[Photo News] Torres EVX ready for launch

KG Mobility, formerly known as SsangYong Motors, said Monday it will release the Torres EVX, an all-electric model of its bestselling midsized sport utility vehicle, in September. KG Mobility said it expects the driving distance per charge to be 420 kilometers or longer. The vehicle's price could begin as low as 48.5 million won ($38,100). Specifications will be finalized upon the official release. (KG Mobility)

July 31, 2023

LG CNS launches alliance to promote enterprise agility

South Korean IT solutions provider LG CNS said Monday it has formed a trilateral alliance with US-based Scaled Agile and Seoul-based cloud and agile service provider Open Source Consulting to strengthen its business in building and improving cloud-optimized applications. The three firms signed a memorandum of understanding to make joint efforts to explore and foster business opportunities for application modernization based on the Scaled Agile Framework, an enterprise agility framework provided

July 31, 2023

Samsung C&T keeps No. 1 spot in builder rankings

Samsung C&T Corp. has been named the top builder in South Korea for 10 straight years in terms of building capacity, government data showed Monday. Samsung C&T, a construction affiliate of top conglomerate Samsung Group, took the leading slot among the 77,675 local construction firms evaluated, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Samsung C&T's construction capacity was valued at 20.73 trillion won ($16.3 billion), easily beating runner-up Hyundai Eng

July 31, 2023

Intl. flight passengers recover to 64.8% of pre-pandemic level in H1: data

The number of international flight passengers recovered to nearly 65 percent of the pre-pandemic level in the first half of the year, government data showed Monday. A total of 29.5 million people boarded international flights between January and June, accounting for 64.8 percent of the 45.6 million tallied over the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. By destination, the number of travelers to the

July 31, 2023

Seoul shares open higher on softening US inflation data

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Monday, as US data pointing to a loosening of inflation boosted investor confidence. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 16.91 points, or 0.65 percent, to 2,625.23 in the first 15 minutes of trading. All three US major stock indexes finished higher Friday, after the personal consumption expenditures price index, an inflation gauge favored by the Federal Reserve, showed it rose 3 percent in June from a year earlier, the smallest rise

July 31, 2023

Exports of agro-fisheries products fall 3.8% in H1

South Korea's exports of farm and fisheries products fell 3.8 percent on-year in the first half of the year, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments of agricultural and fisheries goods came to $5.95 billion in the January-June period, down from $6.19 billion a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. (aT). Last year's tally marked an all-time high for the first half of any year, and it was the first time that the figure surpassed the $6 bill

July 31, 2023

[Test Drive] Toyota Highlander Hybrid, a fuel-efficient family SUV

Amid the burgeoning demand in Korea for large-sized sport utility vehicles equipped for family trips, Toyota has launched its three-row SUV model Highlander Hybrid here for the first time. Based on the Toyota New Global Architecture-K platform, the Japanese carmaker touted the family car’s strong physical structure, blended with optimal suspension control which makes for an easy drive. “The power output of the electric motor and gasoline engine in the fourth generation model of the T

July 31, 2023

English service offered for electronic disclosures

The Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure board has gotten a new update from Monday, providing foreign investors with more English information on financial disclosures. With the update, when firms file disclosures on DART, the name of the company, report title and name of the attached files will be available in English on the English version of the website at the same time as the Korean one. Previously, English disclosures were only available when Kospi and Kosdaq-listed c

July 30, 2023

Korea's drug market reaches W30tr in 2022

The size of South Korea’s domestic drug market reached an all-time high of 29.9 trillion won ($23.4 billion) last year, up 17.6 percent on-year, according to government data, Sunday. The drug market size is calculated by adding the value of total drug production here and the drug import value, then subtracting the drug export value. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the country’s drug production in 2022 grew 13.6 percent on-year to 28.9 trillion won, from 25.49 trill

July 30, 2023

Battery stocks’ volatility leaves investors reeling

The fluctuating stock prices of firms in the secondary battery sector sent the local stock market on a rollercoaster ride over the last week. Battery materials stocks achieved gains on Friday afternoon after suffering losses in the morning, raising alarms for retail investors who belatedly joined in on a buying spree for EcoPro and Posco shares. Shares of EcoPro closed at 1.10 million won ($863.85) on Friday. It spiked to a record high of 1.53 million won during trading hours on Wednesday, bu

July 30, 2023

[Beyond Earth] Contec leads Korea's space foray

Over 50 space companies from across the globe gathered on Jeju Island on June 28 to attend the opening ceremony of the International Space Summit. They came together to discuss trends in the space industry, in launch vehicles, ground station networks, satellite image analysis and other areas. The two-day ISS was organized by Contec, a local startup specializing in satellite-to-ground station services. “There has never been any space conference of such a size in our country,” Lee Sung

July 30, 2023

[Test Drive] New Trailblazer rides off-road with confidence

The Chevrolet Trailblazer has come back as a compact sports utility vehicle that suits both an urban lifestyle and off-road driving. As the vehicle nearly went through an overall facelift, the first impression that stood out was the sharp design of the front at the media test-drive held by General Motors in Seoul on July 26. The chrome bars running across the top and bottom of the radiator grille and the thin LED headlamps gave a solid, aggressive impression. With a length of 4,425 millimeters,

July 30, 2023

Hyundai, Kia's US market share stays above 10% in H1: data

The combined US market share of Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Corp. inched up in the first half of the year from a year earlier, managing to stay above the 10 percent range amid the recovery in demand and output, data showed Sunday. Their combined share came to 10.6 percent in the January-June period, up 0.3 percentage point from the previous year, according to the data by the US-based Automotive News outlet. Hyundai and Kia saw their combined market share rise to double digits

July 30, 2023

BTS’ Suga 'first to use' Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5

Suga of K-pop phenomenon BTS has become the first user of Samsung Electronics’ latest foldable phone, the tech giant said Friday. Samsung Electronics said Suga will be the “first in the world to own a #GalaxyZFold5," via a post on Twitter, now called X. Held for the first time in Seoul, the Samsung Unpacked event "saw extra excitement and wonder to the already awe-inspiring event when one of our favorites, #Suga of @BTS_twt, came to #JoinTheFlipSide,” the post read. T

July 28, 2023

Samsung calls 2023 milestone year for global foldable phone market

Samsung Electronics, who leads the world's foldable smartphone market, is confident it can solidify its position by selling over 10 million units of its new foldable smartphones globally this year. Samsung Electronics’ mobile head Roh Tae-moon said he sees 2023 being the "tipping point" when foldable phones gain mainstream adoption. “We expect global foldable phone shipments to exceed 20 percent of all Galaxy flagship smartphones this year,” Roh said during a pre

July 28, 2023

KDB seeks gov't approval for HQ's Busan relocation

The state-run Korea Development Bank has decided to push for "a full relocation" of its headquarters from Seoul to Busan and submitted a plan to the country's financial regulator for approval, according to industry sources on Friday. According to KDB's plan, the bank intends to retain a minimal workforce of approximately 100 employees in Seoul while transferring the entire headquarters to Busan. Under the existing law, KDB is required to be located in Seoul. In order to proce

July 28, 2023

Milk companies mull price hikes

Korean milk companies said Friday they are reviewing plans to increase the prices of their products, following the Korea Dairy Committee's recent decision to raise the price of raw milk by the largest rate in ten years. "We are going over plans to raise the price of our fresh milk products, as the price of raw milk outweighs all other factors that help determine the price of the end product, including pasteurization, labor and distribution costs and such," said an official from a

July 28, 2023

Card transactions by Vietnamese tourists soared over 460% in H1

The number of transactions made by Vietnamese tourists in South Korea during the first half of the year showed the sharpest growth among other visitors, increasing by 468 percent on-year, Korean credit card issuer BC Card said Friday. The growth in Vietnamese tourists' transactions were significantly higher than those of all other foreign tourists, which stood at 358 percent. The data released by BC Card was based on the total number of credit card and debit card transactions made by 1.2

July 28, 2023

Seoul shares end tumultuous week with modest gains

South Korean stocks ended slightly higher Friday, led by steel shares, as investors took a breather amid concerns over aggressive monetary tightening by major economies and following sessions of great fluctuations in battery shares. The local currency rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 4.51 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 2,608.32, the second consecutive gains. Trading volume was a bit heavy at 495.38 million shares worth 16.5 trillion won ($12

July 28, 2023

Facial recognition system implemented at Incheon Airport

Incheon Airport said it has begun utilizing preregistered facial information to streamline the departure process for passengers from Friday. Dubbed the "facial recognition smart pass service," the newly launched service will allow passengers to quickly pass through the identification process at departure and boarding gates without having to show their passports and boarding passes to security personnel. The service is available at six departure gates and 16 boarding gates at Incheon Ai

July 28, 2023