GS Group establishes cultural foundation to boost art

South Korean energy, retail and construction conglomerate GS Group announced Thursday that it has officially launched the GS Cultural Foundation, a move aimed at enriching the nation's cultural and artistic landscape. Chaired by GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo, the board comprises prominent figures including Kang Sue-jin, artistic director of the Korean National Ballet, Eugene H J Bang, former head of DBS Bank Korea, Rha Wan-bae, former vice chairman of GS Energy, and Lee Joon-myung, an attor

Aug. 29, 2024

LG Chem opens CS center in Ohio

LG Chem, South Korea’s leading chemicals company, announced on Thursday the official opening of its new Customer Solution Center in Ravenna, Ohio, as part of its strategy to expand its presence in North America. The 8,300-square-meter, three-story facility is designed to provide comprehensive technical support to customers across the region, including product development, quality enhancement and productivity enhancement for LG Chem’s customers and suppliers. The center, which began c

Aug. 29, 2024

Dong-A Pharm's eye supplement for kids releases new flavor

South Korean drugmaker Dong-A Pharmaceutical said Thursday the company launched a new flavor of eye health supplement containing perilla herb for kids -- Minimax LAB Eyes Solution. According to a study released in 2017, researchers found that Perilla frutescens reduce near point of convergence values, which are indicators of eye fatigue. To evaluate the effects of Perilla extract, the research team divided 30 Korean participants into two groups, giving the extract to only one group. However, due

Aug. 29, 2024

CJ Olive Young's discount event start Friday

South Korea's largest beauty retailer CJ Olive Young said Wednesday the company will reduce the price of over 10,000 products by up to 70 percent for a week from Friday. The company has opened doors for the nation's smaller cosmetic makers. Olive Young plans to offer large discounts on numerous Korean beauty products, with medium-sized brands making up 80 percent of them. In June, cosmetic products from small and medium-sized enterprises ranked first to tenth in sales. During the event

Aug. 28, 2024

Naver, Kakao strive to combat deepfake porn spreading online

The rise of explicit and nonconsensual deepfake pornography illegally being shared online is prompting Korean platform operators to boost their surveillance while delaying generative AI services. Naver, the country's No. 1 search engine, said Wednesday it is running Clova GreenEye 2.0 on its platforms to identify harmful and sexually explicit images using the image analysis solution based on its AI model's vision technology. While the solution is not specifically made to scan for deepf

Aug. 28, 2024

LG Innotek seeks leadership in parts for future mobility

LG Innotek said Wednesday that it has applied for some 3,500 patents related to automotive parts over the past five years, seeking leadership in the field of futuristic mobility. Almost 40 percent of the patents are for electric vehicles, one of the company’s new growth drivers. They cover diverse EV and autonomous driving technologies, including LiDar sensors, cameras, lighting and communication modules. LG Innotek said it is also accelerating efforts to secure standard patents as they ar

Aug. 28, 2024

One Store goes global with Taiwan launch

Korean mobile app store operator One Store said Wednesday that it aims to expand globally with Taiwan being the first strategic market. “Our hyper localization strategy involves partnering with local companies globally to tailor services specifically for each region, aiming to compete with global monopolies on a global scale," CEO Chun Dong-jin said during a press conference in Seoul, earlier in the day. "One Store aims to become the most competitive app market globally by 2030.&

Aug. 28, 2024

Woori to reenter insurance market after 11-year hiatus

Woori Financial Group has finalized a deal to acquire Tongyang Life Insurance and ABL Life Insurance, marking its reentry into the insurance sector after 11 years. The group announced Wednesday that its board of directors has resolved to incorporate Tongyang Life Insurance and ABL Life Insurance as subsidiaries and has signed the stock sale agreements. Woori will acquire a 75.34 percent stake in Tongyang Life for 1.28 trillion won ($958 million) and the entirety of ABL Life for 265.4 billion won

Aug. 28, 2024

Shinhan Bank offers AI interpretation service for foreigners

Shinhan Bank, one of South Korea's five major commercial banks, is enhancing services for foreign customers with the introduction of a new speech-to-text interpretation service at its brick-and-mortar branches. On Wednesday, the bank announced the launch of its "Banking for Everyone" service, designed to assist foreign customers facing communication challenges due to language barriers or disabilities. The service converts spoken language into text for both bankers and customers vi

Aug. 28, 2024

Why Korea suffers record travel deficit despite K-culture boom

A growing number of foreign travelers are visiting Korea amid the global popularity of K-culture. But many more Korean nationals are traveling abroad, leading the nation’s travel deficit to a six-year record in the first six months of this year. According to a recent joint report by the Bank of Korea and the Korea Tourism Organization, the country recorded a travel deficit of $6.48 billion in the first half. The figure represents the largest deficit since the $8.74 billion recorded in 20

Aug. 27, 2024

Westinghouse interrupts Korea's Czech nuclear deal

Korea’s multibillion-dollar deal to build nuclear plants in the Czech Republic has been put at risk with US-based Westinghouse Electric Co. filing an appeal with the Czech's antimonopoly watchdog Tuesday, challenging Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's position as the preferred bidder. "KHNP’s APR1000 and APR1400 plant designs utilize Westinghouse-licensed Generation II System 80 technology," Westinghouse said in its press release. "KHNP neither owns the underlying

Aug. 27, 2024

SK Innovation, E&S to merge into W100tr energy giant

SK Innovation and SK E&S, two major energy affiliates of the country's second-largest conglomerate SK Group, received shareholders’ approval for their merger on Monday, paving the way for the launch of an integrated entity with assets over 100 trillion won ($75 billion). Some 85.76 percent of the attendees at SK Innovation's extraordinary general shareholders meeting voted in favor of the merger. The merger was approved by SK E&S shareholders, too. SK Inc., the group&rsqu

Aug. 27, 2024

Fubon Hyundai Life solidifies foothold in Korea

Fubon Hyundai Life Insurance, the Korean unit of Taiwan's Fubon Financial Group, is making steady progress in solidifying its foothold in South Korea under the robust leadership of CEO Lee Jae-won. Establishing a presence in Korea is no easy task for a minor foreign insurer, yet Fubon Hyundai Life has been on an upward growth trajectory as it approaches its sixth anniversary next month. Notably, the company has effectively shifted from a sole focus on retirement pensions to offering more di

Aug. 27, 2024

JB Financial Group's Kwangju Bank, Toss Bank launch joint loan product

Kwangu Bank, a South Korean bank affiliated with JB Financial Group, announced Tuesday the company has teamed up with Toss Bank, the internet-only lender, to launch the nation's first joint loan product. Kwangju Bank expects synergy by combining its know-how about private loans with Toss Bank’s extensive mobile platform. The new loan product, called Together Loan, also earned recognition as an innovative financial service from the Financial Services Commission in June. Customers can a

Aug. 27, 2024

LG CNS to nurture DX talent in partnership with SNU

Korean IT service provider LG CNS said Tuesday the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Seoul National University to nurture tech talents specialized in digital transformation or DX. Under the partnership, LG CNS will set up new talent training programs for SNU's master course in industrial engineering. The areas of study include mathematical optimization, artificial intelligence, big data and business consulting. The company will select top performers in the course next ye

Aug. 27, 2024

[Photo News] Supporting Paralympians

From left: Boccia players from South Korea Kang Sun-hee and Jeong So-yeong, Kurt Busk, a wheelchair rugby player from Denmark, International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons and Jordan Luce, a wheelchair basketball player from France, pose for a photo at Samsung Electronics' pop-up zone at the Olympic and Paralympic Village in Paris ahead of the 2024 Paralympic Games that kick off Wednesday in the French capital. Samsung has been the official Olympic partner for 18 years. The t

Aug. 27, 2024

[Photo News] Hana global workshop

Hana Financial Group hosted a two-day workshop starting Monday at the Hana Global Campus in Incheon, focusing on global strategies and corporate culture to enhance employee capabilities and reinforce the company's commitment to customer-centric service. The seminar was attended by 29 employees from 19 countries. The picture shows Hana Financial Group Vice President Lee Eun-hyung (center) with the global participants. (Hana Financial Group)

Aug. 27, 2024

Hanwha Ocean’s H1 orders soar on high-value LNG vessels

Korean shipbuilding and offshore company Hanwha Ocean said Tuesday that it has secured some $5.07 billion in orders in the first half of this year with a strategic focus on high-value vessels such as LNG carriers. Under the contracts, Hanwha will build 26 high value-added ships – 16 LNG ships, two very large ammonia carriers (VLAC), one very large gas carrier (VLGC) and 7 very large crude oil carriers (VLCC) – scoring the highest contract amount in the merchant ship sector among dome

Aug. 27, 2024

[Photo News] Samsung fosters tech talent

A student makes device components as part of a polymechanics task in the 59th National Skills Competition at Kumoh Technical High School in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Monday. Samsung Group has been providing 250 million won ($188,000) every year since 2007 to sponsor the annual event aimed at fostering young talent. The conglomerate has so far hired 1,600 high school graduates who showed excellent performance at the competition in affiliates including Samsung Electronics and Samsung Displa

Aug. 26, 2024

Kioxia's IPO expected to bring windfall for SK hynix: analysts

Japan’s Kioxia Holdings, the world’s third-largest NAND flash memory company, applied to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, making it the largest stock debut since SoftBank in 2018. Now keen attention is being paid to SK hynix, the world's No. 2 maker of memory chips, which has invested 4 trillion won ($3 billion) in the Japanese rival. With the aim for an October initial public offering, Kioxia is expected to achieve a market capitalization of over 1.5 trillion yen ($1

Aug. 26, 2024