LG's PuriCare products heading to more overseas markets

LG Electronics is aggressively launching its PuriCare products overseas, the company said Friday. The electronics giant‘s three representative air purifying products are a 360 degrees-rotation air purifier, a portable mini air purifier and an industrial-sized air purifier. The LG PuriCare 360 Air Purifier has already been launched in the US, China, Japan, India and Thailand. Additionally, it will become available in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Vietnam and Hungray this year.

IndustryJuly 3, 2020

NPS logs record high annual return in 2019

South Korea’s public pension fund National Pension Service has posted a return rate of 11.34 percent last year, hitting a 10-year record high, Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo said Friday. “After recording a return rate of minus 0.89 percent in 2018, last year’s figure rebounded within just a year. It is the highest return rate since establishing the NPS Investment Management Committee in 1999,” said Park, who also heads the state pension’s asset mana

EconomyJuly 3, 2020

AMPAC Fine Chemicals appoints Jeff Butler as President

AMPAC Fine Chemicals, one of the constituents of the consolidated global pharmaceuticals contract manufacturing organization SK Pharmteco, said Friday that it has appointed Jeff Butler as the new president. Butler was previously vice president of project management at AFC. Promoted as the president, Butler is now responsible for operations across all US-based facilities, AFC said. “Jeff has been very instrumental in the growth of AFC. His technical leadership coupled with his busine

IndustryJuly 3, 2020

Exodus of Korean conglomerates’ overseas branches in Hong Kong possible: report

Amid the aggravating political sentiment between US and China over the imposition of Hong Kong‘s security law, South Korean conglomerates with overseas branches in Hong Kong can possibly seek to relocate their offices to different cities, a report said Friday.  On Thursday, US lawmakers unanimously approved new Hong Kong-related sanctions that would penalize banks which do business with Chinese officials, after the Chinese government imposed a security law that has been widely conde

MobilityJuly 3, 2020

Can Korean chipmakers bet on NAND flash in H2?

After benefiting from the growing non-contact market in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in the first six months of this year, chipmakers are again faced with a bearish outlook for the remaining half of the year due to estimated falls in chip prices. In the third quarter, there are predominant forecasts that say the prices of both DRAM and NAND flashes will decline, leading to a slower growth of the overall memory market. According to market tracker DRAMeXchange, the fixed price of DDR4 8

TechnologyJuly 3, 2020

Samsung resumes fridge production in S. Korea

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it has reopened a refrigerator production line in South Korea after closing the facility a day earlier due to virus concerns. Samsung said its refrigerator factory in Gwangju, some 330 kilometers southwest of Seoul, resumed operation in the morning after a worker who was suspected to have come in contact with a virus patient tested negative for COVID-19. The company on Thursday halted refrigerator production at the plant to prevent the possible spread of

IndustryJuly 3, 2020

Imported car sales jump 41% in June despite pandemic

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 41 percent in June from a year earlier on tax cuts and new models, an industry association said Friday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles rose to 27,350 units last month from 19,386 a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. "A reduction in individual consumption taxes and new model launches particularly by Audi Volkswagen Korea helped buoy the monthly sales,&quo

MobilityJuly 3, 2020

Seoul stocks open tad higher on US jobs data

South Korean shares opened slightly higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street led by estimate-beating US jobs data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 4.76 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,140.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Major US stock indices closed higher on surprising US jobs data. The NASDAQ Composite gained 0.52 percent to a fresh record high of 10,207.63 on Thursday (New York time), following reports that the US jobless rate in June fe

MarketJuly 3, 2020

Korean expert discovers way to ramp up chip storage capacity 1,000 times

A South Korean research team has discovered a way to ramp up the storage capacity of memory chips by 1,000 times, while raising the possibility of utilizing 0.5 nanometer process technology, the Ministry of Science on ICT announced Thursday. Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology’s Energy and Chemical Engineering professor Lee Jun-hee and his team have published a report on the discovery to international academic journal Science, winning attention from peers and the semicond

TechnologyJuly 3, 2020

GS Caltex expands eco-friendly compounded resin

GS Caltex is expanding an upcycling method that goes further than simply recycling plastic waste and creates new value by mixing materials. The firm said it plans to increase the production of compounded resin made from recycled plastic waste to streamline resources and reduce carbon emissions. Compound resin is a functional plastic widely used as a raw material for automotive and home appliance parts. If plastic waste is recycled to produce compounded resin instead of being incinerated, c

IndustryJuly 2, 2020

S. Korea to expand IP financial investment market to W1.3tr by 2024

South Korea aims to foster its intellectual property financial investment market to 1.3 trillion won ($1.08 billion) by 2024 to help firms deal with liquidity issues triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the nation’s IP office said Thursday. The Korean Intellectual Property Office announced 14 specific tasks under four pillars that would establish platforms for individuals and firms to directly invest in IP and profit from royalties, sales and even lawsuits. This is expected to boost th

EconomyJuly 2, 2020

KT CEO stresses importance of advancing 5G network in different industries

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo stressed that the fifth-generation network would allow telecommunication firms to create new business opportunities across various industries, the company said Thursday. “If the telecommunications firms used to center on business-to-consumer services in the past, the industry will be involved more in the business-to-business sector in the future,” KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo said in a keynote speech during the Global TD-LTE Initiative’s online summit on Wednesday.

TechnologyJuly 2, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] Porsche offers fun and comfort with Cayenne Coupe

It’s been 18 years since Porsche released the Cayenne, its first sport utility vehicle, but skeptics still questioning the vehicle’s “Porsche DNA.” Undeterred, the carmaker has continued to bolster its SUV lineup, and sales show Porsche’s decision was right. Its SUV sales now double those of smaller sports cars in some markets, including the US. In Korea, the Cayenne is attributed as having set the pace for the popularity of premium SUVs. This year, the carma

MobilityJuly 2, 2020

Korean, European businesses seek greater cooperation at virtual conference

South Korean and European business experts held an online forum Thursday to discuss ways to jointly respond to challenges in the wake of the pandemic and strengthen cooperation in areas such as future mobilities, secondary batteries and bio-health. As a follow-up event to the summit between the two regions, the EU-Korea Virtual Business Conference 2020 was jointly hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea. The conference aimed to discus

IndustryJuly 2, 2020

[From the Scene] Italian artisans design Samsung’s luxury fridge ‘New Chef Collection’

It’s not everyday that one feels attracted to a refrigerator, but Samsung’s new fridge is too beautiful to call it just a machine. Samsung Electronics on Thursday invited reporters to a studio in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul, to showcase its premium “New Chef Collection” refrigerator amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Inside the dimly-lit studio stood the $10,000 refrigerator with a chic metallic design, which immediately defied the monotonous and boring look of a typic

IndustryJuly 2, 2020

Seoul stocks close higher on recovery hopes

South Korean shares closed sharply higher Thursday on hopes of an economic recovery fueled by improved US economic indicators. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 28.67 points, or 1.36 percent, to close at 2,135.37. Trading volume was high at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 10.4 trillion won ($8.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 671 to 176. Foreigners sold a net 13 billion won, extending their latest selling

MarketJuly 2, 2020

Hyundai, Kia's US sales drop 19% in June amid pandemic

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday their sales in the United States fell 19 percent in June from a year earlier as the new coronavirus continued to affect vehicle sales. Hyundai, Hyundai's independent Genesis brand and Kia sold a combined 99,434 vehicles in the US market last month, down from 122,890 units a year ago, according to the companies' sales data. The carmakers had planned to focus on boosting sales in the world's most important automobile market thi

MobilityJuly 2, 2020

Jeju Air's Eastar takeover on brink of collapse amid pandemic

Jeju Air's Eastar takeover on brink of collapse amid pandemic Jeju Air Co.'s planned takeover of smaller budget carrier Eastar Jet Co. appears to be on the brink of falling through as Jeju Air asked Eastar Jet to settle all of its debts by mid-July to proceed with the deal. In March, Jeju Air signed a deal to acquire a controlling 51.17 percent stake in Eastar Jet from Eastar Holdings for 54.5 billion won as part of its expansion strategy despite the new coronavirus' growing impact on the air

MobilityJuly 2, 2020

Regulator to crack down on pooled funds to restore investor trust

The Financial Services Commission, South Korea‘s top financial regulator, said Thursday it would carry out an all-out inspection of all privately-pooled investment schemes in a preemptive measure to protect financial consumers from exposure to unanticipated risks. The target of the scrutiny will be 10,304 pooled funds and 233 investment houses dedicated to privately pooled funds as of the end of May. The total inspection is scheduled to be completed by September, while investment firms w

MarketJuly 2, 2020

As largest IPO of year, SK Biopharmaceuticals makes strong market debut

In the largest market debut of the year, SK Biopharmaceuticals was listed on the nation’s main bourse Kospi on Thursday, with its share price soaring to a daily limit in the first trading session. Buoyed by the growing market interest in the bio industry as well as increased capital flow to the local stock market, the initial public offering of the SK subsidiary marked the highest offering deal since the 1 trillion-won market debut of Celltrion Healthcare in 2017. SK Biopharmaceuticals

MarketJuly 2, 2020