Amid severe downturn in global chip market, firm reports first quarterly operating loss in decade

South Korea reached a record-high monthly trade deficit of $12.69 billion in January, mainly due to weakening global demand for semiconductors, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday. While outbound shipments fell 16.6 percent on-year to $46.27 billion in January -- the largest drop in three years -- imports slipped 2.6 percent on-year to $58.96 bil...

South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp. announced Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Monnis Group, a Mongolian industrial holding conglomerate, for a joint business venture into the rare earth minerals industry. This comes after another memorandum previously signed on Jan. 26 between KT and the Mongolian government for the supply of various mineral resources, ...

The recent data follows a series of controversies surrounding McDonald's hygiene at franchise stores. On Jan. 25, an online post showing a picture of yarn in a McDonald's McMorning pancake combo stirred controversy. "I bought two McMorning sets with my son, gave him a hotcake, ate a muffin, and after almost finishing everything, took something out from my mouth to find that I was chewing on a t...

In Korea, its 4th-largest market, German luxury carmaker shows confidence in widening sales gap with archrival BMW

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo delivers a speech during the investor conference KB Investor Insights 2023, held via the financial giant's metaverse platform on Tuesday. During the event, the chairman pledged to boost investor profitability by upgrading expertise and risk-management know-how.

Starbucks Korea, the nation’s No.1 specialty coffee chain, said Wednesday that the cumulative users of its customer membership "Starbucks Rewards" has recently hit the 10 million mark. The figure is twice as high as the 4.1 million members of Twosome Place and the 6 million of Ediya Coffee -- the second and third-largest coffee franchises in Korea by sales. Having started the membership service...

Kia on Wednesday unveiled the 2024 Niro, a revamped version of the carmaker's top-selling eco-friendly brand. The upgraded Niro comes in both hybrid and fully electric models, with prices starting at 27.1 million won ($22,000) and 48.5 million won, respectively.

South Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Wednesday it has won a 609.7 billion-won ($495 million) order to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers for an Oceanian shipper. Samsung Heavy said in a regulatory filing that it will deliver the vessels to the undisclosed shipping company by mid-January 2027. So far this year, Samsung Heavy has clinched orders worth some $2 billio...

Posco Chemical Co., a South Korean manufacturer of industrial materials, said Wednesday it has begun construction of its second factory for synthetic graphite anode materials in the country's southeast. Posco Chemical broke ground on the plant at its key manufacturing complex in Pohang, 272 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Tuesday, the company said in a release. The construction is part of a p...

SK hynix Inc. said Wednesday it swung to a deficit in the fourth quarter due to the global chip market's slowdown amid weak demand and oversupply. The world's second-largest memory chip maker logged an operating loss of 1.7 trillion won ($1.37 billion) for the three months ending in December, compared with a profit of 4.21 trillion won a year ago. It was the South Korean chipmaker's first quart...

A Galaxy Experience Space at Powell Street, San Francisco is seen Tuesday, one day before Samsung Electronics unveils its latest flagship Galaxy S smartphone lineup in the US city. The tech giant plans to operate a total of 29 interactive experience spaces in key cities on Wednesday to allow visitors to try out its new smartphones and other mobile devices.

Daewoo Engineering & Construction has posted an annual operating profit of 760 billion won ($617 million), an all-time high in the company’s history. Daewoo E&C’s operating profit in 2022 was up 2.9 percent from the previous year’s 738.3 billion won, according to a regulatory filing released Tuesday. Annual sales last year reached 10.4 trillion won, up 20 percent from 8.6 trillion won in 2021. ...

Posco Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo met with Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan on Monday to discuss their cooperation on hydrogen and secondary battery materials businesses, the company said Tuesday. Posco “needs an intimate collaboration with Australia on hydrogen and secondary battery materials sectors,” Choi said during his meeting with McGowan at Posco Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Duri...

Volkswagen Korea will issue a recall of more than 67,000 vehicles and has suspended all new car sales due to faulty warning triangles, a car accessory to warn drivers after emergency stops, a move experts here called an unprecedented precautionary measure after the firm's painful “Dieselgate” back in 2015. The Korean unit of the German carmaker said Tuesday a total of 67,459 vehicles across seve...