Hyundai Motor Co. said it aims for half of its US vehicle sales to be environment friendly models by 2030 while planning to produce electric vehicles in the world's most important automobile market, a company executive has said. Jose Munoz, Hyundai's global chief operating officer, made the comments in an interview with a group of Korean reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show 2022. The South Korean carmaker is fully prepared to raise the proportion of eco-frie

Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan is bound for his second straight Winter Olympics after winning the final national team trials on Sunday. Cha handily won the second leg of the two-stage Beijing Olympic trials in Uijeongbu, some 20 kilometers north of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province. Cha finished with 283.31 points overall, with 185.00 points in Sunday's free skate and 98.31 points in Saturday's short program. Cha had also won the first leg of the trials in December with 239.16 points. He had 522.47 combi

CBM plans to build world’s largest cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility by 2025

Experts remain divided over whether Korea’s central bank will carry out a rate hike at its first rate-setting meeting of the year set for Friday. The upcoming monetary policy board meeting comes as the Korean economy continues to struggle with high inflationary pressure and the US Federal Reserve’s recent signal of a sooner-than-expected rate hike. A majority of experts see a rate hike coming Friday or next month, and the Bank of Korea is expected to raise its benchmark interest

Korea on Sunday was blanketed by dangerous levels of ultrafine dust expected to persist until at least Monday, which prompted the government to issue emergency reduction measures for the first time this year. According to the Metropolitan Air Quality Management Office under the Ministry of Environment, the ultrafine dust density levels in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and South Chuncheong Province were projected to be “very bad“ with over 76 micrograms per cubic meter.  The MAMO i

Lottery system invites scandals, addiction, and conspiracy theories, all while raking in a king’s ransom

Lotte Engineering & Construction Co. and Hyundai Engineering Co. said Sunday they have signed $2.39 billion deals to construct a giant petrochemical complex in Indonesia. Under separate deals with Lotte Chemical Corp., Lotte E&C and Hyundai Engineering will build the complex in Cilegon, a coastal industrial city about 90 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, by 2025. Lotte E&C's stake is $1.63 billion while Hyundai Engineering's stake is $757 million. The complex will have an annual ca

The captain of a fishing boat that had capsized in waters off South Korea's southwestern coast was found dead Sunday, the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard said the captain in his 70s was found inside his boat's wheelhouse just before noon Sunday. The vessel, carrying five crew members, capsized after colliding with a bigger fishing vessel in waters 3.5 kilometers northeast of Jang Island in South Jeolla Province at around 1:12 p.m. Saturday, according to the Coast Guard. Of the five, one Ind

South Korea's exports of kimchi hit an all-time high last year thanks to its growing popularity, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of the spicy Korean traditional side dish came to a record $159.9 million in 2021, resulting in a trade surplus of $19.2 million in the sector, according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It is the first time in 12 years that South Korea registered a surplus in the kimchi trade. Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish norm

The South Korean economy faces heightened downside risks, as the country has tightened antivirus measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases and the global economic recovery has slowed down, a state-run think tank said Sunday. Since December, the recovery of private spending has been constrained by tighter social distancing measures to tackle the spike in COVID-19 infections, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in a monthly economic assessment report. "On the external side, globa

South Korea's bourse operator said Sunday that it will launch a domestic capital market information portal in English this week to provide more information to foreign investors. The service, dubbed Market Data System, will be provided through the website (http://global.krx.co.kr) starting Monday, the Korea Exchange (KRX) said. The KRX said the website will improve information accessibility and convenience for foreign investors whose influence in the domestic capital market has continuously inc

BTS and IU won the top prizes Saturday at the 36th Golden Disc Awards, the annual South Korean event that honors achievements in the local music industry. BTS took home album of the year award at a ceremony at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome for its album “Be,” which was released in November 2020. It was the fifth consecutive year that the group won the top honor in the album category. The group also won three additional awards, including the Seezn most popular artist award, digita

Hyundai Motor Group is expected to achieve 3 million units in accumulated environment-friendly vehicle sales in the first half, driven by new models, industry sources said Sunday. The South Korean automotive group, which has Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. under its wing, sold a cumulative 2.53 million eco-friendly vehicles as of November last year, according to industry people. From January to November, the two carmakers sold a combined 656,479 eco-friendly models in global markets, higher th

South Korean conglomerate GS Holdings said Sunday that it has set up a corporate venture capital (CVC) firm to invest in promising startups. GS Ventures plans to invest in local startups that focus on the new growth industries, such as bio, climate change, resource recycling, retail and renewable energy, GS Holdings said. Heo Jun-nyeong, vice president at GS Holdings who is a merger and acquisition expert, was named the first chief executive officer of GS Ventures. GS Holdings holds a 100 per

Bae Eun-sim, the mother of a late student activist whose death became a symbol of South Korea's pro-democracy movement in 1987, died Sunday. She was 82. Bae had been hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction last Monday, and was discharged Saturday. She died at Chosun University Hospital in the southwestern city of Gwangju after collapsing on Sunday. Bae's surviving family members decided against an autopsy and they will proceed with her funeral in Gwangju, some 330 kilometers south of Seou