News
S. Korea announces US$ 23 bil. fund to strengthen next-generation tech
2025/02/05 20:00
In other news. At least 34 trillion won has been earmarked to support critical industries as Korea seeks a strategic edge over rising global competition. Our Choi Min-jung covers this initiative. South Korea has unveiled an ambitious plan to bolster the country's industrial competitiveness, by establishing a "Strategic Advanced Industry Fund", worth over 34 trillion Korean won, or around 23 billion U.S. dollars. The initiative, announced during a high-level ministerial meeting on Wednesday, aims to support critical industries, including semiconductors, batteries, automobiles, shipbuilding, and steel. Acting President and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, emphasized industrial competitiveness as the backbone of South Korea's economy, urging swift action to maintain leadership in key sectors. "This fund will provide low-interest loans, equity investments, and other financial support to businesses." The fund will be more than twice the size of the current 17-trillion won semiconductor financing program. It will focus on next-generation technologies, including AI-driven automation, advanced materials, and sustainable energy solutions. Small and mid-sized companies in the materials and equipment industries will receive increased financial support. The announcement comes amid escalating global trade uncertainties, including U.S. tariff adjustments and China's rising dominance in AI and advanced manufacturing. "A Chinese company recently unveiled the AI model "DeepSeek R1," which delivers high performance at a low cost, coming as a fresh shock in the industry. The global AI race is evolving to a more complex competition." The government has pledged speedy implementation of the fund, with concrete plans to be finalized by March in coordination with the National Assembly. Choi Min-jung, Arirang News.
S. Korea announces US$ 23 bil. fund to strengthen next-generation tech
2025/02/05 17:00
At least 34 trillion won has been earmarked to support critical industries as Korea seeks a strategic edge over rising global competition. Our Choi Min-jung covers this initiative. South Korea has unveiled an ambitious plan to bolster the country's industrial competitiveness, by establishing a "Strategic Advanced Industry Fund", worth over 34 trillion Korean won, or around 23 billion U.S. dollars. The initiative, announced during a high-level ministerial meeting on Wednesday, aims to support critical industries, including semiconductors, batteries, automobiles, shipbuilding, and steel. Acting President and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, emphasized industrial competitiveness as the backbone of South Korea's economy, urging swift action to maintain leadership in key sectors. "This fund will provide low-interest loans, equity investments, and other financial support to businesses." The fund will be more than twice the size of the current 17-trillion won semiconductor financing program. It will focus on next-generation technologies, including AI-driven automation, advanced materials, and sustainable energy solutions. Small and mid-sized companies in the materials and equipment industries will receive increased financial support. The announcement comes amid escalating global trade uncertainties, including U.S. tariff adjustments and China's rising dominance in AI and advanced manufacturing. "A Chinese company recently unveiled the AI model "DeepSeek R1," which delivers high performance at a low cost, coming as a fresh shock in the industry. The global AI race is evolving to a more complex competition." The government has pledged speedy implementation of the fund, with concrete plans to be finalized by March in coordination with the National Assembly. Choi Min-jung, Arirang News.
Gold price continues to rise amid trade war
2025/02/05 10:00
The price of gold reached a new all-time high on Tuesday, as demand for safe assets surged after the Trump administration imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on China. The spot gold price rose as high as two-thousand-845 dollars and 14 cents per ounce during Tuesday's intraday trading, hitting an all-time high. The closing price of gold futures for April on the New York Mercantile Exchange stood at two-thousand-875 dollars and 80 cents per ounce,.. up zero-point-seven percent from the previous day. The continued increase in the price of gold comes amid growing concerns of an escalation in the trade war between the U.S. and China.
S. Korea's consumer prices up 2.2% y/y in Jan., marking three months of rising inflation
2025/02/05 10:00
Inflation in South Korea rose back into the two percent range for the first time in five months, spurred by rising oil prices. Data from Statistics Korea on Wednesday showed that the country's consumer price index rose two-point-two percent in January compared to the same month the year before. January marks the third month in which consumer prices have seen a year-on-year rise after inflation dropped to one-point-three percent last October. Notably, prices of petroleum products jumped by more than seven percent – marking the highest rise since July last year.
STOCK
2025/02/04 20:00
2025. 2. 4. KOREAN STOCK MARKET KOSPI : 2,481.69 ▲27.74 +1.13% KOSDAQ : 719.92 ▲16.12 +2.29% KOSPI200 : 328.72 ▲4.17 +1.28% ASIAN STOCK MARKET NIKKEI225 : 38,798.37 ▲278.28 +0.72% HANG SENG : 20,789.96 ▲572.70 +2.83% SHANGHAI : CLOSED WALL STREET (February 3) DOW JONES : 44,421.91 ▼122.75 -0.28% NASDAQ : 19,391.96 ▼235.49 -1.20% S&P500 : 5,994.57 ▼45.96 -0.76% EXCHANGE RATE USD : 1,462.90 (-4.30) JPY : 941.56 (-2.71) CNY : 199.89 (0.00) EUR : 1,505.98 (+2.61)
STOCK
2025/02/04 20:00
2025. 2. 4. KOREAN STOCK MARKET KOSPI : 2,481.69 ▲27.74 +1.13% KOSDAQ : 719.92 ▲16.12 +2.29% KOSPI200 : 328.72 ▲4.17 +1.28% ASIAN STOCK MARKET NIKKEI225 : 38,798.37 ▲278.28 +0.72% HANG SENG : 20,789.96 ▲572.70 +2.83% SHANGHAI : CLOSED WALL STREET (February 3) DOW JONES : 44,421.91 ▼122.75 -0.28% NASDAQ : 19,391.96 ▼235.49 -1.20% S&P500 : 5,994.57 ▼45.96 -0.76% EXCHANGE RATE USD : 1,462.90 (-4.30) JPY : 941.56 (-2.71) CNY : 199.89 (0.00) EUR : 1,505.98 (+2.61)
Wall Street settles, bitcoin rebounds past US$ 100,000 on news of Trump's tariff pause
2025/02/04 17:00
For now though the decision to delay Trump tariffs on major U.S. trade partners kept its stock market from sinking deeper during Monday's trade. Lee Seung-jae has the numbers. On the first day of Wall Street trading since U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of 25 percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10 percent tariff on China, major indexes saw major sell-offs. However,.. major sell-offs slowed as Trump announced that he would put a hold on the 25 percent tariff on Mexico and Canada, in order for negotiations to take place. By the end of Monday's trading, the S&P 500 fell just zero-point-eight percent, while the Dow lost 122 points, or zero-point-3 percent. The tech heavy Nasdaq fell one-point-two percent. Still,.. major tech and auto shares fell on the day, due to concerns that an intensified trade conflict due to Trump's tariffs and the response from affected countries could hamper sales. America's largest carmaker General Motors fell as much as 7 percent during premarket trading Monday, before recovering to trade over three percent lower from its previous trading session. Stellantis N.V. also fell nearly four percent by the end of Monday's session. Apple, which relies heavily on Chinese labor for its production,.. also saw its share fall over three percent. However, bitcoin which fell over the week, rebounded to above 100 thousand U.S. dollars again. According to U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase as of 8 AM Korea Standard Time, the price of Bitcoin stood at over 101 thousand seven hundred U.S. dollars. Concerns still remain for South Korea's currency market, as the greenback continues to strengthen against the won amid Trump's protectionist policies. According to the Seoul Money Brokerage as of 2 AM Tuesday morning, the won fell 9-point-3 won against the U.S. dollar, to close at 1-thousand-462 won. Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
Trump pauses tariff imposition on Mexico and Canada
2025/02/04 17:00
U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico have been delayed for 30 days BUT the additional 10-percent tax on Chinese imports have been put in place. Ahn Sung-jin reports. U.S. President Donald Trump's 10-percent tariff on Chinese products took effect just after midnight Tuesday. This means that all Chinese goods going into the country will be levied under the trade measures. China immediately hit back with retaliatory taxes of its own. The country's Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced that certain U.S. products such as petroleum or agricultural machinery will have a 10 percent tariff while coal and LNG will be levied 15 percent, starting on the 10th. This comes as Trump stated that he will be talking with China on deals regarding stopping the flow of fentanyl, and the Panama Canal. However, whether Trump will strike a deal with China remains unclear as Beijing's ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong reaffirmed the country's position during a press conference at the UN headquarters early Tuesday, stating that China will file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization and implement countermeasures regarding Trump's tariffs. Unlike China, less than a day ahead of Trump's imposition of 25-percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the tariffs have been postponed for at least a month. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday local time posted on X that he had "a good call with President Trump" signaling that a deal has been struck. The deal includes implementing a 1-point-3 billion U.S. dollar border plan which includes reinforcing the border with nearly 10-thousand front-line personnel as well as strengthening resources to respond to fentanyl and money laundering. The agreement with Canada comes only hours after Trump announced a similar deal with Mexico. Just a day before U.S. tariffs were to take place, Mexico agreed to also place 10-thousand national guard troops along the U.S. border to prevent the flow of drugs. "I told him we wanted him to pause the tariffs, so we reached that agreement. I'm sure that during this month we'll be able to deliver good results for his people and the people of Mexico." Over the next month, the U.S. and Mexico will be negotiating on trade and security issues before a final decision on whether to implement full tariffs. Concerns over a global tariff war sparked by Trump are still high as he also warned of tariffs to the European Union. "When targeted unfairly or arbitrarily, the European Union will respond firmly." Whether these trial periods for Canada and Mexico will lead to successful tariff deals is unclear negotiations could see the U.S. adding on trade issues and concrete results may not appear regarding drug trafficking or illegal immigration issues. Ahn Sung-jin, Arirang News.
Further contraction expected if trade conflict intensifies: BOK
2025/02/04 10:00
Bank of Korea forecasts South Korea's real GDP growth rate this year could fall to the mid-one percent range if international trade conflicts continue to heat up. According to the central bank on Tuesday, the country's real GDP growth could fall by an additional point-two percentage points, from its previous outlook of one-point-nine percent, if global trade conflicts intensify. This means that the real growth rate for this year could be one-point-seven percent. The BOK said strengthening U.S. protectionist policy and response measures from countries like China could result in a rapid contraction in international trade.
Wall Street settles, bitcoin rebounds past US$ 100,000 on news of Trump's tariff pause
2025/02/04 10:00
And following Trump's change of mind, markets in the U.S. recovered some losses. Wall Street opened on Monday with massive sell-offs, before mostly recovering by the end of the trading session. Lee Seung-jae has more. On the first day of Wall Street trading since U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of 25 percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10 percent tariff on China, major indexes saw major sell-offs. However,.. major sell-offs slowed as Trump announced that he would put a hold on the 25 percent tariff on Mexico and Canada, in order for negotiations to take place. By the end of Monday's trading, the S&P 500 fell just zero-point-eight percent, while the Dow lost 122 points, or zero-point-3 percent. The tech heavy Nasdaq fell one-point-two percent. Still,.. major tech and auto shares fell on the day, due to concerns that an intensified trade conflict due to Trump's tariffs and the response from affected countries could hamper sales. America's largest carmaker General Motors fell as much as 7 percent during premarket trading Monday, before recovering to trade over three percent lower from its previous trading session. Stellantis N.V. also fell nearly four percent by the end of Monday's session. Apple, which relies heavily on Chinese labor for its production,.. also saw its share fall over three percent. However, bitcoin which fell over the week, rebounded to above 100 thousand U.S. dollars again. According to U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase as of 8 AM Korea Standard Time, the price of Bitcoin stood at over 101 thousand seven hundred U.S. dollars. Concerns still remain for South Korea's currency market, as the greenback continues to strengthen against the won amid Trump's protectionist policies. According to the Seoul Money Brokerage as of 2 AM Tuesday morning, the won fell 9-point-3 won against the U.S. dollar, to close at 1-thousand-462 won. Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
STOCK
2025/02/03 20:00
2025. 2. 3. KOREAN STOCK MARKET KOSPI : 2,453.95 ▼63.42 -2.52% KOSDAQ : 703.80 ▼24.49 -3.36% KOSPI200 : 324.55 ▼8.81 -2.64% ASIAN STOCK MARKET NIKKEI225 : 38,520.09 ▼1,052.40 -2.66% HANG SENG : 20,217.26 ▼7.85 -0.04% SHANGHAI : CLOSED WALL STREET (JANUARY 31) DOW JONES : 44,544.66 ▼337.47 -0.75% NASDAQ : 19,627.44 ▼54.31 -0.28% S&P500 : 6,040.53 ▼30.64 -0.50% EXCHANGE RATE USD : 1,467.20 (+14.50) JPY : 944.27 (+5.29) CNY : 199.89 (+0.92) EUR : 1,503.37 (-6.13)
Samsung Electronics chief Lee Jae-yong acquitted again in appeal over alleged illegal merger
2025/02/03 20:00
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has had his acquittal upheld by an appeals court with regard to allegations of unfairly merging Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. In 2015, Lee was accused of orchestrating the merger to secure control over Samsung Electronics as Samsung C&T was a major shareholder of the company. Lee attended the ruling at the Seoul High Court earlier today, as the judges ruled that he was not guilty of a wide array of allegations ranging from illegal trading to market manipulation to breach of duty. Last year, a lower court cleared him of all charges, ruling that the merger appeared driven by business needs.
S. Korea's industrial output rose in 2024 despite persistent weak domestic demand
2025/02/03 20:00
Findings for 2024 show Korea's industrial output remained sturdy but retail sales lost substantial ground. Moon Hye-ryeon covers the latest data. South Korea's industrial production saw a rise in 2024, largely driven by a recovery in semiconductor exports. However, domestic consumption indicators remained sluggish, highlighting a growing disparity between sectors. According to data from Statistics Korea on Monday, the country's overall industrial production index showed a one-point-seven percent year-on-year increase. This growth outpaced the one-percent increase recorded in 2023, and comes due to strong performance in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing output rose by 4-point-4 percent – a turnaround from the 2-point-6 percent decline recorded in 2023. Semiconductors and pharmaceutical production played a key role with a surge in exports, but domestic manufacturing shipments fell by two percent, underscoring weak domestic demand. The service sector saw slower growth, seeing the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, due to a downturn in retail and wholesale trade and hospitality services. Retail sales dropped by 2-point-2 percent, which is the sharpest annual decline since 2003. This also marks three straight years of contraction in retail sales – the longest streak of decline since data collection began. Sales fell across all three categories measured – durable goods such as automobiles, non-durable goods such as food, and semi-durable goods such as clothing. A spokesperson from the agency said that the impact of the political turmoil and the Jeju Air plane crash in December on these numbers is yet unclear. "Declines in industries like food and services, lodging, arts, sports, and leisure may have been influenced by the political climate and national mourning period in December. That said, it's difficult to isolate the exact impact of these factors from the numbers." Construction activity, particularly in building projects, also recorded the biggest drop since 2001 last year with a decline in completed construction work. Capital investment, however, grew by 4-point-1 percent, driven by increased spending on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and transportation equipment. Moon Hye-ryeon, Arirang News.
Samsung Electronics chief Lee Jae-yong acquitted again in appeal over alleged illegal merger
2025/02/03 17:00
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has had his acquittal upheld by an appeals court with regard to allegations of unfairly merging Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. In 2015 Lee was accused of orchestrating the merger to secure control over Samsung Electronics as Samsung C&T was a major shareholder of the company. Lee attended the ruling at the Seoul High Court earlier today as the judges ruled that he was not guilty of a wide array of allegations ranging from illegal trading to market manipulation to breach of duty. Last year a lower court cleared him of all charges ruling that the merger appeared driven by business needs.
S. Korea's industrial output rose in 2024 despite persistent weak domestic demand
2025/02/03 17:00
Findings for the year 2024 show Korea's industrial output remained sturdy but the country's retail sales lost substantial ground. Our correspondent Moon Hye-ryeon covers the latest data. South Korea's industrial production saw a rise in 2024, largely driven by a recovery in semiconductor exports. However, domestic consumption indicators remained sluggish, highlighting a growing disparity between sectors. According to data from Statistics Korea on Monday, the country's overall industrial production index showed a one-point-seven percent year-on-year increase. This growth outpaced the one-percent increase recorded in 2023, and comes due to strong performance in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing output rose by 4-point-4 percent – a turnaround from the 2-point-6 percent decline recorded in 2023. Semiconductors and pharmaceutical production played a key role with a surge in exports, but domestic manufacturing shipments fell by two percent, underscoring weak domestic demand. The service sector saw slower growth, seeing the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, due to a downturn in retail and wholesale trade and hospitality services. Retail sales dropped by 2-point-2 percent, which is the sharpest annual decline since 2003. This also marks three straight years of contraction in retail sales – the longest streak of decline since data collection began. Sales fell across all three categories measured – durable goods such as automobiles, non-durable goods such as food, and semi-durable goods such as clothing. A spokesperson from the agency said that the impact of the political turmoil and the Jeju Air plane crash in December on these numbers is yet unclear. "Declines in industries like food and services, lodging, arts, sports, and leisure may have been influenced by the political climate and national mourning period in December. That said, it's difficult to isolate the exact impact of these factors from the numbers." Construction activity, particularly in building projects, also recorded the biggest drop since 2001 last year with a decline in completed construction work. Capital investment, however, grew by 4-point-1 percent, driven by increased spending on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and transportation equipment. Moon Hye-ryeon, Arirang News.
S. Korean markets tumble after Trump's tariffs amp up risk of trade war
2025/02/03 17:00
And here in South Korea. The local bourse responded sharply to news of Trump tariffs on U.S. trade partners. The benchmark KOSPI surrendered 2-point-5 percent to close Monday's session at 2-thousand-4-hundred-53 while the tech-heavy Kosdaq sank 3-point-3 percent to settle at 7-hundred-3. The Korean won also weakened against the U.S. dollar with the exchange rate ending at 1-thousand-4-hundred-67 won against the greenback.
S. Korea's industrial output rises in 2024 despite persistent weak domestic demand
2025/02/03 10:00
South Korea's industrial production rose for the first time in four months in December, rounding off the year with an overall rise. Data from Statistics Korea on Monday showed that industrial output rose by 2-point-7 percent in the last month of 2024, contributing to an increase of 1-point-7 percent for the entire year compared to 2023. Manufacturing output showed growth due to a boom in the semiconductor sector, while services output continued to show a downturn. This comes on the back of weak performance in the retail and wholesale sectors especially with domestic demand failing to recover from the fallout of the December martial law declaration.
STOCK
2025/01/31 20:00
2025. 1. 31. KOREAN STOCK MARKET KOSPI : 2,517.37 ▼19.43 (-0.77%) KOSDAQ : 728.29 ▼0.45 (-0.06%) KOSPI200 : 333.36 ▼3.38 (-1.00%) ASIAN STOCK MARKET NIKKEI225 : 39,572.49 +58.52 (+0.15%) HANG SENG : CLOSED SHANGHAI : CLOSED WALL STREET (JANUARY 30) DOW JONES : 44,882.13 ▲168.61 (+0.38%) NASDAQ : 19,681.75 ▲49.42 (+0.25%) S&P500 : 6,071.17 ▲31.86 (+0.53%) EXCHANGE RATE USD : 1,452.70 (+21.40) JPY : 938.98 (+16.96) CNY : 198.97 (+1.43) EUR : 1,509.50 (+13.08)
Samsung Electronics sees limited Q4 operating profit on weakened chip performance
2025/01/31 20:00
On the corporate front, Samsung Electronics posted a rather lackluster operating profit in the fourth quarter, due to a sluggish performance by its chip division. Eyes are now on the company's enhanced fifth-generation high-bandwidth memory chips, soon-to-be supplied. Our Lee Soo-jin reports. South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics posted a solid performance for the year but its fourth-quarter results fell short of market expectations as its semiconductor division posted a sluggish performance. The chipmaker on Friday reported an annual operating profit of more than 32 trillion won, or around 22 billion U.S. dollars, up 3-hundred-98 percent compared to the previous year. And sales came to around 206 billion dollars, up around 16 percent on-year. This marks the second time that the company recorded annual sales in the 200 billion dollar range after it did so for the first time in 2022. But despite the company's solid performance for the year, its fourth-quarter operating profit failed to meet market expectations. While this was expected to log more than 5 billion dollars, it came in at 4-point-4 billion dollars. This comes as the operating profit from the device solution division responsible for semiconductor technology research and development fell slightly compared to the previous quarter, coming in at only around 2 billion dollars in the October to December period. This, according to the company was due to high research and development costs,.. as well as expenses spent on expanding its advanced process production capacity. The company spent a record 7 billion dollars on research and development in the fourth quarter. As for the first quarter this year, only a modest improvement is expected as global demand for chips remains weak. But a turnaround may be seen in future quarters as Bloomberg reported on Friday that Samsung Electronics was cleared to supply its fifth generation eight-layer HBM3E chips to NVIDIA. The South Korean chipmaker's 12-layer version of the chips is still undergoing NVIDIA's quality verification tests. Samsung Electronics during Friday's conference call also announced plans to supply improved fifth-generation HBM3E chips to major clients by the end of the first quarter this year. And it's aiming for mass production of sixth-generation HBM4 in the second half of the year, as it prepares to navigate the various risks and opportunities expected during the Trump administration's second term. Lee Soo-jin, Arirang News.
Samsung Electronics sees limited Q4 operating profit on weakened chip performance
2025/01/31 17:00
On the corporate front, Samsung Electronics posted a rather lackluster operating profit in the fourth quarter, due to a sluggish performance by its chip division. Our Lee Soo-jin reports. South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics posted a solid performance for the year but its fourth-quarter results fell short of market expectations as its semiconductor division posted a sluggish performance. The chipmaker reported on Friday an annual operating profit of more than 32 trillion won, or around 22 billion U.S. dollars, up 3-hundred-98 percent compared to the previous year. And sales came to around 206 billion dollars, up around 16 percent on-year. This marks the second time that the company recorded annual sales in the 200 billion dollar range after it did so for the first time in 2022. But despite the company's solid performance for the year, its fourth-quarter operating profit failed to meet market expectations. While this was expected to log more than 5 billion dollars, it came in at 4-point-4 billion dollars. This comes as the operating profit from the device solution division responsible for semiconductor technology research and development fell slightly compared to the previous quarter, coming in at only around 2 billion dollars in the October to December period. This, according to the company was due to high research and development costs,.. as well as expenses spent on expanding its advanced process production capacity. The company spent a record 7 billion dollars on research and development in the fourth quarter. As for the first quarter this year, only a modest improvement is expected as global demand for chips remains weak. But a turnaround may be seen in future quarters as Bloomberg reported on Friday that Samsung Electronics was cleared to supply its fifth generation eight-layer HBM3E chips to NVIDIA. The South Korean chipmaker's 12-layer version of the chips is still undergoing NVIDIA's quality verification tests. Lee Soo-jin, Arirang News.