South Korean conglomerates have added 41 new companies under their wings in the second quarter of this year, in their forage for new business territories and business restructuring, the state antitrust watchdog said Tuesday. Kakao Group, along with Sinorkor Merchant Marine, has bought in the most number of new companies at 13, as it aggressively pursued mergers and acquisitions on its path to become the country’s fifth-largest business group in terms of market capitalization in June.

Industry Aug. 3, 2021

Starbucks Coffee Korea and auto brand Mini Korea have collaborated to launch three drinks, two food items, six pieces of merchandise and three voucher cards.  Under the slogan “We’re different but pretty good together,” the two companies are running a seasonal promotion campaign organized to show respect for diversity, from Tuesday to Aug. 23. (Starbucks Korea) 

Consumer Aug. 2, 2021

New business births and deaths have slowed markedly over the past years in a worrying sign of weakening economic dynamism, a local think tank said Monday. In a report, the Sustainable Growth Initiative, which is affiliated with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, warned the ebbing dynamism could cut the country’s potential growth rate. Citing figures from Statistics Korea, the think tank said the rate of new company formation overall declined from 17.9 percent in 2007 to 15.3

Industry Aug. 2, 2021

South Korea marked its first trade surplus in medicines in 2020, backed by gains in drug exports, the government said Sunday. According to data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the country posted a surplus of 1.39 trillion won ($1.21 billion) in pharmaceutical trade in 2020, which grew 62.5 percent from the year earlier. The export of drugs jumped 92.3 percent to 7.93 trillion won, taking up 79.6 percent of all outbound shipments, the ministry explained. It was the first time th

Industry Aug. 1, 2021

Kakao Mobility is expanding into the on-call chauffeur service market by buying into the field’s No. 1 player, Korea Drive, the company said Sunday. According to Kakao Mobility, the mobility service affiliate of Kakao Group, its subsidiary CMNP has acquired an undisclosed amount of shares in Korea Drive. It has established a new company called K Drive to take over Korea Drive’s 1577 Chauffeur business. Kakao Mobility Chief Financial Officer Lee Chang-min will head K Drive. Whi

Mobility Aug. 1, 2021

South Korea’s leading automaker Hyundai Motor Group and battery producer LG Energy Solution are joining forces to establish a $1.1 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Indonesia, the companies said Thursday. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian government for the plant, which would produce 10 gigawatt-hours worth of NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum) lithium-ion battery cells annually, enough for 150,000 electric vehicles, the firms sai

Mobility July 29, 2021

The South Korean government on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for a pilot project to transfer leftover power from electric car batteries to power grids, under a “regulatory sandbox” scheme. According to the Industry Ministry, local electricity provider Busan-JungKwan Energy submitted the vehicle-to-grid project via the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s sandbox support center. The regulatory sandbox measure, introduced in 2019, seeks to foster new business opportunities

Industry July 28, 2021

Posco will build a nickel refinery plant to produce high-purity nickel for high-volume secondary batteries, the company said Wednesday. The Korean steelmaker will be plowing about 230 billion won ($199 million) into building the plant, to be built on the premises of its main steel mill in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, near where its affiliate company SNNC is located. 　 SNNC is a nickel supplier, jointly operated by Posco and SMSP, the largest nickel ore exporter on the French Pacific isl

Industry July 28, 2021

Once, getting a 60-second spot on prime-time TV was seen as the key to success for retailers. Now in the era of social media, companies don’t need TV for exposure. They can even create 10-minute videos and drama series and air them on YouTube and other platforms. At the forefront of this new trend is CU, a leading convenience store chain here. Its self-produced entertainment show, “CUperman” has garnered an accumulated 2 million views via its YouTube channel, Facebook an

Industry July 28, 2021

After HAAH Automotive Holdings, a US-based automobile distributor, confirmed its intention to acquire SsangYong Motor, eyes are on whether the American firm, which just gave up on its Chinese car business with a bankruptcy filing, will be able to close the deal to salvage the financially troubled automaker in Korea. Speaking to a US media outlet, the founder and chief executive officer of HAAH Automotive, Duke Hale, revealed that it has established a new company, Cardinal One Motors, which wi

Mobility July 26, 2021

Mercedes-Benz Korea is expanding its business beyond cars and car-related items on the back of strong sales: with accessories. The Korean branch of the German automaker currently sells some 4,000 branded accessories and about 1,000 “collection items” made in collaboration with other companies at 41 stores and online. The products are diverse and not limited to car-related uses, such as wallets and clothes. Sales of the accessories have shown steady growth since 2014, Mercedes-B

Mobility July 26, 2021

Hyundai Motor Group’s Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-Koo became the first Korean to be officially inducted into the international Automotive Hall of Fame, the automotive giant said Friday. His son, Chung Euisun, who is the incumbent chairman of the group, received the trophy and delivered a speech on behalf of his father at the ceremony for 2020 and 2021 inductees, held at the ICON Convention Center in Detroit, the United States on Thursday, the company said. “Honorary Chairman Ch

Mobility July 23, 2021

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors under Hyundai Motor Group posted all-time high sales in the second quarter this year amid rapidly recovering demand for cars after the COVID-19 outbreak. In a regulatory filing, Hyundai Motor said it raked in 30.3 trillion won ($26.36 billion) in sales in the second quarter of this year, a 38.7 percent jump from the same period last year. The operating profit reached 1.88 trillion won, increasing 219.5 percent on-year, according to the automaker. It is the first

Mobility July 22, 2021

South Korea’s leading steelmaker Posco saw its best-ever performance in the second quarter this year, the company announced Thursday, surpassing the 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) mark in quarterly operating profit for the first time since the company opened up earnings to public in 2006. Posco and its affiliates posted a combined operating profit of 2.2 trillion won in the second quarter this year, achieving a whopping 1,212.2 percent on-year increase. The combined sales stood at 18.3 t

Industry July 22, 2021

Posco, South Korea’s biggest steelmaker, celebrated its achievements in the three years since it declared “corporate citizenship” as a guiding business principle, and vowed to strengthen its commitments to environment, social, and governance issues on Wednesday. Holding a celebratory symposium in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, where its main steel plant is located, Posco Chairman Choi Jeong-woo explained how Posco has made an achievement of contributing to establishing a

Industry July 21, 2021