South Korea’s two major conglomerates, Samsung and Hyundai, have long been keeping their distance as they avoid competing head-on in their core businesses. But the decades-old unspoken rule may be ending in robotics, a burgeoning area where their leaders are pouring resources in search of a future growth driver. Hyundai with hardware prowess Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s third-largest carmaker dominating almost 90 percent of car sales at home, was the first to make a big move

Technology Jan. 24, 2023

Cold wave alerts will be issued for most parts of South Korea on Monday, the third day of the four-day Lunar New Year holiday, according to the nation’s weather agency. The Korea Meteorological Administration said the cold wave warning will take effect for Seoul as of 9 p.m. The cold wave warnings are issued when the daily low falls below minus 15 degrees Celsius for more than two consecutive days, or when the temperature drops sharply and major damage is expected. The warnings will be

Social Affairs Jan. 23, 2023

Imported car sales hit a record-high of nearly 300,000 here last year, driven by pent-up demand for luxury cars during the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Friday. Imported car brands’ sales in 2022 increased by 2.6 percent on-year to 283,435 units, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. Adding the sales volume of 14,571 vehicles for Tesla, which was not counted by the association, the figure came to 298,006 units, increasing twofold

Mobility Jan. 20, 2023

South Korean battery maker SK On said Thursday it has partnered up with US-based battery materials manufacturer Urbix to develop ecofriendly anode materials for electric vehicle batteries. Under the two years of joint development agreement, SK On will apply anode materials produced by Urbix using refined graphite to its lithium-ion batteries and work on improving battery performance. If successful, the battery maker will consider using Urbix’s anode materials in its US battery factories,

Mobility Jan. 19, 2023

By Lee Young SMEs and Startups Minister With rapid growth led by large conglomerates, South Korea was able to be the world’s 10th largest economy. But now, startups are becoming another growth engine for the country, backed by the SMEs and Startups Ministry paving a powerful avenue for growing and developing high-potential firms. Fifty percent of Korean products that received the Innovation Awards at Consumer Electronics Show last year in the United States were from venture and start

Industry Jan. 19, 2023

Kia, an affiliate under the leading carmaker Hyundai Motor Group, said Tuesday it has decided to build a new car plant in South Korea, an outcome of yearslong negotiations with its labor union. With the construction set to start in the first quarter of this year, the upcoming plant will become Kia’s first new factory to be built in Korea in 26 years. Kia and the labor union agreed on producing 200,000 electrified purpose-built vehicles a year in the long term, gradually expanding productio

Mobility Jan. 17, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it would operate 58 vehicles during the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos this week to promote South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan. As a means to echo Busan’s sustainability vision for the World Expo, the carmaker offered 45 EV models. The list includes the luxury brand Genesis’ 18 Electrified G80, 8 Electrified GV60, 4 Electrified GV70 and Hyundai’s 15 Santa Fe Plugin Hybrid models. The cars, wrapped wi

Mobility Jan. 16, 2023

South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Monday it has forged a partnership with the United Arab Emirates to boost cooperation in nurturing startups. The ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the UAE’s Ministry of Economy to step up as a major partner country for Dubai’s Entrepreneurial Nation 2.0 project. The state-led project aims to nurture 8,000 small and medium-sized firms and 20 unicorns that is worth more than 1 trillion won ($810 million) in corpora

Industry Jan. 16, 2023

HWASEONG, Gyeonggi Province -- Despite burgeoning demand for electric vehicles, one key concern among consumers is the huge high-voltage battery pack carries a fire risk. In an apparent move to ease such concerns and show off its latest safety technology, Hyundai Motor Group conducted a rare crash test of its bestselling Ioniq 5 EV in front of the media Thursday. During the test performed at the carmaker’s Namyang Technology Institute in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, the Ioniq 5, built

Mobility Jan. 15, 2023

Kazem was sentenced to eight months in prison and a two-year probation, while GM Korea was slapped with a 30 million won ($24,260) fine, according to the Incheon District Court. Four former and current executives of GM Korea and 13 CEOs of subcontractors who illegally outsourced their workers to the company were also found guilty on the same charges. The four current and former GM Korea executives were fined 7 million won each, and the subcontractor CEOs fined between 2 million - 5 million w

Mobility Jan. 10, 2023

Samsung Electronics recently purchased a sizeable stake in Rainbow Robotics, a local humanoid robotics company, for 59 billion won ($47 million), offering a glimpse into the South Korean tech giant’s robotics ambitions that are still under wraps. Earlier this month Samsung purchased some 1.94 million shares of Rainbow Robotics, one of the handful of robot companies that make bipedal human-like robots, becoming the second-largest shareholder of the company. Following the news, shares of t

Technology Jan. 9, 2023

South Korean electric vehicle battery maker SK On said Monday it is reconsidering its plan to build a new battery plant in Turkey together with US auto giant Ford Motor, citing prolonged economic woes. “We have held talks (with Ford and Turkish partner Koc Holdings) on the matter, but the process is lagging behind the schedule,” said an SK On official. “The final decision on whether to pull out of the deal is still pending.” SK On said it is looking to change its invest

Mobility Jan. 9, 2023

South Korean companies will unveil cutting-edge products, offering a glimpse into the ways innovative technology could change people's lives at CES 2023, the world’s largest tech convention, to be held from Thursday to Monday in Las Vegas. Shrugging off prolonged pandemic disruptions, this year’s event will be at the largest scale in three years. Some 3,100 exhibitors from 173 countries and around 100,000 visitors are expected to show up, according to CES organizer the Consume

Technology Jan. 4, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun on Tuesday held a rare town hall meeting with approximately 600 employees, during which he stressed that the automotive company would brace for challenges and embrace changes to tackle an economic slowdown. “We should not be afraid of upcoming crises and (helplessly) face the aftermath, but leapfrog toward sustainable growth with active innovation,” Chung said during the New Year's event held at the company’s Namyang Re

Mobility Jan. 3, 2023

By Business Desk New opportunities can arise from out of crises. Chiefs of Korea's top conglomerates are banking on words of wisdom for the year ahead as businesses face an age of relentless changes stemming from geopolitical conflicts, inflationary pressures and a recessionary environment. To overcome factors dragging on business activities, uncovering their own path to thrive for growth has become more important than ever as traditional approaches and paradigms have been challenged. In

Industry Jan. 2, 2023