By Oh Kee-woong Last weekend, my family and I went to a pet-friendly coffee shop near our house. It was heartwarming to see dogs and cats playing around while we enjoyed a cup of coffee. But under the current law, many pet-friendly cafes in South Korea are actually illegal, except for five places that have been granted as “special cases for demonstration.” According to current laws, even if you ordered a puppucino -- caffeine-free beverage for pets -- for your dog in illegal cafes, i

Industry Sept. 6, 2023

Hyundai Rotem, a railway, defense and plant systems provider under Hyundai Motor Group, said Wednesday it has unveiled its ground-based weapons system at the International Defense Industry Exhibition, or MSPO, Poland’s annual trade fair for military equipment. The company displayed the K2 Gap Filler Main Battle Tank, also known as the K2 Black Panther tank, its first fighting vehicle exported to Poland. It also displayed its K808 wheeled armored vehicle with improved performance for the fi

Industry Sept. 6, 2023

Ultium Cells, a joint venture between Korea’s LG Energy Solution and US-based General Motors, has recently agreed to raise workers' wages at its Ohio battery plant, leaving Samsung SDI and SK On on high alert for the possible need to increase wages at their joint plants with carmakers there, slated to begin operations in a few years. The company said on Aug. 24 local time that it has reached a tentative deal with the United Auto Workers, the labor union organized within the Ultium pla

Mobility Sept. 5, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday it has topped the list of electric vehicle sales in the Indonesian market, the country with the fourth-largest population and the No. 1 nickel reserves in the world. The carmaker sold a total of 3,913 EVs and posted a 56.5 percent market share in Indonesia as of July. Its flagship battery-powered sport utility vehicle Ioniq 5 took up most of the sales with 3,819 units. The Ioniq 5 was the first EV manufactured within the Indonesia plant, which started commercia

Mobility Sept. 5, 2023

LIG Nex1 said Monday it will unveil its guided missiles and drones at this week's International Defence Industry Exhibition, or MSPO, Poland’s annual national defense exhibition. The company plans to showcase the Korean GPS Guided Bomb (KGGB); a long-range air-to-surface missile; surface-to-surface guided missiles called Hyunggung and Shingung; and drones. The KGGP is a weapons system that can be installed in fighter aircraft including the FA-50. Equipped with a medium-range GPS guida

Mobility Sept. 4, 2023

Energy-to-defense giant Hanwha Group said Monday it will showcase the next generation weapons system ranging from uncrewed vehicles to robotics at the upcoming International Defense Industry Exhibition or MSPO, the largest trade fair for military equipment in Central and Eastern Europe. At the 375-square-meter exhibition booth, the defense and aerospace unit Hanwha Aerospace plans to unveil the prototype of an uncrewed ground vehicle installed with a surface-to-surface missile called Chungum. Th

Industry Sept. 4, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution are poised to inject an additional $2 billion to build a joint electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in the US state of Georgia, raising the total investment to more than $4.3 billion, the state government announced on Thursday local time. According to a press release by Georgia, with this expansion, Hyundai-LG’s joint battery plant and Hyundai’s EV manufacturing plant is set to bring around $7.59 billion in investment and create 8,50

Mobility Sept. 1, 2023

Amid fierce competition among carmakers in the Korean electric vehicles market, Renault Korea Motors vowed to accelerate the launch of hybrid cars running on an electric motor along with a gasoline engine until it boosts battery-powered vehicles in 2026. “Under our Aurora Project, we’re preparing for two types of batteries for hybrid cars and EVs. The company is working with battery suppliers inside and outside of Korea,” said Renault Korea Motors CEO Stephane Deblaise during a

Mobility Aug. 31, 2023

Texas Instruments, the US-based semiconductor manufacturer, said Wednesday it plans to further boost business ties with electric vehicle manufacturers and battery makers in Korea. “I see Korea as a very key market for vehicle electrification and it is a key pioneer of battery technology as well,” said Matt Xiong, a product line manager for Texas Instruments’ battery management system, during an online media briefing. “We’re very closely engaged with Korean customers

Mobility Aug. 30, 2023

EcoPro said Wednesday it has celebrated 10 years of supplying battery materials to Sony, later acquired by Murata Manufacturing. According to the company, it first supplied high-nickel cathode materials for Sony in 2013 for the first time for a Korean company. The two companies have kept business ties even after Murata, a Japanese electronics manufacturer, took over Sony’s loss-making battery business in 2017. EcoPro has been providing thousands of tons of nickel, cobalt and aluminum (NCA)

Mobility Aug. 30, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday that its three startups -- Pitin, Madde and Evacycle -- spun off less than a year after participating in the company's in-house startup incubator program. It usually takes more than a year for startups to become separate firms from their parent company, but they have shown great potential in the automotive and semiconductor business in just nine months, the carmaker said. Pitin has developed a battery subscription service using refurbished batteries for co

Mobility Aug. 29, 2023

South Korean battery materials maker Posco Future M on Monday pledged to secure 42 trillion won ($32.4 billion) in sales and 3.4 trillion won in operating profits by 2030, under a new vision of accelerating eco-friendly future materials business. “We are the one and only total solution provider for rechargeable battery materials that operates a value chain for mining, processing and recycling,” said Posco Future M CEO Kim Jun-hyung in a town hall meeting in Seoul. “Posco Future

Mobility Aug. 28, 2023

The first Korean-made sport utility vehicle, Hyundai’s Santa Fe, has returned with its biggest update since its debut in 2000, with improved off-road features in design and performance. Touting the All New Santa Fe as a mid-sized family vehicle that can cater to both city commuters and outdoor enthusiasts, the carmaker laid out an ambitious sales target for next year -- 135,000 units in North America, 16,000 units in Europe and 70,000 units in Korea. “From the beginning, the Santa

Mobility Aug. 27, 2023

South Korean battery materials company EcoPro said Wednesday it is poised to set up a joint venture for a battery cathode materials manufacturing plant with SK On and Ford Motor Company in Quebec, Canada. Of the 1.2 trillion won ($897.3 million) investment, the joint venture, called EcoPro Cam Canada LP, plans to provide 600 billion won, while the Canadian government and Quebec will cover the other half in subsidies. EcoPro said the company will hold the largest stake in the joint venture compar

Mobility Aug. 23, 2023

LS e-Mobility Solutions, an electric vehicle parts manufacturer under LS Electric, said Tuesday it has clinched a deal with Hyundai and its smaller affiliate Kia to supply EV battery management components worth 250 billion won ($186.5 million). The company’s products, called EV Relay, are used to maintain the safe operation of batteries in EVs by transferring battery current to inverters, while shutting it down in case of fire or current voltage overload. The company plans to supply EV Rel

Mobility Aug. 22, 2023