Generational shift looms in SK leadership

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is expected to carry out a complete reform of the conglomerate’s top leadership this week, seeking a generational shift to handle uncertainties in the fast-changing market. According to industry sources on Monday, Chey asked four chief executives of the group's major affiliates -- SK Supex Council Chairman Cho Dae-sik, SK Innovation Vice Chairman Kim Jun, SK Corp. Vice Chairman Jang Dong-hyun and SK hynix Inc. Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho -- to step down,

IndustryDec. 4, 2023

Kolmar BNH to ramp up production with new plant

Kolmar BNH, the health functional food developer and manufacturer under Kolmar Korea, announced Monday it has completed its third manufacturing plant in the city of Sejong, securing the largest annual production capacity in the industry. The four-story plant, built on a site occupying some 20,024 square meters in Sejong, has a total floor area of 24,871 square meters. The plant is capable of generating 1.8 billion units of solid-type health functional foods (tablets or pills) and 450 million p

IndustryDec. 4, 2023

LS Cable develops world’s fastest data transfer cable

LS Cable & System, South Korea’s leading cable manufacturer, said Monday it had launched a new Power over Ethernet cable that can support speeds up to 5 gigabits per second (Gbps), the world’s fastest for data transmission. PoE cables are capable of delivering both data and electric power in a single Ethernet cable, and are easy to install in places such as ceilings and between gaps. It is utilized to transmit data and power to security cameras, digital signage, and audio-visual

TechnologyDec. 4, 2023

[Photo News] Toyota donates Kimchi

Toyota Motor Korea said Monday that it donated kimchi to the underprivileged across South Korea last week in partnership with the Seoul Council on Social Welfare. Some 300 company officials and dealers, including CEO Manabu Konyama (right), participated in the voluntary event, which the Japanese company has carried out every year since 2012. (Toyota Motor Korea)

MobilityDec. 4, 2023

Seoul Art Center highlights next-generation musicians

The Seoul Arts Center’s Inchoon Art Hall will host the last installment of a special series that highlights the rising classic musicians this month. Launched in May, the "Seoul Arts Center Inchoon Art Hall Special – The Next" series showcases talented young musicians. Throughout this year, a total of seven young musicians have been featured. The last part of the series will present pianist Park Jin-hyung, violist Yun So-hui and pianist Chon Sae-yoon, all of whom won sever

PerformanceDec. 4, 2023

[Photo News] Golf Treffen in Korea

Volkswagen Korea said Monday it held a special meeting for local owners of the Golf, the German automaker's signature compact vehicle, for the first time in Korea at a car theater in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Sunday. Named the "2023 Volkswagen Golf Treffen Korea," the event drew some 70 Golf vehicles and 200 participants. "Treffen" means an informal gathering in German. According to the automaker, Koreans across the country brought various models of Golf ranging from t

MobilityDec. 4, 2023

[Photo News] Oodles of Noodles

Korean convenience store chain CU said Monday that it has opened a new store that specializes in ramen, in an industry first, in Mapo-gu, western Seoul. More than 200 different instant noodle products are displayed, and customers can cook and eat the ramen of their choice for an additional 900 won ($0.70) for the disposable cup. Operator BGF Retail said the new store also aims to cater to foreign travelers amid their increased interest in Korean food. (BGF Retail)

MarketDec. 4, 2023

P1Harmony expands reach in US with iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour

P1Harmony has expanded its presence in the US, performing in front of some 30,000 people during the annual iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour, performing in front of some 30,000 local fans. The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour, a holiday concert presented by Capital One, featuring the year’s top artists performing their No. 1 hits, kicked off Nov. 26 in Tampa, Florida. The multicity tour's lineup is one of the most anticipated, particularly of the Christmas holiday season. It stops at 11 cities

K-popDec. 4, 2023

[Korea Beyond Korea] Chae Man-sik expert delivers Korean literature to Spanish readers

When Alvaro Trigo Maldonado came to South Korea in 2012, he only spoke basic Korean. Having studied Arabic and East Asian studies in Spain, Trigo did a master’s degree in Korean history and culture at the Academy of Korean Studies in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at the time, and completed a two-year program at the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. He then did his Ph.D. back in Spain, writing a thesis on Korean novelist Chae Man-sik (1902-1950), and is now teaching Korean literatur

Hashtag KoreaDec. 4, 2023

Itzy to drop new album, go on second world tour

JYP Entertainment’s girl group Itzy is set to release a new album, "Born to Be," on Jan. 8. The agency announced the five-member group's comeback scheduled for next year, including the album promotion schedule and the album tracklist, on its official social media accounts, Monday. The upcoming release is a 10-track studio album led by the title track, “Untouchable.” The lead track was produced by renowned K-pop lyricists and producers Lee Seuran, Jam Factory and

K-popDec. 4, 2023

[Bills in Focus] Removing elevated railways, deferring taxation on inherited shares

Proposed bill: Special Act on the Transition of Elevated Metro Lines Including Line 1 of Seoul to Underground Lines Proposed by Rep. Lee In-young (Democratic Party of Korea) ● Elevated railways, such as Seoul Subway Line 1, are perceived to be the cause of noise pollution and safety issues. This bill aims to facilitate the implementation of projects to transform elevated railways into underground railways by establishing a dedicated organization and offering subsidies, loans and other incentives

PoliticsDec. 4, 2023

About half of top 500 firms remain undecided on 2024 investment plans: poll

About half of big firms in South Korea remain undecided on their investment plans for next year, according to a survey released Monday, an indication of how many companies are going through economic uncertainties. In the survey conducted by polling agency Mono Research on the leading 500 companies in terms of sales from Nov. 16-24, 49.7 percent responded they remain undecided on next year's investment plans. Also, 5.3 percent of the respondents said they have no investment plans next year.

EconomyDec. 4, 2023

Back in old boots, speed skater Kim Min-sun grabs 1st World Cup title of season

Immediately after going back to her old boots, South Korean speed skater Kim Min-sun returned to a familiar place -- the top of the podium at a World Cup competition. Kim won the women's 500-meter title at the latest International Skating Union World Cup Speed Skating stop in Stavanger, Norway, on Sunday. Kim clocked her season-best 37.73 seconds for her first World Cup gold medal of this season in five tries. Erin Jackson of the United States, the 2022 Olympic champion, ranked second in 37

More SportsDec. 4, 2023

N. Korea's Kim calls for measures to prevent fall in birth rate

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for measures to prevent a decrease in the country's birth rate in the first national meeting of mothers in 11 years, state media reported Monday. Kim said he has thought about North Korean mothers whenever he faced difficulties in steering state and party affairs, and stressed the role of mothers in such various fields as helping resolve "non-social" problems and promoting the unity of society. "There are also issues of preventing th

North KoreaDec. 4, 2023

US deploys fighter jets in S. Korea for air exercise in Singapore

A group of US fighter jets stationed in South Korea joined an annual aerial exercise in Singapore last month, the US Air Force has said, with a commercial aircraft refueling the fighters en route to the city-state for the first time. The US military deployed six F-16s of the 51st Fighter Wing at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, to participate in the bilateral Commando Sling exercise with the Singaporean Air Force at Paya Lebar Air Base from Nov. 6 to 24. During the flig

DefenseDec. 4, 2023

Majority of Korean office workers sleep deprived

More than half of Korean company employees report for office duty on less than seven hours of sleep, a recent report showed. According to a survey conducted on 880 participants by the online job portal Incruit, 56.3 percent of office workers get only four to six hours of slumber daily. In second place, 41.6 percent of participants listed an average of seven to nine hours. The Korean Society of Sleep Medicine recommends at least six to eight hours of sleep, warning that sleeping less than six hou

Social AffairsDec. 4, 2023

Finance ministry to sell 4.7 tln won in NXC stocks

The finance ministry said Monday that it will put a stake in game developer's holding company NXC Corp. up for sale, valued at an estimated 4.7 trillion won ($3.62 billion). In May, the family of Nexon's late founder Kim Jung-ju paid inheritance tax with a 29.3-percent stake in NXC, or 852,000 shares. With the stake, the finance ministry became the second-biggest shareholder in the company, which controls the Tokyo-listed Nexon Co., a gaming giant with hit titles like Nexus: The Kingdo

CompaniesDec. 4, 2023

Province office raided in probe into wife of opposition leader

Prosecutors raided the Gyeonggi provincial government office Monday as part of an investigation into allegations that opposition leader Lee Jae-myung's wife misused an official credit card while Lee was serving as Gyeonggi governor. The Suwon District Prosecutors Office sent investigators to the provincial government office to seize evidence connected to the investigation, officials said. The investigation follows a disclosure by a former Gyeonggi government employee last year that Lee'

Social AffairsDec. 4, 2023

Insurance firms' net income jumps over 47% on-year in first nine months of year

The combined net income of insurance companies in South Korea surged nearly 50 percent in the first nine months of the year from a year ago on advances by both life and non-life insurers, data showed Monday. The combined net profit of 22 life insurance firms and 31 non-life insurance companies here came to 11.42 trillion won ($8.74 billion) in the January-September period, up 47.2 percent from the same period last year, according to preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The ne

IndustryDec. 4, 2023

S. Korea, Canada sign MOU on climate change cooperation

South Korea and Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding on climate change cooperation as a follow-up step to the May summit of the two countries' leaders, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday. The MOU was signed by Kim Hyo-eun, South Korea's ambassador for climate change, and her Canadian counterpart, Catherine Stewart, on Sunday, on the sidelines of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, the ministry said. The MOU calls for bolstering cooperation in exchanges of

Foreign AffairsDec. 4, 2023