Fears of the new coronavirus have prompted South Korean air carriers to suspend more than 60 percent of their flights to China as of Thursday, according to industry sources. A total of 58 of the 94 China-bound routes operated by eight Korean carriers have been suspended due to the coronavirus scare.  The airlines have also reduced the number of flights on 25 routes to China, meaning 88 percent of all routes between the two countries have been affected by the outbreak.  The country&

South Korea unveiled plans for regulatory reform Thursday in a bid to promote innovation in new industries related to the fourth industrial revolution. Making public the 2020 road map for "regulatory innovations" in the economic sector, the government said it will allow new industries to develop in an amicable environment and impose necessary regulations later. New major industries that will benefit from the initiative include software, future-generation cars, drones and medical dev

  Japanese car imports to South Korea halved in the fourth quarter last year as the boycott of Japanese products in the country continued, latest data showed Thursday. The value of imported Japanese cars in South Korea amounted to $203 million in the period, a 51.9 percent drop from $422 million a year earlier, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. The market share of Japanese cars -- which commanded 15.2 percent of total imported cars -- plummeted to 6.2 percent in the same

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest airline and national flag carrier, said Thursday it will sell property and non-core assets to improve its financial status. Korean Air plans to sell its idle property in central Seoul and a non-core business unit to emerge as a financially healthy company amid growing uncertainties in the airline industry, the company said in a statement. The company aims to sell its land and building in Songhyeon-dong and an entire 100 percent stake in Wangsan Lei

The National Pension Service’s growing interference in corporate management as it enforces stricter yardsticks on investments and recent revisions of commercial acts are raising the hackles of South Korean business circles. On Thursday, a forum on “Improving governance structure for national pension independence” was co-hosted by five business associations -- Korea Economic Research Institute, Korea Enterprises Federation, Korea Listed Companies Association, Federation of Mi

KT Corp., South Korea's major telecommunication firm, said Thursday its net profit fell 12.2 percent last year from a year earlier as it ramped up spending on its network and marketing. In a regulatory filing, KT reported a net income of 669.3 billion won ($ 565.7 million) last year, down from 762.3 billion won in 2018, on a consolidated basis. The company said that operating profit for the year fell 8.8 percent on-year to 1.15 trillion won, although its annual revenue increased 3.8 percent

LG Electronics announced Thursday it will supply digital cockpit systems made with flexible organic light-emitting diode displays for General Motor’s premium brand Cadillac. Known as Plastic-OLED, LG Display’s proprietary flexible OLED display will be the main material for the 38-inch dashboard and infotainment system integration that offers 4K content for the 2021 Cadillac Escalade model, according to the company. The P-OLED-based digital cockpit system, consisting of audio-vid

LIG Nex1 said it is participating in DefExpo India 2020, a biennial defense and aerospace exhibition being held from Wednesday to Sunday in Lucknow, India, the world’s second-biggest arms importer that ranks fourth in military spending. The Korean defense company will showcase weapons including its land-based short-range surface-to-air missile Chiron that is mounted on the Hybrid Biho, a 30 mm complex gun and air defense system designed to target low-flying aircrafts and helicopters. T

Korean game companies pour donations for those affected by novel coronavirus

SEJONG -- South Korea said Thursday it will spend 385.6 billion won ($326.2 million) on research and development projects for auto parts for eco-friendly vehicles, such as electric cars, in line with the country's latest clean energy drive. The project that will run through 2026 will center on lending hands to small and midsized enterprises, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "Amid a change in the industrial paradigm in the automobile segment, the project will help

Overseas orders won by South Korean construction companies hit the lowest point in 13 years in 2019 due mainly to slowing orders from the Middle East, the construction ministry said Thursday. The combined overseas orders by the builders came to $22.3 billion last year, down 31 percent from 2018, marking the lowest since 2006, when the combined overseas orders by the builders stood at $16.4 billion, according to the ministry. For decades, oil-rich Middle Eastern countries have been the largest

Supply chain disruptions in China caused by the new coronavirus outbreak will likely hurt the first-quarter performance at Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., S&P Global Ratings Services has said. In a report released Wednesday, S&P said if the Lunar New Year break in China is not extended beyond Sunday, Hyundai and Kia are expected to normalize Korean production, which accounts for 40-50 percent of total production, in the coming weeks through utilization management. "Howeve

Korean confectionary firm Orion said Wednesday it recorded operating profit of 327.3 billion won ($275.9 million) in 2019, marking the highest figure in company history. According to the company, it saw its net profit increase 54.1 percent on-year to post 220.3 billion won, and its annual revenue hit 2.02 trillion won, up 5 percent from the year before. The company’s operating profit in the fourth quarter last year was 97.8 billion won, up 39.2 percent in the same period on-year, and t

Several South Korean duty-free shops that temporarily shut down after people infected with Wuhan coronavirus visited them will reopen later this week, their operators said Wednesday. Shilla Duty Free, one of the country's leading duty-free stores, on Sunday closed its two outlets in central Seoul and on the southern resort island of Jeju after they were each visited by a victim of the pneumonia-like virus. The shops will open their doors again on Friday after disinfection operations to preven

To start one’s business, it takes an average of eight days to go through the administrative process, costing an average of 4.9 million won ($4,125) in South Korea, a report by the Korea Economic Research Institute under the Federation of Korean Industries showed. The administrative process was relatively expedient in three steps, lower than the average 5.1 steps among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Expense on the administrative process