Lotte Chemical develops fire-resistant urethane insulation

Lotte Chemical said Thursday that the company has developed urethane-based semi-non-combustible insulation product. The company added that the new fire-resistant insulation product can reduce the amount of smoke by 30 percent in case of a fire, compared to conventional urethane-based insulation products. According to the petrochemical affiliate of Lotte Group, it took two years for the firm to conduct research on the new insulation product, using purified isophthalic acid, which is widely u

IndustryFeb. 18, 2021

Seoul to build research facilities for robotics and AI

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday that it has decided to spend a total of 34.7 billion to build research facilities for robotics and artificial intelligence near Suseo-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The central government will inject 24.2 billion won in the project, while the city government and the Gangnam-gu office will invest 2.5 billion won and 7.8 billion won, respectively. The region near Suseo Station has remained idle since December 2019, when the city government decided

TechnologyFeb. 18, 2021

KAIST appoints Lee Kwang-hyung as new president

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has appointed the institution’s provost and executive vice president Lee Kwang-hyung as its new president, it said Thursday. KAIST held a board meeting to appoint Lee the 17th president of the institution upon approval of Minister of Science and ICT. Lee, who is known as a futurist who introduced convergence studies at the academic institution, is an alumnus who earned a master‘s degree in industrial engineering at KAIST in 198

TechnologyFeb. 18, 2021

Coway achieves record sales of W3.2tr in 2020

Coway achieved its highest annual sales of 3.2 trillion won in 2020, largely backed by the growth in overseas purchases, the Korean home appliances rental company said Thursday. Last year, Coway said its annual sales increased by 7.2 percent, when compared to the year earlier, thanks to its thriving overseas business. The operating profit and net profit stood at 606.4 billion won and 404.7 billion won, jumping 32.3 percent and 21.8 percent on-year, respectively. “Amidst internal and e

ConsumerFeb. 18, 2021

Cadillac launches entry-level SUV XT4 in full-option

Cadillac of GM Korea is launching its first entry-level sports utility vehicle XT4 in Korea to target younger drivers, the company said Thursday. The automaker said the XT4 model here will be come in the sport trim with all functional options -- including massage seats in the driver and the passenger seats in the front, and a panoramic sunroof. With a price tag of 55.3 million won ($50,000), the new model seeks to gain an upper hand in the compact SUV segment, against its potential rivals M

MobilityFeb. 18, 2021

Eastar Jet could fly again as soon as June

South Korea’s troubled low-cost carrier Eastar Jet, which filed for court receivership last month, could be back in the sky as soon as June amid increased chances of a deal. According to industry sources, the number of potential buyers -- including a private equity fund and a construction company -- has risen from four to six or seven, with the acquisition process set to be finalized by late May. Earlier this month, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court allowed the airline to initiate corporate reh

MobilityFeb. 18, 2021

Baemin founder pledges to donate over half of his wealth

Kim Bong-jin, the founder and CEO of Woowa Brothers -- the company behind South Korea’s top food delivery app, Baemin -- has pledged to donate more than half of his assets through the Giving Pledge -- a philanthropic campaign launched by billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. “My wife Sul Bo-mi and I hereby pledge that we will return more than half of our wealth to society during our lifetime. Our lovely children, Hanna and Jua have agreed with our decision,” Kim said Thu

ConsumerFeb. 18, 2021

Celltrion to take on S. Africa variant

Only a day after Celltrion began distribution of its monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19 in Korea, the company announced Thursday that it is setting out to tackle the more contagious South African variant. “We have a growing library of antibody candidates for COVID-19 variants, of which the ‘32nd antibody’ has shown potency against the South African strain,” said Celltrion’s Honorary Chairperson Seo Jung-jin. “We will enter animal trial of this 32nd a

IndustryFeb. 18, 2021

Woowa Brothers' founder joins super wealthy donation campaign

Kim Bong-jin, the founder and chairman of a local delivery app operator Woowa Brothers, on Thursday joined the bandwagon of rich, self-made South Koreans donating substantial amounts of their assets to society. Kim said he and his wife have joined The Giving Pledge, a global campaign of the world’s wealthiest people contributing a majority of their assets to philanthropic projects, and that they would donate a half of their wealth in their lifetimes, according to the company. The 45-ye

MarketFeb. 18, 2021

S. Korea to increase number of eco-friendly cars to 7.85m by 2030

South Korea said Thursday the accumulated number of eco-friendly cars running in the country will reach 7.85 million by 2030, in line with its vision to go fully carbon-neutral by 2050. The target will mark a sharp rise from 820,000 units tallied in the previous year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The emission of greenhouse gases from cars will also fall 24 percent over the period. The announcement came as a part of the five-year fourth basic plan on promoting the ec

IndustryFeb. 18, 2021

Residents' foreign currency deposits fall in January

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea fell in January on a decline in corporate holdings of the US dollar deposits, central bank data showed Thursday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $89.3 billion as of end-January, down $4.8 billion from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The decline came as companies repaid their US dollar-denominated debts last month, the BOK said. Residents include local citiz

MarketFeb. 18, 2021

Corporate M&As down 53.1% in 2020

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Thursday that the value of corporate mergers and acquisitions declined 53.1 percent on-year last year due largely to a lack of mega deals. Corporate deals were valued at 210.2 trillion won ($190 billion) last year, compared with 448.4 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). But the total number of corporate mergers and takeovers rose 12.9 percent on-year to 865 last year, it added. Under the country's fair trade

EconomyFeb. 18, 2021

Households' income from wage, biz operations dips for 3rd quarter in Q4 amid pandemic

South Korean households' income earned through wages and business operations fell for the third straight quarter in the fourth quarter of last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. The average household earned 5.16 million won ($4,670) per month in the October-December period, up 1.8 percent from the previous year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. But household income earned through wages and business operations declined for the third consecutive quarter

EconomyFeb. 18, 2021

S. Korea's three major multiplexes post nearly 70% sales plunge in 2020

South Korea's three major multiplex chain operators have seen their respective 2020 sales plunge nearly 70 percent from a year earlier due to the fallout of the yearlong novel coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. Industry leader CJ CGV, the cinema affiliate under the wing of entertainment giant CJ Group, said its sales reached 583.4 billion won ($527.9 million) last year, down 70 percent from the previous year. It shifted to an operating loss of 392.5 billion won in 2020 from an operati

IndustryFeb. 18, 2021

S. Korea's mobile game market surges 24% to W5tr in 2020: data

The mobile game market in South Korea logged sharp growth of over 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) last year amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday. Total mobile game transactions in the country were estimated at 5.3 trillion won in 2020, up 24.3 percent from the previous year, according to data from mobile app tracker IGAWorks based on estimated sales of Google's Play store, Apple's App Store and homegrown rival ONE Store. Last year's growth far outpaced that of 2019 when it grew 5.3 percent fr

IndustryFeb. 18, 2021

Samsung Heavy bags W459b order from Oceania

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday it has clinched a 459 billion-won ($415 million) deal to build four liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled oil tankers. Under the deal with an Oceania company, the very large crude carriers will be delivered by June 2023, the shipbuilder said. Samsung Heavy Industries did not reveal the name of the Oceanian company. With the latest order, Samsung Heavy Industries has bagged $1.7 billion worth of orders, or 14 ships, so far this year. Samsung Heavy Indus

IndustryFeb. 18, 2021

[Graphic News] S. Korea’s exports of cosmetics up 16% in 2020

　South Korea’s exports of cosmetics shot up 16 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed, on the back of the growing demand from the United States and elsewhere in Asia. 　Outbound shipments of cosmetics reached $7.57 billion last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service and the Korea Cosmetic Association. 　Experts say the growth was attributable to the Hallyu, or Korean Wave, which has resulted in a boom in Korean entertainment products such as pop mus

BusinessFeb. 18, 2021

Baemin CEO pledges to donate more than half of his assets

The CEO of South Korea's top food delivery app operator, Woowa Brothers Corp., said Thursday that he will donate more than half of his wealth, estimated to be more than 1 trillion won ($905 million). "My wife Bomi Sul and I hereby pledge that we will return more than half of our wealth to society during our lifetime," Kim Bong-min said in a message on the website of the Giving Pledge. Giving Pledge, created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, is a global campaign by the wor

IndustryFeb. 18, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on US inflation concerns

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight tech losses on Wall Street that stemmed from inflation concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.8 points, or 0.15 percent, to 3,128.93 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Foreign and institutional appetite for risk assets remained low after the KOSPI's 0.93 percent decline in the previous session. Overnight, the Nasdaq lost 0.58 percent as tech stocks, sensitive to high inflation, retreated

MarketFeb. 18, 2021

S. Korea's power consumption up 6.1% in Jan.

South Korea's electricity consumption climbed more than 6 percent in January from a year earlier due to a severe cold wave, data showed Thursday. Asia's fourth-largest economy used 49.89 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power in January, up 6.1 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Power Exchange. The exchange said the solid increase resulted from the cold wave and more working days in spite of the business slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, the avera

EconomyFeb. 18, 2021