SK chairman discusses global health commitments with Gates

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won discussed shared commitments to global health with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Foundation, SK Bioscience said Wednesday. According to officials, SK Discovery Executive Vice Chairman Chey Chang-won and SK Bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong also attended the meeting in Yeouido, western Seoul. The SK leaders and Gates talked about how they can cooperate to improve global health. SK Bioscience said the company and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hav

Aug. 16, 2022

6 out of 10 Korean businesses urge Seoul, Tokyo to reset ties

More than half the companies surveyed by the Korea Enterprises Federation, one of the five major business lobby groups here, said Korea and Japan should settle their disputes and improve economic ties, especially in trade, the data showed Tuesday. Conducted from July 27 to Aug. 2, the survey polled 207 companies employing at least 30 workers and 57 percent of them backed the idea, saying efforts to take advantage of new trade deals like the RCEP and IPEF should take place once the two countries

Aug. 16, 2022

Samsung SDI sets up first R&D center in US

Samsung SDI said Tuesday it had set up its first research and development center in the US in an effort to secure technological competitiveness in the burgeoning market for electric vehicles. The Boston center, called SDI R&D America, will focus on developing new battery-related technologies in cooperation with local universities and startups that have been actively working on lithium-ion battery technology and other next-generation developments. The new US center follows the establishme

Aug. 16, 2022

LG Energy Solution raises growth target on upbeat demand

South Korea’s top electric vehicle battery maker LG Energy Solution has elevated its sales target for this year, largely buoyed by an upbeat outlook for the second half. In its second-quarter earnings report in July, the company announced an upgraded growth plan, raising sales target this year to 22 trillion won ($16.8 billion), an almost 10 percent jump from the previous target of 19.2 trillion won. The company offered a rosy outlook for the coming months, citing new car launches by i

Aug. 16, 2022

Seoul stocks up for 3rd day on expectations of slower monetary tightening

South Korean shares advanced for a third straight session Tuesday amid investors' speculation that central banks in major economies may tone down their monetary tightening after weak economic data from China. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 5.58 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 2,533.52 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 389 million shares worth some 7.9 trillion won ($6 billion), with losers outnumbering

Aug. 16, 2022

S. Korea to supply 2.7 million new homes by 2027

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration said Tuesday that it will provide 2.7 million new homes nationwide over the next five years by easing regulations on redevelopment and reconstruction, as well as designating a group of locations as new towns for development. The first home supply plan under the Yoon administration was unveiled at a ministerial meeting in Seoul, whose participants included Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho and Land Minister Won Hee-ryong. Almost 3 in 5 new

Aug. 16, 2022

Will battery subscriptions lower EV prices?

The government‘s new scheme to adopt battery subscription services for electric vehicles is drawing mixed reactions due to the high costs of battery swapping amid falling prices of EV batteries.  The government plans to revise related laws to allow double registrations for an EV and its battery pack so carmakers or financial firms can run their own battery rental services for drivers, which is expected to drastically lower the purchasing costs for EVs whose battery pack represents u

Aug. 16, 2022

S. Korean retail investors rush to overseas ETFs under bear market signals

South Korean retail investors have been bagging up overseas exchange traded-funds in recent weeks as the global stock market has been struggling under bear market signals, data showed Tuesday. Retail investors interested in overseas investments have added more high-return, high-risk ETFs to their portfolios, seeking to profit from the volatile global market. Of the top 10 overseas investments from local investors from July 13 to Friday, seven were ETFs, latest data compiled by the Korea Secur

Aug. 16, 2022

Full-fledged succession looms after pardon for Samsung's Lee Jae-yong

Samsung is envisioning a change in governance structure as a presidential pardon has virtually normalized de facto leader Lee Jae-yong’s control over the nation’s largest conglomerate. Lee Chan-hee, chief of Samsung’s independent compliance oversight committee, told the press before the committee’s regular meeting Tuesday that it is “working to address the corporate governance issue” of Samsung, while declining to elaborate further on the proceedings. &ldqu

Aug. 16, 2022

Antitrust regulator to prioritize addressing damage to victims of unfair biz acts

SEJONG -- South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it plans to focus on how to swiftly address damage to victims of unfair business acts, rather than punishing companies, in an effort to overhaul its law enforcement procedures. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) also said in a policy briefing to President Yoon Suk-yeol that it plans to take stern actions against tech giants' abuse of their market dominant status or companies' collusion to fix prices. The regulator said it plans

Aug. 16, 2022

Samsung unveils world’s largest gaming monitor

Samsung Electronics announced Tuesday that it has launched the world’s largest curved gaming monitor -- at 55 inches -- that wraps around users’ field of view to bring their gaming experience to the next level. “A curved monitor gives users a fully immersive experience if viewed from the distance of 80 centimeters, as a flat monitor would cover less of a user‘s peripheral vision,” Chung Kang-il, vice president of visual display at Samsung Electronics, said at a pre

Aug. 16, 2022

Online lender K-Bank's H1 net hits record

South Korean online lender K-Bank said Tuesday it posted the strongest performance for any first half on increased interest revenue. K-Bank's first-half net income stood at 45.7 billion won ($34.9 million), far beyond the 22.5 billion-won annual net profit of last year and marking the highest first-half earnings since its launch in 2017, the bank's data showed. The online lender attributed the record earnings to more account openings, expansion in loan portfolios and diversified source

Aug. 16, 2022

LG Chem to build bioplastic plants in Illinois with US food processor

LG Chem Ltd. said Tuesday it will build two production facilities in the US state of Illinois with a US food processing company to produce a biodegradable plastic widely used in food packaging. Under the two joint ventures with Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), an agricultural food processor and biosolution company, they will build a facility to annually produce 75,000 tons of polylactic acid (PLA), in Decatur, the South Korean chemical company said in a release. A separate facility will be buil

Aug. 16, 2022

Seoul stocks open slightly higher on tech gains

South Korean shares opened a tad higher Tuesday led by tech advances, tracking overnight US gains, despite woes over China's economic slowdown. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 7.57 points, or 0.3 percent, to trade at 2,535.51 points as of 9:15 a.m. Stocks got off to a solid start despite weaker-than-expected economic data from China, the country's top trading partner. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics advanced 0.33 percent as its de facto chief Lee Jae-yon

Aug. 16, 2022

[From the scene] Seoul’s first Formula E race leaves much to be desired

Seoul hosted the country’s first electric car racing event over the weekend, after the competition was delayed twice due to pandemic, but despite the hype for the motorsports extravaganza, the season finale left a wake of disappointment regarding its management and operation.  Seoul E-Prix, the final race of season eight of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, was held on Saturday and Sunday. Races took place on a 2.7-kilometer track constructed around and looping through Jamsi

Aug. 16, 2022

SK invests $250m in Bill Gates' TerraPower

SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, has invested $250 million in Bill Gates’ small nuclear power reactor developer TerraPower in an effort to cut down global carbon emissions and build up the group’s green energy portfolio, officials said Monday. According to the group’s announcement, SK Inc. and SK Innovation became co-lead investors of TerraPower’s investment attraction plan worth $750 million along with Gates. The Korean companies’ i

Aug. 15, 2022

Korean bank turning away foreigner due to long name ‘discriminatory,’ says rights watchdog

A South Korean bank’s rejection of a foreign customer’s request to open a new bank account due to the person’s full name being deemed “too long” is “discriminatory,” the state rights watchdog said Monday. A foreign resident here, whose name was withheld, filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea after a request to open a personal business account was rejected at a local bank branch in July last year, a document released by the

Aug. 15, 2022

Galaxy Watch5 adopts most advanced sleep tracking: Samsung exec

Samsung Electronics executive vice president Yang Tae-jong said the IT giant’s newest smart wearable device -- Galaxy Watch5 series -- offers the world’s most advanced sleep-tracking technology in a press conference held Thursday in New York, a day after the Galaxy Unpacked August 2022 event. “Galaxy Watch5 is loaded with various technologies including an innovative bioactive sensor that can measure biometrics to help (users) stay healthy. Galaxy Watch5 will be the best partn

Aug. 15, 2022

Volkswagen’s R-Line Arteon makes Korean debut

Volkswagen’s R-Line Arteon, a sportier version of the flagship sedan, made its debut in South Korea in July. The new Arteon R-Line 4MOTION has been revamped with a bold front bumper that creates a balanced look of the chassis. The car also comes with a 20-inch Nashville Alloy wheel, a black rear tailgate spoiler, and a quad muffler to enhance the design of the sports sedan. Inside the car, black titanium nappa leather applied on the seats not only gives the car a sophisticated look bu

Aug. 15, 2022

Hyundai Motor among big three carmakers for first time

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it ranked third globally in car sales in the first half of this year -- a first feat for the nation’s largest carmaker. According to its sales data, Hyundai Motor Co., its luxury Genesis brand and its smaller affiliate Kia Corp. sold a total of 3.299 million vehicles in global markets in the January-June period. The sales figure is the third largest following Toyota Motor Group’s 5.138 million units and Volkswagen Group’s 4.006 million units.

Aug. 15, 2022