New EU rules picked No. 1 ESG concern this year

Four out of six South Korean companies picked the European Union’s upcoming due diligence act as the No. 1 concern for their ongoing environmental, social and governance efforts this year, saying heightened regulations could pose a direct threat to export-driven companies that are not yet fully ready. A survey of 300 companies affiliated with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the nation’s biggest lobby, showed Sunday that 40.3 percent of the responding companies selected th

Samsung bets big on cameras to fight Apple

SAN FRANCISCO -- Samsung Electronics unveiled the new Galaxy S23 smartphones, the latest lineup of its flagship S series, on Wednesday, putting much emphasis on enhanced camera functions -- a secret weapon to fight against its archrival, Apple. “We’ve enhanced our camera system that allows users to take the best photos and videos in any environment. … The Galaxy S23 series not only comes with a 200-megapixel sensor but also provides a satisfactory camera experience with more

Naver to introduce search GPT in first half of year

South Korean internet giant Naver said Friday it will launch its own generative pretrained transformer, or GPT, for search functions by the end of June, as OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has been taking the tech world by storm. “We are gearing up to handle new search trends, such as the generative AI that is gaining a lot of attention now. And we plan to introduce our own upgraded version of SearchGPT in the first half of this year,” Chief Executive Officer Cho

Dongnimmun Station, where memories of heroes are commemorated

Independence Gate, Seodaemun Prison and other memorials at the Line No. 3 station stand as testament to heroes' era in Korea's colonial past

'Energy inflation' hits 25-year high in January

South Koreans have faced surging electricity, gas and heating bills, with the January inflation index hitting a new high since the 1998 financial crisis. According to the Korean Statistical Information Service on Sunday, the public utility price index -- calculated based on the consumer price index that is considered an inflation barometer -- logged 135.75 points in January, up 31.7 percent from the same month last year. This indicates the highest on-year inflation of monthly energy prices th

Citibank Korea to arrange syndicated loan for Posco's lithium salt lake project

Citibank Korea announced Friday that it signed a syndicated loan agreement with Posco Argentina to support the development of a salt lake with lithium reserves for Posco Holdings. As a joint mandated lead arranger, Citibank arranged a $412 million (505.4 billion won) syndicated loan for Posco Argentina with support from Korea Trade Insurance Corp. The agreement was reached on Jan. 25. “This deal is meaningful as it provides financing support for enhancing Korean companies’ competi

SK Bioscience expected to log 70% drop in profit as COVID vaccine demand dwindles

Korean biopharmaceutical firm SK Bioscience is expected to log a sharp decline in its sales and operating profit for 2022, as demand wanes for COVID-19 vaccines, its key source of revenue, according to a report from a local securities firm on Friday. The company’s annual sales for last year are expected to drop 49 percent on-year to 474.2 billion won ($385.7 million), while its operating profit is also expected to plunge 70.3 percent to 141 billion won, the report released by Meritz Secu

Naver to introduce search GPT in first half of year

South Korean internet giant Naver said Friday it will launch its own generative pretrained transformer, or GPT, for search functions by the end of June, as OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has been taking the tech world by storm. “We are gearing up to handle new search trends, such as the generative AI that is gaining a lot of attention now. And we plan to introduce our own upgraded version of SearchGPT in the first half of this year,” Chief Executive Officer Choi S