[THE INVESTOR] Korea may choose to cut the policy interest rate further from the current record-low level in an effort to maximize the effect of its recently-announced stimulus package, some foreign investment banks predicted. According to the Korea Center for International Finance, JPMorgan and BNP Paribas noted the possibility of a fiscal-monetary policy mix in Korea in their recent analyst notes on the Korean Finance Ministry’s additional public spending plan. Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-ye

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s hot and humid summer weather makes keeping food fresh a challenge during the summer, and beverage brands are lining the shelves with specially packaged products to put health-conscious consumers at ease.Focusing on popular natural beverages like fruit juices and dairy, the packages are specially designed to keep heat and moisture out even when the products are kept at room temperature.Beverages using aseptic packaging. Clockwise from top left: Dole’s 100% Ice Juice Bar, De

[THE INVESTOR] Sales of hybrid cars more than doubled in June in Korea on the back of the popularity of new compact sports utility vehicle Niro produced by Kia Motors, industry data showed July 3.A total of 6,215 units of Korean-made hybrid cars were sold in June, up 140 percent from 2,617 a month earlier, according to the data.Kia Motors‘ sports utility vehicle Niro / Kia MotorsThe June figure marked a monthly sales record, outnumbering the previous record of 6,061 units tallied in April.Kia Mo

[THE INVESTOR] The Korean government has expanded its incentive program for home appliances with high energy efficiency to all major stores in a bid to encourage consumers to use environmentally-friendly products as well as to spur domestic spending, the commerce ministry said Saturday.The program offers cash backs of up 10 percent on five types of household electronic appliances that have the highest energy efficiency ratings.Initially, the government incentives were only offered on products so

[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics has been trying to relocate and merge its production bases in Europe in order to enhance management efficiency.The tech company has moved its production facilities in Wroclaw in western Poland where it used to produce around 3 million TVs per year to Mlawa, a county located northwest of Polish capital Warsaw. The total production capacity at the Mlawa production plant has increased to 7 million with the relocation.“The latest decision to relocate the production faci

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics has filed a petition with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to track down those who spread false rumors about Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee to inflate Samsung-related share prices. Samsung has requested the investigation based on claims that the culprits violated both telecommunication and capital market laws. On June 30, rumors circulated that Samsung would be announcing the death of chairman Lee at 3:00 p.m., which is when South Korean stock mar

[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics has revamped its troubled mobile business division in a desperate effort to restore slowing profits after continuing failures of its flagship G phones, including the latest G5. According to the company on July 1, a new position, called “product management officer,” has been set up under president and CEO Cho Ju-no with aims to pour resources into developing premium smartphones. Two PMOs were announced on the day: Oh Hyeong-hoon, former head of the division’s R&D cen

[THE INVESTOR] The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said July 1 that it is currently consult with experts for the possible rescheduling of the test launch of a 200-ton space vehicle, Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II.The announcement comes after local new outlets reported that the the test launch of the vehicle has been delayed by 10 months and the official launch in 2020 has been consequently postponed.The Korea Aerospace Research Institute, a state-run space agency, is scheduled to hav

[THE INVESTOR] The delayed merger and acquisition deal between IPTV operatorSK Broadband and cable TV firm CJ HelloVision is wreaking havoc on both companies, hampering them from proceeding with their investment plans to beef up infrastructure and services.“As the review session for the M&A among the government bodies is being delayed, SKB is struggling to execute investment plans, which sequentially causes damage to its equipment suppliers and other partners,” a public relations representative

[THE INVESTOR] Game developer Nexon said June 30 that its mobile role-playing game “HIT” will be released in global markets on July 7.The mobile game, which will support 10 languages including English, Chinese, German, French, and Thai, is to hit 140 global markets.But two neighboring countries Japan and China were excluded for the launch.“Japan is different from other markets as animation-inspired games featuring cute characters mostly top the mobile game chart, so we are planning to enter the

[THE INVESTOR] Chemical and battery firm LG Chem said June 29 that its “stack-and-folding battery,” has been deployed in the world’s thinnest laptop Specter made by California-based Hewlett-Packard.First unveiled in 2013, the stack-and-folding battery is made by stacking layers of battery cells, offering more leeway in designing devices.The 13.3-inch Specter laptop boasts 10.4 millimeters in thickness.The LG Chem battery equipped in HP’s laptop model is 1.6 millimeters thick, but boasts a high d

[THE INVESTOR] Koreas online game developer Neowiz Games has launched its new mobile role-playing game “Devil Breaker: Rise,” on June 28 in 137 nations, including China, and the US.The new game title is a sequel of the “Kingdom of Heroes” released in 2013.The new game is based on a fictional story of heroes striving to take their kingdom back from a Devil troop. Players can choose a character among 100 heroes to play and each of them presents different journeys, the company said.By Kim Young-won

[THE INVESTOR] Despite its properties -- the high mobility of electrons, high strength and flexibility -- all of which are apt for use in electronic components, graphene has struggled to get a foothold in the semiconductor sector due to difficulties in current control.The major stumbling block was due to the nonexistence of what is called a bandgap, which indicates the difference between the states when electrons are not free to move (valence band) and when they are free and carry current (condu

[THE INVESTOR] Internet portal firm Naver will reportedly join the fray for artificial intelligence assistant by rolling out its own voice-recognition smart home system as early as this year.Naver has been conducting research and development projects in artificial intelligence for years, utilizing its vast amount of data, including linguistic data.Naver’s research and development center Naver Labs.Naver LabsCompared to global AI services developer like Google and Amazon, Naver is considered to h

[THE INVESTOR] Chinese Internet portal firm Tencent, which recently took over Supercell, a Finland-based developer of global hit mobile game “Clash of Clans,” is increasing its clout in the Korean online and mobile game industries. The Chinese portal services firm has invested in more than 10 game companies in the Korean market. Among the most noticeable ones are Netmarble Games, 4:33 and Party Games.The Chinese firm is also the third-largest shareholder of Kakao, the mobile messenger firm which

[THE INVESTOR] Display experts urged the Korean government to make all-out efforts to enable the nation’s display makers to maintain their lead in the market for organic light-emitting diode display, considered the future display for its flexibility and transparency.Participating in a meeting to boost the next-generation OLED industry in Seoul on June 28, Lee Jeong-ik, a chief researcher at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, a state-run research institution, said in his s

[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics’ operating profit is forecast to exceed 8 trillion won ($6.8 billion) in the second quarter of this year, surpassing previous market estimates. “The second-quarter revenue and operating profit will come in at 51.3 trillion won and 8 trillion won, respectively, beating market estimates,” said Lee Jae-yoon, an analyst from Yuanta Securities, adding that the firm’s IT and mobile communications business unit and consumer electronics business unit would s

[THE INVESTOR] US-based smartphone-maker Apple saw its presence in the global smartphone market shrink in recent months, according to a market report on June 22.Apple’s operating profit in the first three months came in at $10.8 billion, accounting for 79.9 percent of the entire operating profits earned by the global smartphone makers, according to a report released by market research firm Strategy Analytics. Apple’s iPhone 6. AppleDuring the three months, the total operating income of the world

[THE INVESTOR] The global organic light-emitting diode TV market may not be as robust as previously thought in the coming years, according to an industry report.Market research firm IHS forecast in its recent report that around 5.8 million units of OLED TVs will be shipped in 2020, down 32 percent from 8.5 million projected earlier this year.The number of OLED TVs expected to be shipped in 2019 has also decreased to 4 million, down from an estimate of 5.8 million in the previous report Models po

[THE INVESTOR] Ministers, government officials, and information technology industry leaders flocked to Cancun, Mexico to participate in the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy, a conference for the global IT sector, being held from June 21 to 23. The ministerial meeting is meaningful, in that participants will check the economic and social influence of the internet, based on the Seoul Declaration, adopted in Korea in 2008, and Internet Policymaking Principles in 2011, and discuss the