Two out of three South Koreans believe that the ROK-U.S. alliance has been the foundation of Korea’s economic growth.The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) announced on April 16 the results of a survey commemorating the 70th anniversary of the ROK-U.S. alliance. The survey was conducted on 1,004
The Bank of Korea predicted that recent industrial policies to place national priorities above others would eventually have a negative impact on the global economy.In a report on the status and implications of major countries’ “me-first” industrial policies on April 16, the BOK’s U.S.-Europe Economi
ZKW, a subsidiary of LG Electronics in the automotive lighting business, was listed as the company that applied for the third-most patents in Europe last year among Austrian companies.According to ZKW on April 14, ZKW accounted for 61 (close to 30 percent) of 224 patents filed by Austrian companies
The world's top three luxury brands -- Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Chanel -- generated nearly 4 trillion won in sales in South Korea last year.According to audit reports of Hermès Korea, Louis Vuitton Korea, and Chanel Korea on April 16, their combined sales stood at 3.9338 trillion won (US$2.9973
LG Display is struggling looking for an exit strategy for its Chinese business amid a prolonged slump in the liquid crystal display (LCD) panel industry. The company is facing various scenarios including, sale to a Chinese company and a large-scale process transformation, as it urgently needs to imp
Taiwanese market research firm TrendForce said in its report that South Korea’s production share in the global DRAM market is expected to rise from 64 percent to 65 percent from this year to 2025. “According to the U.S. CHIPS Act, semiconductor manufacturers subsidized by the U.S. government cannot
Chinese company Gochin announced on April 13 that it will invest US$10 billion in lithium mines in Afghanistan, where lithium reserves are estimated at US$2 trillion or so.These days, the United States and Europe are curbing EV battery material exports from China. In response, China is making aggres
The IMF said in its report that South Korea’s national debt-to-GDP ratio exceeded the average of those of 10 advanced non-key currency countries for the first time in history.According to the IMF, the ratio of South Korea was 54.3 percent last year, when the average was 52 percent. According to the
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Westinghouse are expected to end their litigation with a U.S.-South Korea summit scheduled for this month.The litigation started in October last year with regard to the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant in the Czech Republic. KHNP was trying to export an APR1400 rea
The Korea International Trade Association announced on April 16 that global total exports were US$24.9045 trillion last year with South Korea accounting for 2.74 percent of the total, the lowest level since 2008.South Korea’s share was 3.02 percent in 2014 and 3.09 percent in 2018. It was 3.23 perce
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at chank@shinhan.com -- Ed.IT materials and thin-glass processing services providerChemtronics focuses mainly on chemicals and electronics businesses. The chemicals business division, which generated 47% of total sales in 2022, is wid
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at junsup@nhqv.com -- Ed.While internal and external environments may be unfavorable, WFG shares are trading at a historic low. We note that: 1) the firm’s DY is above 10%; and 2) share buyback is expected.Conditions may be di
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at junsup@nhqv.com -- Ed.The recent deterioration in the supplementary capital funding environment is unfavorable for insurers with relatively poor capital adequacy. However, in the long term, the post-IFRS17 landscape looks a
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at sokang@shinhan.com -- Ed.1Q23 preview: Update effects and cost reductionDevsisters is expected to have recorded operating income of KRW49.6bn(-18.3% YoY, +1.2% QoQ) and operating loss of KRW6.1bn (TR YoY, RR QoQ, operating margin o
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at hzl.lee@nhqv.com -- Ed.We lower our TP on Nasmedia by 22% to W35,000 on downwardly adjusted earnings estimates to reflect weaker profitability due to increased structural costs. However, we maintain a Buy rating, foreseein
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at hwdoh@nhqv.com -- Ed.Given improving memory supply-demand conditions, memory makers are to resume capacity investment from 2H23. TES is also to benefit from inclusion of foundry equipment in its memory-oriented equipment po
In 2022, R&D investments by the three major Korean battery companies -- Samsung SDI, LG Energy Solutions, and SK On -- exceeded two trillion won for the first time ever.Their R&D investments rose by 576.2 billion won (US$444.3 million) or 35.7 percent to 2.1871 trillion won (US$1.6866 billion) in 20
According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency on April 13, President Xi visited LG Display’s factory and the R&D center for electric vehicle Aion under China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) as part of a tour of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province of China on April 12.The Chinese political leaders
On April 13, POSCO International announced a new vision for the first time after its integration with POSCO Energy at the Songdo Convensia in Incheon. Under the vision of Green Energy & Global Business Pioneer, the company aims to increase its current market capitalization from 3.8 trillion won to 2
Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on April 13 that Americans and South Koreans were the nationalities most frequently found carrying dangerous articles at the airport for the past 51 months.Specifically, the number of cases of Americans carrying such articles was 201 in 2019, 204 i