South Korea’s leading energy and petrochemical company SK Innovation said it has seen a rise in institutional and foreign buying, on the back of a shift in its profit model and business structure.Institutional investors remained net purchasers from Sept. 3 to Oct. 2, except for two trading days, trading some 689,663 units of stocks during the period, according to the firm. (SK Innovation)The percentage of foreign buying also recovered to the 40 percent range on Oct. 2. As of Oct. 7, the amount p

Hyundai’s racing arm vies for championship titles in WRC, WTCR

Trademark usage fees received by holding companies of South Korea's largest conglomerates exceeded 1 trillion won (US$884.5 million) for the first time ever in 2017, a report submitted to parliament by the country's anti-trust watchdog showed Sunday.The findings submitted to Rep. Lee Tae-kyu's office by the Fair Trade Commission showed that, of the 60 largest conglomerates with assets in excess of 5 trillion won that have to disclose such data, 37 business groups received money for allowing comp

South Korea's public sector debt growth is likely to rise this year, government data showed Sunday, raising concerns about Seoul's financial burdens.The combined debt of 39 major South Korean public sector firms is forecast to reach 480.8 trillion won ($425 billion) this year, according to the data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance submitted to the National Assembly.The debt had declined for four straight years to 472.3 trillion in 2017 after hitting a record high of 498.5 trillion won in

The market presence of imported diesel cars in South Korea has backtracked in South Korea in the face of a comeback by gasoline vehicles, industry data showed Sunday.According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA), the number of newly registered diesel cars in the country reached 4,530 units in September, less than half that of gasoline vehicles -- 11,187. (Yonhap)In the first nine months of this year, 86,841 diesel vehicles were sold in Asia's fourth largest eco

Cash holdings by South Korea's top 10 conglomerates rose to 118.5 trillion won (US$104.8 billion) as of late June, mainly due to profits generated by various business operations, a report by a corporate information provider said Sunday.According to Chaebul.com, the cash held by the 94 listed affiliates of the largest business groups increased by little over 11.8 trillion won, or 11.1 percent, compared to 2017.  (Yonhap)Of the total, Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate of

The 16th Seoul International Fireworks Festival will take place on Saturday, according to Hanwha Group, the organizer of the fireworks event. "We decided to hold the festival as scheduled to live up to expectations of citizens and foreign tourists, who have waited long. The typhoons are expected to move away from 7 p.m. when the fireworks begin," said the company spokesperson. Due to rainfall, Hanwha Group, said on Friday it would closely monitor the weather and decide Saturday morning around 10

South Korean carmaker considers producing electrified vehicles under its N brand

Samsung Electronics’ operating profit in the third quarter rose 20.44 percent on-year to a record 17.5 trillion won ($15.4 billion), the company said in an earnings guidance report released Friday. Revenue during the July-September period was estimated to have increased by 4.75 percent on-year to 65 trillion won, according to the South Korean tech giant.The July-September performance marked the highest quarterly achievement for the company to date. The previous record was 15.6 trillion won set i

LG Chem Ltd., Korea's top chemicals company, said Thursday that it has been tapped as a supplier of electric vehicle batteries to German carmaker Volkswagen."We plan to supply electric vehicle batteries" to Volkswagen, beginning at the end of 2019, the company said in a regulatory filing with the Financial Supervisory Service. (LG Chem)LG Chem said the number and prices of the batteries to be supplied are fluid due to orders needing to be placed and market conditions.Currently, the Korean compan

South Korea’s leading tobacco maker KT&G has donated 100 million won ($88,635) to help recovery works in Indonesia, which is suffering from massive casualties and damage from an earthquake and tsunami, the firm said Thursday.The 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Indonesia days ago have resulted in at least 1,200 deaths and inflicted massive damage on the Sulawesi region.The donation by KT&G was gathered from its executives and employees through the “Sang Sang Fund,” in

Restaurant tycoon Paik Jong-won talks about his dream of running a restaurant franchise incubator via his company

Media collage created by Dream Gream students, French art team displayed at Seoul Street Arts Festival 2018

Environmental organizations call for more participation from other financial institutions

CHEONGJU, North Chungcheong Province -- The first wafers were loaded onto lithography equipment in the newest clean room of SK hynix’s M15 fabrication building in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Thursday, to mark the kick-start of the world’s second-biggest NAND flash factory. On 60,000 square meters of land, about the size of eight football stadiums, at the origin of the first metallic movable types 600 years ago, the M15 fabrication facility is expected to produce 100,000 additional wafe