Hanjin Logistics eyes bigger footing in Eurasisa

Hanjin Logistics, an affiliate of South Korean airline-to-logistics conglomerate Hanjin Group, said Monday that it is strengthening its logistics business in Eurasia, with a particular focus on Uzbekistan. According to the company, Hanjin Logistics CEO Noh Sam-sug and President and Chief Marketing Officer Emily Cho visited Uzbekistan from Oct. 13 to Tuesday as part of their overseas management initiative. This time, the visit aimed to assess logistics conditions and strengthen relationships with

Oct. 21, 2024

[Herald Interview] Fairfax County seeks to attract Korea’s emerging tech firms

Aiming to reinforce its reputation as the “Silicon Valley of the East,” Fairfax County, located near Washington, DC in the US state of Virginia, is seeking to bring in more Korean tech firms specializing in emerging technologies such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and aerospace, David Kelley, the vice president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said. "Fairfax County likes to pride itself on innovation, and especially innovation around emerging

Oct. 21, 2024

[Photo news] Thinnest Galaxy foldable phone

SK Telecom said Monday it will launch Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, the tech giant's new thinnest foldable smartphone, on Friday. The new phone is 4.9 millimeters thick and the main display can be expanded to 8 inches, providing a more immersive viewing experience. The Korean price is at 2.78 million won ($2,039), with global sales starting as early as later this month. (SK Telecom)

Oct. 21, 2024

Daewoo E&C wins W1tr plant project in Turkmenistan

South Korean builder Daewoo Engineering & Construction has been selected as the winning bidder for a mineral fertilizer plant project in Turkmenistan, valued at approximately 1 trillion won ($730 million), according to the company Monday. The project involves the construction of a mineral fertilizer plant in Turkmenabat, 450 kilometers east of the capital Ashgabat. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 350,000 tons of phosphate fertilizer and 100,000 tons of ammonium sulfate,

Oct. 21, 2024

[Photo news] Double podium

Hyundai Motor said Monday that its racing teams picked up two wins at the 2024 World Rally Championship's 12th round of the Central European Rally and the 2024 TCR World Tour's sixth race in China over the past weekend. According to the automaker, Ott Tanak on Hyundai Motor's world rally team took the highest spot on the podium after he came out victorious with the brand's motorsports car i20 N Rally1 Hybrid. For the TRC race, Mikel Azcona on the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse w

Oct. 21, 2024

Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

Seoul shares opened higher Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street last week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 5.19 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,599.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.09 percent to 43,275.91, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.63 percent to 18,489.55. In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 0.8 percent, leading auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis

Oct. 21, 2024

Exports fall 2.9% during first 20 days of October

South Korea's exports lost 2.9 percent on-year in the first 20 days of October due to falling demand for vehicles and petroleum products and fewer working days, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments reached $32.77 billion in the Oct. 1-20 period, compared with $33.74 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Per-day exports, however, rose 1 percent on-year to $2.62 billion. The number of working days during the cited period of this year came to 1

Oct. 21, 2024

S. Korean air carriers' pilot recruitment up 8 pct through Aug.

The number of pilots newly hired by South Korean air carriers rose 8 percent on-year through August, data showed Sunday, driven by post-pandemic travel demand. The 11 air carriers hired 537 new pilots over the January-August period, compared with 498 in the same period a year earlier, according to Rep. Lee Yeon-hee of the main opposition Democratic Party, who cited data from the transport ministry. The figure marks a significant increase from the annual average of 135 recorded between 2020 and 2

Oct. 20, 2024

[Exclusive] Iranian bank may consider closing Korea branch: source

Iranian lender Bank Mellat may have to consider pulling its operations out of South Korea with its hands tied here due to the looming fears of secondary boycott actions from the US. “With the upcoming US presidential election, the pressure on Iran will only escalate. Bank Mellat may have to consider closing its operations in Korea,” an official from Bank Mellat’s Seoul branch said. The official explained the Seoul unit has not been able to fully operate, as Korean companies, in

Oct. 20, 2024

[KH Explains] Indonesia's halal certification: Double-edged sword for Korean food industry?

Indonesia’s new regulation mandating Halal certification for all imported food products is expected to widen the export gap between large conglomerates and small businesses in Korea due to the high costs and time need to meet the requirements. After a five-year grace period, the Indonesian government has officially ordered businesses in most industries to be halal compliant and halal certified, starting Thursday. While products lacking halal certification can still be exported, they must b

Oct. 20, 2024

TSMC likely to reclaim lead in sales over Samsung

Samsung Electronics’ chip division is likely to be dethroned by TSMC, the world's largest foundry company that manufactures Nvidia chips, in terms of the latest quarterly sales, according to industry sources on Sunday. Samsung’s third-quarter sales are estimated to reach a record high of 79 trillion won ($57.7 billion), up 17.2 percent from a year ago. Although the Korean tech giant has not released detailed reports on the performance of its key business units for the quarter ea

Oct. 20, 2024

Hyundai Motor to make EV in India

Hyundai Motor Group said Sunday it is set to launch its first electric vehicle in India, the electrified version of its popular sport utility vehicle Creta, in January next year, solidifying its top-tier position in the fast-growing automotive market. The Creta EV will be produced at the carmaker’s manufacturing plant in Chennai, southern India, which started operations in 1998. The company has recently pushed sales of SUVs, with the face-lifted three-row Alcazar SUV hitting the market in

Oct. 20, 2024

KB Kookmin Bank adds two new branches in India

KB Kookmin Bank said on Sunday that services will begin on Monday at its new branches in Chennai and Pune as the Korean bank seeks to expand its footing in the Indian market. Chennai, the largest city in southern India, serves as a major commercial and manufacturing hub, while Pune, in India’s western coastal region, is an emerging center for cutting-edge industries such as information technology and biotechnology. Including its Gurugram branch, which opened in 2019, KB Kookmin Bank now ha

Oct. 20, 2024

[Photo News] Kia's design exhibition

Hyundai Motor Group said on Friday that it will hold an exhibition to showcase Kia's design philosophy, "Opposites United," in Seoul starting Saturday. The automaker previously held a similar exhibition under the same theme at the Milan Design Week in northern Italy in April this year, drawing about 15,000 visitors for its seven-day run. Kia plans to offer various performances by collaborating with numerous artists at the exhibition, which will be held at Space S1 in Seongsu-dong

Oct. 18, 2024

K bank delays IPO again

South Korea's internet-only K bank will postpone its stock market debut to next year, due to insufficient demand. On Friday, K bank announced it is pushing back its initial public offering, which was originally scheduled for Oct. 30, to early next year. The bank also disclosed that it has filed to withdraw its securities registration with the Financial Services Commission. K bank stated in its disclosure, "The company has decided to withdraw this public offering, with the results of the rec

Oct. 18, 2024

Korea Zinc, Trafigura chiefs to meet in Korea next month amid management battle

The ongoing power struggle at Korea Zinc, the world's largest zinc smelter, looks to be taking an unexpected turn, as the CEO of Trafigura, one of Korea Zinc's key partners and strategic investors, prepares to visit Seoul next month. According to local investment industry sources on Friday, Trafigura CEO Jeremy Weir, accompanied by his successor Richard Holtum -- who will assume the CEO role in January 2025 -- will meet with Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yun-beom during the visit. Korea Zinc has conf

Oct. 18, 2024

Seoul shares down for 3rd day on foreign sell-off

South Korean stocks closed lower Friday as foreign investors unloaded big-cap tech and battery shares. The local currency fell against the US dollar. After opening slightly higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) lost 15.48 points, or 0.59 percent, to close at 2,593.82. Trade volume was slim at 259.1 million shares worth 8.1 trillion won (US$5.9 billion), with losers far outpacing winners 589 to 267. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.37 percent to clos

Oct. 18, 2024

Hyundai Motor, Toyota join forces for AI robot

Hyundai Motor Group and Toyota -- the world’s third and first top-selling auto giants, respectively -- have teamed up to advance the development of artificial intelligence and robotics. According to Hyundai-backed Boston Dynamics and Toyota Research Institute on Wednesday, the two sides decided to join forces to accelerate the development of general-purpose humanoid robots using the former’s two-legged Atlas robot and the latter’s large behavior models, or LBMs. “There ha

Oct. 18, 2024

Naver’s AI research recognized at global natural language processing conference

South Korean internet giant Naver announced Friday that a number of its research papers have been accepted at the annual Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, one of the world’s leading natural language processing conferences, amidst the company’s ongoing efforts to advance AI-driven technologies. “We are proud to see our search technology being acknowledged on the global stage,” said Kim Kwang-hyun, head of Naver’s Search and Data Platform Division. &ld

Oct. 18, 2024

Samsung Display showcases latest OLED at Ferrari Finali Mondiali

Samsung Display has joined the Ferrari Finali Mondiali, the iconic closing event of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli to showcase its high-quality organic light-emitting diode panels including the foldable models, the company said Friday. During the event held Oct. 17-20 in Enzo and Dino Ferrari International Circuit in Imola, Italy, Samsung is displaying its latest OLED products in a 120-square-meter showroom designed to resemble a modern museum. Among the products are a 34-inch display with

Oct. 18, 2024