Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee on Thursday supported a presidential aide’s call for public funds to more actively exercise their rights as shareholders. The business tycoon said he was not only unperturbed by the remarks, but he “welcomes the idea of having shareholders publicly exercise their rights.” Lee was remarking on a speech given Tuesday by Kwak Seung-jun, head of the presiden...

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s second-largest computer memory chipmaker, announced Thursday it posted 2.79 trillion won in sales and 323 billion won in operating profit for the first quarter, slightly up from the previous quarter largely due to an increase in shipping. The figures indicate that the total sales and operating profit rose 1.5 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively, in the fir...

Hyundai Motor Co. finalized the deal with China’s Sichuan Nanjun Automobile Co. to establish a commercial vehicle plant in China on Thursday. The two companies had signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up a joint venture in October. Sichuan Nanjun Automobile Co. is China’s 11th-largest producer of commercial vehicles. The company operates two plants with a combined annual production c...

Red Rover Co., a local 3-D services provider, said Thursday that it has posted record earnings of 2.4 billion won ($2.2 million) in the first quarter, up 298 percent from the same period last year. The firm’s sales reached 9.2 billion won, up 203 percent from the January-March period last year, though it was little lower than that of the year’s fourth quarter, it said. “The record performance w...

By Cho Ji-hyun Korean Air, the country’s largest air carrier, introduced a number of new services on Wednesday, including an upgraded menu on some routes and a new cosmetic skin care set, in a bid to enhance its in-flight services. At a press event in Incheon, the company said it will upgrade the in-flight menu for economy seat passengers beginning in June, serving a healthier meal option -- sa...

By Choi He-suk The packaged power stations Hyundai Heavy Industries provided to Tokyo Electric Power Co. began operations Wednesday. Developed by Hyundai Heavy, a packaged power station is a piece of diesel-fueled power generating equipment contained within a 40-feet long container. The world’s largest shipyard sent over four packaged power stations to Japan after TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi nuc...

Prices of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices rose marginally in the second half of this month but stayed below the $1 level, an industry report showed Wednesday, casting doubts on the prospect for their quick recovery. The contract price of the benchmark DDR3 1-gigabit 128Mx8 1066-megahertz device rose 1.03 percent from the first half of this month to $0.98 in the second half, according...

South Korea’s automobile exports to Eastern Europe rose sharply in the first three months of this year thanks to an economic recovery in the region, a local automobile association said Wednesday. During the January-March period, South Korean car makers’ auto exports to Eastern Europe, including Russia, reached 72,393 units, compared with 37,670 units a year earlier, according to the Korea Automo...

By Koh Young-aah Seoul’s Gangnam area, on the southern side of the Han River, has emerged as a popular residential area for families of the country’s top 30 tycoons over the years, a research firm said in a report Wednesday. Seongbuk-dong and Hannam-dong, located in Gangbuk, north of the river, have historically been considered wealthy areas where most local conglomerate owners reside. The tre...

By Cho Ji-hyun LG Electronics announced its comeback Wednesday by getting back into the black, posting 13.15 trillion won ($12.19 billion) in sales and 130 billion won in operating profit for the first quarter of this year. In its quarterly earnings report, the company said total sales maintained a similar level to the same period last year, down 0.4 percent. However, its net loss during the te...