Samsung, LG, Hyundai ranked among top 50 firms for 35 straight years

LG Chem said Tuesday it aims to double its revenue by 2024. The South Korean chemical giant ranked 10th among the global top 50 chemical companies in 2018 in an annual survey by Chemical and Engineering News, published by the American Chemical Society, last year. The company aims to double its current revenue of around 30 trillion won ($25.6 billion) to 59 trillion won and to secure double-digit operating margin by 2024. It has set 2020 as the “Year of Execution” and vowed to r

The chief of LG Group on Tuesday emphasized design quality for its electronic products, saying that design is a factor that can deliver a differentiated customer experience. Koo Kwang-mo, who leads South Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate, visited LG Electronics Inc.'s research and development (R&D) campus in Seoul and checked the company's products. "It is design that gives the first impression of our products and delivers this sense of feeling that this product is worth buying,&q

South Korea's imports of key consumer goods from Japan fell for the seventh consecutive month in January as a boycott of Japanese goods has dragged out amid their monthslong feud over their shared wartime history, data showed Tuesday. Imports of consumer goods from Japan dipped 35.9 percent from a year earlier in January to $193.6 million, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service and released by Rep. Kim Chung-woo of the ruling Democratic Party.  A growing number of

The United Arab Emirates has approved the operation permit of the Barakah nuclear power plant, which is being built by Korea Electric Power Corporation, reports said Monday. This is the first nuclear power plant exported by the Korean firm. The license granted to the plant’s operator Nawah Energy Company will be for 60 years, Hamad al-Kaabi, deputy chairman of Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, was quoted as saying by Reuters. Nawah can now start preparing for commercial operatio

Six out of 10 Korean companies expect their business to worsen due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, a survey released by the Korea Economic Research Institute showed. The survey, conducted by Mono Research on the top 1,000 companies by revenue, showed that 61.8 percent of them said the outbreak will hamper their overall revenue and exports. Among those with production facilities in China, 83.9 percent said they will be hurt by the virus. A prolonged pandemic will hurt the auto industry the

With changing consumption patterns amid the rising number of single-member households and online shopping, the convenience store chains in South Korea reaped their largest margins last year, according to industry data.  GS25 made 256.5 billion won in operating profit last year, its largest on record.  CU also marked a record 196.6 billion won in operating profit.  The consolidated operating profit of Emart, the large retail store chain, meanwhile, dropped 67.4 percent to 150.7

Attention is turning to who will replace the leadership on the boards of Korea’s tech and automobile behemoths -- Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor -- at the upcoming general shareholders meetings in March. On Friday, Lee Sang-hoon, chairman of Samsung Electronics’ board, resigned from his role after being found guilty of sabotaging labor unit activities. Lee was sentenced to 18 months in jail in December upon conviction of violating labor union-related laws. On his resignat

Posco International said Monday that it had discovered a new offshore gas reservoir near Myanmar, raising hopes for a new cash cow for the company. According to the Korean company, it began exploratory undersea drilling on Jan. 12 for its Mahar gas project. The company drilled 2,598 meters into the seabed, more than 1,000 meters below the water, and carried out drill stem testing to discover the gas reservoir, which could yield about 38 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The company s

Co-CEOs to share burden of game development, overseas launches

Preferential stocks, M&A used to minimize tax while transferring ownership

Hanwha Systems, the defense unit of Hanwha Group, said Sunday it would take part in an air taxi project by US personal air vehicle company Overair. On Friday, the opening ceremony of the US company -- recently spun off from aerospace-development firm Karem Aircraft -- was attended by CEO Ben Tigner and Hanwha Systems CEO Kim Yeon-chul. In December, the US Committee on Foreign Investment approved Hanwha Systems’ investment of $25 million in Overair. The Korean firm said it would contri

According to the trade industry, Korea’s demand for and exports of automobiles declined in January on-year. Car production decreased to 251,573 units last month, down 29 percent from the same month last year, due to the Lunar New Year holiday and partial strikes at some companies. Although sales of new cars from domestic brands, including the Hyundai Sonata, Kia K5, Kia Seltos and Genesis GV80, were strong, overall sales reached 98,755 units, down 15.9 percent on-year. (khnews@herald

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission is set to report Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin to prosecutors for alleged violation of antitrust laws, officials said Sunday. The antitrust watchdog said Lee is accused of omitting 20 affiliates, including Line Friends and some of his own and relatives’ companies, when submitting data to the FTC in 2015. The company was also found to have omitted eight affiliates owned by executives of nonprofit companies wholly owned by Naver in 2017 and 2018. Ea

Kaist researcher’s systems approach shows promise in quest to stop cancer cells multiplying