Hyundai Motor Group begins construction of fuel cell system plant in China

Hyundai Motor Group began construction of its first overseas fuel cell system plant in China, holding a virtual ground breaking ceremony on Tuesday. HTWO Guangzhou is the automaker’s first foreign plant producing fuel cell systems, and the construction is expected to be complete by the second half of 2022. HTWO is the group’s fuel cell system brand. The ceremony to market the official start of the construction work connected officials at Hyundai Motor Studio Goyang in Gyeonggi P

March 2, 2021

Lotte Confectionery rolls out spicy tteokbokki-flavor sauce ice cream

Lotte Confectionery is launching a spicy cheese tteokbokki-flavored ice cream, the company said Tuesday. The new flavor is being introduced as a limited edition of Lotte’s Chal Tteok ice cream line. A total of 500,000 will be sold in retail channels including supermarkets and ice cream discount stores. To make the tteokbokki flavor, the company said it mixed Jalapeno into the orange-colored rice cake, which wraps around the cheddar cheese-flavored ice cream with spicy chips and cookie

March 2, 2021

Coupang Inc. seeks up to $3.6b through listing on NYSE

Coupang Inc. looks to raise as much as $3.6 billion in fresh funds via an initial public offering, which would likely be among the largest deals in the US market this year. In a regulatory filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday there, Coupang Inc. said it plans to offer 120 million shares -- 100 million new Class A shares in the IPO and 20 million shares to existing investors -- in a price band between $27 and $30. The firm will consist of two classes of commo

March 2, 2021

LG Innotek develops Wi-Fi 6E module for seamless car entertainment

LG Innotek said Tuesday it has developed the world’s first automotive Wi-Fi 6E module that would enable passengers to enjoy watching movies or playing games with seamless connections in cars. The electronic parts manufacturing affiliate of LG Group said the automotive Wi-Fi 6E module using 6GHz bandwidth boasts a data transmission speed of 1.2 gigabits per second that is approximately three times faster than the existing Wi-Fi 5. It only takes 2 milliseconds to connect to the network,

March 2, 2021

[EXCLUSIVE] Coupang IPO rumored to take place March 10

Anticipation for the listing of South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang has been growing as the company’s initial public offering, which will be the fourth largest of an Asian firm on the New York Stock Exchange, is just around the corner. Although the Korean firm based in Seoul has not yet announced the exact IPO date, it is said to have decided to list its shares next week, a source familiar with the matter told The Korea Herald. “The listing date has been set for March 10,&rdquo

March 2, 2021

Korea’s presence in tech R&D shrinks as China rises

South Korea’s share in global research and development spending in technology has waned as China’s is rapidly rising, a comparative report by the Federation of Korean Industries showed on Tuesday. The number of Korean companies that made it to the list of leading 2,500 corporate investors in R&D plunged from 80 in 2014 to 56 in 2019, the report revealed. The Korean firms’ share in the total value of R&D investments also shrunk from 3.9 percent to 3.6 percent during

March 2, 2021

SK hynix shares hit new high on chip shortage

The share price of South Korean semiconductors manufacturer SK hynix hit an all-time high during intraday trading Tuesday in hopes of a first-quarter earnings surprise due to global chip shortage. At around 9:10 a.m. Tuesday, SK hynix‘s stock price touched 150,500 won ($134), up 5.3 percent from the Friday session’s closing price, bringing its total market capitalization to nearly 110 trillion won. The closing price Tuesday was 144,500 won, up 2.1 percent from Friday and 57 percent

March 2, 2021

Number of duty free store shoppers plunges to a record low in January

The number of shoppers at duty free stores stood at 343,983 in January, the lowest since the coronavirus crisis began to affect the South Korean economy last March, according to the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. Some 280,000 South Korean nationals and 59,600 foreign nationals spent a 1.38 trillion won, the latest data from the association showed. The figure is down nearly 80,000 compared to December last year. Sales, however, are up 16.7 percent compared to the previous month. Compared t

March 2, 2021

SsangYong's Feb. sales more than halve on extended slump

SsangYong Motor Co. said Tuesday its sales plunged 61 percent last month from a year earlier on lower demand for its vehicles amid the COVID-19 pandemic. SsangYong Motor sold 2,789 vehicles in February, down from 7,141 units a year ago due to a sharp decline in domestic sales and exports, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 48 percent to 2,673 units last month from 5,100 the previous year, and exports plummeted 94 percent to 116 from 2,041, it said. SsangYong Motor's lineup c

March 2, 2021

AlixPartners hires ex-Samsung executive for ICT capability

Consulting firm AlixPartners said Tuesday it has hired Kim Joo-wan, former senior executive at Samsung Electronics, as a new director in the Seoul office to enhance its counsulting capability in the field of information, communication and technology. AlixPartners said Kim has had experience in consulting, cutting-edge technology, and IT business operation over the course of his 25-year career. Prior to joining AlixPartners, Kim was a corporate vice president at Samsung Electronics, leading g

March 2, 2021

Loan maturity extended for 6 months

South Korea’s financial regulator said Tuesday it has extended the grace period for loan repayments until September as part of policy effort to support individuals and businesses reeling from the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.  “In response to small-and medium-sized enterprises and merchants’ economic difficulties wrought by the prolonged social distancing rules amid the virus resurgence, the Financial Services Commission and financial circles have decided to exte

March 2, 2021

BOK to participate in G20’s cross-border payment roadmap

South Korea’s central bank said Tuesday that is has decided to participate in the Group of 20’s roadmap on enhancing cross-border payments, focused on lowering the cost of the transactions. According to the Bank of Korea, the G20 plans to carry out a set of 19 measures, including increased adoption of payment versus payment system, stronger cooperation among central banks for cross-border liquidity supply, connecting payment settlement systems among economies and development of a s

March 2, 2021

S. Korea seeks to expand exports of fisheries by 30% through 2025

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to expand its exports of fishery products by 30 percent through 2025 in line with its new vision to foster the industry as a new growth engine. Under the five-year blueprint, outbound shipments of fishery products are expected to each $3 billion in 2025, compared with $2.3 billion tallied last year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The combined size of the local fishery industry is also expected to reach 13.8 trillion won ($12.3 billion) by t

March 2, 2021

LG Energy Solution ranks 2nd in global EV battery market in Jan.

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. was the No. 2 supplier of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in the world in January after China's CATL, a market research firm said Tuesday. LG Energy Solution, which spun off from LG Chem Ltd. in December last year, shipped 2.5 gigawatt-hour (GWh) equivalents of EV batteries in January, up 50.6 percent from a year earlier, according to SNE Research. But its global market share shrank to 18.5 percent from 23.9 percent in the same month last ye

March 2, 2021

SsangYong resumes plant operations after weekslong suspension over parts shortage

Financially troubled carmaker SsangYong Motor Co. said Tuesday it has resumed the operation of its local plant after a weekslong suspension due to a glitch in its parts supply. SsangYong Motor halted its plant in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, for two days in December and 16 days last month as its subcontractors refused to supply parts due to outstanding payments. The SUV-focused carmaker filed for court receivership on Dec. 21 after it failed to obtain approval for the rollover of

March 2, 2021

LG's steam closet hits 1m in cumulative production

LG Electronics Inc., a major home appliance maker in South Korea, said Tuesday that the cumulative production of its steam closet has surpassed 1 million units. Domestic models of LG Tromm Styler, a clothing care appliance that made its debut in 2011, surpassed 1 million units in cumulative production as of end-February, the company said. All of LG's steam closet models are manufactured in the company's plant in Changwon, some 400 kilometers south of Seoul. LG currently sells the Styler in m

March 2, 2021

Mercedes-Benz Korea adds Maybach SUV to lineup

Mercedes-Benz Korea on Tuesday added its most luxurious SUV model to the lineup to gain a bigger share in the South Korean market. The German carmaker has launched the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 4MATIC SUV equipped with a twin-turbo, 4.0-liter V8 M177 engine at 257 million won ($230,000), the company said in a statement. "The new Mercedes-Maybach GLS is a fascinating model that will draw the attention of customers who want a high-end SUV. We will continue to provide the best products this

March 2, 2021

LG Innotek develops industry's first automotive Wi-Fi 6E module

LG Innotek Co., a major electronics parts maker in South Korea, said Tuesday it has developed an automotive Wi-Fi module with advanced wireless communication technology as the company eyes to expand its presence in the future mobility market. LG Innotek claimed its latest automotive Wi-Fi module is the industry's first to be based on the next-generation Wi-Fi 6E (6th Generation Extended) technology using 6 GHz bandwidth. The company said it expects to commercialize the Wi-Fi 6E module in 2022

March 2, 2021

Seoul stocks open steeply higher on eased bond yield concerns

South Korean stocks opened steeply higher Tuesday, tracking an overnight Wall Street rally that stemmed from eased concerns about the impacts of a bond yield hike. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 81.62 points, or 2.71 percent, to 3,094.57 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a bullish start after a three-day holiday weekend on strong institutional and foreign buying. Foreigners, who net sold a record 2.8 trillion won ($2.5 billion) the p

March 2, 2021

Online food delivery market grows 79% in 2020 amid pandemic

South Korea's online food delivery service market spiked nearly 80 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Tuesday. The value of online food service transactions came to 17.4 trillion won ($15.5 billion) last year, up 78.6 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It was nearly 6.4 times the 2.7 trillion won recorded in 2017, when the statistical agency started tracking related data. Of the total transactions

March 2, 2021