While the government on Monday unveiled a draft version of its road map for “living with COVID-19,” raising hopes of a gradual return to normal, the music industry is accusing it of bias against the sector and is calling for changes. Several music industry organizations -- the Korea Entertainment Producers’ Association, Korea Management Federation, Korean Singers Association, Recording Industry Association of Korea, Korea Music Content Association, Korea Music Copyright Associ

The government plans to pay about 960 billion won ($820 million) to the victims of the bloody 1948-1954 suppression of a civilian uprising on Jeju Island, the interior ministry said Wednesday, marking the largest state compensation for civilian victims connected to past tragedies. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the government has finalized the plan to pay compensation of 90 million won per person to 10,101 victims of the so-called Jeju April 3 incident. If the individual compensati

Descendants of South Korea’s conglomerate founders have inherited more shares and strengthened their control on the companies in recent years, data showed Wednesday, indicating a generational power transfer within the family-controlled businesses. According to local corporate tracker CEO Score, of all family-owned shares from 60 conglomerates, the percentage of the children’s shares in value surged to 43.6 percent as of October, up 9.7 percentage points from 33.9 percent in 2019. T

MARKETING AWARDS / GOLD PRIZE SK INNOVATION By Lim Su-kil Head of SK Innovation Value Creation Center SK Innovation pursues the “Green Balance 2030” initiative to seek growth through an eco-friendly business management strategy. We would like to express our gratitude to all who supported the public relations campaign “SK Innovation Going ESG.” As the ESG paradigm is becoming mainstream across the globe, a company that neglects environmental issues, hesitates to walk t

LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical company, said Wednesday it will build a battery separator production plant in Hungary with Japanese chemical giant Toray Industries Inc. as part of efforts to expand its presence in the European market. Under the 50:50 joint venture deal, the two companies will invest over a combined 1 trillion won ($854.7 million), aiming for annual production of 800 million square meters of separators, the key component used in rechargeable batteries, by 2028, LG C

Between last-mile mobility innovation and public nuisance, Seoul regulators’ lackadaisical policy a textbook example of how innovation gets killed

CORPORATE PR AWARDS / GRAND PRIZE LG Energy Solution By Sung Hwan-doo Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Affairs Group I want to say many thanks to the judges and members of The Korea Herald for this award. This year, LG Energy Solution made a new leap forward. And we are extremely happy to receive the Corporate PR Grand Prize at this crucial time when we are conveying our image as a company to the public for the first time. The secondary cell business has undoubtedly become one of

South Korean stocks retreated Wednesday as investors attempted to cash in gains amid concerns that the corporate earnings may wane after a strong third quarter. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 23.59 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 3,025.49 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 598 million shares worth some 10.1 trillion won (US$8.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 626 to 232. Foreigners sold a net 2

LG Display Co., South Korea's major display panel maker, said Wednesday that its third-quarter net income surged 4,067.5 percent from a year earlier to 463.5 billion won ($396.1 million), largely driven by strong demand and profitability of its OLED business. Operating income jumped 221.8 percent to 528.9 billion won in the three months ending in September, 17.3 percent lower than previously expected. Sales rose 7.2 percent on-year to 7.22 trillion won. Continued growth in pandemic-led demand

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was behind Moderna’s decision to supply the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured here to the Korean government, industry sources claimed Wednesday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Tuesday it had authorized the domestic supply of 2.4 million doses to be finished at Samsung Biologics’ factory in Songdo, Incheon, from next month. The biopharmaceutical affiliate of Samsung has a deal with the US vaccine firm to &ldqu

With South Korea’s economic engine sputtering, the country’s potential growth rate may fall to zero in the following decade, a study showed Wednesday. According to research published by the Korea Economic Research Institute, most of the country’s macroeconomic indicators on production, consumption and investment cast a gloomy outlook. The country’s potential growth rate -- the maximum rate Asia’s fourth-largest economy could grow without triggering inflation --

Public Wi-Fi provided in intra-city buses will be getting four times faster as it will be upgraded to 5G network service from the current LTE. Starting with 100 pilot buses, which started boasting faster connections on Wednesday, 29,000 buses nationwide will have 5G connections by 2023, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. The speed of Wi-Fi currently available on public buses has a maximum speed of 100Mbps as it relies on LTE networks. It will increase to 400Mbps with the rollout of

Mortgage loans surge by 200 trillion won since 2017