Category: Korea-Business

If Trump wants to increase tariffs on South Korea I don’t think it really matters who the leader is:

Korea’s ongoing leadership crisis, triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law, is feared to leave the country vulnerable to potential new tariffs from the incoming Donald Trump administration during upcoming trade and economic negotiations, industry officials said Sunday.

Yoon is suspended from his duties following the National Assembly’s vote on Saturday to impeach him over his short-lived imposition of martial law on Dec. 3. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has stepped in as acting president.

Officials from the nation’s business community expressed concerns that Korea may have weaker negotiating power under the presidency of the interim head of state.

“Every nation engages in a tight tug-of-war with the United States to minimize any damages from the ultra-protectionist stance of Trump,” an official from a major manufacturing firm here said.

“But it becomes harder for Korea to do so on an equal footing due to the absence of the state leader.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It appears Korean business owners are expecting the Trump administration to use tariffs on ROK exports if they are this concerned:

More than 8 out of 10 South Korean companies expect Donald Trump’s reelection as U.S. president will have a negative impact on the national economy, a survey showed Sunday.

In the annual survey on 239 companies with at least 30 employees on their management, 82 percent said the Korean economy will be negatively affected by the protectionist policy of the incoming second Trump administration as it has high dependence on exports, according to the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF).

Only 7.5 percent answered the Korean economy will benefit from his reelection thanks to his China policy, expected to be aimed at curbing the growth of the world’s second-largest economy.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a heck of a collateral that is being offered by the Lotte Group:

Lotte Group said Thursday that it provided Seoul’s landmark Lotte World Tower as collateral to strengthen the creditworthiness of corporate bonds issued by its struggling chemical unit, Lotte Chemical. The move is part of the group’s efforts to reassure investors about its financial prudence.

Lotte Group said in a statement that it will offer Lotte World Tower to banks as collateral to enhance the creditworthiness of its corporate bonds through bank guarantees related to the bond agreements.

The 123-story, 555-meter Lotte World Tower is the world’s sixth-tallest building and the highest in Korea. Owned by Lotte Property & Development, its current value exceeds 6 trillion won ($4.3 billion).

The statement came after Lotte Chemical revealed last week that it was in a position where creditors could declare an event of default and demand early repayment of its corporate bonds, valued at 2.05 trillion won. This development arose from the company’s inability to comply with the predetermined terms of the bonds.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is really bizarre:

Three researchers died of suffocation during vehicle testing at a Hyundai Motor Co. plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan on Tuesday, officials said.

The three — two Hyundai researchers and the other affiliated with a subcontractor — were found collapsed at a test chamber of the plant where they were conducting a car performance test at around 3 p.m. in the day. 

They were taken to nearby hospitals but were pronounced dead, according to company officials and authorities.

The victims were presumed to have been suffocated due to toxic gas in the enclosed space, and a police investigation is under way to find the exact cause of the accident, they added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Korean defense industry has found yet another potential customer:

Second from left, Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, is briefed about HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Aegis destroyer, the King Jeongjo the Great, at the shipbuilding site in Ulsan on Tuesday. [HD HYUNDAI]

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) is in discussions with Canada regarding potentially contributing to the nation’s naval defense.  
  
Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, toured the HHI’s Ulsan headquarters as part of discussions related to Canada’s upcoming Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), estimated to be worth 60 trillion won ($42.8 billion), the company said Tuesday. 
  
Canada’s Department of National Defence is in the process of acquiring up to 12 3,000-ton submarine fleets in a bid to strengthen the nation’s maritime defense as part of the project.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

In some ways hydrogen makes more sense than electric if you have something like hydro or nuclear power to make the needed hydrogen:

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, left, shakes hands with Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda during the Hyundai N x Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival at the Everland Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun and Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda met in public for the first time, Sunday, implying that the rival carmakers may work together to strengthen their global alliance for hydrogen mobility.

Their meeting took place during the Hyundai N x Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival, co-hosted by the two carmakers at the Everland Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

Beginning with Toyoda’s performance driving of a car carrying Chung, the festival kicked off to showcase high-performance cars of both companies and to attract more people to enjoy motorsports. Toyoda is a master driver who races for his company’s Gazoo Racing Team under the name “Morizo.”

Hyundai Motor also invited Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hankook & Company Chairman Cho Hyun-bum to the event.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Automakers that made bets on hybrid cars are seeing great sales compared to the EV market which appears to have plateaued until battery technology and charging infrastructure makes significant advancements:

Exports of hybrid cars produced domestically this year are close to the highest ever, the report showed.

According to the Korea Automobile Mobility Industry Association (KAMA) on the 16th, a total of 279,165 hybrid cars were exported from January to August this year by domestic automakers such as Hyundai Motor, Kia, GM Korea, and KG Mobility. This is an increase of 32.5% from 216,629 units in the same period last year, the highest performance in the January-August period ever. If the current trend continues until the end of the year, it is expected to exceed the annual export volume of 313,071 hybrid vehicles recorded last year.

Exports of hybrid vehicles have been steadily increasing over the past five years. It reached 124,503 units in 2020 and surpassed 300,000 units for the first time last year.

Among eco-friendly cars, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) have been suffering from sluggish export performance this year, but hybrid vehicles are the only ones with good performance. Amid the prolonged phenomenon of electric vehicle catharsis (temporary slowdown in demand), its value as a substitute seems to be a significant impact. Electric vehicle exports from January to August this year were 179,203 units, down 23.2% from 233,276 units in the same period last year. PHEV exports also fell 30.6% year-on-year to 34,893 units.

Maeil Business Newspaper

You can read more at the link.

This should suprise no one that a cheaply produced Chinese made battery likely caused the recent massive EV fire in South Korea:

The burnt  Mercedes EQE sedan is transferred for a thorough investigation in Incheon. [NEWS1]

Mercedes-Benz‘s ties with an obscure Chinese battery maker came under heavy scrutiny in Korea over the revelation that its EV at the center of a massive explosion in an underground parking garage used the supplier’s battery. 
  
The supplier is Ganzhou-based Farasis Energy, which was founded in 2009 and has a history of issuing recalls due to fire risks.

Mercedes EV owners claim that the German luxury carmaker deceived consumers by marketing some particular EVs as powered by batteries from Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest battery maker in terms of shipments. 
  
“It’s definitely an intention to deceive customers. How could a luxury brand like Mercedes use batteries from a brand that no one has heard of and never notify us?” said Jeon Kang-hwan, an owner of a Mercedes EQE 350+ who also heads an emergency committee of around 300 Mercedes owners who are preparing for a class-action lawsuit against the German luxury marque for consumer fraud.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Hopefully no one was too heavily invested in the South Korea stock market because it just lost 8%:

 South Korean stocks tumbled by the most on record to a near nine-month low Monday amid intensifying fears over a U.S. economic slowdown, with big tech coming under heavy selling. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plummeted a record 234.64 points, or 8.77 percent, to close at 2,441.55, after dipping to as low as 2,273.97 at one point, following a 3.65 percent loss the previous session.

It is the lowest closing price since Nov. 14, when the index finished at 2,433.25.

Trade volume was heavy at 749.3 million shares worth 18.4 trillion won (US$13.4 billion), with decliners sharply outnumbering gainers 919 to 10.

Foreign investors dumped a net 1.5 trillion won worth of stocks to spearhead the record-breaking crash. Institutions also sold a net 273.6 billion won, while individuals purchased a net 1.7 trillion won.

The stock market was halted for 20 minutes during midday trading for the first time in four years, due to the sharp decline.

The bourse operator issued a circuit breaker at 2:14 p.m. to halt trading for 20 minutes as the KOSPI fell more than 8 percent for more than one minute at that time.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.