May 24, 2022

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EDITOR'S PICKS

• Markets 
  

  At Biden meeting, Hyundai Motor Group unveils extra $5b investment

  South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group announced the second round of its investment plan Sunday, adding another $5 billion to collaborate with US firms, only a day after the company unveiled a $5.54 billion plan to build an electric vehicle-only factory in Georgia. “Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest an additional $5 billion through 2025 which will strengthen our collaboration with American enterprises in diverse technologies such as robotics, urban air mobility, autonomous driving an

• Markets 
  

  No. of metaverse users hits lowest after distancing rules lifted

  The number of metaverse users across major virtual world platforms in South Korea has dropped sharply since social distancing measures were lifted, a report showed Sunday. According to big data analysis firm Mobile Index, the number of Roblox’s weekly active users (WAU) recorded 773,678 during the period between May 9 and 15, an almost 18 percent drop from the previous weekly figure. It was the lowest number recorded since the last week of June 2021. During the same period, the amount o

• Markets 
  

  BOK likely to lift rate to tame rapid inflation: economists

  The Bank of Korea is likely to raise the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent this Thursday as Asia’s fourth-largest economy combats persistently high inflation and shrinking growth, according to eight out of nine economists polled by The Korea Herald. But the central bank, which usually changes its rate in 25-basis point increments, is unlikely to back a sudden 50-basis point raise because there’s ample room left for more hikes in the latter half of this year when infl

• Markets 
  

  Hyundai Steel to work with KIER to advance carbon neutral tech

  Hyundai Steel has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Institute of Energy Research to push for comprehensive cooperation on technologies in the energy and environment sectors with the goal of leading the steel industry’s movement towards carbon neutrality. According to the South Korean steelmaker, Hyundai Steel CEO Ahn Dong-il and KIER President Kim Jong-nam attended the MOU ceremony held at the KIER in Daejeon on Friday. The two sides agreed to work together to develop

• Markets 
  

  Korea has nearly 100,000 investors holding more than W100m of crypto

  Some 100,000 retail investors in South Korea each held over 100 million won ($78,000) in deposits at cryptocurrency exchanges here as of end-2021, government data showed Thursday, fueling concerns as the recent crash of Korean-made terraUSD and luna cryptocurrencies has decimated the value of digital assets. As of end-December last year, a total of 5.58 million investors were registered with local crypto exchanges, including those provide won-denominated and coin trading, according Financial S

• Markets 
  

  7 in 10 job seekers willing to work at startup: survey

  Over 70 percent of job seekers in South Korea said they were willing to take a position at a startup company, a survey showed Thursday. According to online recruiting platform JobKorea’s survey of 1,063 workers and job seekers, the most-selected reason for expressing a willingness to work at a startup was their growth potential, with 52.9 percent. Respondents could pick more than one reason, and 35 percent said they believed working at a startup would provide many learning opportunities

• Markets 
  

  Biden to meet Hyundai Motor chief on new investment plan

  US President Joe Biden will meet Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun on Sunday in Seoul to thank him for investment in the state of Georgia, Washington’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday. The US president is scheduled to arrive in Seoul later in the day for his three-day state visit for summit talks with President Yoon Suk-yeol. His planned meeting with the Hyundai Motor chief comes amid reports that the South Korean auto giant will announce a $7 billion inve

• Markets 
  

  S-Oil CEO apologizes for Ulsan refinery explosion

  S-Oil Chief Executive Officer Hussain A. Al-Qahtani on Friday apologized over the explosion of its refinery in Ulsan, about 415 kilometers southwest of Seoul, and promised to take all measures possible to prevent such incident from happening again. “I would like to express my deepest condolences and apologies to the deceased who lost his life from an incident in S-Oil Onsan Refinery and to his family. My apologies also go out to the injured workers and local residents close to the refine