[Photo News] New Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO

Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Mathias Vaitl, whose official term as CEO started earlier this month, speaks at the awards ceremony for the “Korea TechMasters” technical skills competition held at the Mercedes-Benz Korea Training Academy in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. The German carmaker’s two separate automotive training programs, Ausbildung and Automotive Mechatronic Traineeship, also kicked off this year’s sessions a day prior. (Mercedes-Benz Korea)

IndustrySept. 18, 2023

[KH Explain] KB's chair candidate hopes to break out of pod

KB Financial Group is often referred to as a "big fish in a small pond," given its position as Korea's largest financial holding firm with a weak global presence. The group's new chairman candidate, Yang Jong-hee, aims to change this. According to KB, Yang’s global expansion plan focuses on two key areas: Normalizing KB's money-losing Indonesian subsidiary, Bank KB Bukopin, and further strengthening KB's Cambodian unit, KB Prasac Bank, which is already doing

IndustrySept. 18, 2023

S. Korea's 2023 tax revenue estimate revised down to 341.4 tr won

South Korea's finance ministry said Monday it has revised down its annual tax revenue estimate to 341.4 trillion won ($256.7 billion), mainly due to weak corporate earnings and a slump in the property market. The latest revision is down 59.1 trillion won from its previous outlook of 400.5 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. To tackle the decline in tax revenue, the government also unveiled plans to utilize surplus resources, including those from the foreign excha

EconomySept. 18, 2023

Imports of Japanese seafood dip for fifth month in Aug.

South Korean imports of Japanese seafood fell for the fifth consecutive month in August on concerns over Japan's release of treated radioactive water, government data showed Monday. Seoul imported $7.81 million worth of fishery products from the neighboring country last month, down 34.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. August posted the largest on-year decline this year, and last month's import value was the smallest monthly figure in t

EconomySept. 18, 2023

Seoul shares open lower ahead of Fed meeting

South Korean stocks started weaker Monday as investors take a cautious approach ahead of a US rate-setting meeting later this week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 10.44 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,590.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Federal Reserve will hold the Federal Open Market Committee on Tuesday and Wednesday and likely hold key rates steady. But the market expects the US central bank may deliver one more rate hike this year, given the solid economic r

MarketSept. 18, 2023

Experts call for more incentives for high-tech companies to reshore

Experts gathered at the National Assembly to call for fortifying reshoring policies, or policies that will support high-tech Korean companies to bring outsourced overseas operations back to Korea, as a part of the national agenda, amid increased demand to ramp up domestic economic security. "The United States-China conflict and the consequent supply chain collapse experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic have raised awareness of the notion that reshoring for Korean high-tech industries shou

IndustrySept. 17, 2023

Indonesia-Korea collaborative platform to empower farmers

A business collaboration platform that will bridge 62 million Indonesian farmers to Korean scientists and global investors has been launched to support them in garnering cutting-edge skills like meta farming and carbon trading, as the two countries work to champion sustainability in the digital economy. The Green Digital Economy Platform (GDEP), spearheaded by HumanX, a global partnership promoting human-centered technology, was officially unveiled on Friday under the endorsement of Indonesi

EconomySept. 17, 2023

Kakao Pay down for hours Sunday due to service outage

Kakao Pay, the online payment unit of Korean tech giant Kakao, experienced another service disruption for some five hours on Sunday due to a delayed firewall replacement. Last Monday, Kakao Pay initially announced that it would be replacing its firewall from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Sunday. However, due to an unexpected delay, its key services such as processing payments, sending money and asset management became unavailable on Sunday morning. Kakao Pay’s new announcement on Sunday morning said

IndustrySept. 17, 2023

LG CNS, XYZ Robotics push for e-commerce logistics robot biz

South Korean IT solutions provider LG CNS said Sunday it has teamed up with a Chinese artificial intelligence-powered robotic solutions firm to carry out joint projects in domestic e-commerce logistics centers. The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate Shanghai-based XYZ Robotics’ robot solutions with LG’s robotic integrated operations platform. Additionally, all robot solutions provided by the newly integrated platform will be offered via the robot as a service

IndustrySept. 17, 2023

KT proposes telecom work in Ukraine

South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp. has suggested to the Ukraine government ways of improving the war-torn country's telecom infrastructure and operating with energy efficiency, upon its participation at a forum hosted by South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Thursday. KT was among the 18 state-run and private firms specializing in housing, public water supply, airports, environmental technology, construction, vehicle

TechnologySept. 17, 2023

[Beyond Earth] Orbit hopes to bring science closer to public

The level of public interest in space here has reached its highest point in recent years when South Korea consecutively succeeded in launching homegrown Nuri rocket and Danuri, the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, last year. Orbit, undeniably the most well-known science communicator in South Korea at the moment, says the science frenzy here should continue by uncovering the more entertaining aspects of science from the vastness of the universe, as well as fun research. Science communicators are i

TechnologySept. 17, 2023

HD Hyundai leader vows to accelerate carbon-neutral transition

HD Hyundai CEO Chung Ki-sun has reaffirmed his willingness to speed up the transition to carbon neutrality while he attended the naming ceremony of the world’s first methanol-fueled container ship, the Laura Maersk, in Denmark on Thursday. According to HD Hyundai, Chung met with Robert Maersk Uggla, chair of A.P. Moller Maersk -- one of the biggest shipping and logistics firms in the world -- to discuss how to strengthen their partnership in the future on the day before the naming ceremony

IndustrySept. 17, 2023

KITA invites envoys to support Busan Expo bid

The Korea International Trade Association hosted a reception event for ambassadors from Central Asia, Europe and Latin America to ask for their support in promoting Busan’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo, it said Sunday. Participants of the reception included 70 ambassadors and diplomats from 41 regions in Central Asia, Europe and Latin America, along with 30 executives from KITA. The reception came as Korea's second-largest city Busan is in competition against Saudi Arabia's Ri

IndustrySept. 17, 2023

Deutsche Bank to inject 150m euro into Seoul branch

Deutsche Bank said Sunday that it will inject 150 million euros ($160 million) into its Seoul branch as part of its investment plan for the Asian market, with Korea as a strategic foothold. The German bank's decision to allocate additional capital to its Korean business underscores its confidence in the stability and growth potential of the market. "This additional capital, along with our recent reentry into the local debt capital market, will enable us to better support our clients�

IndustrySept. 17, 2023

Passenger travel on S. Korea-China routes at half of pre-THAAD row

Passenger travel on air routes connecting to China in August recovered to around half of the 2016 level before Beijing restricted travel to South Korea in 2017 over a row over Seoul's hosting of a US missile defense system, data showed Sunday. The number of travelers on such routes came to 931,272 in August, which accounts for around 45 percent of the 2.06 million posted in the same month of 2016, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. In 2017, China banned group t

MobilitySept. 17, 2023

S. Korean economic growth estimated at 1.4% for 2023: S&P economist

South Korea's economy is expected to grow 1.4 percent this year, with the country's central bank anticipated to lower its key rate twice in 2024, an economist at S&P Global Ratings said Sunday. The growth forecast by Rajiv Biswas, the chief economist of Asia-Pacific at S&P Global Market Intelligence, comes in line with the South Korean government's projection made in July. Biswas attributed South Korea's sluggish economic growth in 2023 to the Bank of Korea's agg

EconomySept. 17, 2023

Korean beauty app Zamface offers easy-to-search footage, customized cosmetics care

Korean actors and K-pop stars have gained unprecedented popularity across the world in recent years for their outstanding talent and performances on screen and stage. At the same time, Korean pop culture fans have also been inspired by such celebrities' appearances, especially their makeup styles, which put the focus on a smooth and bright complexion to appear young and healthy. Those who want to look like the stars search online for Korean beauty products and become eager to mimic their sk

IndustrySept. 17, 2023

Ukrainian leader seeks South Korea's reconstruction assistance in nuclear energy, resources, defense industry

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested South Korea's cooperation in nuclear power, resource development and the defense industry as part of reconstruction efforts of the war-ravaged country, Seoul officials said Saturday. A delegation of government officials and business representatives who visited Kyiv this week to discuss South Korea's potential involvement in reconstruction projects, estimated to be worth around 1,200 trillion won (US$902 billion), returned home Saturd

EconomySept. 16, 2023

SK hynix did not supply chips to Huawei: vice chairman

SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho said Friday his company stopped doing business with Huawei Technologies Co., following US chip sanctions against China in 2020 and has not supplied semiconductors to the Chinese smartphone maker. Last week, the chipmaker said it opened an internal investigation into how its memory chips ended up in a new smartphone made by Huawei, after Bloomberg News reported that the South Korean chipmaker's DRAM -- LPDDR5 -- and NAND Flash memory are used in the Chin

IndustrySept. 15, 2023

[Photo News] SK chief inspects chip cluster

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (right) inspected the construction process at chip-making affiliate SK hynix's Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Gyeonggi Province, upon his visit to the site with the latter's CEO, Park Jung-ho (left) on Friday. Calling it the "most thoroughly and strategically planned project" in SK hynix history, Chey asked for the utmost efforts in the cluster's success. With a 120 trillion won ($90.3 billion) investment, the world's second-largest m

TechnologySept. 15, 2023