Head of Incheon Airport mulls legal action as resolution to remove him passes

President of Incheon International Airport Corp. Koo Bon-hwan said he is mulling legal action against what he says has been mistreatment, after authorities passed a resolution to remove him from his position. During the press conference at the airport on Friday, Koo said he feels “a weight has been lifted off his shoulders” and is “sad” being forced to resign halfway through his three-year term. The outgoing chief also accused the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tr

Sept. 25, 2020

Hyundai Motor Group works with leading AI scholars

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday it has scouted Tomaso Poggio and Daniela Rus, experts on artificial intelligence, to work together on various projects of AI technology development. Poggio and Rus are serving as technology consultants and have been giving advice on utilizing AI to build planning and technological strategies for new business models, to establish a global research organization and to set investment directions for research infrastructures. Poggio, who heads the Center for Br

Sept. 24, 2020

Asiana Airlines launches ‘hotel-like’ flights to nowhere

Asiana Airlines will offer a special two-hour flight to nowhere next month, becoming the first among local airliners to provide the service to ordinary customers. Known as the “hotel in the sky,” the airline’s A380 aircraft will fly out of Incheon Airport and travel over Gangneung in Gangwon Province, Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province, Gimhae in South Gyeongsang Province and Jeju Island, before coming back after a flight of one hour and 20 minutes on Oct. 24 and 25. Seats be

Sept. 24, 2020

Hyundai reveals exterior design of 2021 Sonata N Line

Hyundai Motor revealed Wednesday the exterior design of its 2021 Sonata N Line. The new Sonata N Line expands Hyundai’s midsize sedan lineup following the launch of the Sonata and Sonata Hybrid in 2019. “The 2021 Sonata N Line will attract more customers to both the rock-solid Sonata lineup and our increasingly popular N Line subbrand. Sonata N Line will appeal to customers who desire sporty styling in a sedan package,” said Lee Sang-yup, head of the Hyundai Global Desi

Sept. 23, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] Kia Stinger returns with more power, technology

Defying speculations that it may be discontinued, Kia Motors’ sports sedan Stinger was reborn with a face-lift in the Stinger Meister, three years after its launch in 2017, featuring an upgraded powertrain. Despite the fair performance and sleek design, sales of the Stinger have been less than stellar, falling behind its rival Genesis midsize sedan G70. Its cumulative sales here stood at 1,870 units between January and August, compared to G70’s 5,652 units. It is the lowest figur

Sept. 21, 2020

Renault Samsung’s SUV QM6 popular among city commuters

Renault Samsung Motors’ sport utility vehicles have been gaining popularity in South Korea as more consumers choose SUVs for city driving and commuting with the vehicle’s improved fuel efficiency and ride quality. Sales of SUVs in Korea this year were tallied at 315,534 so far, a 25 percent from the same period of last year. In line with the upward trend, RSM’s SUV sales have been on the rise too, the automaker said. Its best-selling model mid-sized SUV QM6 sold 24,946 uni

Sept. 20, 2020

Incheon Airport teams up with Hyundai Motor, KT for flying cars

Incheon International Airport Corporation said on Sunday it had signed an agreement with Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and KT as part of efforts to move the Urban Air Mobility project forward, also known as “flying cars.” Under a memorandum signed by IIAC and UAM Team Korea on Friday, the companies will work together on a road map for “K-UAM,” a government-led project for next-generation vehicles, by building transport infrastructure and taking pa

Sept. 20, 2020

Hyundai Motor plant worker tests positive for coronavirus

A worker at a Hyundai Motor plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan tested positive for the new coronavirus, local sources said Saturday. The man in his mid-30s was confirmed in the morning to have contracted COVID-19 and is now in good health, the municipality said. Sources said later he is a Hyundai Motor employee and works at the facility management department, not at assembly lines. Authorities are tracing his contacts and plan to test 25 people, including his co-workers, for the vir

Sept. 19, 2020

BMW Motorrad’s new R 18 launched in Korea

BMW Motorrad, the German motorcycle brand, said Friday that it has officially launched its latest model, the new R 18, in South Korea. The new motorcycle, featuring a classic design and the latest technology, was unveiled at BMW’s Hockenheim Motorrad exhibition hall in Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. BMW said the new R 18 borrows both technologically and visually from famous models such as the BMW R 5 -- a popular model launched in 1936 -- shifting the focus back onto the ess

Sept. 18, 2020

Kia to halt 2 domestic plants until weekend on COVID-19 cases

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No. 2 carmaker, said Friday it will suspend two plants near Seoul until this weekend following the confirmation of COVID-19 cases there days earlier. A total of 13 coronavirus cases have been traced to the plants in Gwangmyeong, just south of Seoul, including four family members of the workers. The plants with a combined workforce of 6,000 remained shuttered Friday for the third consecutive day after the automaker halted their operations late Wednesday in the w

Sept. 18, 2020

Hyundai’s all-new Tucson surpasses 10,000 precontracts

Hyundai Motor said Thursday that it has received 10,842 precontracts on launch day for its new sport utility vehicle, the all-new Tucson, in South Korea. It is the first SUV model to surpass the 10,000 mark on the first day, the automaker said. The New Grandeur, launched last year, sold 17,294 units and the new Avante sold 10,058 units on the day of its release earlier this year. The latest SUV was introduced at an online world premiere event on Tuesday, drawing 410,000 viewers from around

Sept. 17, 2020

Head of Incheon Airport refuses to resign despite pressure

In a direct hit against the Transport Ministry‘s move to oust him, Koo Bon-hwan, chief executive officer of the state-run Incheon International Airport Corp., on Wednesday refused to step down for “ungrounded” reasons. “During a meeting with a senior official at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport earlier this month, I was asked to resign on my own. I was told a dismissal would be recommended if I don‘t leave immediately,” he said during a pre

Sept. 16, 2020

Kia to produce 7 EVs on exclusive platform by 2027

Kia Motors is set to release seven electric vehicles by 2027 that will use the company’s dedicated EV platform, a move to speed up the transition to EVs in the growing eco-friendly car market. The first model, called CV and built on the Electric Global Modular Platform, or E-GMP, will be released next year, the automaker said Wednesday. Hyundai and Kia will establish the exclusive E-GMP next year. Kia Motors also said it will continue to build a lineup of electric vehicles both on ex

Sept. 16, 2020

Hyundai’s hydrogen fuel cells head to Europe

Hyundai Motor said Wednesday that it had exported hydrogen fuel cell systems to Swiss firm GRZ Technologies and an unnamed European energy solution start-up, in line with its efforts to expand its hydrogen business to the non-automotive sector. The 95-kilowatt fuel cell system that is currently used for the Nexo hydrogen electric vehicle will be used by the two companies to produce mobile generators that supply emergency power. The name of the second firm was not disclosed due to business co

Sept. 16, 2020

Hyundai Motor launches all-new Tucson

Hyunday Motor announced the launch of the overhauled version of its bestselling sport utility vehicle Tucson in a world premiere online event Tuesday. It is the fourth generation of the vehicle, released five years after the third generation. The all-new Tucson embraces a new exterior styling of Hyundai’s “sensuous sportiness” design identity, the automaker said. The Tucson‘s identity is emphasized through the “parametric dynamics” with kinetic jewel sur

Sept. 15, 2020

T'way Air launches flights to Wuhan

Low cost carrier T’way Air will start flying to Wuhan, China once a week from Wednesday, becoming the first airline in the country to travel the route in eight months. The move comes after the Ministry of Transport gave the airline the go-ahead Tuesday night to offer flights between Incheon and Wuhan, one official at T’way Air said, after having obtained approval from China’s civil aviation authorities recently. The Incheon to Wuhan flights are known to be popular among busin

Sept. 15, 2020

S. Korea, China to run temporary air routes

Temporary flights will start to operate this week to allow South Korean residents in China who returned here during COVID-19 outbreak to travel back to China, the government said Monday. Korean Air Lines and Xiamen Airlines will operate a total seven flights from Incheon, west of Seoul, to Qingdao, Zhengzhou and Xiamen, from Thursday until Oct. 15, it said. The number of regular flight routes between South Korea and China has dropped from 84 as of late last year to 16 last month in the face of

Sept. 14, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] Porsche's first EV Taycan brings best of all worlds

YONGIN, Gyeonggi Province -- At this year’s Porsche World Roadshow, the automaker presented Taycan, the very first all-electric Porsche sports car, to South Korea for the first time. It was one of 26 vehicle models delivered from the German head office for the PWRS, which was held from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10. Of the four sessions planned for PWRS, the automaker organized a session dedicated to the Taycan, to introduce the Taycan Turbo and Turbo S models. “Taycan is 100 percent el

Sept. 13, 2020

Hyundai heir marks 2nd year leadership, speeds up future mobility

It has been two years since Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun became the de-facto head of the group. Under his leadership, the automaker has bet big on future mobility centering on smart cars and eco-friendly vehicles. To envision future mobility, Hyundai showcased three solutions for the future -- urban air mobility, purpose built vehicle, and hub, a place for mobility transfer and community activities -- at CES 2020 in Las Vegas early this year. Based on these mobil

Sept. 13, 2020

Restructuring, affiliate sales expected after Asiana deal collapse

After a planned sale of debt-ridden Asiana Airlines to HDC Hyundai Development collapsed, the carrier is expected to undergo organizational restructuring, including sales of some of its subsidiaries. Also due to the sales failure, Asiana’s largest shareholder Kumho Industrial and HDC Hyundai Development are both expected to file lawsuits, as they blame each other for the deal’s collapse. Creditors, including Korea Development Bank, are considering selling subsidiaries such as Air

Sept. 13, 2020