The South Korean market of instant meals jumped more than 145 pct in 2020 from four years earlier on the increased number of convenience stores and the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Shipments of ready-to-eat items, known as home meal replacement (HMR) products in South Korea, came to 2.01 trillion won ($1.7 billion) in 2020, up a whopping 145.3 percent from 2016, according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food T

Samsung Electronics is expected to introduce household robots under the brand “Samsung Bot” in the North American market. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization on Tuesday, the South Korean tech giant recently completed a trademark registration of Samsung Bot in the US and Canada. Samsung Bot encompasses all types of applications including industrial robots, exoskeleton robots, robot vacuum machines, robot kitchen utensils, humanoids and server robots, the compan

LG Chem will extract oil from plastic waste and reuse it for plastic production starting in 2024. According to South Korea’s leading chemical company Tuesday, it will establish a facility in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, where the plastic waste will be chemically recycled with extremely hot and pressurized steam. Once completed in the first quarter of 2024, the facility, with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons, will utilize the extracted oil to produce raw materials for plastic pro

People Power Party disbands subcommittee to fight accusations

Swedish premium electric carmaker Polestar on Tuesday launched the Polestar 2, its first fully electric, high-volume model, in South Korea to gain a share in the local EV market. The Polestar 2 electric performance fastback is equipped with a 78kWh battery and can travel up 417 kilometers on a single charge, the company said in a statement. Volvo Cars owns a controlling stake in Polestar, the former Volvo performance division-turned-electric car brand. The model with a single-motor powertrain

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has decided to impose a combined fine of 96.2 billion won ($80.7 million) on 23 Korean and foreign shippers for their 15-year-long collusion to fix freight rates. Since 2018, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has been looking into allegations that the country's top shipper, HMM Co., and 22 local and foreign shipping lines colluded to fix higher freight rates for Southeast Asian sea routes. The shippers -- 12 South Korean and 11 foreign -- collude

Deposits will be needed to buy drinks using disposable cups at cafes and fast-food chains starting in June as part of efforts to reduce plastic waste spiking amid the pandemic, the environment ministry said Tuesday. Starting on June 10, people will have to pay a deposit between 200 won ($0.17) and 500 won per disposable cup they buy drinks in at coffee shops and fast-food chains. The deposit will be given back when they return the used cups to the stores for recycling. About 38,000 cafes and

The presidential candidates of the ruling and main opposition parties will have their first one-on-one TV debate next week, the ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Tuesday. DP candidate Lee Jae-myung will face off against People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol at 10 p.m. on Jan. 27 for a 120-minute debate jointly hosted by the three terrestrial TV stations KBS, MBC and SBS. The DP said the broadcasters have requested a four-way debate between Lee, Yoon, Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition

SUWON -- The KT Wiz, after years as the bottom feeder of South Korean baseball, finally earned their inaugural Korean Series title in 2021. And the goal for their manager, Lee Kang-chul, in 2022 is simple: defend that championship. "I feel like defending the turf is a lot more difficult than going after the trophy the first time," Lee said in an interview at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, about 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on Monday. "Teams made a flurry of moves in the offseason, and t

Hyundai Capital Services Inc., South Korea's leading auto finance company, said Tuesday it has launched a joint venture with CGI Finance, a subsidiary of France's Societe Generale Group. Hyundai Capital France will provide auto finance, including lease, loan and insurance, for customers of Hyundai Motor Group -- Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. -- and financing services for dealers in France, the company said. The joint venture is Hyundai Capital's 10th overseas financial entity and fifth in Eu

South Korea's military on Tuesday reported 24 additional COVID-19 cases, including 23 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,657. Of the new cases, 19 are from the Army, three from the Air Force and two from the Marine Corps. Currently, 237 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,833 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

　South Korean artists released an average 3.8 artistic works to the public in 2021, a sharp drop from 7.8 pieces in 2018, attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, a government survey showed. 　According to the Culture Ministry’s triennial survey on 5,000 people in the art industry, the classical music scene was the busiest in 2021 out of 14 art sectors, with 6.4 public works released on average, followed by 5.8 pieces by Korean traditional musicians and 4.7 shows from the entertainment indu

Nearly a decade into his club football career, South Korean defender Kwon Kyung-won recently joined his sixth club in the fourth different country. There is more to this than wanderlust for the 29-year-old, who signed with Gamba Osaka of Japan on New Year's Day after stints in South Korea, Saudi Arabia and China. Kwon wants to challenge himself in different circumstances in his never-ending search for improvement. "I wanted to play in as many countries as I can," Kwon said in an inte