Chip shortage will only worsen profit outlook

Renault Samsung Motors Corp., the South Korean unit of Renault S.A., said Wednesday its vehicle sales more than doubled last month from a year earlier on robust exports. Renault Samsung sold 11,743 vehicles in November, sharply up from 867 units a year earlier despite the extended COVID-19 pandemic, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 15 percent on-year to 6,129 units from 7,207, but exports soared to 11,743 units from 867 on strong demand for its SUV models, it said. From Ja

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), on Wednesday called for Japan to swiftly carry out a South Korean Supreme Court order to compensate wartime forced labor victims. "Turning away does not make history disappear," Lee wrote on his Facebook page. "It should respond to the victim's pain with a sincere apology and find realistic ways to carry out the compensation quickly." In 2018, the South Korean Supreme Court ordered Japanese firm

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has decided to impose a combined 2.37 billion-won ($2 million) fine on SYS Holdings and its affiliate for the parent company's illegal support. SYS Holdings, a leasing company, provided real estate collateral for free to its affiliate SYS Retail, an operator of an electronics goods discount outlet, between December 2009 and November 2021, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). The move helped SYS Retail easily take 195 rounds of low-in

The second batch of urea under export inspection in China was to arrive in South Korea on Wednesday, the oceans ministry said, which is expected to help address supply crunch of urea solution, a key fluid needed in diesel cars to cut emissions. The ship carrying 3,000 tons of urea will arrive in the southeastern city of Ulsan around 9 p.m. after leaving from the Longkou port in China's northeastern province of Shandong on Monday, according to the ministry. It is part of the 18,700 tons of urea

SsangYong Motor Co. said Wednesday its sales fell 26 percent last month from a year earlier amid a prolonged chip shortage. SsangYong Motor sold 8,748 vehicles in November, down from 11,859 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales declined 32 percent to 6,277 units last month from 9,270 a year ago, while exports were down 3.4 percent to 2,501 units from 2,589 during the same period, it said. From January to November, its sales fell 3.4 percent to 75,351 autos from

For actor Park Jeong-min, the global popularity of “Hellbound” was unexpected. “Because I was simply a huge fan of the original webtoon, I was excited to play the television producer Bae Young-jae. Though I never took the role lightly, I did not have the pressure of turning the project into a smash hit series. I enjoyed working with amazing colleagues and director Yeon Sang-ho,” Park said in an online interview with a group of reporters on Tuesday. “Hearing the n

Lee Jun-seok switches off cellphone after being ‘passed’, reports say he is in Busan

As operator of state-funded project, Korea Bio bolsters cooperation among bio firms, research institutes and investors

S.Korea and US to discuss on a new operational war plan against N.Korea

A Canadian virtual real estate company Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of investment firm Tokens.com, bought a virtual land in a metaverse platform called Decentraland for $2.4 million. Established in 2017, Decentraland is an online platform that deals with virtual assets in the form of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, based on the Ethereum blockchain. Avatars in the Decentraland can earn money by embarking on speculative investment, hosting exhibitions, and conducting advertisement campai

An independent music label under Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind boy band BTS, announced a plan Wednesday to hold its first global audition aimed at launching next-generation boy bands and girl groups. According to All Doors One Room (ADOR), anyone born between 2002 and 2010 can apply for an audition from Wednesday to Jan. 10, regardless of their nationality and country of residence. Since the audition is set to take place online, applicants are required to submit applications along with t

DAEJEON -- Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded the death penalty for a man charged with raping and killing the 20-month-old daughter of his live-in girlfriend. The 29-year-old man, surnamed Yang, allegedly killed the baby girl for not stopping crying on the night of June 15 by covering her with a blanket and punching and stomping on her for about an hour while drunk at his home in Daejeon, about 165 kilometers south of Seoul. He was also charged with raping the toddler before beating her to deat

South Korea could make "big adjustments" to its virus prevention measures if the number of omicron coronavirus variant cases spike in the country, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said Wednesday. "We discussed such an issue during a special virus response meeting presided over by President Moon Jae-in on Nov. 29," Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for communication, told a YouTube channel of a local news outlet. "We have completed our review (on the issue).&q

R&B singer Bumkey made his Japan debut Wednesday with the release of the single “Attraction (Japanese Remix),” a collaboration with popular Japanese rapper Miyachi as a featured artist. The musician’s single was released on Japanese music streaming platforms at midnight, while it became available on local online music sites at noon. The new single is a remix version of “Attraction,” featuring Korean hip-hop act Dynamic Duo, which was released in August 2013. I