LG unveils vision for ThinQ smart home platform

LG Electronics said Monday it presented a blueprint for ThinQ, a platform brand that connects home appliances and consumer electronics with smart technology for higher efficiency, at the Connectivity Standards Alliance member meeting in Seoul. Jung Ki-hyun, vice president of LG's platform business center, attended the four-day event as a keynote speaker and shared the company's vision for providing more consumer-friendly smart home services. He outlined three core values of ThinQ: adva

March 20, 2023

Daewoo E&C seeks bigger presence in Iraq

Daewoo Engineering & Construction is ramping up efforts for South Korean construction companies' foray into Iraq, according to the company Monday. Daewoo E&C's CEO Baek Jung-wan and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Cho Seung-hwan recently visited Iraq’s Al Faw port construction site, in a bid to facilitate domestic companies' entry into Iraq's Al Faw Port Development Project -- a project which aims to build the largest port in the Middle East. Currently, Daewoo E&a

March 20, 2023

Innospace launches world’s 1st hybrid rocket with electric pump

Innospace, a South Korean startup specializing in developing hybrid space rockets, said it has launched the Hanbit-TLV -- an 8.4-ton single-stage thrust hybrid rocket standing at 16.3 meters tall -- from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil at 2:52 p.m. on Sunday local time. “We will announce the results of the engine’s flight performance and whether the payload’s mission ends up in a success after a comprehensive analysis of the flight data,” said Innospace in a text to

March 20, 2023

LG Energy Solution continues aggressive US expansion

LG Energy Solution is looking to keep ramping up its battery businesses in the US as the North American electric vehicle market is projected to see a compound annual growth rate of 33 percent through 2030. According to the South Korean battery maker, the company’s backlog orders reached 370 trillion won ($284 billion) as of September last year, an increase of over 100 trillion won from the end of 2021. Of the backlog orders, 70 percent were due for the North American market. LG Energy Solu

March 20, 2023

[Photo News] Aid through air

Relief goods are shipped to Korean Air’s special charter flight before it departs for Turkey on Monday. The Boeing 777 freighter carried 45 tons of relief goods, including tents, sleeping bags and blankets, to be delivered to the area hit by the Turkey-Syria tearthquake in February.

March 20, 2023

Samsung opens AI startup incubator in Gwangju

Samsung Electronics said Monday it has opened a branch campus for its startup support program in Gwangju to incubate promising small businesses to spur innovation and build a business ecosystem without relocating themselves to bustling Seoul and metropolitan areas. Located in Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s office in the Sangmu region, C-Lab Outside Gwangju will be run to nurture innovative startups, revitalize the local economy and boost high-quality jobs in the rural area. The new ca

March 20, 2023

Seoul shares open tad higher amid eased woes over global banking sector

South Korean stocks opened a tad higher Monday amid eased woes over the global banking sector. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 3.34 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,399.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, US shares ended lower due to the decrease in banking stocks in the wake of the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.19 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.74 percent. According to media reports on Sunday, Sw

March 20, 2023

S. Korean startup Innospace launches test launch vehicle HANBIT-TLV

Innospace, a South Korean space startup, said Monday its suborbital test launch vehicle, HANBIT-TLV, has been launched. The 8.4-ton thrust single stage hybrid rocket was fired from the Alcantara Space Center in northern Brazil at 2:52 p.m. Sunday (local time), or 2:52 a.m. Monday (Korean time), according to the company. "We are now verifying the flight performance of the engine and its payloads," Innospace said in a statement. "We will announce the final result of the launch later

March 20, 2023

[Herald Interview] Volvo Trucks seeks to woo young, female drivers

Moving toward autonomous driving, Volvo Trucks is developing the technology to offer the best truck-driving experience to draw in young drivers and female drivers, while investing into its driver environment. “If you later get the opportunity to drive the electric vehicle, it’s a fantastic driving experience. Smooth driving and great comfort in order to make the driver occupation more attractive, because we need to attract more younger, more females to drive trucks,” Johan Selv

March 20, 2023

Lotte loses Incheon Airport duty-free license bid

Lotte Duty Free, the country's largest duty-free operator in terms of sales, has lost the bidding race for the operational rights of duty-free shops at Incheon Airport. Instead, Lotte's smaller rivals, Hotel Shilla, Shinsegae DF and Hyundai Department Store Duty Free, were shortlisted for the duty-free licensing bid. On Friday, Incheon International Airport Corp. announced the results in the first round of assessments of bids for the five duty-free zones in the nation's main airpo

March 19, 2023

Number of working Koreans past 60 hits record high

A retired police officer, who wished to be identified by his last name Park, 63, believes “60 is the new 40.” “After retiring from my job I started watching over kids as a ‘school sheriff’ at an elementary school nearby. I just was not used to staying at home without a job,” Park told The Korea Herald. Last month, the number of overall employed workers increased by 310,000 on-year, and this rise was largely led by workers like Park, who are in their 60s, a

March 19, 2023

Eximbank to boost trade finance for Latin American market

The Export-Import Bank of Korea is making strides to expand its network with financial institutions based in Latin America to clear the path for South Korean companies to enter emerging markets in the region. Eximbank Chairman Yoon Hee-sung attended the 2023 Annual Meeting held by the Inter-American Development Bank in Panama from March 16 to 19. At the event, he signed a Confirming Bank Agreement with James Scriven, CEO of IDB Invest -- the private sector arm of IDB Group -- to solidify Eximban

March 19, 2023

Starbucks opens new 'socially responsible' cafe in ESG push

Starbucks Korea said Sunday it opened its 13th eco-friendly outlet in the country, as part of its continuous attempts to recycle waste and create jobs for socially disadvantaged people. Called "Zero waste: eco-star cafe," according to Starbucks, the pilot store recently opened in Incheon, and is jointly operated by the Korea Environment Corp. and Starbucks to ramp up the coffee franchise's environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, efforts. "We will continue to e

March 19, 2023

Samsung, SK hynix likely to suffer deficit in Q1 chip business

South Korea's leading semiconductor makers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, are likely to post deficits of billions of won in the first quarter of this year amid weakening memory chip prices and higher inventories. Posing great challenges for the firms are accumulated substantial amounts of inventory and slowing consumer spending. According to Samsung’s regulatory filing to DART, the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board, Sunday, its inventory assets re

March 19, 2023

Shilla, Shinsegae, Hyundai shortlisted for Incheon airport duty-free licensing

Hotel Shilla, Shinsegae DF and Hyundai Department Store Duty Free were shortlisted for duty-free licensing at Incheon International Airport, the airport operator said Friday. Incheon International Airport Corp. announced the result of the first round of assessment of bids for the five duty-free zones at the nation's main airport, located west of Seoul. The three domestic retail giants were selected as final candidates, while two other bidders, Lotte Duty Free and China Duty Free Group Co. (

March 17, 2023

OECD slashes S. Korea's 2023 growth outlook to 1.6 percent

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Friday revised down South Korea's growth outlook for 2023 to 1.6 percent, as the global economy continues to stand on "fragile" grounds amid uncertainties. The latest outlook, released through the Paris-based organization's interim report, marked a 0.2 percentage-point drop from a 1.8 percent growth projection in November. The downward revision is in line with the Bank of Korea's assessment released

March 17, 2023

Posco to relocate headquarters to Pohang

Posco Holdings, a unit of South Korean steel giant Posco Group, will relocate its Seoul headquarters to the industrial city of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, as the plan was approved at a shareholders meeting Friday. “We have decided to relocate the headquarters to coexist with the local community of Pohang, which enabled the growth of Posco,” Posco Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo said. Pohang is home to the group’s key steel mills and other production facilities. While some

March 17, 2023

Yoon calls for Korea-Japan cooperation on chips, batteries

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for close cooperation of businesses of South Korea and Japan, especially in cutting-edge fields of semiconductors and batteries, during a meeting of entrepreneurs of the two countries, Friday. The two biggest business groups of South Korea and Japan, Korean Federation of Industries and Japan Business Federation -- commonly known as Keidanren -- hosted the Korea-Japan Business Roundtable on the second day of Yoon's two-day visit to Tokyo. Yoon held

March 17, 2023

Seoul stocks end up on eased banking jitters

Seoul stocks finished higher Friday as investors' jitters eased on news that a group of banks would throw a lifeline to a troubled US bank. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 17.78 points, or 0.75 percent, to 2,395.69. Trading volume was moderate at about 355 million shares worth some 8.38 trillion won ($6.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 672 to 224. Institutions and foreign investors bought a net 155 billion won wor

March 17, 2023

KAI CEO denies sellout rumor

Korea Aerospace Industries will spend 4.5 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in research and development to achieve a quantum jump in the global aerospace industry, according to its CEO on Friday. “In the aerospace industry, you cannot survive if you are not looking ahead 40 to 50 years from now. From the perspective of a CEO, (spending money on) research and development drags down (short-term) performance because it cuts down revenue. But if we don’t (invest in R&D) now, KAI will not h

March 17, 2023