LG Innotek gains recognition from GM for 5 consecutive years

LG Innotek was acknowledged for its quality of automotive components provided to General Motors for five consecutive years, the company said Wednesday. The South Korean major electronics parts maker won the 2021 GM Supplier Quality Excellence Award, marking its fifth consecutive win since 2017. The award is given by GM every year to its partners whose supplies meet GM’s standard of zero quality defects. The auto parts go through strict quality control, as they are directly connected to t

IndustrySept. 7, 2022

Hongik Univ. students win top James Dyson Awards

The James Dyson Foundation, global home appliance company Dyson's charity arm, announced Wednesday the local recipients of the James Dyson Awards 2022, an engineering competition held both locally and internationally to provide opportunities for young engineers to showcase their ideas on a global stage. Of the 125 entries, a team of students from Hongik University took first place for designing a rotating safety hook. When temporary scaffolding is raised at construction sites, there are poi

TechnologySept. 7, 2022

Won dips below 1,380 level per dollar for 1st time in more than 13 years

The South Korean currency on Wednesday declined below the 1,380-won level against the U.S. dollar for the first time in more than 13 years during intraday trading amid a sharp decline in the country's current account surplus. The local currency had been trading at 1,387.30 won per dollar as of 11:25 a.m., down 15.60 won from the previous session's close. In the morning session, the won slid to as low as 1,388.40 against the greenback at one point. It marked the first time that the Kore

MarketSept. 7, 2022

Seoul shares open lower on US losses; local currency plunges

Seoul stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street as investors remained concerned over the US Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes to combat runaway inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had fallen 0.71 percent, or 17.06 points, to 2,392.96 as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.7 percent amid worries over the Fed's continued rate increases and a looming energy c

MarketSept. 7, 2022

S. Korea's current account surplus plunges as goods balance turns red amid soaring import bills

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the third straight month in July, but the surplus plunged as the goods balance turned red for the first time in about 10 years due to fast-rising import costs of energy and other commodities, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's current account surplus came to $1.09 billion in July, compared with a surplus of $5.61 billion posted a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The July surplus was

EconomySept. 7, 2022

Hyundai Motor to develop automation tech for world's first smart cargo terminal

Hyundai Motor Group has teamed up with Hanjin KAL, the parent firm of national flag carrier Korean Air, and Incheon International Airport Corp. on Tuesday to jointly develop automation technology for Incheon Airport's smart cargo terminal infrastructure. The technology will be applied to Incheon Airport’s airsides, the aircraft take-off and landing areas such as runways. This business agreement is part of the IIAC’s project, initiated in April, last year, to prepare infrastructure fo

MobilitySept. 6, 2022

SK hynix to spend W15tr on new memory chip fab in Cheongju by 2025

South Korean memory chip giant SK hynix announced on Tuesday plans to build a new memory chip fab in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province by early 2025 and spend 15 trillion won ($10.9 billion) in the next five years on the new site. The new two-story fab on 60,000 square meters of land, called M15X, will start construction in October. The new plant will be an expansion of the existing M15 line built in 2018. SK hynix said the memory product manufactured by the new fab has yet to be determined

TechnologySept. 6, 2022

Corporate tax cuts to increase by W1.4 tr in 2023

SEJONG -- The scale of tax cuts for businesses will increase by more than 1 trillion won ($727 million) on-year in 2023, with its portion of total tax cuts for the overall sectors rising, state data showed Tuesday. According to next year’s budget on tax expenditures, submitted by the Finance Ministry to the National Assembly, the collective tax cuts for the overall sectors are estimated at 69.3 trillion won. Of them, corporate tax cuts -- including deductions for spending on fostering ma

EconomySept. 6, 2022

South Korea to see trade deficit for time being: Bank of Korea

Higher energy import bills, prompted by changes in the global economy, are to blame for the five-month trade deficit since April, with the trend likely to continue for the next three months, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday in a research paper. The August trade deficit came to $9.47 billion, a monthly record since 1956 when the Trade Ministry began to collect such data. The January-August deficit of $24.7 billion has already surpassed the yearly high set in 1996. Higher prices of energy and petrol

EconomySept. 6, 2022

More Koreans refuse to cook for Chuseok

Kim kyung-hee, a housewife in her 60s, who hated the idea of laying out store-bought meals on a “jesa” table, which is usually placed with homemade food to honor ancestors, is considering buying one or two packaged meals this year for the Chuseok holiday. “With rising inflation, it is just too expensive to buy all the food ingredients from markets. But mostly, I don’t want to burden my son and daughter-in-law, asking them to help in the kitchen,” Kim said. &ldquo

ConsumerSept. 6, 2022

Seoul stocks end 3-day losing streak; Korean won at over 13-year low

Seoul shares closed higher on Tuesday, snapping a three-day losing streak, as individuals scooped up large-cap stocks amid concerns over the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes and a global recession. The Korean won tumbled to an over 13-year low against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.26 percent, or 6.34 points, to 2,410.02. Trading volume was moderate at 283.43 million shares worth 5.34 trillion won ($3.9 billion), with gainers

MarketSept. 6, 2022

[Photo News] Chuseok energy

A wholesale market in Incheon is crowded with shoppers buying food ahead of Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving holiday that kicks off on Friday.

ConsumerSept. 6, 2022

Samsung families receive W235.5b in dividend in H1

Four family members of South Korea's largest conglomerate, including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, have received a combined 235.46 billion won ($171.4 million) in dividends from Samsung Electronics in the first half, data showed Tuesday. Among them, Hong Ra-hee, Samsung Electronics' de facto leader Lee's mother and wife of the late ex-Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, fetched 84.82 billion won in dividend income, outsizing Lee's 70.43 billion won and that of his

TechnologySept. 6, 2022

Posco probes links between typhoon, fires at Pohang plant

Multiple fires were reported at Posco’s steel plant in southeastern city of Pohang, Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday morning, but the company said the picture showing dark smoke surrounding its facilities that went viral online was not due to fire but the release of byproduct gas at the plant caused by a power outage. The outage was due to Typhoon Hinnamnor that was passing by the peninsula earlier in the morning, Posco official said, adding that the company is investigating if the typhoon h

IndustrySept. 6, 2022

Tmax Group to launch tool that builds app without writing code

South Korean enterprise software developer Tmax Group on Tuesday unveiled plans to launch a tool through which enterprise clients can build business apps tailored to their own needs without writing code. SuperApp Studio, an app-building tool that Tmax believes can become a Korean equivalent to Microsoft's Power App or Amazon's HoneyCode, will be designed to allow people without knowledge of programming languages to skirt technology barriers in the app development process without hiring

TechnologySept. 6, 2022

Audi Korea launches brand’s first all-electric compact SUVs

Audi Korea officially launched its first all-electric compact sport utility vehicles, the Audi Q4 e-tron and the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron, in South Korea on Tuesday. “The Q4 e-tron will redefine the boundaries between car segments and act as a gateway into e-mobility. With these models, we have strengthened our EV lineup enough to satisfy the needs of Korean customers,” said Lim Hyun-ki, the executive director of Audi Korea, at the launching ceremony. The Audi Q4 e-tron is the first

MobilitySept. 6, 2022

Kakao's taxi algorithm does not favor own cabs: experts

A committee of experts said Tuesday that the algorithm of Kakao Mobility’s taxi-hailing application -- Kakao T -- does not favor its affiliated cabs known as Kakao T Blue in the process of matching passengers with taxi drivers. The experts’ analysis came amid the Fair Trade Commission’s ongoing case against Kakao Mobility over allegations that the ride-calling app operator intentionally assigned passengers to its affiliated cabs first. Denying the allegations, the company dis

TechnologySept. 6, 2022

Korean Air opens new flight route from Incheon to Budapest

South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air said Tuesday it will open a new international flight route from Incheon to Budapest, Hungary, starting Oct. 3. According to the airliner, flights will depart from Incheon every Monday at 11:25 a.m., and arrive at its destination at 5:05 p.m. local time. Return flights will take off from Budapest at 7:15 p.m. every Tuesday, landing in Korea the next day, 50 minutes past noon. However, the flight schedules will be pushed back by approximately 20 minutes

MobilitySept. 6, 2022

S. Korea, Netherlands discuss semiconductors, nuclear energy cooperation

South Korea's Deputy Trade Minister Jeong Dae-jin on Tuesday asked for the Netherlands' active investment in his country in semiconductors and other major sectors, stressing Seoul's push to ease regulations and expand incentives, the trade ministry said. Jeong made the request during a meeting with the Dutch ambassador to South Korea, Joanne Doornewaard, in Seoul, as the two sides discussed ways on boosting cooperation in chips, nuclear power generation, hydrogen and other promisi

IndustrySept. 6, 2022

Samsung Heavy wins W1.16t LNG ship order in Bermuda, Africa

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., the world's third-biggest shipbuilder by order backlog, said Tuesday it has received a 1.16 trillion-won ($850 million) liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship order in Bermuda and Africa. Samsung Heavy obtained four LNG ship orders, two from a shipper in Bermuda and two from an Africa-based shipper, and plans to gradually deliver them by September 2025, the company said in a statement. Bermuda is a self-governing British overseas territory in the western North Atlant

IndustrySept. 6, 2022