[Photo News] Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 arrives in Japan

Campaign clips for Samsung Electronics’ latest Galaxy Z Flip5 are played on the digital signage boards in Sibuya, the busy shopping district in Tokyo, Sunday. Preorders started for the new foldable phones in Japan last Tuesday, with their official launch set for Sept. 1. (Samsung Electronics)

IndustryAug. 27, 2023

Food trade agency chief wins leadership award

Kim Chun-jin, CEO of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., won the 2023 South Korea Leadership Award presented by the Korean Association for Public Administration on Thursday. The chief of the state-run food trade agency was recognized for bolstering a low-carbon diet campaign called “Green Food Day” in collaboration with 522 organizations based around world. The campaign urges global populations to produce eco-friendly certified agricultural products, reduce waste in the

IndustryAug. 27, 2023

LG Energy Solution grows together with workers

South Korea’s leading battery maker LG Energy Solution strives to create a happier corporate culture, under the philosophy that corporate growth is achievable when employees are truly satisfied with their workplace. The nation’s overall corporate culture is now moving away from its obsolete hierarchical culture along with the rise of the so-called “MZ Generation” -- millennials and Generation Z, who were born between the early 1980s to early 2010s -- putting importance on

IndustryAug. 27, 2023

[Photo News] World's first wireless OLED TV

LG Electronics on Sunday debuted the world’s first wireless OLED TV globally. The tech giant’s 97-inch LG Signature OLED M TV and its 83-inch and 77-inch variants will hit the European market following release in North America and South Korea. (LG Electronics)

IndustryAug. 27, 2023

[Test Drive] Hyundai’s Santa Fe returns with off-road updates

The first Korean-made sport utility vehicle, Hyundai’s Santa Fe, has returned with its biggest update since its debut in 2000, with improved off-road features in design and performance. Touting the All New Santa Fe as a mid-sized family vehicle that can cater to both city commuters and outdoor enthusiasts, the carmaker laid out an ambitious sales target for next year -- 135,000 units in North America, 16,000 units in Europe and 70,000 units in Korea. “From the beginning, the Santa

MobilityAug. 27, 2023

[Photo News] Hanwha Ocean rebranded

Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, said Sunday that it completed the rebranding process at its Geoje shipyard in South Gyeongsang Province, almost three months after Hanwha Group took over the cash-strapped shipbuilder in May. The four gigantic orange cranes are now adorned with Hanwha Ocean’s new logo. (Hanwha Ocean)

MarketAug. 27, 2023

Hana donates educational supplies for Mexican students

Hana Financial Group said Sunday that it has donated educational supplies for students of a female boarding school in Mexico to support their English education. Escuela Villa de las Ninas, located in the state of Chalco, was founded by the Korean Catholic congregation called the Sisters of Mary in 1991, with the aim of funding the education of female students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Currently, the school is housing some 3,300 students in its dormitories. The donation cerem

IndustryAug. 27, 2023

Exports of fisheries products fall 12% this year: data

South Korea's exports of fisheries products fell more than 10 percent on-year during the first seven months of 2023, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of marine products came to $1.75 billion in the January-July period, down 11.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. (aT). Global sales of major fisheries goods suffered a decline, with exports of tuna skidding 21.1 percent to $322 million and those of pollack sinking 82.8 p

EconomyAug. 27, 2023

Ex-Ssangyong Group Chairman Kim Suk-won dies at 78

Kim Suk-won, former chairman of the now-defunct Ssangyong Group, has died of old age, his aides said Saturday. He was 78. Kim took over the midsized business group, which started as a cement-making company in 1975. The business group went on to aggressively expand into the construction, financial and automaking sectors. In 1986, Ssangyong Group took over a local automaker that focused on producing SUVs. But Kim's empire crashed in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and he was

IndustryAug. 26, 2023

Celltrion expects 50% jump in 2024 sales after merger

South Korean pharmaceutical company Celltrion said it aims to log 3.5 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in revenue 2024 once its merger with two affiliates is completed, an increase of over 50 percent from the revenue estimated for this year. During an online meeting with investors on Thursday, Celltrion Founder and Chairman Seo Jung-jin said the company will consider an initial public offering of Celltrion Holdings, the holding firm of Celltrion Group, if necessary after the merger. When the merger o

IndustryAug. 25, 2023

President Yoon appoints chief of broadcasting watchdog

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday approved the appointment of Lee Dong-kwan as the new head of the state broadcasting watchdog, the Korea Communications Commission, despite controversy surrounding Lee and his son. Yoon conferred a letter of appointment to Lee, a former journalist who served as a senior secretary for press affairs during the Lee Myung-bak administration, at the presidential office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Friday in the late afternoon. The appointment decision came even after the

IndustryAug. 25, 2023

How will China's lifting of group travel ban affect Korea's GDP?

China’s lifting of group tours to South Korea is estimated to lead to 800,000 more travelers and raise Korea’s gross domestic product by 0.06 percent this year, the Bank of Korea said Friday. The resumption of group tours is expected to have a significant impact on the recovery of Chinese tourists visiting Korea, considering that about 40 percent of all Chinese tourists were group tourists before the restrictions were put in place, according to an economic outlook report released b

EconomyAug. 25, 2023

Seoul shares end lower ahead of Fed chief's speech

Seoul shares ended lower Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street, as investors await the US Federal Reserve chief's speech for any clues of its rate policy. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.54 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 2,519.14. Trading volume was moderate at 569.76 million shares worth 8.19 trillion won ($6.2 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 488 to 367. Institutions and foreigners sold a combined 369 b

MarketAug. 25, 2023

E-Mart 24 to enter Cambodian market next year, aims to run 100 outlets by 2028

E-Mart's convenience store chain, E-Mart 24, said Friday it will foray into the Cambodian market next year to tap into the country's economic growth potential. E-Mart 24 plans to open its first outlet in the country by the first half of 2024, becoming the first Korean convenience store operator to do so. The Korean retailer said it signed a three-way memorandum of understanding with a Cambodian retail firm, Saisons Brother Holding Corp. and Korean real estate Hanlim Architecture Group

IndustryAug. 25, 2023

[Photo News] Upgraded, immersive gaming experience

Samsung Display said Friday it has opened an experience zone, providing an upgraded and immersive gaming experience to visitors at the ongoing Gamescom 2023 in Cologne, Germany, with QD-OLED gaming monitors and OLED laptops. Samsung installed 34-inch Dell and Micro-Star International gaming monitors equipped with the South Korean panel maker's QD-OLED panels, as well as Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Book3 Ultra laptops featuring its OLED panels. Samsung said its gaming displays allow vis

IndustryAug. 25, 2023

KT CEO nominee to debut at global leadership conference next month

South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp.’s CEO nominee Kim Young-shub will take the stage as a keynote speaker at a global leadership conference organized by the UK-based mobile industry nonprofit GSMA next month. It will likely mark his first official schedule to step outside as KT’s new chief. The KT CEO nominee will deliver a keynote speech at the Mobile 360 APAC, the Asia-Pacific leg of the event that is scheduled to take place for the first time in Seoul on Sept. 7 and 8,

IndustryAug. 25, 2023

Seoul shares open lower before Fed chief's speech

Seoul shares opened lower Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street, as investors await the US Federal Reserve chief's speech for clues on its rate policy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 23.46 points, or 0.92 percent, to 2,514.22 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks declined, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declining 1.9 percent. Investors are keeping an eye on the speech Friday to be delive

MarketAug. 25, 2023

BOK extends rate pause amid mounting US, China pressure

The Bank of Korea on Thursday kept its policy rate unchanged at 3.5 percent, maintaining it a fifth consecutive time amid growing China fears and a widened rate gap with the US. In a rate-setting meeting presided over by BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong, the six-member monetary policy board unanimously voted to maintain the current policy rate, which has stayed at 3.5 percent since February. “The board decided to hold the rate, projecting it would take significant time for the inflation rate, whic

EconomyAug. 24, 2023

Posco International makes first swine vaccine export to Vietnam

Posco International announced Thursday that it has exported a swine pneumonia vaccine Vietnam's to National Veterinary Joint Stock Company or NAVETCO, marking Posco's first overseas animal vaccine export. Developed by Innovac, a venture company run by a group of researchers at Kangwon National University, the vaccine, called INO MHP, can immunize around 100,000 pigs, the company said. The swine pneumonia vaccine is vital for Vietnam due to its significant pig population and pork being

IndustryAug. 24, 2023

Doosan Robotics joins hands with MS to build GPT-based robots

Doosan Robotics, in partnership with Microsoft and Doosan Digital Innovation, is set to develop a context-aware control system for collaborative robots, or “cobots,” based on generative pre-trained transformer technology. The partnership was formalized Thursday through a memorandum of understanding for Doosan Robotics to employ Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service for a GPT-based robot control system. Azure will provide access to the GPT language model while Doosan Digital Innovatio

IndustryAug. 24, 2023