Electronics about a st
The Bank of Korea announced on Sept. 22 that South Korea’s housing price rose 25.5 percent from January 2020 to May this year and the rate of increase is the 15th-highest in the OECD.“When it comes to the pace of increase in housing price-to-income ratio, South Korea is third-highest among 33 countr
The ongoing rapid depreciation of the South Korean currency is predicted to affect the top four South Korean business groups’ U.S. investment plans released before and after President Joe Biden’s visit in May.The planned investments add up to at least US$56 billion. For example, Samsung Electronics
The Fed’s interest rate policy jolted South Korean financial markets again. On Sept. 22, the won-dollar exchange rate surged from 1,394.2 won to 1,409.7 won to top 1,400 won for the first time since March 20, 2009. This is the third time in history that the rate topped that level.The exchange rate m
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups hosted the Korea-U.S. Startup Summit in New York on Sept. 20 and 21. There, the ministry, RPS Ventures, Millennium Technology Value Partners and Applied Ventures agreed to raise a startup fund together.The 280 billion won fund is to help South Korean startups enter
A survey has found that three German automakers -- BMW Korea, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen Korea -- had the highest number of recalls over the past five years from 2018 to August 2022.BMW Korea topped the list with 2,702 recalls during this period, according to Rep. Park Sang-hyuk of the Democratic
A growing number of North American political and business leaders are visiting South Korea, either to attract Korean companies’ factories to their regions or to overcome supply chain disruptions in cooperation with Korean partners.Since the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) took effect on Oct. 16,
LG Display participated in Innotrans 2022, the world’s largest railway technology fair which is held in Berlin, Germany, from Sept. 20-23. During the fair, the Korean display giant showcases transparent OLED solutions for railways, which provide new boarding experiences for customers.Innotrans is an
Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Young-soon remarked on Sept. 21 that a total of 2,922 trademark infringements occurred in China in 2021.“The number was 977 in 2017 and rose to 1,666 in 2018 and 3,457 in 2020,” he said, adding, “It was 1,486 in 2019 and 1,436 in the first half of this year.”A
Credit Suisse said in its Global Wealth Report 2022 that the number of persons with assets of at least US$50 million was largest in the United States last year, followed by China, Germany, Canada, India, Japan, France, Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy and South Korea.According to the report, the
Selling of U.S. Treasury bonds is increasing worldwide. The amount already exceeded US$200 billion this year and major countries’ current U.S. Treasury holdings are close to the 2018 level. For example, the net selling by Japan and China, the two biggest holders, is US$69.7 billion and US$98.7 billi
Hwang Ju-ho, president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) visited the Czech Republic and Poland on Sept. 19 and 20, one month after his inauguration.President Hwang met with Josef Sikela, Czech minister of industry and trade, and Bohdan Zronek, director of CEZ Group's Nuclear Energy Division
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at idh@shinhan.com and jiunmyoung@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. Initiate coverage with BUY for a target price of KRW74,000We initiate coverage of Korea Aerospace Industries with BUY for a target price of KRW74,000. Our targ
Of the 77 energy companies included in Fortune Global 500 for 2022, only three were Korean -- SK (27th), Korea Electric Power (45th), and GS Caltex (75th), the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said on Sept. 20.Chinese companies accounted for the largest number, 18. The top three in the sales ra
The Korea Enterprises Federation recently conducted a survey on domestic labor unions and movements and released the results on Sept. 20. A total of 1,000 persons answered to the survey, 67.5 percent of them said that unionized workers must avoid illegal acts although what they demand are acceptable
After Nvidia failed to acquire ARM, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Qualcomm and Intel are being mentioned as those most likely to acquire the U.K. chip designer, whose mobile chip design market share amounts to 90 percent.ARM's scope of business exactly matches the weak points of the South Korea
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at idh@shinhan.com and jiunmyoung@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. Initiate coverage with BUY for a target price of KRW40,000We initiate coverage of Hyundai Rotem with BUY for a target price of KRW40,000. Our target price is b
South Korean credit card and insurance companies are rapidly expanding their overseas businesses in China and Southeast Asia.Shinhan Card is currently doing business in Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar. In the first half of this year, its overseas net profit was 11.33 billion won, up 400 percent from
The Ministry of Environment released a revised draft of K-Taxonomy on Sept. 20. In the draft, R&D and demonstration of the key nuclear power technologies including small modular reactor are classified as economic activities contributing to carbon neutrality and environmental improvement along with r
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. August revenue at KRW254.2bn (+21.2% YoY), OP at KRW47.6bn (+18.4% YoY; 18.7% OPM)— Orion posted prelim. August revenue of KRW254.2bn (+21.2% YoY) and OP of KRW47.6bn (+18.4% YoY; 18.7% OPM). For Korea, balan