LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical maker, said Tuesday it aims to boost its sales to 60 trillion won ($50.1 billion) by 2030 as it accelerates its push for a green transition with a focus on renewable energy and advanced materials. Unveiling its mid- to long-term business plans, LG Chem said in regulatory filings it is eyeing annual sales of 40 trillion won by 2026. The target figures exclude its two subsidiaries -- the battery-making unit LG Energy Solution Ltd. and LG FarmHannong C

Amid South Korean anger over “biased” refereeing toward Chinese competitors at short track speedskating races, a South Korean-born coach of the Chinese team spoke out. In a lengthy message posted on his Instagram in the wee hours of Tuesday, Victor An, who was Ahn Hyun-soo before becoming a naturalized Russian citizen in 2011, pleaded not to attack his family members for his choices and what’s happening in the ongoing Beijing Olympics. A six-time Olympic gold medalist, An j

BEIJING -- The two South Korean short trackers who were penalized in their recent Olympic races in Beijing committed no violations that warranted disqualification, an international referee from the country said Tuesday, adding that the competition at Beijing 2022 has already been marred by bad officiating. Choi Yong-koo, a senior official on the South Korean short track team in Beijing and an International Skating Union (ISU) referee, made those remarks at a press conference held in light of th

A North Korean official, known for his role in inter-Korean engagement years ago, has emerged as an apparent policymaker on overseas ethnic Korean affairs, Pyongyang's state media showed Tuesday, raising questions over a potential shift in his job. Maeng Kyong-il led a debate on legislating an act aimed at enhancing rights of ethnic Koreans abroad during a session of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), the North's rubber-stamp parliament, earlier this week, according to the North's main newspa

South Korean pro baseball chief Chung Ji-taik on Tuesday resigned from his post about a year after he took office, citing health issues, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said. Chung, former vice chairman of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, started his three-year term as the KBO commissioner in January last year, following his predecessor Chung Un-chan. "The KBO League has struggled with many difficulties like restricted admissions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic,"

Many South Koreans expressed outrage on Tuesday over what they perceived as egregious refereeing against some of the country's short track speed skaters at the Beijing Winter Olympics this week. In the men's 1,000m semifinals on Monday, South Korea's Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo each got disqualified from their respective heats for illegal passing and lane change. Those decisions each allowed Chinese skaters to advance to the final, and the host country ended up collecting gold and silver me

South Korea plans to invest 12 billion won ($10 million) in developing high-performance, liquid-fuel engines by next year to ramp up the country's decadelong space project, the ICT and science ministry said Tuesday. In 2020, South Korea unveiled the "Space Challenge" program with the aim of investing 49.6 billion won until 2028 to secure future technologies and leadership in the space industry in 2030. Of the total, the ministry has set aside a budget of 4.5 billion won this year and

Presidential candidates vented their rage Tuesday after two South Korean short trackers were disqualified in questionable referee decisions for alleged infractions at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Skaters Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo were both disqualified from the semifinals of the men's 1,000m on Monday after getting called for making an illegal late passing and a lane change that caused contact with another skater, respectively. Those decisions allowed Chinese skaters to advance to the fi

RM, leader of K-pop supergroup BTS, has expressed his support for a South Korean short track speed skater disqualified during the Beijing Winter Olympics amid mounting public outrage over the questionable referee decision. The singer posted a photo, along with a thumbs-up emoticon, on his Instagram account on Monday night of Hwang Dae-heon passing Chinese competitors during a men's 1,000m semifinal. Hwang finished first but was disqualified for what the referee said was an illegal late passing.

North Korea has denied allegations it has carried out a series of cryptocurrency thefts and cyberattacks on other countries, calling them a "creation" by the United States. It also denounced the US as a "hacking empire and country of intelligence theft." The North made the claim in a piece posted on the country's foreign ministry website Monday, following a recent report by US blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis that said North Korean hackers stole around $400 million wort

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday reiterated his call on the National Assembly to swiftly approve an extra budget bill designed to help pandemic-hit small merchants, emphasizing that quick support is the key. "We cannot delay support for small merchants and self-employed people even for a moment," Moon said during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office. The government will thoughtfully review reasonable plans coming out of the process of the National Assembly's deliberation.&quo

South Korea's military on Tuesday reported 466 additional COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 6,742. The new cases included 271 from the Army, 148 from the Air Force, 26 from the Marine Corps, 12 from the Navy, eight from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and one from the ministry. Currently, 2,252 military personnel are under treatment. Meanwhile, the military reported no additional virus cases from the Navy's 304-strong Cheonghae u

South Korean girl group Momoland will embark on a promotional tour of Mexico next week for its new digital single, seeking to advance to the broader Central and South American market, its agency said Tuesday. The six-piece group will leave for Mexico on Monday in its second trip to the region since 2019 when it appeared on the country's music-themed pay-TV channel Telehit, according to MLD Entertainment. During the upcoming visit, Momoland will appear as a special guest in the final round of

LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Tuesday it swung to the black in the fourth quarter from a year earlier on the back of strong electric vehicle (EV) battery sales. Net income came to 71.8 billion won ($59.9 million) in the October-December period, compared with the 436.4 billion-won loss the previous year, South Korea's top battery maker said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit reached 75.7 billion won, a turnaround from the 479.1 billion-won loss. Sales rose 1.9 percent to 4.4 trillion won