The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have come as a big draw on South Korean oil refiners last year as their low refining margins ate into their profitability, industry sources said Sunday. Whipsawed by weak oil prices and sluggish refining margins, industry leader SK Innovation Co. and three other players are projected to have posted a combined net loss of more than 5 trillion won ($4.6 billion) last year. The situation didn't improve much in the third quarter of last year despite rising dem

AfreecaTV streamers reaped donations of worth 41 billion won ($37.6 million) in December, with the highest-earner recording 452 million won, equivalent to an hourly wage of 1.7 million won. According to Poong Today Sunday, which tracks donations made on the country’s most popular online streaming platform, viewers donated more than 380.5 million “star balloons” in total last month. On AfreecaTV, fans can send streamers bundles of star balloons, a digital currency that costs

South Korea said Sunday it will spend 5.8 trillion won ($5.3 billion) on science and information and communication technology (ICT) research this year as the country fosters new tech industries under its digital New Deal drive and targets going carbon neutral. The earmarked amount is a 12 percent rise from 2020 and focuses on basic scientific research as well as new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and 6G wireless networks. The ministry said it has set aside 1.8 trillion won

South Korea's three electric vehicle (EV) battery makers are expected to report robust or improved fourth-quarter earnings results on growing demand for electrified vehicles, analysts said Sunday. LG Energy Solutions Ltd., SK Innovation Co. and Samsung SDI Co. likely performed well in the October-December period as carmakers are adding more battery-powered models to their lineups due to emissions restrictions, they said. The three companies plan to release their business results for the fourth

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chip maker, is expected to report a smaller-than-earlier operating income estimate due to the weakness of the US dollar, industry sources said Sunday. According to the sources, Samsung, also the world's largest smartphone vendor, is likely to report an operating income of 9.74 trillion won ($8.95 billion) during the fourth quarter of last year, up 36.8 percent from a year earlier. But the latest estimate is slightly lower than the 10.16 trill

South Korea's antitrust watchdog is likely to complete the review of the merger between two South Korean shipbuilding giants during the first quarter of the year, industry sources said Sunday, possibly paving the way for the creation of the world's largest shipyard. In March 2019, Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a deal to purchase a 55.72 percent stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding. The deal would lead to the creation of the world's biggest shipbuilder with a global market share of around 20 percent.

COVID-19 results in more media usage through online platforms

Pressure mounts on businesses to take action against Japanese cosmetics firm after CEO’s racially charged remarks

Living in a crowded urban city, one can realize in the daily routine that the proportion of “going digital” has drastically increased over the year -- waking up to use smartphones for running bank errands, standing in front of digital kiosks for takeout orders during lunchtime and ordering groceries online after sunset. The unforeseen COVID-19 pandemic has pushed us further to a society where non-face-to-face interactions are strongly recommended across different tasks to halt furt

Growth after COVID-19 to come from IT, e-commerce, biotech and game industries

South Korea racked up nearly 11 million users on fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks as of end-November, data showed Thursday.  The country had 10.9 million 5G users last month, accounting for 15.5 percent of the total 70.5 million mobile subscriptions, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT.  Subscriptions to the high-speed networks jumped by nearly 1 million from the previous month amid launches of new 5G phones, such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone 12 series, th

Asiana Airlines named Jung Sung-kwon as the new CEO in a major executive reshuffle on Thursday. Jung, who previously served as the head of the airline’s China operations, will replace current CEO Han Chang-soo to lead the country‘s second-largest carrier. Born in 1963, Jung joined Asiana in 1988 and had taken on multiple roles including finance and human resources. In the shakeup, Ahn Byung-suk, Asiana Airline‘s management director, has been tapped to head Air Busan, its s

We are what we buy. Our purchases reflect our needs and desires, formed by the circumstances and trends of the time. If before, people spent money on goods that would enhance their exteriors, such as garments and cosmetics, in pandemic-ridden 2020, confined to homes for the most part and always hidden behind masks when outdoors, many opted to buy items that would enrich their lives at home instead. In this listicle, we decided to pay tribute to the buys that made this weary year more bearable.

Output in South Korea's bio industry increased 16.2 percent in 2019 from the previous year on the back of robust growth of outsourced business, industry data showed Thursday. The value of output in the local bio industry was estimated at 12.32 trillion won ($11.36 billion) last year, compared with 10.48 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization. Noticeably, the value of outsourced services that include contract manufacturing organizat

Deregulation is what South Korean business entities want badly for the new year, with many of them raising concerns about a slew of legislation that they say will constrain business activities. According to New Year’s messages from heads of the country’s major business lobby organizations, Korean companies are calling on the government to cut them some slack in operating their businesses in the harsh environment that is expected to unfold amid the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 202