Increase in Chinese Tourists to Korea and Korea-China Car Ferry Passengers Resumed after 3 and a Half Years
The number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea has been steadily increasing, despite the Chinese government excluding Korea from the list of countries that allow its citizens to travel abroad. In June, China was the second highest source of foreign tourists to Korea, with 168,000 visitors out of the total 961,000. An industry insider expects the number of Chinese tourists to continue to rise during the summer holiday season.
Additionally, after a suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Korea-China car ferry passenger transportation is set to resume after 3 years and 7 months. The ferry service will operate on four routes: Pyeongtaek-Weihai, Pyeongtaek-Yantai, Incheon-Weihai, and Incheon-Changdao. This resumption of travel between the two countries is a positive sign for the tourism industry.
Meanwhile, Lotte Tourism Development reported its performance for July 2023, with hotel sales experiencing a year-on-year decrease of 13.9%, while casino sales increased by 516.8%. Jeju Dream Tower Casino achieved over KRW 20 billion in net sales in July, surpassing this milestone for the first time since its opening. The number of casino users also saw a significant increase.
Expectations for NAVER’s HyperClova X Following Strong Second Quarter Performance
NAVER, a leading South Korean technology company, recently announced its second quarter results, which showed positive growth in sales, operating profit, and net profit compared to the same period last year. NAVER recorded sales of KRW 2.40 trillion, operating profit of KRW 372.7 billion, and net profit of KRW 286.7 billion on a consolidated basis. The company’s CEO, Choi Soo-yeon, highlighted the upcoming release of ‘HyperClova X’, a next-generation artificial intelligence (AI), and the enhancement of ‘Clova X’ interactive AI service and cloud-based B2B products.
NAVER plans to focus on the B2B sector for the sales of HyperClova X, exploring different business models such as standard API billing or subscription models. The company aims to leverage its cloud technology and form partnerships to expedite profit results.
Kakao, another prominent technology company in Korea, also discussed its AI initiatives, including the release of an AI base model in the coming months. CEO Hong Eun-taek emphasized the potential of AI integration in various services such as messaging, transactions, and more.
LK-99 Validation Committee Raises Concerns over Superconductor Test Defect
A verification committee formed by the Korean Society of Superconductivity and Low Temperature recently expressed doubts about the claim that the material LK-99 is a room temperature superconductor. The committee explained that LK-99 does not exhibit the Meissner effect, a characteristic of superconductors.
In addition, the committee pointed out that the material does not demonstrate the magnetic flux setting effect, which is essential for a superconductor to remain in a stable position on a magnet. The verification committee requested a sample from the Quantum Energy Research Institute, the organization behind the claim, but the response stated that the sample would be available for review in 2 to 4 weeks.
These findings have implications for companies in the superconductor industry, as themes related to superconductors experienced a decline in stock prices. Other related themes, such as nuclear fusion energy and graphene, also faced downturns.
Source: Infostock Daily
The increase in Chinese tourists to Korea and Korea-China car ferry passengers resumed after 3 and a half years
LK-99 Validation Committee Announces Superconductor Test Defect
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◇ NAVER, expectation for HyperClova X amid good performance in the second quarter
NAVER announced its second quarter results on the same day, and recorded sales of KRW 2.40 trillion (+17.69% compared to the same period last year), operating profit of KRW 372.7 billion (+10.85% compared to the same period last year), and net profit KRW 286.7 billion (+80.88% compared to the same period last year) on a consolidated basis. Separate sales recorded KRW 1.41 trillion (+1.38% year-on-year), operating profit KRW 432.5 billion (+9.10% year-on-year), and net profit KRW 411 billion (+58.74% year-on-year).
Naver achieved a record quarterly operating profit. Sales of most of its leading businesses, such as search, commerce, fintech, and content, grew compared to last year. On the 24th, Naver plans to unveil ‘Hyper Clover X’, a next-generation artificial intelligence (AI), and strengthen ‘Clova X’ interactive AI service and cloud-based B2B products.
In this regard, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said in a conference call during the performance announcement that day, “After the release of HyperClova on the 24th, we will sequentially explain the BM (business model) in based on strategic products.”
Specifically, with HyperClova X sales expected to come out first in the B2B (business-to-business) sector, CEO Choi said, “We are also considering a standard API (application program interface) billing model or a subscription model, and Neuro Naver. Cloud technology I believe profit results as partnership and collaboration with companies will come out faster,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Kakao said in a conference call announcing its 2nd quarter results the previous day, “We think the AI base model (KoGPT 2.0) will be released after October,” and “We plan to launch services vertical in conjunction with this model.”
In addition, he revealed a plan to create synergy in the business by combining the super large AI model currently being developed with KakaoTalk. CEO Hong Eun-taek said, “By grafting AI, it is possible to deliver personalized messages to multiple users,” and “AI will be grafted well with transactional services such as booking, orders, merchants and payments .”
In this news, AI chatbots (ChatGPT, etc.) and intelligent robots and artificial intelligence (AI) raised themes such as Polaris Office, Flitto, Conan Technology, Saltlux, and Maum AI.
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◇ Increase in Chinese tourists to Korea and Korea-China car ferry passenger transport resumed after 3 and a half years
Although the Chinese government excludes Korea from the list of countries that allow its citizens to travel abroad, the number of Chinese tourists (Yuke) visiting Korea is increasing significantly.
According to the Korea Tourism Organization, of the 961,000 foreign tourists who visited Korea in June, China was second only to Japan with 168,000 visitors. An industry insider said, “The number of Chinese tourists who visited Korea in July increased significantly during the summer holiday season.
In addition, the Korean-China car ferry passenger transportation, which was suspended with Corona 19, is scheduled to resume from the 9th. Korea-China car ferry passenger transport will resume after 3 years and 7 months. Starting with Pyeongtaek-Weihai on the 9th, Pyeongtaek-Yantai and Incheon-Weihai on the 10th, and Incheon-Changdao on the 11th, four routes are scheduled to start operating simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Lotte Tourism Development announced its performance for July 2023 through a public disclosure after the market closed on the 2nd. Hotel sales recorded KRW 9.676 billion (-13.9% year-on-year) and casino sales KRW 20.115 billion (+516.8% year-on-year). Lotte Tourism Development announced that Jeju Dream Tower Casino’s July net sales exceeded 20 billion won. This is the first time the monthly figure has exceeded KRW 20 billion since opening, and the number of casino users in July was 27,005, up 4,754 from the previous month.
Amidst such news, the themes of travel, airlines, low cost carriers (LCCs), casinos, and duty free shops arose, such as Lotte Tourism Development, Yellow Balloon, GKL, Paradise, Global Tax Free, and Hotel Shilla. In addition, domestic listed Chinese companies such as Organic Tea Cosmetics, East Asia Holdings, and CKH also rose.
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◇ LK-99 verification committee, decline due to publication of superconductor test defect
According to the press, the LK-99 Verification Committee of the Korean Society of Superconductivity and Low Temperature, which consists of domestic superconductor experts, said the previous day that the material LK-99, which was recently claimed to be a superconductor room temperature. by a domestic research institute, is insufficient to prove that it is a room temperature superconductor.
As for the reason for concluding that LK-99 is not sufficient to prove that it is a room temperature superconductor, the verification committee said, “It is different from the Meissner effect, which is characteristic of superconductors .”
In addition, in order for the superconductor to be fixed while floating in the air, the Meissner effect and the ‘magnetic flux setting (flux pinning)’ effect must, where the superconductor remains in a certain position on the magnet and is stable, it appears, but the image of LK-99 floats on the magnet at all times He explained that it is far from the effect of setting the magnetic flux as some of them are attached to the magnet and vibrate after moving.
Additionally, the association asked the Quantum Energy Research Institute, which made this material, for a sample to check, but said it had received a reply saying it could be received 2 to 4 weeks after the review. ended because the submitted paper was under review.
On the other hand, according to some media, Lee Seok-bae, CEO of the Quantum Energy Research Institute, said, “There will be a place to collect and arrange a presentation soon” regarding issues related to the thesis manuscript that claim the success of the development of a room temperature superconductor.
In response to this news, superconductor themes such as Mobis, Shinsung Delta Tech, Power Logics, and Wonik P&E declined. In addition, themes such as nuclear fusion energy, graphene, non-ferrous metals, rare metals (rare earth, etc.), and quantum cryptography, which were highlighted along with superconductors, declined.
Infostock Research
Reporter Yoon Seo-yeon yoonsy0528@infostock.co.kr
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