Audi Volkswagen Korea said Thursday it will retroactively apply lemon laws on its vehicles sold since January in a move to boost declining sales in Asia's fourth-biggest economy.The decision came as the German carmaker's four brands -- Audi, Volkswagen, Lamborghini and Bentley -- prepare to apply the laws for Korean customers Monday.The Korean lemon laws went into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, to enhance customers' convenience, though it is not obligatory for companies to follow them. Under lemon laws

LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo on Thursday stressed the importance of securing competitiveness in the development of new materials and components to ensure the group’s future growth, the company said. During a visit to LG Chem’s research and development unit in Daejeon, some 120 kilometers south of Seoul, Koo asked the company’s employees to jump into challenging R&D projects instead of focusing on mere short-term goals, to create “truly innovative value for customers.&rdqu

Hyundai Engineering & Construction said Thursday it will start offering newly constructed Hillstate Eco-Ansan Jungang Station for sale in September.Hillstate Eco-Ansan Jungang Station, located in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, is a complex of three 23-story apartment blocks with a total of 702 units. Unit sizes range from 20 square meters to 57 square meters, Hyundai E&C said. According to Hyundai E&C, the complex offers many merits, including proximity to Jungang Station on Subway Line N

Despite their efforts to compete with global video-sharing platforms, South Korea’s online video services are suffering from a drop in subscribers, while global rivals like Netflix and YouTube are enjoying persistent rises, data showed Thursday.According to a market research firm Nielson Koreanclick, some 29.98 million people here had subscribed to YouTube, Netflix and TikTok as of July. The number was an increase of about 15.5 percent from the same period a year earlier. In the meantime,

SK Broadband said Thursday it had teamed up with pharma marketing company Online Pharm to introduce electronic kiosks for pharmacies.The stand called On Kiosk, which provides Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese services, will be able to process simple drug prescriptions, offer guidelines for drug intake, and provide a queuing system for consultations.  The kiosks will be able to take over routine tasks, allowing pharmacists to focus more on providing health consultations. It is also equip

An American shopper looks aty Orion’s corn soup-flavored snack Kkobuk Chip, marketed as Turtle Chips in the US, in a Costco store. The South Korean snack and confectionary company said sales of Kkobuk Chip will begin at Costco’s 20 main branches including the San Fransisco store, and expand distrubtion to other major retailers including Sam’s Club and Walmart. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

Automaker aims to complete eco-friendly commercial vehicle lineup by 2025

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Line Corp., a Japanese subsidiary of South Korea’s major portal Naver, has come under criticism for selling mobile emoticons that portrayed President Moon Jae-in in a disparaging way. Line hurriedly removed the stamps from its online store available in Korea and Japan after Korean users filed a complaint about the problematic mobile content. Line took down the collection of emoticons titled “Stamps of Mr. Moon” from its online store Wednesday, shortly after getting complaints f

Indonesian residents filed a petition for a preliminary injunction to stop construction of coal-fired power plants, which are financed by Korean financial organizations and built and operated by Korean firms, according to Korean environmental civic group Solutions for Our Climate on Thursday. This is the first case where residents outside Korea brought a legal action in the Korean court over a coal-fired power plant site.On Thursday, the Indonesian plaintiffs -- three residents of Java Island --

The Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday that it has proposed a 17.3-percent on-year increase in the national research and development budget for 2020 to allow the country to strive for independence in critical technologies.The proposal, which is subject to parliamentary approval, set aside 24.1 trillion won ($19.8 billion) for R&D, up from 20.5 trillion won from 2019."This is the first time in 10 years that South Korea is aiming for a double digit increase in its R&D spending

South Korea plans to inject more than 5 trillion won (US$4.1 billion) into its support of the local parts and material industries by 2022 in a bid to tackle Japan's export curbs against the South, cut dependence on Japanese imports and boost localization, the industry ministry said Wednesday.The move is aimed at stabilizing supplies of parts, materials and equipment, and spurring their localization, as South Korea seeks to reduce heavy reliance on imports of Japanese materials.Under the scheme t

S-Oil said Wednesday it has given scholarships to children of fallen firefighters from Yongsan Fire Station as part of its corporate social responsibility activities. A total 210 million won ($173,000) was evenly distributed to 70 children, according to S-Oil. S-Oil has presented scholarships to children of fallen firefighters since 2006 under its Hero Firefighter Program. The program is aimed at helping the recipients to overcome emotional trauma and focus on their studies, the firm said.

S. Korea plans to develop key industrial materials to reduce reliance on exports from Japan

BMW Regional Distribution Center in Anseong is automaker’s 2nd-largest distribution hub in world