February 19, 2019

• 
• 
• 

Kim Jong-un unlikely to tour Samsung’s Vietnamese smartphone factory: sources

Chances that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would visit Samsung Electronics’ smartphone factory in Vietnam appear to be slim, according to sources close to the matter. “Not only does North Korea require permission from the South, nothing is being discussed in this regard,” said one industry watcher. A Samsung official confirmed with The Investor on Feb. 18 that the company also has not received requests from either North Korea or Vietnam. The Seoul government, however, remains mum on the issue.

LG all out to regain market share with upcoming G8, V50

For Korean electronics giant LG Electronics, shoring up its ever-shrinking presence in the global smartphone market is a higher priority than anything else in 2019, including rolling out eye-catching products like foldable and rollable devices, according to LG mobile chief Kwon Bong-suk, who heads both the mobile unit and home appliance division under the tech firm from this year.“(Like its rivals,) LG already has all the cutting-edge technologies, such as rollable, foldable and dual-screen smar

LG CNS, AWS to accelerate corporate data migration to cloud

LG CNS said on Feb. 17 it has signed an agreement with Amazon Web Services for strategic cooperation to accelerate data cloud migration by companies here.The two will collaborate in developing a program for businesses here to move their corporate data to the cloud in a “faster and easier way,” it said.In addition, LG CNS will be the first South Korean company to adopt AWS’ 50 in 50 program, under which 50 applications can be migrated to the cloud in 50 days.The program will first be applied to L

Koreans use nearly W8tr at convenience stores on credit cards

Credit card use at convenience stores reached a new peak last year, nearing 8 trillion won ($7.1 billion), according to the Bank of Korea, on Feb. 17. Between January and November in 2018, over 7.3 trillion won was used with credit cards at convenience stores, up 19.9 percent from the year before. Figures from December are not yet known, but authorities believe with average monthly spending of 670 billion won, last year‘s total spending would near 8 trillion won. The surge is accredite

Hyundai reaches tentative settlement in US class-action suit over ‘exploding’ sunroofs

Hyundai Motor on Feb. 17 confirmed a report that it had reached a tentative settlement with plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit in the US over panoramic sunroofs that shattered suddenly, although the company said the decision did not mean its automobiles were defective.The class-action suit was filed in 2015 in the US District Court for the Central District of California.Hyundai car owners there complained that Sonata, Tucson, Santa Fe, Veloster, Elantra GT, Azera and Genesis models produced on

Korean mobile carriers to bring 5G to life at MWC 2019

In just one week, the world will witness how the fifth-generation telecommunications network will be realized across various industries and change individual users’ lives at the world’s biggest mobile industry show in Barcelona, Spain, according to industry sources on Feb. 17.  And South Korea’s three telecom giants will be taking center stage at Mobile World Congress 2019, which kicks off Feb. 25 for a four-day run, demonstrating their commercial 5G services they say will transcend time and spa

Franklin Templeton may be forced to scrap merger plans with Samsung unit

Franklin Templeton Investment Trust Management is facing penalties that may include business suspension after it incurred losses for investors by failing to disclose in a timely fashion that some of its portfolio companies were insolvent. If such disciplinary action is taken, Franklin Templeton Investments' Seoul business may be forced to scrap its plans to merge with Samsung Active Asset Management. The two had been in talks since March 2018 with the aim of jointly managing a new firm called Sa

Samsung places ahead of Google, MS in US brand intimacy study

Samsung landed in 12th place on an annual US survey to identify the brands with the greatest levels of consumer intimacy -- a big improvement over last year’s No. 17, but still a long way from its peak in 2017, when it was No. 7.The study, published Feb. 15, showed that the South Korean company fared ahead of US tech giants Google and Microsoft, which respectively ranked 16th and 33rd. Korea’s No. 2 tech company, LG Electronics, finished at No. 67.Apple, which had retained the No. 1 position on

Google’s AI plan to understand everything about humans can go wrong: expert

The fast advancement of artificial intelligence technology has been triggering concerns that the world could be colonized by AI-powered robots as described in the “Terminator” movies. Mostly such doomsday scenarios are being forecast, and often hyped up by the media, but even some renowned figures in the tech sector, like Elon Musk of Tesla, have warned of potential risks of super intelligent robots.Carlos Art Nevarez, CTO of artificial emotional intelligence firm BPU.Carlos Art Nevarez, chief t

Kwangdong reorganizes biz portfolio after crashing and burning overseas

Korean drug maker Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, which has been focusing on diversifying its business portfolio, appears to be making attempts at a turnaround amid its slumping global business.The Korean company’s American dream, which started in 2015 through establishing Kwangdong USA, to sell its beverage products including popular Kwangdong Cornsilk Tea and Vita500, ended in 2018 partially due to mounting losses. The US unit’s net loss reached 1.1 billion won ($977,361) last year, with sales of ar

Why Shinhan said no to Lotte Capital bid

Korea’s non-banking industry is cited as one of the few sectors that may weather current unfavorable financial business circumstances such as slowing asset growth and rate hikes.More specifically, the credit ratings of non-banking lenders are expected to stay afloat, in contrast with other financial institutions such as brokerages, credit card firms, savings banks and life insurance companies, according to Korea Ratings in December.Such an upbeat outlook sparked anticipation that Lotte Capital,

PEFs face trouble exiting from indebted pay TV provider

Shareholders of South Korea’s pay television service provider D’Live are now facing an imminent threat of default, as they struggle to sell off its shares to a market competitor. Courtesy of D'LiveRelated:LG Uplus to buy No. 1 cable TV operator CJ HelloLG Uplus’ bid for CJ Hello is too high: analystsD’Live shares have been up for sale since 2016, in order for its shareholders to exit and pay back to a group of their debtholders before the bonds worth 1.4 trillion won (US$1.24 billion) mature in

Jewelry maker J.Estina owner family under fire for alleged insider trading

Kim Jong-un unlikely to tour Samsung’s Vietnamese smartphone factory: sources

LG all out to regain market share with upcoming G8, V50

Franklin Templeton may be forced to scrap merger plans with Samsung unit

LG CNS, AWS to accelerate corporate data migration to cloud

Hyundai reaches tentative settlement in US class-action suit over ‘exploding’ sunroofs

Hyundai, Kia diesel car sales fall for 3 straight years

‘Lineage M’ to debut in Japan in H1

KT launches mobile app for fine dust map

SKT to introduce media upscaling solution at MWC

Samsung among favorite brands in France: survey

Net assets of Korean investment funds rise in Jan.

Korea ranks 7th in OECD’s S&T capabilities

Korea’s food exports up 6% in Jan.

Korea to spend W3tr to develop biotech in 2019

Hyundai, Kia sales in EU improve in Jan.

DSME workers vote on strike against sale to HHI

CJ Healthcare signs US$84m deal for exporting Tegoprazan

3 million tourists used Airbnb in Korea last year

Book club operator startup Trevari fetches W5b investment

WeWork’s Seoul Creator Awards attracts highest number of applicants in Asia

Korean fintech unicorn eyes internet-only bank with Shinhan

S. Korean lawmaker urges bill to endow more voting power to startup founders

Why birth order is a big deal at LG

New thinking needed on GM Korea

Fall of the ‘Angel of Death’?

Wherever you end up going