[Photo News] Saving energy in style

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday unveiled this year’s new Bespoke home appliances lineup at a press event in Seoul. Twenty-seven new products are expected to be launched in the first half of the year, coming equipped with artificial intelligence-based energy-saving features.

March 21, 2023

Posco Future M to build W400b battery materials plant in Pohang

Posco Future M, formerly called Posco Chemical, said Tuesday it would construct an electric vehicle battery materials plant in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, after landing a 40 trillion won ($30.6 billion) deal with Samsung SDI earlier this year. During a shareholders meeting Monday, the company decided to build a 392 billion-won plant that exclusively produces nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) battery materials for the first time. The estimated annual production capacity is 30,000 tons, enough

March 21, 2023

SK affiliates to boost expertise, inclusivity of boards

South Korea’s SK Group is bolstering the expertise and inclusivity of board directors across its affiliates by adding more females and current and former top executives to the boardroom as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance more responsible management. Ahead of their shareholders’ meetings later this month, the group said Tuesday its 12 key affiliates, including SK Inc., SK hynix, SK Telecom and SK Innovation, have nominated final candidates for outside directors. Of the 12 new c

March 21, 2023

Posco International to nurture carbon capture as new growth engine

South Korean commodities trader Posco International announced Tuesday that it will foster the carbon capture and storage business by establishing a new commercialization team. CCS is a technology that collects and stores carbon dioxide emitted from industries and permanently isolates them from the atmosphere. The collected carbon dioxide is stored underground and is used in artificial seismic wave exploration, exploration drilling and carbon dioxide injection to determine a suitable stratum stru

March 21, 2023

Samsung CEO hints at buyout of Rainbow Robotics

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and co-CEO Han Jong-hee said Tuesday that the tech giant was in talks to secure a greater stake in Rainbow Robotics, a local humanoid robotics company, in an apparent move to ramp up its presence in the burgeoning robotics market. At a press event held to introduce Samsung’s new Bespoke home appliances lineup in Seoul earlier in the day, Han noted that the company has a strong appetite to acquire Rainbow Robotics and related talks are on the way “l

March 21, 2023

LG CNS offers cloud cost optimization service

South Korean information technology service provider LG CNS said it launched cloud cost optimization service FinOps Clinic, which assesses clients’ cloud usage to offer the optimal budget and reduce overall cloud spending. More companies are using multiple cloud services from multiple service providers, and the new service is aimed to allow clients to effectively manage their costs by identifying mismanaged or abnormal cost occurrences, LG CNS said. FinOps -- formed by combining "fina

March 21, 2023

[Photo News] EV charging robot

Hyundai Motor Group on Tuesday unveiled an artificial intelligence-based automotive charging robot. According to the carmaker’s test video, the robot communicates with the Ioniq 6 electric sedan and controls the charging process, from parking to opening and closing the charger port cover. Details about the robot’s mass-market debut were not disclosed immediately.

March 21, 2023

Exports down 17.4 % during first 20 days of March

South Korea's exports fell 17.4 percent on-year in the first 20 days of March, data showed Tuesday, amid the protracted downcycle in the global semiconductor industry. The country's outbound shipments stood at $30.9 billion in the March 1-20 period, compared with $37.4 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports decreased 5.7 percent on-year to $37.3 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $6.3 billion. In February, the count

March 21, 2023

Seoul shares open higher amid global banking sector instability

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking US gains, as the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse by UBS raised hope for eased concerns about the global banking sector. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 14.85 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,394.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US shares rose after Swiss banking giant UBS on Sunday announced the takeover of Credit Suisse, a deal engineered by the Swiss authorities in an effort to avoid further turmoil in t

March 21, 2023

[Graphic News] Number of corporate M＆As in S. Korea down 7.7% in 2022

Mergers and acquisitions by South Korean firms decreased 7.7 percent in 2022 from a year earlier amid economic uncertainties, data showed. The number of mergers came to 1,027 cases last year, down from 1,113 cases tallied in 2021, according to the Fair Trade Commission. They were valued at 325.5 trillion won ($245.9 billion), down 6.7 percent over the period. It marked the first time since 2016 for the number of M&As to decrease on-year. The figure, meanwhile, still hovered above 1,000 for t

March 21, 2023

Kia unveils EV5 concept in China in renewed sales push

Hyundai Motor Group’s Kia on Monday unveiled the concept of its full-electric midsized sport utility vehicle EV5 in China, renewing its sales push in the all-important market where it has struggled to elevate its shrunken market share. The carmaker held the Kia EV Day event, its first media event this year, in Shanghai. Earlier, Kia said it would produce the EV5 in China for both domestic and global sales. The car is the smallest of its EV lineup. Since the 2021 debut of the EV6, its fir

March 20, 2023

Kakao suspends AI chatbot service due to 'massive' popularity

Kakao Brain, an artificial intelligence technology research and development subsidiary of Kakao, said Monday it has temporarily suspended its generative AI-based chatbot service, within a day after its open beta release, due to technical glitches. At around 4 p.m. on Monday, Ddmm was unexpectedly closed after too many users flocked to try out the service. By the time Kakao had suspended the service, some 13,000 users had added the service to their mobile messenger, KakaoTalk. The exact date for

March 20, 2023

GI Innovation sets IPO price below target range

GI Innovation, a local biotech firm, said Monday its initial public offering price has been set at 13,000 won ($9.90), lower than the minimum price range that the company targeted. The IPO price was determined after GI Innovation conducted a two-day book-building process targeting institutional investors last week. A total of 563 institutions, including 46 foreign entities, joined the process, the company said. The overseas institutions reserved some 13.77 million shares, while local institution

March 20, 2023

[Herald Interview] Indiana lures Korean businesses with skilled workforce, hefty incentives

The US state of Indiana is seeking to set up a liaison office in South Korea to reach out to Korean businesses that are investing heavily to expand their presence in the burgeoning electric vehicle market there. “We are excited about opening a liaison office here that will focus on helping Indiana secure investment from Korea-based companies,” Indiana’s Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers told The Korea Herald in an interview in Seoul Friday. “We are actively working to

March 20, 2023

Lunit's cancer-detecting solution gets EU approval

Lunit, a provider of artificial intelligence-powered cancer solutions, said Monday that it has received approval from the European Union for the commercial launch of its AI-based medical software used in detecting breast cancer. The solution, dubbed Lunit Insight Digital Breast Tomosynthesis, is an AI-based software solution to help identify suspicious lesions with 3D mammograms. “(Lunit) has laid the groundwork for sales in European countries by earning the CE marking in around one month

March 20, 2023

[Contribution] Reviving Korea's green legacy on International Day of Forests

By Nam Sung-hyun Today is the International Day of Forests. Forests account for 31 percent of the land surface area of the Earth. They play a crucial role in responding to climate change as they absorb 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide yearly as a major terrestrial carbon sink. Forests also provide habitats to 80 percent of terrestrial species, proving to be the cornucopia of biodiversity. In other aspects, approximately 1 billion people worldwide obtain essential nutrients from forests

March 20, 2023

Seoul shares fall amid global banking system instability

South Korean stocks ended lower Monday, led by big-cap tech losses, on mounting concerns over a global banking crisis despite the takeover of the troubled Credit Suisse. The local currency fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 16.49 points, or 0.69 percent, to close at 2,379.2. Trading volume was slim at 339.75 million shares worth 5.97 trillion won ($4.55 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 446 to 426. Foreigners shed a net 204.89 billion won wo

March 20, 2023

[K-Financiers] IBK to expand loans for SMEs in Indonesia

This is the third installment of a series of interviews on chiefs who run overseas units of Korean asset management, banking and securities companies, examining their key strategies for global expansion. -- Ed. IBK Bank Indonesia, buoyed by upbeat sales in recent years, is now ready to focus on a burgeoning niche in the largest economy in Southeast Asia -- loans for small- and medium-sized enterprises. “We aim to innovate the corporate finance market in Indonesia by using Korea&rsquo

March 20, 2023

FTC vows to curb market power abuses by global tech giants

Fair Trade Commission Chairman Han Ki-jeong on Monday vowed that the antitrust regulator will seek ways to protect Korean consumers from the possible negative influence of the EU’s new law targeting global big tech companies. The EU’s Digital Market Act, which will come into force this year, aims to prevent global tech giants from abusing their market power and ensure a higher degree of competition. This law includes tighter restrictions on collecting data. If companies fa

March 20, 2023

Posco International holds 1st general meeting since merger

Posco International said Monday its Vice Chairman Jeong Tak has been named as the company’s new CEO during a shareholders’ meeting held at its headquarters in Incheon, west of Seoul -- the first meeting since the merger with its sister unit Posco Energy on Jan. 1. "Under the leadership of the new CEO, we will continue to maximize shareholder values by aggressively aiming for future growth, with balanced investment and shareholder returns," the company said in a statement. D

March 20, 2023