Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong will visit Russia next week for discussions on bilateral ties and issues surrounding the Korean peninsula, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Chung will arrive in Russia on Tuesday for a three-day trip and will hold talks with his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Wednesday. The two will meet for the first time since the Russian foreign minister visited Seoul in March this year. The talks are expected to touch on recent developments on the peninsula as Seoul st

Hyundai Construction Equipment Co. said Thursday it has signed a deal with its holding company Hyundai Genuine Co. to sell its industrial vehicle division for 136 billion won ($115.8 million).  The deal set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, is intended to focus on the construction equipment sector by purchasing stakes in construction equipment affiliates in China and Brazil, Hyundai Construction Equipment said in a regulatory filing.  The industrial vehicles refer to forklifts and

  South Korean and Paraguayan trade ministers agreed Thursday to make joint efforts to boost cooperation in trade and industry fields in the post-pandemic era, officials said. During the meeting held in Seoul, Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and his Paraguayan counterpart, Luis Alberto Castiglioni Soria, discussed ways to promote bilateral investment and exchanges in a wide range of sectors, such as vaccine and climate change, according to the officials of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and En

Boy band Kingdom held an online showcase for its third EP, “History of Kingdom: Part 3 Ivan,” Thursday.   　 The EP was themed after a snow king and the performance dramatizes a battle set against a snow-covered kingdom. The band has been putting out a seven-part series, each installment on kings from different backgrounds. As the title of the album states, the band’s Ivan is the main character in the new EP. Arthur and Chiwoo took central roles in the first and second EPs

President Moon vows all efforts to make May launch a success

South Korea’s KB Financial Group said Thursday its net profit in the January-September period came to 3.7 trillion won ($3.14 billion), eclipsing last year’s annual net profit. KB’s net profit in the first nine months of the year jumped 31.1 percent on-year and surpassed last year’s annual net profit of 3.4 trillion won, hitting a record high for the cited period. Onlookers said that the banking group is likely to see a record high for fiscal 2021 as well, likely surpas

North Korea is still working on improving missiles, but its latest submarine-launched ballistic missile tested Tuesday is still an early-stage weapon that can be intercepted, Defense Minister Suh Wook told the National Defense Committee on Thursday. “We have to look at not just that single missile launch but a whole system that goes with it,” Suh said during an annual National Assembly audit, referring to North Korea’s capability to build a submarine big enough to fire multipl

Blackstone-backed handbag maker Simone Acc Collection said Thursday it has dropped its plan to go public, dashing hopes for the New York-based private fund investor’s exit from its South Korean portfolio firm. According to the filing with the Financial Supervisory Service, Simone has canceled the upcoming plans for an IPO and listing on the Korea Exchange. Its lead underwriters were Samsung Securities and Mirae Asset Securities. The news came after its two-day book building targeting in

LG CNS said Thursday the company has completed the transformation of Korean Air’s corporate information technology system into a public cloud service. The LG affiliate embarked on the project three years ago in partnership with Amazon Web Service. Turning a company’s IT system into a public cloud is a newly growing business for IT solution providers like LG CNS as companies start to accelerate their digital transformations. Korean Air’s cloud project marked a first in the

LG Group, the fourth-largest conglomerate in South Korea, on Thursday pledged to create a total of 39,000 new jobs over the next three years. The group’s Chairman and CEO Koo Kwang-mo unveiled the plan during a meeting with Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum at LG Science Park in Magok, western Seoul. The meeting was attended by the top brass of LG Group, including Vice Chairman Kwon Young-soo and President Lee Bang-soo. The meeting was part of the Korean government’s youth employment p

South Korea could discontinue most of its COVID-19 restrictions within mere weeks, according to top health officials. Kwon Deok-cheol, the minister of health and welfare, told lawmakers Wednesday that Nov. 1 is the likely date for the country’s “return to normal.” He said during a parliamentary audit of the ministry that the COVID-19 response team was “considering the first day of November as the date of the transition.” Korea Disease Control and Prevention Ag

Along with rally, exchanges expected to make robust profits: lawmaker