Korean building materials company LX Hausys said Wednesday it will cooperate with Reynaers Aluminium, a Belgian manufacturer of aluminium products, in a bid to accelerate its entry into the domestic aluminum window market. With a memorandum of understanding signed with Reynaers Aluminium in the headquarters of LX Hausys in Seoul, LX Hausys said both companies plan to comprehensively cooperate in the overall process of designing, manufacturing and developing technologies needed to produce high-en

Industry March 29, 2023

Major South Korean health care company Boryung said Tuesday it signed a contract to establish a joint venture with US commercial space station developer Axiom Space, in a bid to ramp up its space business. With the JV, which is scheduled to be established by May, Boryung said it will actively search for a slew of business opportunities in space, while utilizing Axiom Space's space-related infrastructure and space development technologies. According to Boryung, the JV will mainly focus on co

Industry March 28, 2023

BAT's design philosophy for heating tobacco products centers around perfecting the user experience and simplicity, rather than complicated designs, says the head of design at global tobacco giant British American Tobacco. "My priority when designing heating tobacco products was that the item should become one of the three products that consumers can carry with them all the time, along with a phone and wallet," said Ken Kim, the first South Korean to oversee the entire design proce

Industry March 28, 2023

POHANG, North Gyeongsang Province -- Some 7,000 metric tons of molten iron at 1,200 degrees Celsius and consisting of smelted iron ore, coke and limestone is poured from a gigantic industrial ladle into a furnace to be purified at Posco's steel mill. The purified molten steel is then poured into molds, where water vapor rises with deafening hisses as the iron is instantly cooled. Semi-finished materials, called slabs, become visible as the water vapor dissipates. They are quickly moved alon

Industry March 27, 2023

Competition is heating up to acquire a controlling stake in Able C&C, the operator of a slew of Korean budget cosmetics brands, with global beauty giants such as L’Oreal and LVMH reportedly joining the race. Five to six strategic investors recently submitted their letters of intent to purchase 59.2 percent of shares in Able C&C, currently owned by IMM Private Equity, according to industry sources on Friday. IMM became the largest shareholder of Able C&C, best known for its Mi

Consumer March 24, 2023

This is the fourth installment of a series of interviews with global business chiefs of South Korean food companies that are expanding aggressively in overseas markets. -- Ed. Soju, South Korea’s national drink, has expanded its presence in global markets as the rice-based alcoholic beverage grows in popularity among spirit aficionados around the world. According to market research firm 360 Research Reports, the global soju market is estimated to reach $4.2 billion in sales by 2027. As of

Consumer March 23, 2023

Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury products behemoth LVMH, accompanied by his daughter and the CEO of Christian Dior Delphine Arnault, visited South Korea for the first time in three years after the COVID-19 pandemic, in a bid to discuss the brand's plans regarding duty-free and department store business with major South Korean retailers. During his three-day trip to Korea which ends on Wednesday, Arnault met with Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin at the Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southern S

Consumer March 21, 2023

Posco International said Monday its Vice Chairman Jeong Tak has been named as the company’s new CEO during a shareholders’ meeting held at its headquarters in Incheon, west of Seoul -- the first meeting since the merger with its sister unit Posco Energy on Jan. 1. "Under the leadership of the new CEO, we will continue to maximize shareholder values by aggressively aiming for future growth, with balanced investment and shareholder returns," the company said in a statement. D

Industry March 20, 2023

Lotte Duty Free, the country's largest duty-free operator in terms of sales, has lost the bidding race for the operational rights of duty-free shops at Incheon Airport. Instead, Lotte's smaller rivals, Hotel Shilla, Shinsegae DF and Hyundai Department Store Duty Free, were shortlisted for the duty-free licensing bid. On Friday, Incheon International Airport Corp. announced the results in the first round of assessments of bids for the five duty-free zones in the nation's main airpo

Consumer March 19, 2023

Starbucks Korea said Sunday it opened its 13th eco-friendly outlet in the country, as part of its continuous attempts to recycle waste and create jobs for socially disadvantaged people. Called "Zero waste: eco-star cafe," according to Starbucks, the pilot store recently opened in Incheon, and is jointly operated by the Korea Environment Corp. and Starbucks to ramp up the coffee franchise's environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, efforts. "We will continue to e

Industry March 19, 2023

This is the third installment of a series of interviews with global business chiefs of South Korean food companies that are expanding aggressively in overseas markets. -- Ed. Characteristically zesty, zingy and spicy -- and with very little in the way of similar flavors abroad -- kimchi is arguably Korea's most symbolic dish. Strategies to creatively market kimchi so that it may become common-place on dinner tables around the world are essential for kimchi to penetrate into overseas markets

Consumer March 16, 2023

Korea Ginseng Corp., the country’s leading ginseng manufacturer, said Wednesday it set up a research and development center in California in a bid to continue its development of Korean ginseng customized for the US market and ramp up its sales overseas. KGC said with the new R&D center it plans to research ways to improve the functions of its flagship red ginseng products sold in the US -- including boosting the products' capability to improve consumers' immunity, reduce fati

Industry March 15, 2023

South Koreans drink an average of two to three cups of coffee per day, with the overwhelming majority of coffee consumers in their 40s and 50s, a survey showed Tuesday. Experts explain that Korea's work culture, along with a slew of other factors, contributed to the nation's obsession with coffee. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation from March 2019 to May 2022, nearly half of the respondents (47.4 percent) said they drink two to three

Consumer March 14, 2023

Korean beauty products have strong competitiveness in the overseas market with their affordable prices, quality and the ability to quickly reflect trends in the dynamically changing global cosmetics industry, says the CEO of Able C&C, a firm that manages a range of Korean budget cosmetics brands including Missha. "South Korea has a unique cosmetics ecosystem, as opposed to France and the United States -- the original powerhouses of the global cosmetics industry," said CEO Kim Eugen

Consumer March 13, 2023

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is expected to withdraw from the Japanese delivery service market later this month and to focus more on expanding its business in Korea and Taiwan, according to news reports Sunday. Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun, or more commonly known as the Nikkei, reported Saturday that Coupang Japan has decided to end its pilot food and household goods delivery service it has run over the past two years on March 21. The pilot program, launched in June 2021, aims to

Consumer March 12, 2023