The South Korean unit of multinational cigarette maker British American Tobacco and its executives, all indicted on charges of tax evasion, were acquitted by a local court on Friday.The Seoul Central District Court acquitted BAT Korea and two of its executives of tax evasion, citing lack of evidence.BAT Korea, a local unit of the London-based BAT, and its two senior executives in charge of production and logistics, were indicted in April this year on charges of evading tax worth 50 billion won (

Chinese telecommunications behemoth Huawei Technologies Co. on Friday vowed to beef up its business in South Korea by increasing the purchase of parts for its network equipment and smartphones amid continued US sanctions.Karl Song Kai, head of Huawei's global media and communications, said Huawei also plans to increase its investment in the country, although the company didn't specify target numbers. The Chinese tech firm, the No. 1 telecom gear maker and the No. 2 mobile phone manufacturer in t

Korea’s antitrust watchdog plans to set up a chip division early next year to focus on the abuse of market dominance by chipmakers, the chief said Thursday. During a press briefing Thursday afternoon, Fair Trade Commission chief Joh Sung-wook said, “We will closely monitor a chipmaker’s blockade of competitors’ entry into markets that may occur during the transition process into 5G network.” A chipmaker’s blockade is, for instance, to exclude competitors

South Korea's chief financial regulator on Thursday called on insurance companies to restructure their assets and liabilities while bolstering their capital base ahead of the introduction of tougher global accounting standards for insurers. Under the new rules, set to begin in 2022, insurers' liabilities will be assessed on the basis of their market value rather than book value. This is aimed at enabling a fairer assessment of insurers' ability to withstand stress and to have a larger capital ba

South Korean builder GS Engineering & Construction is set to develop a 300-megawatt solar power plant in Rajasthan state, northwest India, as an independent power producer, the firm said Thursday. An IPP is an entity that builds power plants, runs them for a certain period and recoups its investment.GS E&C said the investment will be made by acquiring a stake in the ISTS-IV 300-megawatt photovoltaic project implemented by Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., which was founded by India

Retail giant replaces all four top executives of retail business divisions amid low sales

Hanwha Energy said Thursday that it has joined hands with Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) and Korea Southern Power (Kospo) to cooperate in infrastructure development projects for a gas plant and liquefied natural gas terminal in Vietnam.The affiliate of Hanwha Group plans to build a terminal for LNG imports and a power plant to produce electricity in Vietnam, where power supply and demand imbalance is a severe problem. In the case of Vietnam’s southern region, although half of the country’s

South Korea's major electric vehicle battery producers increased their market share in October, despite a slowdown in global EV battery use, industry data showed Thursday.Based on the global usage of their EV batteries, the combined market share of three South Korean EV battery makers -- LG Chem Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK Innovation Co. -- stood at 22.4 percent in October, compared with 12.3 percent from a year earlier, according to data from market tracker SNE Research.LG Chem was the third-b

SK Holdings and British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca on Thursday said their strategic partnership has so far produced medication for some 3 million diabetic patients and yielded annual revenue of $100 million. SK Holdings CEO Jang Dong-hyun and AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johansson agreed to strengthen their collaborative efforts for mutual benefit during a meeting in Seoul, held as part of the Korea-Sweden summit talks.Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Trade Anna Hallberg, Yu Jeoung-

Workers at SsangYong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Thursday accepted a cut in bonuses and other cost-saving measures proposed by the company amid declining sales.SsangYong Motor workers have agreed to the company's proposals that require them to return some of their annual bonuses and performance-based pay, the company said in a statement. In September, SsangYong Motor proposed some cost-saving plans to its 5,046 employees. The plans include si

Germany-based online delivery service provider Delivery Hero is forecast to take control of South Korea's food delivery app market following its proposed megadeal to buy the country's top food delivery app operator, Woowa Brothers Corp., industry data showed Thursday.On Friday, Delivery Hero announced that it will acquire an 87 percent stake in Woowa Brothers, the operator of delivery app Baedal Minjok, or Baemin, from existing investors such as Goldman Sachs and Singaporean fund GIC. The German

Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s botulinum toxin Nabota has acquired the United Arab Emirates and Indonesian health authorities’ approvals for forehead wrinkle smoothening functions, the company said Thursday. This is the first time a Korean BTX has forayed into the two countries, characterized by their halal customs and the untapped, sizable markets. “Both UAE and Indonesia are posting continuous growth of their pharmaceuticals markets,” said Park Sung-soo, head of Daewoong&

Posco International has completed a solar power system in Manaung Island, Myanmar, to provide electricity to around 1,000 households, the firm said Thursday. The photovoltaic system built by Posco International is a combination of 500 kilowatt power generation and 2,000 kilowatt-hours of energy storage system. It is capable of providing power to around 1,000 households in Manaung Island, Rakhine state situated on the western coast of the nation with about 60,000 inhabitants.  Through the pr

South Korea's outbound shipments of agricultural products edged up in the January-November period from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, although other sectors faced an extended slump in outbound shipments.The country's exports of agricultural goods grew 0.8 percent to reach $6.41 billion in the first 11 months of the year, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. Outbound shipments of fresh goods especially shot up, rising 7 percent on-year to hit $1.23 billion, and expo

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has met with the point man of Swedish business dynasty Wallenberg Group to discuss cooperation opportunities, company officials said Thursday.Lee, the de facto leader of Samsung Group, spoke with Marcus Wallenberg, a key member of the Wallenberg family who also heads financial group SEB AB, on Wednesday during a South Korea-Sweden business summit in Seoul, according to them.Wallenberg came to South Korea as part of a business delegation accompanying