HD Hyundai to develop large liquefied hydrogen carrier by 2030

HD Hyundai will develop a commercial large liquefied hydrogen carrier by 2030 in accordance with the hydrogen value chain cooperation with global leaders in the sector, the South Korean shipbuilding conglomerate said Wednesday. According to the announcement, HD Hyundai’s shipbuilding holdings company, HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, or HD KSOE, recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Woodside Energy, a major Australian energy company, and Hyundai Glovis, a Korea

Feb. 14, 2024

LG Energy Solution beefs up supply chain for EV materials

LG Energy Solution on Wednesday announced that it had signed a supply deal with Australian lithium producer Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy and Fertilisers, bolstering the supply chain of key materials for producing electric vehicle batteries within the boundaries of the United States' free trade agreement to cope with Washington’s incentive policy under the Inflation Reduction Act. According to the announcement, the Korean battery maker will receive 85,000 tons of spodumene concentrate, a h

Feb. 14, 2024

[Photo News] Korean BMW navigation

BMW Group Korea said Wednesday that it will begin loading the Korean BMW navigation system based on the country's leading mobility platform Tmap, starting with the BMW X1 and BMW 2 Series Active Tourer models this month. The automaker said the newly developed navigation system offers advanced convenience, as it receives the latest traffic and map information in real time through online streaming. The Korea-dedicated navigation will be equipped on the BMW New X2 and new Mini models, which ar

Feb. 14, 2024

CJ’s overseas food sales outpace domestic sales for 1st time in Q4

South Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang's overseas food business outperformed its domestic sales for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2023, driven by the strong performance of its flagship products in the US, Australia and Europe. On Tuesday, CJ CheilJedang reported its consolidated earnings for 2023 with sales of 29.2 trillion won ($21.9 billion) and an operating profit of 1.29 trillion won. Its food business, in particular, posed 11.3 trillion won in sales and 654.6 billion won in oper

Feb. 14, 2024

Posco Future M’s ESG efforts recognized by S&P Global

  South Korean battery materials producer Posco Future M said Wednesday that it has won the “Industry Mover” title from the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) in recognition of its outstanding environmental, social, and governance efforts. The Korean firm earned 69 points in the annual sustainability assessment, a 33 percent jump from a year ago. Out of over 9,400 companies across 62 industries worldwide, only 41 companies, including Posco Future M, were

Feb. 14, 2024

KT&G’s Esse hits 900b mark in cigarette sales

    KT&G, South Korea’s largest cigarette manufacturer, said Wednesday that its ultra-slim cigarette brand Esse achieved cumulative sales of over 900 billion cigarettes last year. Since its launch in 1996, Esse has sold a total of 901.6 billion cigarettes, with 405.1 billion sold overseas. Last year alone, Esse sold 21.9 billion cigarettes at home and 28.9 billion cigarettes internationally. Since 2001, when KT&G started exports to the Middle East and Russia, Esse has b

Feb. 14, 2024

Regulator to unveil guidelines on ESG disclosure as early as next month

The financial regulator said Wednesday it will unveil a set of guidelines on public disclosures for investments that commit to environmental, social and governance goals in March or April, the financial regulator said Wednesday. The new standards, however, will continue to be subject to changes until their implementation in 2026 or later, according to Kim So-young, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission. "Considering that discussions of ESG disclosures are being delayed in other

Feb. 14, 2024

Seoul shares open lower after US inflation data

Seoul shares opened lower Wednesday following hotter-than-estimated US inflation data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 39.58 points, or 1.49 percent, to 2,610.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4 percent to 38,272.75, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 1.8 percent to 15,655.60. Investors have been expecting the US Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates this year amid hope for eased inflation. But January's

Feb. 14, 2024

HD Korea Shipbuilding cancels 416.9 bln-won deal for 2 liners

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Tuesday it has canceled a 416.9 billion-won ($313 million) order to build two passenger ships for a New Zealand state ferry operator. The contract was canceled at the request of KiwiRail Holdings Ltd., a New Zealand state-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations and operating interisland ferries, the South Korean shipbuilding giant said in a regulatory filing. HD Korea Shipbuilding had clinched the deal from KiwiRail in 2021, but

Feb. 13, 2024

NHN net loss narrows in 2023 on lower costs

Major IT company NHN Corp. said Tuesday its net loss narrowed in 2023 from a year earlier thanks mainly to reduced costs. Net loss came to 9 billion won ($6.8 million) last year, compared with a 31.8 billion-won deficit a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 7.3 percent on-year to 2.26 trillion won, with operating income coming to 55.5 billion won, up 42.2 percent from the previous year. NHN said its mobile games division contributed stably to 2023 sales, and it post

Feb. 13, 2024

Korean Air merger gets EU nod

The European Union's antitrust regulator granted conditional approval for the merger of Korean Air with its smaller domestic rival Asiana Airlines on Tuesday, leaving only approval from the US pending among the 14 relevant authorities, according to Korean Air. The approval comes after the nation’s largest air carrier submitted a revised merger plan to the European Commission in November last year, which entails selling off Asiana Airlines' cargo business and turning over certain airport s

Feb. 13, 2024

SK chief headed to Germany, Spain to bolster ties

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is expected to travel to Germany next week, joining an economic delegation as the head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, according to industry sources, Tuesday. Chey will be traveling to Berlin on Feb. 19 to take part in various business forums and gatherings, where business and government officials from Korea and Germany are expected to discuss strengthening collaborative efforts. Chey is also expected to travel to Barcelona, Spain, to attend a globa

Feb. 13, 2024

Seoul shares up for 3rd day on rate cut hopes

Seoul shares closed higher for the third straight session Tuesday amid hopes that the US Federal Reserve will start easing due to continued disinflation. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 29.32 points, or 1.12 percent, to close at 2,649.64. Trade volume was moderate at 550.46 million shares worth 12.93 trillion won ($9.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 597 to 285. January's US consumer price index due later Tuesday is

Feb. 13, 2024

Celltrion seeks approval for Actemra biosimilar in Europe

Celltrion announced Tuesday that the company has submitted its application for marketing authorization to the European Medicines Agency for CT-P47, a biosimilar referencing Roche's Actemra. Roche's Actemra (tocilizumab) is approved for a wide range of uses, including rheumatoid arthritis, giant cell arteritis, systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis and cytokine release syndrome. Celltrion’s application has been based on the results from a glob

Feb. 13, 2024

Korea no longer a land of workaholics, study suggests

  The proportion of South Koreans working more than 50 hours a week has sharply dropped over the past 20 years to be on par with the average for member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a new report from a Korean business lobby group on Tuesday. According to the Korea Enterprises Federation, the number of wage earners working more than 50 hours per week stood at 2.53 million in terms of actual working hours and 2.24 million in terms of con

Feb. 13, 2024

CEOs, top executives to be held accountable for financial misconduct

Executives of financial companies will be held accountable for misconduct within their assigned areas of responsibility starting in July. The Financial Services Commission announced guidelines on Tuesday for the new "responsibilities map" system, requiring financial institutes to detail responsibilities for executives, including chief executive officer. In December, the National Assembly passed a revised bill for the Act on Corporate Governance of Financial Companies, introducing the

Feb. 13, 2024

[KH Explains] Why NCSoft is playing coy on game revenue

NCSoft announced an annual revenue of 1.78 trillion won ($1.34 billion) and operating profit of 137.3 billion last week, down 31 percent and 75 percent on year, respectively. Following the earnings announcement, the South Korean game developer held a conference call Thursday to explain last year's financial results. During the call, an analyst castigated the company for a recent change to its reporting practices: “You say that the company is putting efforts together, but it seems that (

Feb. 13, 2024

Apple’s market share exceeds 25% for first time in Korea

US tech giant Apple saw its domestic market share exceed 25 percent for the first time in 2023, slightly narrowing the gap with its archrival Samsung Electronics, despite the global economic downturn and decreased demand, a report showed Tuesday. Apple’s share rose 3 percentage points on-year to reach 25 percent in Korea last year, according to the data by market research firm Counterpoint Research, while maintaining the No. 2 spot in the Korean smartphone market. Samsung kept the No. 1

Feb. 13, 2024

Renault Korea hires new lead for smart vehicle tech

Renault Korea Motors, the South Korean unit of French automotive giant Renault Group, said Tuesday it has appointed Regis Brignon, a software and electrical systems specialist, to lead the development of its software-defined vehicles, or next-generation smart vehicles, for the Korean market. Starting in February as the director of systems engineering operations at Renault Technology Korea, he will lead teams in developing next-generation technologies for future Renault models made in Korea, inc

Feb. 13, 2024

[Photo News] Bitcoin flies high

A screen shows bitcoin trading at over 67 million won ($50,459) at local crypto exchange Bithumb's headquarters in southern Seoul, Tuesday. The price of bitcoin traded above $50,000 on Monday (US time) for the first time since December 2021, according to the US-based crypto exchange Coinbase. The sharp increase is assessed to have stemmed from a strong inflow of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds that directly hold bitcoin. The Korean price of bitcoin stood at 67.1 million won as of 2 p.m.,

Feb. 13, 2024