South Korean defense firm Poongsan said Thursday it has bagged orders in the Middle East to supply ammunitions worth 95.7 billion won ($77.9 million). The company will export three types of 50-caliber machine gun bullets to the region by 2021. The armor-piercing 50-caliber bullet is one of the most powerful rounds of ammunition, typically used for M2 machine guns and K6 heavy machine guns to perforate or penetrate hardened or bullet-resistant targets such as armored fighting vehicles. &l

South Korean battery maker LG Chem said Thursday that the Polish government would open its airways to allow LG Chem employees to resume the expansion of the company’s electric vehicle battery plant in Poland. It is an exception to the country’s strict measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak. According to LG Chem, the company will dispatch some 200 employees on a special LOT Polish Airlines flight Friday to the construction site in Wroclaw, Poland, to restart the work to expan

South Korean esports company SK Telecom T1 said Thursday that it had signed a sponsorship deal with BMW Group, becoming the first sports club in Korea to do so. According to SKT T1, BMW will provide T1 players at home and abroad with the latest vehicles, including the BMW X7. The T1 players will wear uniforms bearing the BMW logo as part of a joint marketing effort. “BMW will develop hardware and software for T1 players with its innovative technology to promote the long-term growth o

Samsung Bioepis’ breast cancer treatment Ontruzant (trastuzumab) was launched in the US via local partner Merck, Thursday. Ontruzant references Roche’s blockbuster original Herceptin, which recorded annual global revenue of approximately 7.2 trillion won ($5.8 billion) in 2019. The US accounts for about 45 percent of Herceptin sales. Samsung Bioepis strategizes to sell Ontruzant at a 15 percent more affordable rate than Herceptin, as well as to offer doses of 150 milligrams and 4

South Korean air carriers have resumed their domestic operations for the spring travel season, according to industry sources Thursday.  While resumption of international flights is uncertain over prolonging concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic, local air carriers are planning to reopen flight services to popular tourism destinations across the nation, such as Jeju Island. According to budget airline Jeju Air, it has newly launched Gimpo-Yeosu and Yeosu-Jeju routes on Thursday. The routes wi

Korean Air has suspended its in-flight beverage service for passengers on domestic flights, according to industry sources Thursday.  Free beverages -- including water, soda, coffee and tea -- have been suspended as the Transport Ministry recently requested airlines to minimize the number of passengers taking off their face masks in flights, in order to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection. Korean Air said it will not provide beverages on domestic routes. Another full-service carrier

Representatives of South Korea’s key industries expressed concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and raised their calls for the government to expand support for the sectors reeling. On Thursday, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and associations of five industries, including automobiles, steel, petrochemicals, machinery and shipbuilding, jointly held a meeting to listen to the difficulties of the industries and discuss solutions. “The economic impact of coronavirus was

Coupang became the first Korean e-commerce company to surpass 7 trillion won ($5.75 billion) mark in annual sales, getting ahead of offline retailer Lotte Mart, one of the three biggest discount store chains in the country. According to Coupang’s audit report Tuesday, it recorded 7.15 trillion won in sales in 2019, a 64.2 percent surge from 4.35 trillion won in 2018, while operating loss decreased by more than 400 billion won, to 720 billion won from 1.12 trillion won. Meanwhile, Lott

Satoshi Shigemitsu likely to join Lotte Korea once military issue settled

South Korean discount chain Homeplus said Wednesday that the number of customers joining its membership programs has surpassed 300,000. The number of members reached 301,225 as of April 14, up 153 percent on-year from 119,127. Since 2018, Homeplus has been operating seven membership programs based on product categories such as wine and kids’ products. Each membership program regularly offers special discounts with events on a monthly basis. The jump in membership has led to an increa

Korean companies are making various donations to Indian organizations to help them fight the novel coronavirus as the country is under heavy lockdown, according to the industry on Wednesday. Although Korean businesses that have manufacturing facilities in India have suspended their operations upon state order since last month, the firms are coming up with measures to support local governments in the states where they are running the plants. Samsung Electronics said its India branch made a p

China’s telecommuting market is anticipated to double in size this year due to the spread of COVID-19, opening new possibilities for Korean tech firms, the Korea International Trade Association’s Beijing office said Wednesday through a report. The Chinese telecommuting market is expected to reach 44.9 billion yuan ($6.3 billion) in 2020, about double that of 2019’s estimated 22.9 billion yuan and nearly four times 2018’s 11.7 billion yuan. This is due to the increased

Hyundai Motor Co. and three other companies are recalling about 45,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Wednesday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers operating in South Korea due to problems in components of vehicles they sell here. Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors Corp., the Korean units of Mercedes-Benz and Toyota Motor are recalling a total of 44,967 vehicles, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The potential

Although the continued spread of coronavirus has disrupted many industries in South Korea, those related to “untact” services -- referring to no-contact interaction, which have become an integral part of life -- have fared well and are expected to grow even further, according to industry sources Wednesday. E-commerce companies appear to be the biggest beneficiaries of the prolonged pandemic. Online shopping transactions in Korea amounted to 11.9 trillion won ($9.7 billion) in F

Renault Samsung Motors and GM Korea have concluded wage deals with unionized workers -- a positive sign for the struggling automotive industry amid the COVID-19 outbreak -- but there are still hurdles, considering the ongoing global economic downturn and unstable management-labor union ties, industry sources said Wednesday.  According to Renault Samsung, 70.2 percent of the unionized workers voted to accept a wage freeze and cash bonuses of 8.88 million won ($7,320) per person for 2019. T