Biden picks Samsung chip complex to start his Seoul visit

US President Joe Biden is expected to start his three-day state visit this week with a tour of Samsung Electronics’ chip complex, according to industry sources on Wednesday. Biden will arrive in Seoul on Friday for summit talks with President Yoon Suk-yeol on Saturday. Upon his arrival at the Osan Air Base, he is reportedly heading directly to Samsung’s chip complex in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul. Seoul’s presidential office also confirm

IndustryMay 18, 2022

Yoon likely to cut corporate tax

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is expected to slash the maximum rate in corporate tax, which has been set at 25 percent since the previous Moon Jae-in government, remarks from officials including new Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho suggested. While some claim cutting down corporate tax is inevitable, as such deregulatory moves could improve the business environment, opponents say it would undermine the country’s fiscal soundness. In his recent reply to the National Assembly fo

EconomyMay 18, 2022

Experts urge SMEs to build brand identity in platform era

Amid the rise of the platform era where tech giants have a strong foothold based on their abundant resources, small companies must build a solid brand identity through digital branding and target a specific customer base, experts said Wednesday. “Big tech corporations such as Amazon wield enormous power over industries -- especially e-commerce, since they provide a simple but powerful platform with a wide range of purchase choices,” said Kim Byung-gyu, a business professor at Yonse

TechnologyMay 18, 2022

[Photo News] Flour under pressure

A man looks around a flour section at a discount store in Seoul on Wednesday amid growing concerns over possible grain price hike with India‘s wheat export ban.

IndustryMay 18, 2022

Researchers develop biosensor that can test blood for cancer

Researchers at the Institute for Basic Science have developed a biosensor that can detect cancer with a drop of blood, the IBS said Wednesday. A group of researchers led by Cho Yoon-kyoung developed nanoporous gold electrodes to construct a biosensor with high sensitivity and accuracy, according to the IBS. The researchers named the development process SEEDING, which stands for surfactant-based electrochemical etch-deposit interplay for nanostructure and nanopore growth. The study confirme

TechnologyMay 18, 2022

3 more Paris Baguette stores open in Indonesia

SPC has opened three more Paris Baguette stores in Indonesia, the South Korean food and bakery company said Wednesday. According to SPC, two of the new stores are located at shopping malls in the country‘s capital Jakarta and the other is in South Tangerang. The latest opening of the bakery cafe came two months after the company’s fourth Paris Baquette store began operation in Bekasi in March. The first Paris Baguette in the Southeast Asian country opened in November 2021, shor

ConsumerMay 18, 2022

Hyundai Motor Group unveils W21tr plan to quadruple EV production in Korea

Amid looming reports that Hyundai Motor is set to announce a $7 billion investment in US, the South Korean carmaker unveiled a whopping 21 trillion-won ($16 billion) plan on Wednesday to quadruple its domestic electric vehicle production capacity by 2030.  The plan is aimed at digesting about half of its target goal of producing 3.23 million units of EVs globally, the company said. It came two days prior to US President Joe Biden’s official visit to Korea of which the company report

MobilityMay 18, 2022

Siita, dubbed 'the Apple of cosmetics,' aims to lead sustainable cosmetics with plastics decomposition tech

South Korean skincare brand Siita said it has developed a new technology to speed up plastic decomposition, becoming the only zero-waste enterprise globally to treat its own plastic waste. Siita’s technology, unveiled in September, accelerates the decomposition process of plastic from 500 years to just 3 months, according to the skincare company. Celebrities such as Hollywood actor Jeremy Renner and K-pop singer CL voiced their support for the skincare company’s sustainable and ec

IndustryMay 18, 2022

Posco Energy, CIP to cooperate on offshore wind power, green hydrogen

Posco Energy said it signed a deal with a Danish fund management firm focused on renewable energy infrastructure to work together on offshore wind power and green hydrogen business. The largest private energy producer in South Korea said it will cooperate with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners on the offshore wind power business; supply chain including steel products for offshore wind power; green hydrogen business; and run a joint working group. Posco Energy President Chung Ki-sup, CIP Manag

IndustryMay 18, 2022

Hyundai to launch upgraded Palisade SUV this week

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday it will launch the upgraded Palisade SUV in the domestic market this week amid the prolonged global chip shortage. The face-lifted Palisade comes with a 3.8-liter gasoline engine or a 2.2-liter diesel engine, and is priced at 39 million won-52 million won ($30,700-$41,000), the company said in a statement. Hyundai plans to ship the flagship SUV to the United States and other markets within this year. Carmakers have been struggling with the

IndustryMay 18, 2022

Samsung Electronics reigns as best-run firm in S. Korea in 2021

Global tech behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. was ranked as the best-managed company among South Korea's top 500 businesses in 2021 to retain the top spot for three years running, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Samsung, the world's top memory chip and smartphone maker, obtained 766.9 out of 800 points in an assessment of high growth, investment, global competitiveness, job creation and four other categories, the highest among the leading firms by sales, according to CEO Score. Sams

IndustryMay 18, 2022

Seoul shares open higher on US tech rally

South Korean shares opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight rallies on Wall Street amid lingering uncertainty over higher inflation and combative monetary tightening in major economies. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.55 points, or 0.90 percent, to 2,643.99 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks closed higher, boosted by a rally in tech stocks, in the face of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's hawkish comments. Powell said the Fed was ready to act a

MarketMay 18, 2022

[Newsmaker] Surge in embezzlement fuels calls for tougher oversight

A recent report that three employees had stolen 3 billion won ($2.3 million) from South Korea’s biggest cosmetics maker Amorepacific in the wake of other huge embezzlements at the country’s major banks is fueling calls for tougher oversight. The employees at the cosmetics maker had allegedly used the money to buy stocks, cryptocurrencies and gamble by falsifying company documents such as tax records, a local report said Tuesday. Amorepacific said the employees were facing disciplina

EconomyMay 17, 2022

Level 4 self-driving IONIQ 5 starts delivering food in California

Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 loaded with Level 4 self-driving technology has started delivering food in California. Motional, a US autonomous vehicle company that Hyundai Motor Group and US mobility startup Aptiv formed, and Uber Eats began operating their pilot program of automated delivery service in Santa Monica, California, on Tuesday. The partnership was announced in December. At Level 4, a vehicle can drive itself under limited conditions and will not operate if all required conditions

MobilityMay 17, 2022

Amid buyout talks, SsangYong to launch new SUV Torres

South Korean sports utility vehicle maker SsangYong Motor unveiled its new mid-size SUV called Torres on Tuesday, scheduled to be launched next month. The launch of the new vehicle came amid growing financial pressure on the SUV maker, which has been struggling to find a new suitable buyer. The new vehicle was named after the Torres del Paine National Park located in Chile’s Patagonia region, a place often known as “the end of the world.” “We adopted the name Torres bec

MobilityMay 17, 2022

Seoul shares up nearly 1% as investors buy beaten-down issues

South Korean shares rose nearly 1 percent Tuesday as investors picked up recently downbeat issues, including Samsung Electronics, amid worries over inflation and aggressive monetary tightening in major economies. The Korean won gained ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 23.86 points, or 0.92 percent, to close at 2,620.44 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 859 million shares worth some 9.3 trillion won ($7.3 billion), with gainers

MarketMay 17, 2022

Corporate Korea expects Biden’s IPEF to resolve supply disruption, Japan ties

Korean businesses have pinned high hopes on the imminent launch of a new US-led economic initiative, called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework or IPEF, in tackling supply chain disruptions and improving soured ties with Japan. But they remained cautious about the new platform’s anti-Chinese undertones. South Korea’s envisioned entry into the IPEF is expected to top the agenda during summit talks between Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden in Seoul on Saturday. The IPEF aims

IndustryMay 17, 2022

[Photo News] Consumer price woes

A customer looks around a cosmetics section of a department store in Seoul. Manufacturers for health and beauty products have been under increasing pressure to raise product prices amid the prolonged Russian attack on Ukraine and intensifying concerns over Indonesia’s palm oil export ban.

IndustryMay 17, 2022

Kakao to offer mobility services in Guam

South Korean IT giant Kakao will provide mobility services in Guam before the end of the third quarter through a partnership with Miki Taxi, one of the largest taxi services on the US island territory, Kakao Mobility said Tuesday. In doing so, the firm will become the country’s first mobility company to apply the entire infrastructure ranging from the platform, driver application and administration on foreign soil in terms of taxi business, according to Kakao Mobility. Miki Taxi’

TechnologyMay 17, 2022

WeWork Korea looks to ‘export’ its premium service overseas

Patricia Chun, general manager of WeWork Korea, said Tuesday that the company is considering launching its premium office service in the global market, driven by soaring demand for worker-friendly and customized official rental services. Launched on May 1, the WeWork premium service is available at its Seoul Square, Gangnam, Yeoiudo and Gwanghwamun branches. The firm plans to export the service to the global market including the United States. Among global WeWork branches, WeWork Korea

IndustryMay 17, 2022