Two major South Korean duty-free operators, Lotte and Shilla, will close their stores at Incheon Airport’s Terminal 1 next month, leaving more empty space at the airport. Both Lotte Duty Free and Shilla Duty Free’s leases expired in August but were extended for an additional six months after new bidders backed out before signing contracts, as the worsening coronavirus pandemic threatened prospects for duty-free shopping businesses. With the possibility of further extensions off th

Air traffic volume in South Korea halved year-on-year in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Sunday. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the number of flight operations last year totaled 421,000, down 50 percent from 2019. The volume on domestic routes fell 10.4 percent to 221,000, while international flights plummeted 66.4 percent to 200,000. Air traffic had been steadily increasing, from 739,000 flights in 2016 to 842,000 in 2019. Operations beg

Hyundai Glovis, a vehicle delivery arm of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group, is pushing deeper into the East Asian freight and logistics market. The company, which in 2009 opened its third overseas office in Vietnam, has recently clinched a deal to build a logistics center in Ho Chi Minh City. Under the agreement, Hyundai Glovis will team up with Ulsan Port Authority to construct and operate the facility on a 30,000 square meter plot. Once completed, the center will serve as a logist

Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Corp. slumped in their three major markets last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, company data showed Sunday. Hyundai and Kia, South Korea's two biggest carmakers, saw their sales slump in the United States, Europe and China in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic affected vehicle production and sales. Among the three markets, the automakers performed worst in China, with their combined sales plunging 27 percent to 908,828 units last year from 664,744 the previou

Air Premia and Aero K to heat up competition as Jin Air, Air Busan, Air Seoul to merge

Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) sold by South Korean automakers sharply rose to exceed 600,000 units for the first time in 2020 on the back of the rising popularity of car camping and new lineups, industry data showed Sunday. Five companies -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- sold a combined 615,982 units last year, a 15.3 percent surge from a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) said. SUV sa

Jeep executive expresses confidence in the Korean market this year

The first offshore fuel cell system plant for South Korea’s biggest carmaker Hyundai Motor Group will be established in Guangzhou, China, the automaker said Friday. The automotive group said it signed an investment contract with China’s Guangdong provincial government to establish an offshore fuel cell system production facility in Guangzhou there. The investment is part of its efforts to advance its leadership in the global hydrogen industry, and to support the industry rapidly

Kia announced Friday a new brand strategy and future ambitions to transform the company to go beyond vehicle manufacturing to create mobility solutions for customers. In a digital showcase event on the company’s official YouTube channel, South Korea’s second-largest automaker announced a new corporate name removing “Motors” from its previous name of Kia Motors Corp. This signals the brand breaking away from its traditional manufacturing-driven business model to expan

Low-cost carrier T’way Air said Friday it will fly two more international flights to nowhere later this month, flying over Fukuoka, Japan. Passengers for the flights scheduled to take off from Incheon Airport on Jan. 30 and 31 will enjoy special deals for shopping at Lotte Duty Free stores as well as coupons and souvenir goods such as a calendar and blanket, the company said. “You will be able to enjoy the feelings of traveling as well as shopping with this new flight and have a un

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker by sales, said Friday it will launch seven all-electric models by 2027 to gain a share of the growing electric vehicle market. Kia said it will release its pure electric crossover model based on a new EV platform called the electric-global modular platform (E-GMP) in the first quarter, the company said in a statement. The new vehicle with the project name of "CV" will be the first global model to bear Kia's new logo. It also comes with

Honda Motor Co., Audi Volkswagen Korea and two other companies will voluntarily recall over 14,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Friday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers operating in South Korea and vehicle importers due to problems with vehicle components. The four companies, including Scania Korea Group and Ford Sales Service Korea, are recalling a combined 14,217 units due to faulty components in five models, the Ministry of Land, Infra

The nation’s flagship air carrier Korean Air on Thursday filed documents to the Fair Trade Commission and antitrust authorities in eight other countries for a review of its planned takeover of the debt-laden Asiana Airlines. “We’ve had a business combination application submitted by Korean Air regarding the purchase of Asiana Airlines’ shares,” the FTC said in a statement. The airline also took the same steps in eight other countries including the United States,

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Thursday it has started to review a deal by Korean Air Lines Co., the country's biggest carrier, to buy the debt-ridden Asiana Airlines Inc. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it will see if the merger of the nation's two largest carriers could constitute a monopoly or hurt market competition as Korean Air submitted an application for approval earlier in the day. In November 2020, Korean Air said it will acquire its smaller rival Asiana Airlines

South Korea's auto exports sank 21.4 percent on-year in 2020 as the new coronavirus pandemic disrupted global supply chains and sapped demand, data showed on Thursday. The country's shipments of cars reached 1.89 million units last year, compared with 2.4 million units posted in 2019, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, exports also moved down 13 percent to reach $37.4 billion. The number of cars shipped surrendered 33.9 percent on-