Nexon said Monday it would disclose the draw probabilities of its “random” cash items to regain trust from users, as it is engrossed in scandal over the company’s alleged manipulation of game odds. In the second apology posted on the official website of its fantasy adventure PC game MapleStory, Nexon director Kang Won-ki said the company is preparing to disclose data and records that would dispel suspicions surrounding the game’s random item draw system by Friday at th

Industry March 2, 2021

SK Innovation has asked the US president to intervene in its battery patent fight with LG Energy Solution, saying it might have to “abandon” a $2.6 billion production base in Georgia after its defeat last month in the top US trade court. Making a case for a presidential veto of the court decision, the South Korean firm gave a presentation to US government officials, which the Wall Street Journal reported underscored that the Georgia plant will create 2,600 new jobs and contained

Industry March 2, 2021

Clean energy, new jobs and a revitalized local economy. President Moon Jae-in’s Green New Deal is billed to serve all these purposes. Yet, its push for solar energy runs the risk of fattening the pockets of Chinese manufacturers, who in recent years have swamped the local market with cheap solar cells. An investigation by The Korea Herald has revealed that none of the companies involved in the government-led 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) project to build a solar farm on the reclaimed l

Industry Feb. 28, 2021

Hanwha Group said Friday that Chairman Kim Seung-youn will come back to management as an unregistered representative of three Hanwha units, ending his seven-year absence. According to Hanwha Group, the chairman will take the post in the holdings firm Hanwha Corp., energy and chemical company Hanwha Solutions and Hanwha Engineering & Construction, starting next month. In 2014, Kim was sentenced to an imprisonment of three years, suspended for five years, for a breach of trust and had to res

Industry Feb. 26, 2021

Smilegate said Friday it will release Wonhon: A vengeful spirit to recount the atrocities South Koreans suffered under Japanese colonial rule and to celebrate the upcoming 102th anniversary of March 1 Independence Movement Day. According to the Korean gaming company, the prologue version of Wonhon will be unveiled on its content sourcing and distributing platform Smilegate Stove on March 1. Developed by Busan Sanai Games and published by Super.com, the thriller PC game takes place during th

Industry Feb. 26, 2021

Walt Disney said Friday it has appointed Tom Oh as chief of its Korean branch to bolster its presence in the country. Tom Oh, whose previous post was the head of direct-to-consumer business division of Walt Disney Korea, has been promoted to the general manager and representative director. Oh will spearhead Disney’s strategies and overall business in Korea. Kim So-youn, who has worked for Disney for 14 years after joining the company in 2007, will fill in Kim’s previous post. O

Industry Feb. 26, 2021

Krafton said Thursday it has raised the salary of new and existing employees by as much as 20 million won ($18,000), becoming the best-paying gaming firm in South Korea. According to the publisher of globally popular shooting game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, entry-level game developers and other staff members joining the company this year will earn 60 million won and 50 million won a year, respectively. For existing employees, the company granted a raise of 20 million won to develop

Industry Feb. 25, 2021

South Korean battery giants’ strategy for the electric vehicle market has been to go for premium, high-performance batteries, but the recent strides of Chinese makers with cheaper and less powerful batteries have brought that into question. According to a report released by industry analysis firm Adamas Intelligence on Monday, shipments of lithium iron phosphate batteries for EVs has increased more than sixfold on year in the second half of 2020, signaling the advance of entry-level, low

Industry Feb. 25, 2021

A next-generation solar cell developed by South Korean research team made the cover of leading science journal Nature, according to the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology on Thursday. The institute’s research team led by Seo Jang-won developed a perovskite solar cell that demonstrates an efficiency rate of 25.2 percent. The efficiency rate indicates the proportion of solar energy converted into usable energy. Perovskites are easily synthesized compounds with an orthorhombic

Technology Feb. 25, 2021

South Korea on Wednesday launched a new regulatory agency dedicated to accelerating the utilization of carbon materials in five core industries, including future mobility. The Korea Carbon Industry Promotion Agency, which will be overseen by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, aims to provide regulatory support for the carbon industry and spearhead economic feasibility tests of carbon materials to accelerate their commercialization in the market. The government appointed Bang Yun-hyuk

Industry Feb. 24, 2021

Samsung SDI said Tuesday it will inject 1 trillion won ($900 million) into its battery plant in Goed, 30 kilometers north of Budapest, Hungary. In a regulatory filing, the battery maker said its European subsidiary Samsung SDI Hungary issued rights worth 403.8 billion won. Samsung SDI will also guarantee debt worth 538.4 billion won for the subsidiary, the company said. Samsung SDI explained that the rights offering is intended to shore up funds for expansion, including the construction of t

Industry Feb. 23, 2021

The recent Texas ice storm, which froze wind turbines and caused massive blackouts, sparked a heated debate on the efficacy of wind power in the United States -- a debate that has spilled over to South Korea as it plans to build the biggest wind farm in the world. Last week, the ice storm in Texas left millions of people without power after wind turbines froze. Vital equipment at gas wells and nuclear power plants was also affected. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, w

Industry Feb. 23, 2021

SK Innovation said Tuesday that it would sell off 49 percent of its petrochemical subsidiary, SK Global Chemical, as part of a strategy to unload carbon-intensive assets and focus its investments on green businesses. SK Innovation currently controls 100 percent of SK Global Chemical. According to the South Korean battery and petrochemical giant, it selected JP Morgan as a financial adviser in November before making the decision. “SK Global Chemical is reviewing a partnership with glob

Industry Feb. 23, 2021

Here’s the deal. The JBL Quantum series are decent headphones, but are they worth the price? Launched under the slogan “Sound is Survival,” the Quantum series are JBL’s first-ever headsets, designed exclusively for hardcore gamers to outlast opponents especially in first-point shooter games. After testing active noise-cancelling Quantum One -- priced at 299,000 won ($270) -- and comparing it them over Lunar New Year holidays with Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC headset avai

Industry Feb. 23, 2021

Iljin Materials said Tuesday it has shipped the first batch of domestically produced ultrathin copper foils to be used for semiconductor packing to Samsung Electronics. According to the electronic material producer of Iljin Group, it became the first South Korean company to commercialize the ultrathin copper foils, which had been produced exclusively in Japan. “When the Great East Japan Earthquake broke out in 2011, Samsung Electronics experienced difficulties importing the copper foi

Industry Feb. 23, 2021