[Photo News] New electric Mini in Seoul

Mini Korea will hold an exhibition to shed light on the past, present and future of the brand in Seoul from Friday to April 21, the premium small car brand under BMW Group said Monday. Showcasing the new all-electric Mini Cooper and new all-electric Mini Countryman, the "Mini Heritage and Beyond" exhibition will be held at the K Museum of Contemporary Art in Gangnam-gu. The new Mini EVs are to hit the local market later this year. (BMW Group Korea)

March 25, 2024

Plastic surgery remains top choice for medical tourists

Plastic surgery remains the top choice for medical tourists visiting Korea, with dermatology and dentistry gaining popularity recently, according to data from Creatrip, a Korean tourism platform, Monday. The data is derived from Creatrip’s market analysis of its medical tourism offerings in January and February this year. Plastic surgery emerged as the leading preference among inbound tourists, with reservation rates surging 220 percent from the previous year, accompanied by a 270 percent

March 25, 2024

Fescaro's 'defense in depth' system allows multi-layered vehicle cybersecurity strategy

With the concept of software-defined vehicles growing more prominent in the automobile industry, so is demand for automative cybersecurity. Fescaro, a leading cybersecurity specialist, has what it calls a "defense-in-depth" system that has a multi-layered strategy to provide security for the security of the car's system. The first layer cuts off the primary risks by filtering the inbound communications through a security gateway. The secondary layer applies security solutions to t

March 25, 2024

Seoul shares open higher on tech, battery gains

South Korean stocks started a tad higher Monday on gains from tech and battery shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 8.46 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,757.02 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech and battery heavyweights led the upbeat start. Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 memory chipmaker, rose 0.51 percent and its rival SK hynix increased 1.53 percent. Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution edged up 0.12 percent, and Samsung SDI went up 2.75 percent.

March 25, 2024

Competition heats up in HBM market as Nvidia endorses Samsung chip

The race for leadership in the burgeoning high bandwidth memory chips market is growing fiercer, as Nvidia revealed its plan to secure orders for the cutting-edge component from Samsung Electronics, the Korean chip giant seeking to outsmart crosstown rival SK hynix. At a media briefing last week, Jensen Huang, the co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, openly endorsed Samsung Electronics and unveiled the company's plan to use the Korean chipmaker's HBM chips in the future. US-based Nvidia is the biggest

March 24, 2024

Bithumb set to spin off non-exchange biz in IPO push

Local crypto exchange operator Bithumb Korea is set to simplify its corporate governance, spinning off its non-exchange business in a move designed to accelerate its stock market debut planned for next year. Bithumb Korea will separate its holdings business under a new name, tentatively coined Bithumb Investment, the company announced through a regulatory filing Friday. While the existing unit will be in charge of operating the country's No. 2 crypto exchange Bithumb, the newly launched uni

March 24, 2024

Walter Cho charts course for seamless integration with Asiana Airlines

Korean Air Chair and CEO Walter Cho secured his position as a board member of the national flag carrier and pledged to steer the company toward successful integration with Asiana Airlines this year, marking a leap toward establishing a megacarrier. Cho received an 85 percent endorsement from participating shareholders during their annual meeting on Thursday. "Despite the prolonged timeline, the merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines will be a substantial driver of long-term growth,

March 24, 2024

Paris Baguette, Pascucci partner for Italian market entry

SPC Group's bakery chain Paris Baguette is poised to enter the Italian market in collaboration with Italian coffeehouse chain Caffe Pascucci. SPC Group Chair Hur Young-in inked a business agreement with Mario Pascucci, CEO of the Italian coffee brand Caffe Pascucci, during Pascucci’s visit to Korea on Sunday, for the Korean franchise bakery's expansion to Italy. Paris Baguette's entry into Italy will mark its third expansion into Europe, following launches in France and Brit

March 24, 2024

Kumho Tire wins highest rating in German performance tests

Kumho Tire’s model ECSTA HS52 tire has garnered recognition from tire performance tests conducted by German automotive magazines ADAC and Auto Bild, the company said Wednesday. In this year's comprehensive tire performance evaluations, the ECSTA HS52 model achieved third place with a "Good" rating from ADAC and fourth place, also rated as "Good," from Auto Bild. This made it the top-performing tire from a South Korean manufacturer. ADAC’s testing was among 16

March 24, 2024

Posco extends child care support to tackle low birth rate

South Korean steel firm Posco Group has woven social welfare into its corporate strategies through its child care centers, open not just for their own workers but also those of its partner firms, as part of efforts to help tackle the nation's falling birth rate. The Shared Coexistence Work Child Care Centers, initiated in June 2020, are collaborative ventures between Posco and its suppliers, underscoring the group's dedication to supporting a work-family balance in response to national

March 24, 2024

KB Financial Group names first woman board chair

KB Financial Group picked banking expert Kwon Seon-joo as its board chair, making her the first woman to serve in the role. The decision was approved at a board meeting on Friday. With over 30 years of experience in the financial industry, Kwon served as the CEO of the Industrial Bank of Korea from 2013 to 2016. She was the first woman to take the top position at a local bank. She joined KB Financial Group's board as an outside director in 2020. Kwon currently serves as the head of Women Co

March 24, 2024

Hyundai Motor to double E-pit fast chargers by 2025

Hyundai Motor Group revealed on Sunday its plans to double the number of its ultra-fast chargers for electric vehicles in South Korea to 500 by 2025. As of March, the group operates 286 E-pit EV chargers in 54 locations in Korea. This initiative kicked off in April 2021, with a modest yet strategic deployment of 72 chargers distributed over 12 key rest stops on highways. Achieving the 2025 target of 500 units would mean a 600 percent increase from 2021. E-pit is Hyundai Motor Group’s ultra

March 24, 2024

Executives get paid 11 times more than average employees: report

The average salary of an executive of a major South Korean corporation is almost 11 times that of an average employee working at those companies, a report by an online think-tank monitoring local conglomerates showed Sunday. Chaebol.com analyzed the salaries of the people working for 162 subsidiaries of 20 major conglomerates in South Korea in the 2023 fiscal year, and found that the executives of those companies get paid an average salary of 1.09 billion won ($810,000) a year, compared to 99.6

March 24, 2024

Bosch, Lennox, Samsung vie for Johnson Controls HVAC assets, sources say

Robert Bosch GmbH, Lennox International and Samsung Electronics are among the industrial firms competing to acquire heating and ventilation assets worth over $6 billion from Johnson Controls International, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls has been working with its advisers to sell its residential and light commercial businesses, including includes a US business and a 60 percent stake in an air-conditioning venture with Japan's Hitachi called

March 23, 2024

S. Korean shares fall on profit taking; won sharply down

South Korean shares closed slightly lower Friday as investors cashed in gains after the market rallied by more than 2 percent the previous session. The local currency fell sharply against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.3 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 2,748.56. Trade volume was moderate at 501.3 million shares worth 11.3 trillion won ($8.42 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 485 to 381. Foreigners bought a net 665 billion won worth of stocks,

March 22, 2024

Woori Bank first to start ELS compensation

South Korean banks are beginning compensation measures for losses stemming from the misselling of equity-linked securities tied to Hong Kong's Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, with the sector's smallest seller, Woori, leading the initiative. Woori Bank officially announced Friday it would begin the compensation process next month, in line with the outline issued by the financial watchdog. The decision was made during the company's board meeting that day. According to Woori Bank,

March 22, 2024

[Test Drive] Hyundai Staria hybrid presents standard of multi-purpose vehicle

Hyundai Motor's flagship minivan Staria has returned with a hybrid engine powertrain and more comfort and safety options, paving the way for the future of multi-purpose vehicles. The Korea Herald had an opportunity to ride in the back of the Staria lounge hybrid model and got behind the wheel in a test drive in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. The back of the seven-seater minivan gave a feeling of being treated from the beginning as a chauffeur opened the door with a touch of a button.

March 22, 2024

Hyundai Motor to provide wheels for Korea-Africa summit in June

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday that it had joined hands with the Korean government’s preparatory committee to provide official transportation at the first Korea-Africa summit in June. Under the partnership, the automaker’s luxury brand Genesis will offer a total of 119 vehicles -- 77 units of the G90 flagship sedan and 42 units of the G80 luxury mid-sized sedan during the Korea-Africa summit slated to be held between June 4 and 5 in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The Genesis G90 has b

March 22, 2024

Seoul shares open nearly flat on profit taking

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Friday after hitting a nearly two-year high the previous session despite overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index edged down 2.76 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,752.1 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Thursday, the main index rallied by more than 2 percent amid growing hopes for US rate cuts in the near future. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.68 percent to a new high, while the S&P 500 and

March 22, 2024

Korean Air to sign $13.7 bln deal to buy 33 Airbus A350 jets

Korean Air Co., South Korea's No. 1 flag carrier, said Thursday it plans to sign a $13.7 billion deal with Airbus to buy 33 units of its latest A350 series aircraft. The company said the deal, which includes 27 A350-1000s and six smaller-sized A350-900s, will be clinched to supplement its long-term fleet operations as it retires its older aircraft. The A350-1000 is the largest in the A350 family, accommodating up to 410 passengers, and uses advanced composite materials to reduce fuel cons

March 21, 2024