Day: April 2, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed relevant authorities Sunday to make all-out efforts to put out and prevent spring wildfires, his office said.

Yoon issued the message following reports of wildfires on Mount Inwang, near the previous location of South Korea’s presidential office, and a mountain in Hongseong, 114 kilometers south of Seoul.

As of 5:08 p.m., 2,458 officials and 15 helicopters had been mobilized to mostly contain the blaze on Mount Inwang that broke out shortly before noon.

There have been no reports of deaths or injuries caused by the fire so far, authorities said.

Authorities have banned entry to the mountain, with residents in nearby areas being evacuated. Some 120 households already have been evacuated.

Some 14 hectares of woodland have been destroyed by the wildfire.

Yoon ordered the National Fire Agency and the National Forest Service to use all possible resources to extinguish the fires, and called on the interior and defense ministries to support the efforts, presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said in a written briefing.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed relevant authorities Sunday to make all-out efforts to put out and prevent spring wildfires, his office said.

Yoon issued the message following reports of wildfires on Mount Inwang, near the previous location of South Korea’s presidential office, and a mountain in Hongseong, 114 kilometers south of Seoul.

As of 2:30 p.m., some 580 officials and nine helicopters had been mobilized to put out the blaze on Mount Inwang that broke out shortly before noon. There have been no reports of deaths or injuries caused by it.

Authorities have banned entry to the mountain, with residents in nearby areas being evacuated. Some 120 households already have been evacuated.

Some 0.23 square kilometers of land, equivalent to the size of 32 football fields, have been destroyed by the wildfire.

Yoon ordered the National Fire Agency and the National Forest Service to use all possible resources to extinguish the fires, and called on the interior and defense ministries to support the efforts, presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said in a written briefing.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

South Korean exporting companies saved 6.6 trillion won (US$5.8 billion) due to lower tariffs in 2021 thanks to the country’s free trade agreements (FTAs) with six major economies, including the United States and the European Union, government data showed Sunday.

According to the trade data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, South Korea exported $446.9 billion worth of products to the U.S., the EU, China, India, Vietnam and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2021, and saved a combined $5.8 billion from lower tariffs.

They are among the 21 countries and economic communities that South Korea has concluded FTAs with.

South Korean exporters saved $1.68 billion from trade with U.S. companies, while FTAs with the EU, China and India eliminated $1.55 billion, $910 million and $690 million in tariffs, respectively.

Machinery exports had tariff exemptions of $1.94 billion from the FTAs, followed by steel and metal products with $1.21 billion and plastics with $360 million.

The South Korean government earlier announced plans to clinch FTAs with more than 10 nations this year in an effort to boost growth momentum and diversify its trade portfolio.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed relevant authorities Sunday to make all-out efforts to put out and prevent spring wildfires, his office said.

Yoon issued the message following reports of wildfires on Mount Inwang, near the previous location of South Korea’s presidential office, and a mountain in Hongseong, 114 kilometers south of Seoul.

Yoon ordered the National Fire Agency and the National Forest Service to use all possible resources to extinguish the fires, and called on the interior and defense ministries to support the efforts, presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said in a written briefing.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

The first-quarter earnings outlook for South Korea’s major companies, including the world’s leading chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., remains grim due mainly to sluggish global demand, an analysis of industry data showed Sunday.

According to securities firms’ forecasts compiled by Yonhap Infomax, Samsung Electronics is projected to have posted an operating profit of 720 billion won (US$549.7 million) during the first three months of the year.

It marks a 94.9 percent drop from its first-quarter result of 14.1 trillion won from a year ago.

Samsung’s sales in the January-March period are forecast to have fallen 17.3 percent on-year to 64.3 trillion won.

SK hynix will also highly likely remain in the red for two quarters in a row.

The company seems to have recorded an operating loss of 3.8 trillion won for the first quarter, with its sales having plunged 60.1 percent on-year to 4.9 trillion won.

The whopping decreases in earnings were apparently attributable to waning global demand for memory chips amid the economic slowdown.

The Yonhap Infomax analysis also predicted declines in the first-quarter profits of key South Korean petrochemical firms and steelmakers.

LG Chem, a leading chemical producer in South Korea, is expected to announce an operating profit of 535.5 billion won, down 47.7 percent from a year earlier.

Kumho Petro Chemical Co.’s first-quarter operating profit is estimated to have nosedived 81.8 percent on-year to 81.9 billion won.

POSCO Holdings Inc., the country’s biggest steelmaker, is forecast to report a 72 percent drop on-year to 632 billion won.

However, carmakers and battery manufacturers appear to have fared relatively well in the first quarter on the back of the fast-growing electric vehicle market.

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. are forecast to have recorded operating profits of 2.8 trillion won and 2.1 trillion won, respectively, during the January-March period, up 44 percent and 32.4 percent from a year earlier.

LG Energy Solution, the country’s largest battery maker, is likely to have earned 499.1 billion won in operating profit for the first quarter, nearly doubling from the previous year’s 258.9 billion won.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

A Seoul court is poised to kick off its trial of Kim Man-bae, the owner of an asset management firm at the center of a high-profile development corruption scandal, this week, legal sources said Sunday.

The Seoul Central District Court plans to hold its first hearing of Kim, who has been additionally indicted on charges of concealing criminal proceeds from the lucrative urban development project, on Wednesday afternoon, they said.

The case has grabbed keen public attention for months, especially as Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, is potentially involved in it.

The development project was launched in 2015 while he was the mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

Prosecutors earlier indicted Kim, the largest shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, with detention on charges of stashing a combined 39 billion won (US$30 million) of illegal proceeds from the development project from October 2021 to November last year.

The former journalist was also charged with having criminal evidence destroyed in 2021 in connection with investigations into the scandal and violating the Farmland Act by falsifying his agricultural career for speculation purposes.

Kim is currently standing trial on breach of duty and other charges related to the scandal that centers on allegations that his firm and its affiliates were chosen as private partners for an apartment development project in the Daejang-dong district of the city of Seongnam, just south of Seoul, in 2015 and reaped huge investment profits.

Source: Yonhap News Agency