According to a survey conducted in April by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, four out of 10 startups in South Korea were hopeful of a positive impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as wider opportunities for new business models. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

Nexon sees setback in overseas market, Netmarble bleeds from marketing expenses

Korean Air Lines Co. said Wednesday it will raise 1 trillion won ($820 million) by selling stocks as part of self-help measures amid the growing coronavirus impact on the airline sector. The rights issue is one of the options that Korean Air has reviewed to raise the capital needed to ride out the coronavirus crisis, the company said in a statement. Shareholders of the country's biggest carrier will be given the rights to buy 79 million stocks to be issued at 12,600 won per share. The new sha

LG Chem on Wednesday dispatched a special task force comprised of eight officials to India in the aftermath of a deadly styrene gas leak at a LG Poloymers plant, which left at least 12 local residents dead and more than 1,000 hospitalized. The South Korean chemical and battery firm said the special team includes production and environmental safety experts led by LG Chem Executive Vice President and President of Petrochemicals Business Noh Kug-lae, who will meet local residents and explain su

The Korea Electric Power Corp. said Wednesday that it had won an international bid to build and operate a solar power generation facility in Guam. The state-run utility won an international bid from the Guam Power Authority and signed a long-term electricity supply contract that is expected to bring in $340 million for the company over 25 years. Samsung C&T is to build solar power generation facilities with a capacity of 60 megawatts and an energy storage systems power plant with a capa

LG Chem topped the global electric vehicle battery market in the first quarter thanks to client company Tesla’s strong sales, data showed Wednesday. According to market tracker EV Volumes, the company supplied 14 percent of the batteries for 88,461 Tesla EVs in the first quarter. Propelled by Tesla’s strong sales, LG Chem supplied EV batteries with a total storage capacity of 6.3 gigawatt hours. It took the lead over its Japanese competitor Panasonic for the first time in terms o

S-Oil said Wednesday that its chief executive has donated 280 million won ($228,275) to a social welfare organization to help local communities hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Hussain Al-Qahtani, who was appointed as the company’s new CEO last June, made the donation to the Korea National Council on Social Welfare while also launching corporate social responsibility activities at some 250 service stations nationwide. In the campaign, S-Oil’s marketing staff and executives will c

Optimistic timelines regarding the pharmaceutical race to produce a drug for COVID-19 have been met with skepticism, but even doubters do not deny that a vaccine or a treatment is desperately needed. “There can never be a complete (economic) recovery unless a working vaccine is developed and distributed,” said Chung Chul, senior vice president and acting president of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, in a press briefing Tuesday at the Sejong Government Complex

The drastic fall in duty-free shopping amid the ongoing global pandemic has eroded some 6 billion won ($4.9 million) from aesthetic solution company Hugel’s cosmetics product revenue. Hugel’s first-quarter report, filed Wednesday, showed the company suffered a 16 percent drop in on-year revenue at 41.2 billion won, a 25.1 percent drop in on-year operating profit at 12.3 billion won and a 52.4 percent fall in on-year net profit at 6.6 billion won. In the same period last year, Huge

Celltrion announced Wednesday its anti-viral pipelines development for Middle East respiratory syndrome and COVID-19 have been selected as national projects. The Korea Health Industry Development Institute, under the Welfare Ministry, had sought applications for infectious disease prevention and treatment tech projects, intended to encourage research and development of “cold case” treatments. Celltrion now has a total budget of 3.7 billion won ($3 million) for potential MERS trea

Han Sung Motor, the official dealer of Mercedes-Benz in South Korea, said on Wednesday that it has recently completed a campaign aimed at supporting the struggling local flower industry, amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, the company purchased flowers from nearby shops located in Seoul in an attempt to help troubled small businesses hit by the viral outbreak. It gave the flowers away to visitors at their branches. The company also promoted a two-week campaig

With the Chinese government poised to revise its regulations on beauty products for the first time in 30 years, South Korean cosmetics firms are seeking to expand shipments to their largest export market, a government agency said Wednesday. Under the current regulations, exporters must pass a complicated sanitary permit and certification process. The rule applies to all beauty items, including simple soaps. Cosmetics made from raw materials that have not been used in China also have difficult

Hyundai Glovis said Wednesday it has been picked as operator of Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.’s logistics center in Qingdao, China, its first cold chain business abroad.  According to the logistics unit of Hyundai Motor Group, its local unit Beijing Glovis, which has been operating there since 2005, will take charge of operation and management of the Qingdao center.  Beijing Glovis will manage the logistics operations -- from transport to storage and delivery of

Rare one-on-one business meeting of Lee Jae-yong, Chung Euisun hints at potential cooperation

Mercedes-Benz Korea on Wednesday unveiled its next-generation electric vehicle the Vision EQS concept car for the first time in South Korea. The Vision EQS was introduced to the public at the 2019 Frankfurt International Motor Show in September last year. The model shows the company’s design vision for future luxury electric sedans, according to the carmaker, which held its Vision EQS media presentation in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. By adding its top “S” class next to EQ, th