South Korean President Moon Jae-in is facing severe criticism amid the longest and deadliest monsoon season in South Korea, as his push for solar power has left the whole nation susceptible to landslides. With 12 landslides reported from mountainside solar farms as of Sunday, concerns are mounting over additional incidents as Moon’s drive for solar farms in recent years has eradicated a natural deterrent against landslides: trees. According to Korea Forest Service, a total of 2.32 mi

Industry Aug. 10, 2020

SK Innovation will become the world's first battery maker to commercialize nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) batteries that contain 90 percent nickel, according to industry sources Monday. The South Korean battery maker will supply lithium-ion batteries that contain 90 percent nickel, 5 percent cobalt and 5 percent manganese inside cathodes to Ford F-150 electric pickup trucks set for release in 2023, they said. “SK Innovation is ready to mass-produce NCM 9-1/2-1/2 batteries (or “N

Industry Aug. 10, 2020

The South Korean government said Sunday it plans to recalibrate its subsidy program for electric vehicles as almost half of the grants in the January-June period were for premium Tesla brands. The Ministry of Environment is poised to revise the current calculation system for EV subsidies by October after discussions with municipalities, related experts and concerning associations. High-end EV brands are expected to be removed after consultations, as Tesla alone devoured 43 percent of total 2

Industry Aug. 9, 2020

LG U+ on Sunday unveiled a 5G solution that can control up to 50 self-driving forklift trucks simultaneously. According to the South Korean telecommunications company, it has signed a memorandum of understanding with global forklift maker Clark Material Handling Asia, Chinese logistics solutions company Mushiny and domestic measurement solutions firm KN to develop a 5G-based unmanned forklift that can work without the help of a professional operator. “This is a solution that allows t

Industry Aug. 9, 2020

Nexon on Thursday posted a record second-quarter revenue of 730.1 billion won ($615.4 million), a 20 percent jump on-year, thanks to the strong sales of both PC and mobile games, despite its lower-than-expected performance in China. The Korean game company witnessed an operating profit of 302.5 billion won, a whopping 106 percent surge on-year in the same period, propelled by the growth of already popular PC games and the success of newly released mobile games based on those popular PC games

Industry Aug. 6, 2020

The beauty of Sumo is in its simplicity. Whoever pushes the opponent out of the ring wins. Thanks to this simplicity, there’s no need to study or understand the sport. Spectators just know how the game works by instinct. Smilegate’s 2D mobile tank battle game Super Tank Blitz works in a similar way. Whoever destroys the opponent’s tank first wins, either by firing artillery shells or pushing it off a cliff. It is also highly ingenious, as Super Tank Blitz allows users to

Industry Aug. 5, 2020

Thanks to President Moon Jae-in’s push for the 5G network, Korean chemical companies are getting an unexpected boost as demand has surged for aramid, a material used for bulletproof vests and a vital ingredient for 5G cables. As part of Moon’s Digital New Deal initiative, the nation’s major telecommunications firms -- SK Telecom, KT, LG U+ and SK Broadband -- said last month they would invest 25 trillion won ($21 billion) to establish a nationwide 5G network by the first ha

Industry Aug. 5, 2020

The US International Trade Commission has greenlighted a 5.41 percent anti-dumping tariff on wind towers imported from South Korea, citing that the local industry there has been “materially injured.” According to the Korea International Trade Association on Tuesday, the ITC made a final ruling Thursday to issue the tariff on the imports of utility-scale wind towers from Korea, saying the products are sold at “less than fair value” in the US market. Wind towers are st

Industry Aug. 4, 2020

Expectations are running high ahead of Samsung Electronics’ first-ever online unpacking event Wednesday, as the South Korean tech giant is expected to introduce the Galaxy Z Fold 2 with a fuller display. At Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020, which is scheduled for 11 p.m., Samsung will introduce five products -- the Galaxy Note 20 phablet, Galaxy Z Fold 2 foldable smartphone, Galaxy Tab S7 tablet, Galaxy Buds Live wireless noise-canceling earbuds and the Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch. Due to c

Industry Aug. 4, 2020

Kakao Games is facing a boycott from users for sexist translations in its newly released game Guardian Tales, posing a hiccup to the company that stands on the doorstep of going public. The gaming unit of Korea’s leading messenger app operator Kakao on Sunday conducted an unscheduled update at 10 a.m. without a specific explanation, infuriating users as the entire server for Guardian Tales went down for eight minutes. In the English version of Guardian Tales, from which the Korean ver

Industry Aug. 3, 2020

The rivalry between neighboring South Korea and China has existed in multiple industries and in different dimensions. The long-festering rivalry is also intense between the leading battery makers of each country -- Korea’s LG Chem and China’s CATL -- in the war of electric vehicle batteries. Despite the many wars it has lost to China, this time, it may be Korea that is winning the battery war. LG Chem on Friday posted a record quarterly revenue and operating profit of 2.8 tril

Technology Aug. 2, 2020

SK Innovation said Thursday it has partnered with professor John B. Goodenough, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year, to develop a next-generation battery. The South Korean battery maker and the 98-year-old professor at the University of Texas at Austin will co-develop all-solid lithium-metal batteries, which are potentially more powerful and safer than current lithium-ion batteries. “I hope to open a new era of a next-generation battery with SK Innovation,” t

Industry July 30, 2020

LG Chem said Wednesday it has partnered with Seoul National University to accelerate digital transformation by applying artificial intelligence in real life. According to the Korean chemical company, it established an industrial-academic cooperation center for digital transformation with SNU on Wednesday to adopt state-of-the-art technologies including AI, deep learning and data mining into key areas such as production, quality management, marketing and research and development. “LG Ch

Industry July 29, 2020

Hanwha Energy said Tuesday it has completed the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell power plant that generates electricity using waste hydrogen left over from petrochemical facilities. The 255 billion-won ($212.4 million) power plant built at 20,000-square-meter site in Daesan petrochemical complex in South Chungcheong Province will deliver by-product hydrogen from Hanwha Total’s petrochemical plants via underground pipelines to generate 400,000 megawatt-hours of electricity to power

Industry July 28, 2020

Hanwha Solutions has submitted a bid for 50 percent stake in the ethane cracking center at Sasol’s Lake Charles complex in Louisiana, according to industry sources Tuesday. The South African energy producer seeks to liquidate its assets to mitigate the liquidity crisis amid an unprecedented demand crunch in the global oil market. Hanwha Solutions refused to confirm the plan, although it admitted that the current market conditions are favorable time for such a purchase. “The p

Industry July 28, 2020