The Korea-Japan Business Leaders Conference, which was postponed once, will be held in September to deepen ties between businesspeople of the two countries amid escalating economic conflicts between the two neigbors.The Korea-Japan Economic Association announced on July 30 that it will hold the 51st

The United States has more than doubled tariffs on Korean oil pipelines. U.S. trade pressure is mounting on Korea as U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to strip it of the developing country status in the World Trade Organization (WTO).The U.S. Department of Commerce decided to impose a 38.87 per

South Korea's exports of cultural content maintained their upward momentum last year.The country’s content exports increased 8.4 percent in 2018 from the previous year to reach US$9.55 billion (11.29 trillion won), according to a report released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and

LG Electronics’ Home Appliance & Air Solution (HA) business division ranked first in the global market in terms of sales in the first half of this year, beating Whirlpool and Elektrolux. It outdid Whirlpool for the first time in both operating profit and sales thanks to robust sales of new home appl

Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced on July 30 that it has maintained its credit rating on Samsung Electronics Co. at "AA-" and its rating outlook at “stable.”"We expect that Samsung Electronics will maintain its solid financial statement over the next two years despite the slowdown in the memory

A Korean research team has succeeded in localizing a core material for next-generation fuel cells.The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) announced on July 30 that a research team led by Dr. Lee Jang-yong has developed a new technology to manufacture anion exchange materials (ele

Korean airlines are scaling back flights to Japan. Low-cost carriers (LCCs) have already reduced their flights to Japan as many Korean travelers have canceled their trips to Japan in protest against the Japanese government's export regulations. Following them, Korea’s two full service carriers (

The new CEO of Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) has stressed the need to invest in overseas gas development projects to lower the cost of purchasing natural gas overseas.Chae Hee-bong, who was appointed to lead KOGAS earlier this month, outlined his management strategy in his inaugural address.He said he wou

Global rating agency Moody's has reconfirmed the corporate credit rating of SK Hynix Inc. at “Baa2,” but downgraded its rating outlook from “stable” to “negative.”This is because SK Hynix suffered a sharp drop in operating profit in the second quarter and Japan decided to control exports to Sout

Although the mutual evaluation unit of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has finished a due diligence on South Korean financial companies, domestic banks cannot relax until the final results come out in April next year. The on-the-spot inspection has been completed, but they now face a stricter

Shinhan Financial Group Co., a major financial holding firm in South Korea, has successfully issued US$500 million (590.50 billion) worth of ESG bonds in the United States.An ESG bond is a special purpose bond that combines green bonds for investment in environmental improvement and renewable energy

Credit card sales of Japanese retailers and travel-related companies dropped sharply due to the spreading boycott of Japanese products and services among Koreans following Japan’s economic retaliation against Korea.Sales of Japanese brands began to drop in the second week of July, a Korean credit ca

While Korean companies have been faltering under unfavorable circumstances at home and abroad, their global competitors are enhancing their competitiveness through acquisitions and partnerships. In particular, Chinese semiconductor companies are increasing their investment in non-memory semiconducto

South Korea's exports of medicines and medical supplies surpassed the 5 trillion won (US$4.23 billion) mark in 2018 for the first time. The export growth was led by biotech medicines, which recorded a surplus for four years in a row despite the deficit in medicine and medical supply trade.The Mi

South Korean investors' offshore securities transactions surged more than 60 percent in the first half of this year against the six-month earlier period as local investors have actively sought for high yielding investment products to offset the lackluster South Korean market.South Korean investo

JR AMC Co. Ltd., a real estate investment trust in South Korea, has bought an office building in Hungary for the first time in the domestic asset management industry. NH Investment & Securities Co. has also become the first South Korean firm to purchase a large building in Helsinki, Finland. The dea

Korean Air will put a halt to flights between Busan, Korea and Sapporo, Japan beginning this September. This is the first time that a large Korean airliner will shut down its flights to Japan amid a spreading boycott of Japanese goods among Koreans following Japan’s restrictions on exports to Korea.

Hyundai Motor Co. is transforming its Chongqing Plant 5 in China into an electric vehicle (EV) plant in a bid to reinvigorate its slumping Chinese business. Hyundai Motor is struggling in the Chinese market as demand for cars in China is on the decline due to the U.S.-China trade dispute.Hyundai Mot

The TV war between Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics is shifting from QLED TVs versus OLED TVs to 8K TVs versus OLED TVs. Samsung Electronics, which launched the industry’s first 8K TVs last year, has been stepping up its efforts to dominate the world 8K TV market.8K TVs can achieve a resolutio

As Japan is expected to remove South Korea from a "whitelist" of trusted importers, Korean companies that import the 1,100 strategic items from Japan are highly likely to suffer a big blow starting from later next month.Japan is predicted to approve a rule that will exclude South Korea from its "whi