The Industrial Bank of Korea will open an office in Poland in the first half of this year as part of its overseas expansion into the European market, the state-run lender said Monday. On Jan. 24, the company submitted a license approval application for the Polish office to local financial supervisory authorities. The establishment of the Polish office, which had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, is one of the priority items under IBK Chairman Kim Seong-tae's

Industry Feb. 6, 2023

South Korean auto parts manufacturer SNT Dynamics said Monday it signed an export deal with Turkish commercial and military vehicle manufacturer BMC to supply automatic transmissions to produce tanks for the Turkish government. BMC is the firm in charge of delivering 1,000 Altays, a Turkish battle tank, to the government starting from this year under a Turkish-Qatari partnership. The Altay project, pushed forward by the Turkish government, has faced supply issues in the past. BMC has been seekin

Industry Feb. 3, 2023

Citibank Korea announced Friday that it signed a syndicated loan agreement with Posco Argentina to support the development of a salt lake with lithium reserves for Posco Holdings. As a joint mandated lead arranger, Citibank arranged a $412 million (505.4 billion won) syndicated loan for Posco Argentina with support from Korea Trade Insurance Corp. The agreement was reached on Jan. 25. “This deal is meaningful as it provides financing support for enhancing Korean companies’ competitiv

Market Feb. 3, 2023

SK Bioscience has obtained product approval for its flu vaccine, Sky Cellflu, from Chile's health authorities, the first green light in a Latin American country, the South Korean vaccine developer said Thursday. Starting with Chile, SK Bioscience is planning to expand the number of countries licensed for Sky Cellflu in Latin America. Chile's drug approval is widely considered a regional standard among Latin American countries, the company added. Chile is the 10th country to have approv

Industry Feb. 2, 2023

Starbucks Korea, the nation’s No.1 specialty coffee chain, said Wednesday that the cumulative users of its customer membership "Starbucks Rewards" has recently hit the 10 million mark. The figure is twice as high as the 4.1 million members of Twosome Place and the 6 million of Ediya Coffee -- the second and third-largest coffee franchises in Korea by sales. Having started the membership service in September 2011, the company said more than 100 people signed up as Starbucks member

Industry Feb. 1, 2023

Posco International, a subsidiary of steel giant Posco, on Tuesday held a ground-breaking ceremony for its second liquefied natural gas terminal in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province. The company said the construction will accelerate its vision to become an eco-friendly company by strengthening its energy value chain. The company plans to invest 930 billion won ($757 million) to build two 200,000-kiloliter LNG storage tanks on the site by 2025 to power Posco’s steel mills and other power gen

Industry Jan. 31, 2023

Korea’s leading bakery franchise Paris Baguette has launched its 100th franchise store in the US, stepping up its overseas business, its operator SPC Group said Monday. Reaching the milestone with the opening of "Paris Baguette Red Bank" in New Jersey, the company aims to introduce 1,000 stores across the US market by 2030. According to the food company, Paris Baguette plans to sign 160 additional franchise deals this year. Entering the US in 2005, Paris Baguette has worked on en

Consumer Jan. 30, 2023

South Korea’s largest beer maker Oriental Brewery led last year’s domestic beer market, as the spirits market began to see signs of recovery after years of pandemic disruptions. During the January to November period last year, OB topped beer sales here with a whopping 53.7 percent market share, the firm said in a Jan. 19 press release. During the summer season, when competition in the market is extremely severe, the company posted a 53 percent growth in sales from June to August year

Industry Jan. 29, 2023

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Thursday it is ramping up efforts to facilitate the global expansion of small- and mid-sized firms by bolstering distribution and logistics support in overseas markets. The new plans were briefed during an emergency meeting of economy-related ministers earlier in the day. The ministry’s ultimate goal is raising the export contribution of SMEs from last year’s 39 percent to 50 percent of the nation’s total trade volume by 2027, with the amo

Industry Jan. 26, 2023

Mirae Asset Global Investments has gobbled up nearly half of target-date fund market share, recording 3.5 trillion won ($2.84 billion) under management as of the end of 2022. TDF refers to an investment scheme where a portfolio’s asset allocation mix automatically rebalances throughout an account holder’s lifecycle to make it less prone to volatility as the target date draws near. Analysts attributed Mirae Asset's top position to the group's chairman, Park Hyun-joo, who has

Market Jan. 25, 2023

Korean Air said Friday it will resume services to four major destinations in Europe starting from March. After a 3-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the airline will restart the Prague and Zurich routes from March, followed by the resumption of the Istanbul and Madrid routes from April. Starting from late March, Prague and Zurich routes will be operated 3 times a week, taking turns with a day’s interval. Flights to Istanbul and Madrid are arranged to open on late April -- following the same

Mobility Jan. 20, 2023

P&G Korea said Thursday that its Pampers brand, the world's No. 1 diaper maker, has donated a total of 32,000 boxes of diapers, worth 2.7 billion ($2.2 million), over the past six years. Since launching the diaper donation campaign in 2017, the diapers have been delivered to more than 10 social welfare organizations, including children’s hospitals, across the nation. The company said it has devoted efforts to creating a culture of sharing by putting a donation campaign into action

People Jan. 19, 2023

In winter, odors coming from coats and mufflers often don’t disappear, especially after meals in an enclosed space. Winter clothing comes from fabric made of porous fibers, therefore being kept in a state where odor-causing gas molecules are absorbed due to high moisture. Indoor ventilation is also difficult in winter, so odor molecules brought in from outdoors can linger and affect sofas and bedding used by the entire family. In this case, Febreze from P&G Korea, a global household go

Industry Jan. 18, 2023

South Korea’s largest energy company SK Innovation said Tuesday it has delivered a total of 3.6 billion won ($2.9 million) to seek shared growth with smaller partner companies, as part of a corporatewide campaign now in its sixth year. Of the fund, 3.2 billion won came from the 1 Percent Happiness Sharing Fund, which is created by collecting 1 percent of the base salaries of employees, while the remainder was raised by collecting contributions from the government and a welfare fund for par

Industry Jan. 17, 2023

The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes touched a record low in 2022, amid a surge in cashless transactions fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, the Bank of Korea said Monday. The number of counterfeit banknotes identified stood at 150 last year, down from the previous record low of 176 a year before. Last year’s number was the lowest ever since the central bank started compiling related data in 1998. The BOK attributed the drop to a decline in face-to-face transactions via non-cas

Economy Jan. 16, 2023