S-Oil shares songpyeon with low-income neighbors

South Korean oil refiner S-Oil held the company’s annual charity event, dubbed “Sharing Songpyeon with S-Oil,” on Friday, for the upcoming Chuseok holiday. S-Oil CEO and some 100 employees made songpyeon -- traditional half-moon-shaped rice cakes served during Chuseok -- and 500 gift packages, spending 50 million won ($37,400) in total. “Korea’s Chuseok is a meaningful holiday that celebrates a plentiful harvest with families, gathering together to eat special foods

Sept. 22, 2023

Lee Seung-min wins KB Women's Amateur Golf Championship

Lee Seung-min, a third-grade student at Gyeongju Hwarang High School, won the 16th KB Financial Group Women's Amateur Golf Championship on Friday. Lee finished the second round of the tournament at Century 21 Country Club in Gangwon Province with a total of 6-under 138 strokes to take the top spot. The final round of the tournament was delayed by about two hours due to heavy fog and ultimately had to be canceled. The winner was determined by the combined scores of the first two rounds. Lee

Sept. 22, 2023

Outpaced by Coupang, Shinsegae carries out major leadership reshuffle

South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group conducted a large-scale, earlier-than-usual personnel shakeup following its flagging business showings and losing race against fast-growing retail powerhouses such as Coupang. Via an executive appointment conducted a month ahead of its usual timing, 9 out of 25 of Shinsegae Group's chief executive officers, or some 40 percent, were replaced. The reshuffle was made in accordance with Shinsegae Group's new system personnel management system dubbe

Sept. 22, 2023

Mirae Asset continues to lead domestic equity ETF market

Mirae Asset Global Investments has been leading the domestic equity ETF market with its innovative growth ETFs since April 2022, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. In recent years, ETF products have become increasingly popular in Korea and have attracted significant inflows of funds. As a result, the Korean ETF market attracted more than 100 trillion won ($74.77 billion) in investments, with equity ETFs attracting 50 trillion won. Industry sources say Mirae Asset&

Sept. 22, 2023

Lotte opens major shopping complex in Vietnam

Lotte Shopping, the retail arm of South Korean retail giant Lotte Group, said it held the grand opening ceremony for its shopping complex Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi on Friday, following the company's efforts to expand its presence in the Vietnamese market. Standing on a 354,000-square-meter site, and considered one of the largest shopping complexes in Vietnam, the commercial complex is comprised of a wide selection of facilities -- ranging from a shopping mall, supermarket, hotel, aquarium

Sept. 22, 2023

[From the Scene] HD Hyundai offers a glimpse of second-gen autonomous construction equipment

HD Hyundai XiteSolution, the construction equipment arm of HD Hyundai, revealed the future of construction technology at Boryeong Proving Ground, a mock construction site in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province on Wednesday. The company showcased their second-generation Concept-X equipment, an update following the introduction of the first generation in 2019. Concept-X represents the company's concept integrated IT-driven construction management system. This system employs drone 3D scanning

Sept. 22, 2023

Han Sung Motors wins five trophies in Mercedes-Benz Korea contest

Han Sung Motor, the local importer and distributor of Mercedes-Benz, said Thursday it has won five events in this year’s “Korea TechMaster,” a technician competition held by the German brand. Since 2007, Mercedes-Benz Korea has run the Korea TechMaster competition every two years with the aim of further ramping up the brand’s expertise and customer services. Following the preliminary round attended by 969 service center employees, only 40 people remained in the final tour

Sept. 21, 2023

Khanfilter eyes global expansion with innovative air purifier

Khanfilter, a South Korean supplier of high-performance air filters, has seen early success with its air purifier that uses automotive technology to help it remove over 90 percent of odor and particle matter without losing performance in challenging environments. Traditional filters exhibit a sharp decline in performance when exposed to water vapors or oil mist, a common condition in kitchen spaces. However, Khanfilter’s flagship indoor air purifier Khanpure has provided a timely solutio

Sept. 21, 2023

Asiana Airlines tops customer satisfaction index

Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second-biggest carrier, said Thursday it received the top marks from a high-rated customer satisfaction index, for ninth consecutive year. According to Asiana, it was ranked No. 1 in the aviation sector of 2023 Korean Customer Satisfaction Index Awards held at Jung-gu, Seoul. This is the 25th time Asiana Airlines has won the category since the customer survey for the aviation sector was first initiated in 1995. Organized by Korea Management Association Consul

Sept. 21, 2023

SPC Samlip to showcase K-desserts at int'l food fair

South Korean confectionery company SPC Samlip has joined global food trade fair Anuga to promote Korean dessert products, the company said Thursday. Anuga is an annual food trade fair held in Cologne, Germany. This year’s edition will run between Oct. 7-11, featuring around 8,000 companies from 100 countries. During the fair, which will attract over 100,000 visitors, SPC Samlip will introduce its 53 products, ranging from yakgwa (deep-fried honey cookies) to hotteok (sweet pancakes with br

Sept. 21, 2023

[Herald Interview] Next & Bio aims to build Asia’s largest library of organoids

South Korean biotech company Next & Bio, which specializes in developing organoid-based medicine solutions, aims to build the largest organoid library in Asia, its CEO told The Korea Herald in a recent interview. Organoids are cell-based in vitro models that mimic many aspects of the complex structure and function of the corresponding human organs. Organoid-based systems have been recently spotlighted as alternatives to animal experimentation in clinical research and precision medicine. &ldq

Sept. 21, 2023

Hana Financial launches 24/7 day care centers

Hana Financial Group announced Thursday it will launch a five-year project, Hana-run day care centers, that are open 365 days, even 24 hours a day, with the aim of reversing South Korea’s continually falling birth rate. This new project is a part of the program, Hana Life Journey Support, which strives to alleviate the struggles shared by families going through life-changing events such as marriage, childbirth and aging. Aiming to tackle the nation’s record-low birth rate, Hana has f

Sept. 21, 2023

European automakers call for lower regulatory barriers for EVs

European automakers called for a relaxation of regulations on selling electric vehicles in Korea during a press conference for the publication of a white paper by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Thursday. The ECCK’s passenger vehicles committee chairperson, Kim Hong-joong, said that the recent law amendment requiring automakers to secure the pre-certification of electric vehicle batteries to prevent safety hazards should be aligned with United Nations standards. “We re

Sept. 21, 2023

LG CNS opens coding class for rural students

Korean IT solutions provider LG CNS said Tuesday its employees a one-day class for elementary students in Buyeo-gun, South Chungcheong Province, to promote inclusive access to digital education. The social contribution campaign is a part of the company’s “AI Genius” program to help the youths set their future goals and visions with AI. Following its first activity at Gangneung, Gangwon Province last year, LG CNS once again launched the coding class for students in rural areas,

Sept. 21, 2023

Smartphone shipments in S. Korea fell 13.2% on-year in Q2: report

Smartphone shipments in South Korea declined more than 13 percent on-year in the second quarter, recent data showed Thursday, as demand remained sluggish over economic uncertainties. The total shipment came to approximately 2.8 million units for the April-June period, down 13.2 percent from a year ago, as "demand for smartphones continued to slow down amid economic uncertainties," the Korea branch of International Data Corporation said. But the shipments of premium smartphones, priced

Sept. 21, 2023

No more hurdles for Korea's nuclear reactor exports?

A recent favorable ruling in the US may have lifted some pressure on South Korea regarding its export of nuclear reactors, but challenges remain as its US partner shows no sign of agreement in their ongoing legal disputes. The District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday dismissed Westinghouse Electric Company’s lawsuit against Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, ruling that the US energy firm -- which lacks the authority to enforce US nuclear technology export control requirements -- d

Sept. 20, 2023

Late Samsung chairman’s Jindo dog project gets spotlight

Samsung Group late Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s Jindo dog preservation project is getting a renewed spotlight as the group’s guide dog school marks its 30th anniversary this year. According to industry sources, the late Samsung patriarch acquired 30 Jindos in the late 1960s and strove to increase its population and raise its global awareness. “I spent days working with breeders, consulting with foreign experts and striving to create purebred Jindo dogs. When the original 30 dogs I

Sept. 20, 2023

New minister vows to revive exports, nuclear power industry

South Korea's new Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu on Wednesday vowed sincere efforts to expand exports for the country’s economic growth and to restore the ecosystem of nuclear power plants here swiftly. “We will do our best to expand exports that will revive our economy. … It’s important to expand private investment to spread export momentum. For this, the government will mobilize all resources and capabilities,” Bang said in his inaugural speech. Korea'

Sept. 20, 2023

Merck shares digital solutions for chip industry

Merck Korea, the Korean unit of the German chemicals giant, shared the company’s solutions for the future semiconductor industry at an academic conference held by Alumninetzwerk Deutschland-Korea, Tuesday. Under the topic “Unlocking the potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning in semiconductor manufacturing,” Steven Eulig, head of business development for digital solutions at Merck Electronics, delivered a speech on the company’s digital insight. While th

Sept. 20, 2023

SK Pharmteco takes over US contract drugmaker CBM

SK Pharmteco, a global contract development and manufacturing organization under Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Wednesday that it has acquired the Center for Breakthrough Medicines, a US cell and gene therapy firm. The Korean firm exercised its right to acquire a controlling stake in CBM to obtain the management right of the Philadelphia-based cell and gene therapy CDMO, offering pre-clinical to commercial phase therapies. The right was given when SK Pharmteco made its capital investment i

Sept. 20, 2023