SK Global Chemical on Tuesday rebranded as SK Geo Centric to transform into an urban plastic recycling company with plans to invest 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion) by 2025. During a press conference Tuesday, CEO Na Kyung-soo presented a new direction for the firm, which has engaged in the petrochemicals business since opening the country’s first naphtha-cracking plant in 1972. Utilizing three key technologies -- solvent extraction, depolymerization and pyrolysis -- the company will turn

Industry Aug. 31, 2021

LG Chem said Monday that it would reuse artificial marble waste to produce translucent industrial plastic -- widely used in making pipes, auto body parts and helmets. According to South Korea’s leading chemical company, it has joined hands with Veolia R&E, which has a patented technology to extract a liquid material called methyl methacrylate, or MMA, from artificial marble waste. Through the partnership, LG Chem will secure a stable supply of recycled MMA and use it to manufacture

Industry Aug. 30, 2021

Leading oil refinery and gas station operator SK Energy said Monday it has partnered up with the nation’s largest logistics firm Logisquare to accelerate the green transition of cargo trucks. Under the partnership, Logisquare, which operates 16 logistics hubs nationwide and processes 60,000 units of cargo from some 1,000 clients, will gradually shift its registered cargo trucks to electric and hydrogen vehicles. SK Energy, which runs 22 NeTruck Houses -- one-stop filling stations that

Industry Aug. 30, 2021

Back in February, NCSoft CEO Kim Taek-jin drummed up anticipation for its then upcoming new game, Blade & Soul 2, saying it would provide users a “pinnacle of action” and a “completely new experience.” But things have been a far cry from what the executive had promised. On Friday, a day after the big release, the firm apologized for “causing concern” with the new title. On the stock market, disappointment helped wipe some 3.9 trillion won ($3.36 bil

Industry Aug. 29, 2021

Posco Chemical will invest 281 billion won ($240.8 million) to establish two battery material plants in China, its first overseas production base for the electric vehicle battery business, the firm said Wednesday. The envisioned 30,000-ton cathode plant and a 30,000-ton precursor plant will add to an existing battery materials production base in the Chinese city of Tongxiang, established in August 2019 and jointly operated by steelmaker Posco and its local partner Huayou Cobalt. Once complet

Industry Aug. 25, 2021

South Korea will spend 1.27 trillion won ($1.07 billion) to establish five hydrogen clusters across the country and roll out necessary infrastructure there, as the nation prepares an aggressive transition to a hydrogen economy, the government said Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the five are: a green hydrogen production cluster in North Jeolla Province, a blue hydrogen production cluster in Incheon, a hydrogen storage and transportation cluster in Gangwon

Technology Aug. 25, 2021

South Korea will launch a new public agency to oversee metals, minerals and mining affairs next month, amid growing concerns over the future availability of raw materials critical to the country’s backbone industries, the government said Tuesday. The new entity, Korea Mine Rehabilitation & Mineral Resources Corp., will be officially formed on Sept. 10 by combining two existing bodies -- Korea Resources Corp. and Mine Reclamation Corp. Its launch received final approval from the Ca

Industry Aug. 24, 2021

South Korea’s own app market operator ONE Store said Monday it will go global in 2022 and challenge the dual hegemony of Google and Apple by charging commissions up to one-third cheaper. During an online press conference, CEO Lee Jae-hwan announced that the firm has teamed up with Blizzard, Microsoft and Tencent to expand beyond the Korean market and launch a global version of the ONE Store in 2022. “Due to the recent monopoly issue in the app market, ONE Store is getting incre

Industry Aug. 23, 2021

In 2014, just 10 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, the capital of war-torn Iraq, hundreds of Hanwha Engineering & Construction workers were toiling away to build a new city worth $10.1 billion to provide new homes for some 600,000 Iraqis. Far away from home and exhausted by the desert heat, the workers craved fresh flatfish sashimi, a cheap dish in South Korea but impossible to find in Iraq. When Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn heard the news, he ordered chefs to prepare flatfish sas

Industry Aug. 19, 2021

Mix melted butter with minced garlic and parsley, and spread the paste over bread. Heat in the oven and there you have crispy garlic bread. Lithium-ion batteries follow the exact same recipe. Mix toxic liquid called solvent with active materials and spread the slurry over thin metal plates 1.5 meters wide. Put the plates inside a giant, 100-meter-long oven so the solvent evaporates. The coated metal plates are punched into the right shapes and sizes and then stacked like a sandwich or roll

Industry Aug. 15, 2021

All eyes are on Lee Jae-yong’s next move after the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, released from jail on parole on Friday, set about saving the nation’s pandemic-hit economy. Straight from the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, where he served 60 percent of his 2 1/2-year sentence, Lee went to the Samsung headquarters in Seocho, southern Seoul, and stayed there until night. He was reported to have received a briefing from Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman

Industry Aug. 15, 2021

The gaming industry’s famous 3N -- Nexon, NCSoft and Netmarble -- have all suffered earnings shock in the second quarter of this year, due to the absence of new releases and increased labor costs from pay raises. The Tokyo-listed Nexon, the biggest of the three game developers, saw its revenue and operating profit plunge 13 percent and 42 percent to 56 billion yen ($507.3 million) and 15.7 billion yen due to lackluster results in Korean and Chinese markets. MapleStory, one of Nexon&r

Industry Aug. 12, 2021

South Korea’s aggressive goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 would cost the nation’s petrochemical and steel industries enormous amounts of money, data showed Wednesday. According to an internal document from the Korea Petrochemical Industry Association disclosed by Rep. Yang Kum-hee from the main opposition People Power Party, the domestic petrochemical industry will emit 110 million metric tons of carbon in 2050 and it would require 270 trillion won ($233.9 billion) to curb those

Industry Aug. 11, 2021

South Korea on Wednesday ordered a recall of 28,946 vehicles of 35 types either manufactured, imported or sold by six automakers -- Hyundai Motor, BMW Korea, Mercedes-Benz Korea, Jaguar Land Rover Korea, Toyota Motor Korea and Honda Korea. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 10,407 units of nine-seater van Grand Starex manufactured or sold by Hyundai Motor will be recalled after defects were found in the model’s propeller shaft. “Damages were found

Industry Aug. 11, 2021

Korea Aerospace Industries said Tuesday it has signed a 49.7 billion-won ($43.2 million) deal with the Public Procurement Service to supply two Surion helicopters to the Korea Coast Guard. According to the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturer, the two units of KUH-1CG, a police version of the multi-role utility helicopter Surion, will be delivered to the Korea Coast Guard by July 2024. “The contract includes Osprey 30, a new radar that can detect 1,000 targets simultaneously. Th

Industry Aug. 10, 2021