Hyundai's US unit, Microsoft team up for urban air mobility

Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday its US-based urban air mobility unit Supernal is collaborating with Microsoft to develop advanced air mobility (AMM) solutions. The South Korean automotive company said it will use Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Microsoft Azure, to develop and operate AMM solutions for autonomous flight and virtual manufacturing. The cloud platform will allow Supernal to run simulations at scale and accelerate the commercialization of its solutions, Hyundai added.

Jan. 4, 2023

Imported car sales rise 24% in December despite chip shortage

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 24 percent last month from a year earlier despite the extended chip shortage, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles stood at 29,640 units last month, up from 23,904 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association said in a statement. The three bestselling models last month were Mercedes-Benz's E 250 sedan and E 350 4MATIC sedan, and BMW's 520 sedan, the state

Jan. 4, 2023

Seoul stocks open lower on Wall Street tech decline, recession woes

Seoul stocks opened lower Wednesday following an overnight fall on Wall Street as investors remain wary of a global recession. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index declined 10.98 points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,207.7 points as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, major indexes on Wall Street closed lower, dragged down by declines in heavyweights, such as Apple and Tesla. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.03 percent, the S&P 500 inched down 0.4 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite r

Jan. 4, 2023

S. Korea to expand food supply, offer discounts ahead of holiday

South Korea's finance ministry said Wednesday it plans to use around 30 billion won ($23.5 million) to offer discounts on major food products in line with efforts to stabilize their prices ahead of the Lunar New Year. The government also plans to increase the supply of 16 food items with high demand ahead of the four-day holiday that starts Jan. 21, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. In detail, the amount of popular agricultural products, including apples and pears, released

Jan. 4, 2023

S. Korea to spend at least 60% of budget in H1 amid economic fears

South Korea's finance ministry said Wednesday it aims to spend at least 60 percent of the annual budget in the first half of 2023 amid the slowdown in exports and employment. "Of the expenditure plan of 638.7 trillion won ($500 billion), we will seek to spend at least 60 percent, or 383.2 trillion won, in the first half," the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a statement. In late December, the National Assembly passed the government budget for 2023. The final package was down 314

Jan. 4, 2023

South Korea's foreign reserves expand in December on dollar's descent

South Korea's foreign reserves continued to expand for the second straight month in December as the weakening dollar resulted in a rise in the converted value of holdings denominated in other currencies, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's foreign reserves came to $423.16 billion as of end-December, up $7.06 billion from the previous month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea. The increase came as the dollar-converted value of other currency-based assets i

Jan. 4, 2023

Lotte Biologics completes acqusition of BMS drug plant

Lotte Group has completed a $160 million acquisition of US drug firm Bristol Myers Squibb, the group’s drug manufacturing unit Lotte Biologics said Tuesday. With the latest deal, the country's fifth-largest retail-chemical conglomerate has made its official debut in the contract manufacturing market, after the group established Lotte Biologics in June last year as its biopharmaceutical subsidiary. Lotte Biologics said the company completed all acquisition processes on Dec. 31 to absor

Jan. 3, 2023

Celltrion's Remsima gets regulatory nod in 100 countries

South Korean drug maker Celltrion said Tuesday its antibody biosimilar Remsima has received authorization from 100 countries worldwide, a feat achieved almost 10 years after its getting approval at home. Remsima is a TNF-α inhibiting antibody biosimilar used to treat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease. The drug got its first approval from Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2012. Since then, the biosimilar received

Jan. 3, 2023

Seoul stocks down for fourth day on tech losses

Seoul stocks extended their losses to a fourth day on Tuesday on a slump in tech stocks as investors still remained wary of rate hikes in major economies and an economic slump. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 6.99 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 2,218.68 points. Trading volume was moderate at 403.6 million shares worth 6.03 trillion won ($4.7 billion). Losers outnumbered gainers 523 to 343. Institut

Jan. 3, 2023

Ministry plans to boost tax breaks for chip, battery, vaccine makers

The government seeks to sharply raise tax incentives for semiconductor manufacturing facilities days after President Yoon expressed dissatisfaction over smaller-than-envisioned tax cut that lags behind subsidy plans offered by other countries racing to bolster their chip industries. The tax code revision plan proposed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, big corporations that make investment into “national strategic technologies” such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and

Jan. 3, 2023

New year to brace for challenges, embrace changes: Hyundai Motor chief

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun on Tuesday held a rare town hall meeting with approximately 600 employees, during which he stressed that the automotive company would brace for challenges and embrace changes to tackle an economic slowdown. “We should not be afraid of upcoming crises and (helplessly) face the aftermath, but leapfrog toward sustainable growth with active innovation,” Chung said during the New Year's event held at the company’s Namyang Re

Jan. 3, 2023

Hyundai, Kia hit 800,000 sales milestone in India

Hyundai Motor Group sold more than 800,000 cars in India last year, a 17.5 percent growth compared to a year ago, the auto giant said Monday. With the upbeat figures, India has emerged as the South Korean carmaker’s third-largest market after the US and its home turf. A total of 807,067 vehicles were sold by the automotive duo, with Hyundai and Kia selling 552,511 and 254,556 units, respectively. Kia, especially, posted stunning growth in recent years, with its sales jumping more than 40 p

Jan. 3, 2023

Tesla slapped with W2.85b in fines for misleading ads

South Korea’s antitrust regulator said Tuesday it is imposing a fine of over 2.85 billion won ($2.23 million) on US electric vehicle maker Tesla and Tesla Korea for deceiving local consumers with false and exaggerated advertisements. The penalty on Tesla is assessed for advertising its battery performance on its official website here dating to August 2019 for exaggerating that its electric vehicles can drive more than its driving range on a single charge, the Fair Trade Commission said. Ci

Jan. 3, 2023

[Photo News] From the other side

The first photo of Earth and the moon taken by South Korea’s lunar mission Danuri was unveiled Tuesday. Korea became the seventh country in the world to explore the moon on Dec. 28, as its first homegrown uncrewed space vehicle successfully entered lunar orbit.

Jan. 3, 2023

[Photo News] IBK's new chairman

Industrial Bank of Korea Chairman Kim Sung-tae took office on Tuesday to lead the state-run bank after a recent approval from President Yoon Suk-yeol. A veteran insider, Kim has worked for IBK for over three decades since joining in 1989. At the inauguration ceremony held earlier in the day, the new chairman pledged to put his priority on supporting small- and medium-sized businesses.

Jan. 3, 2023

[Photo News] Promoting Busan's Expo bid at CES 2023

A giant banner promoting South Korea’s bid for the 2030 World Expo is hung on the exhibition floor for the 2023 CES in Las Vegas on Monday. South Korea’s refinery-to-battery company SK Innovation, along with other SK companies, said it will promote the southern port city of Busan’s bid to host the World Expo during the world’s largest tech trade show that kicks off Thursday.

Jan. 3, 2023

AMAT to acquire stakes in SKC’s glass substrate unit

US chip materials maker Applied Materials (AMAT) will acquire 51 billion won ($39 million) worth of Absolics shares, the chip glass substrate production arm of Korean chemicals company SKC. According to SKC’s regulatory filing on Monday, Absolics will issue new shares to raise 165.9 billion won to expand its production facilities. Of the 130,000 new shares, SKC and AMAT will acquire 90,000 and 40,000 shares, respectively. SKC alone will invest 114.8 billion won to acquire the shares. &ldqu

Jan. 3, 2023

FDI pledges to S. Korea hit all-time high in 2022: data

Foreign direct investment pledges to South Korea hit an all-time high last year, surpassing $30 billion for the first time, data showed Tuesday. Foreigners pledged to invest $30.45 billion here last year, up 3.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The previous record high was $29.51 billion in 2021. The amount of investment that actually arrived in South Korea, however, fell 3.1 percent on-year to $18.03 billion. The number of FDI ple

Jan. 3, 2023

LG Display to focus on automotive panels at CES 2023

LAS VEGAS-- LG Display Co., a major South Korean display maker, said Monday it will present its latest display technologies tailored to specific customer needs and environments at CES 2023, slated to open in Las Vegas later this week. The firm will set up a booth wholly dedicated to automotive display panels, and another booth for small and midsized foldable organic light-emitting diode panels at the world's largest consumer electronics show that runs from Thursday to Sunday. Under the duel

Jan. 3, 2023

LG unveils vision for more personalized, smarter TV ahead of CES 2023

LAS VEGAS-- LG Electronics Inc. unveiled a vision for its TV business on Monday ahead of the opening of CES 2023, emphasizing connectivity and customization. The consumer electronics giant will dedicate itself to fulfilling the vision of Sync to You, Open to All, it said, based on its advanced organic light-emitting diode display technologies and webOS, its own smart TV operating system. At the world's most influential tech trade show, set to open on Thursday, LG will unveil the new OLED

Jan. 3, 2023