[UP IN THE AIR] Korean startup aims to boost UAM battery capacity with hybrid technology

Flying is a common mode of transport when it comes to domestic travel. Whether it’s for business or pleasure, people need to travel to the nearest provincial airport to visit other cities. That’s an extra one or two hours of traveling, in addition to the flight time. But according to Plana, a South Korean startup dedicated to building vertical takeoff and landing aircraft powered by hybrid e-powertrains, UAM can dramatically reduce travel time, as they can easily take off inside t

May 5, 2022

Creditors of Edison EV file for company's bankruptcy amid failed SsangYong acquisition

Edison EV, an affiliate South Korean electric vehicle maker Edison Motors Co., said Wednesday its creditors have filed for the company's bankruptcy with a local court, amid the parent company's recent failure in completing a deal to acquire SsangYong Motors Co. Edison EV said in a regulatory filing that eight creditors of the company have filed for the company's bankruptcy with Suwon District Court. The company said its outstanding corporate bonds amounted to 3.6 billon won ($2.84 million). Th

May 4, 2022

11st CEO pledges to enhance corporate value before IPO

Aiming to become a next Coupang, e-commerce platform 11st said Wednesday that it would work on raising its corporate value before its market debut slated for next year. “Based on our premium e-commerce service and joint membership service with SK Telecom, we will expand our business, boost sales and garner traction within the market this year,” said Ha Hyung-il, CEO of 11st. Ha said the company will strengthen its cross-border online shopping segment, Amazon Global Store, which wa

May 4, 2022

S. Koreans think ideal ‘workcation’ should last 12.8 days: survey

If given a chance to work remotely while on holiday, South Koreans said about 13 days a year may be enough for the so-called “workcation,” according to a survey on Wednesday. The findings of the survey, conducted by online accommodation bookings platform Good Choice among 350 respondents, showed pollsters picked an average of 12.8 days as ideal for a workcation. Most of them said they have yet to experience the new work trend, but over 90 percent said they would give it a go if they

May 4, 2022

HDC to rebuild collapsed Gwangju apartment to restore public trust

HDC Group Chairman Chung Mong-gyu said Wednesday that HDC Hyundai Development Co. would demolish and rebuild an apartment complex in Gwangju that claimed nine lives in January from a fatal collapse caused by loose safety.  “Following the request of residents who were expected to move in to the apartment complex in Gwangju, HDC Hyundai Development Co. decided to entirely demolish all of eight buildings of the complex and rebuild I-Park from scratch,” said Chung during a press c

May 4, 2022

Number of teens holding Samsung Electronics shares hits record high

The number of South Koreans who are 19 and below and hold shares in Samsung Electronics reached 358,257 in December last year, a record high, according to the Korea Securities Depository. That number accounts for 7.07 percent of all shareholders and 0.25 percent of the total shares the tech giant has issued. The shares the teenagers held at the time amounted to 1.1 trillion won ($891 million), which is equal to 971 billion at Tuesday’s closing share price. The rise in the number of teen

May 4, 2022

Korea far outstrips G20 average in growth of collective debt

SEJONG -- South Korea saw the ratio of collective debt -- held by the government, household and corporate sector -- to its gross domestic product climb sharply over the past few years since 2017, and even during the pandemic. Further, the nation’s collective debt-to-GDP ratio was found to have continued to rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while the G20 countries on average saw a decline in the figure, a local research institute said Wednesday, citing the Bank for International Settlements

May 4, 2022

[Photo News] May the fourth be with you

A man stares at a life-sized Darth Vader made of lego cubes on display at E-Mart Wangshimri branch in Seoul in collaboration with Walt Disney Korea on Wednesday, celebrated as Star Wars Day among fans.

May 4, 2022

Fractional investment in K-pop, art trending among young S. Koreans

Low borrowing cost during the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed millennials and Generation Z in South Korea to invest in stocks and cryptocurrencies. It was then that fractional investment platforms began to catch the eyes of the young investors, luring them with trendy items and the idea they could profit off of their pocket money. Musicow, the nation’s first music copyright trading platform that has amassed more than 1 million users as of February has become a major fractional investment pl

May 4, 2022

Battery, K-pop, virtual currency firms rise on top 500 list

The list of South Korea’s 500 biggest companies by sales saw significant changes last year, with the rise of battery, K-pop and virtual currency firms, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped from No. 343 in 2020 to No. 44 last year on the annual list released by CEO Score as its shipments of pouch- and cylinder-type batteries surged on growing global demand for electric cars. Camera module supplier LG Innotek went from No. 68 to No. 48 in the same per

May 4, 2022

Cha Biotech’s US subsidiary opens CGT production facility

Cha Biotech’s US subsidiary Matica Biotechnology has opened a new cell and gene therapy production facility to boost its contract development and manufacturing organization business on the global stage, officials said Wednesday. With a 500-liter bioreactor, the new CDMO facility, based in College Station, Texas, will produce various types of viral vectors that are the essential basis of cell and gene therapy, according to Cha Biotech. The company said that Matica Biotechnology is curre

May 4, 2022

Samsung unveils memory card that records video for 16 years non-stop

Samsung Electronics unveiled Wednesday a long-lasting nonvolatile micro SD card for surveillance cameras that can deliver up to 16 years of continuous recording time without replacement. The product, branded as “Pro Endurance,” can last up to 33 times longer than typical speed-focused SD cards, for its largest 256-gigabyte capacity variant, according to the South Korean tech giant. The micro SD card can be used for surveillance cameras like closed circuit televisions, dashboard ca

May 4, 2022

Samsung to back Dish’s 5G rollout in US

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it was selected by Dish Wireless, the fourth-largest telecom carrier in the United States, to jointly deploy a commercial fifth-generational network across the country. Samsung said it would become the second-largest network equipment supply deal in the US if signed, following a $6.6 billion contract with Verizon announced in 2020. The size of the deal was not disclosed, but local reports speculate the deal to be as large as 1 trillion won ($794 million). The

May 4, 2022

BOK expected to deliver 4 more rate hikes by year's end amid inflation woes: JP Morgan

South Korea's central bank is expected to hike its key interest rate four more times by year's end considering its hawkish stance shown in the minutes of its latest rate-setting meeting, global investment bank JP Morgan said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Bank of Korea (BOK) disclosed the minutes of its monetary policy board meeting on April 14, showing that its members called for further rate increases to tame inflation. The BOK raised the rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.5 percent during th

May 4, 2022

Hanjin eyeing W1tr in global biz sales by 2025

South Korean logistics company Hanjin Transportation Co. said Wednesday it will strengthen its global business to nearly triple the segment's revenue in the next three years. The company said in a statement it is targeting to boost sales from the global business division to 1 trillion won ($789 million) by 2025 from 375.5 billion won in 2021. To that end, Hanjin will seek to establish a digital forwarding platform, bolster its cross-border e-commerce through the expansion of its global dist

May 4, 2022

Imported car sales fall 9.8 pct in April amid chip shortages

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 9.8 percent last month from a year earlier as chip shortages continued to affect vehicle production, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 23,070 units last month from 25,578 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. The three bestselling models last month were Mercedes-Benz's E 350 4MATIC sedan, BMW's 520 sedan and Merc

May 4, 2022

Kakao Q1 net swells by over fivefold on gains from Dunamu stock disposal

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Wednesday its first-quarter net profit jumped by more than fivefold from a year earlier, due to one-off gains from the disposal of its stocks in a local crypto exchange operator. Net income reached 1.32 trillion won ($1 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 239.8 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its fourth-quarter net profit in 2021 was 224 billion won. Operating p

May 4, 2022

Samsung keeps No. 1 spot on S. Korea's top 500 firms' list

Global tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. retained the No. 1 spot on the list of South Korea's top 500 firms by sales, with 39 businesses newly making the list, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Samsung Electronics, the flagship unit of South Korea's leading family-controlled conglomerate Samsung Group, remained the biggest company last year, with its top line coming to 279.6 trillion won ($221 billion), according to CEO Score. Leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co., the marquee unit of automakin

May 4, 2022

Hyundai, Kia's April US sales fall 18% amid chip shortages

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday their combined sales in the United States fell 18 percent last month from a year earlier due mainly to the prolonged chip shortages. Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 120,731 vehicles in the US in April from 147,700 units a year ago, according to the companies' sales data. Hyundai's sales declined 20 percent on-year to 61,668 units last month from 77,523 a year ago, while Kia's dropped 16 percent to 59,063 from 70,177 during the same per

May 4, 2022

Foreign reserves down in April for 2nd month on strong dollar

South Korea's foreign reserves shrank for the second straight month in April as the strong dollar resulted in a fall in converted value of non-dollar holdings and the government unloaded the greenback to defend the local currency, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's foreign reserves stood at $449.3 billion as of end-April, down $8.51 billion from the previous month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea (BOK). This marked the second straight month of on-month declines

May 4, 2022