Sales of imported commercial vehicles in South Korea plunged 31 percent last month from a year earlier as demand fell further amid an economic slowdown, a trade association said Friday.The number of newly registered imported commercial vehicles fell to 277 units in June from 399 the previous year, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.In the January-June period, imported commercial car sales declined 14 percent to 2,024 autos from 2,364 in the same period of 20

Dark brown sugar, cold brew and tropical fruits in this season’s new offerings

Hyundai Motor Group plans to launch a research unit of its artificial intelligence division in the heart of Silicon Valley within this year, establishing its first overseas division entirely for AI development, the company said Thursday.The AIR Center will be the latest addition to Hyundai Motor’s AI projects. The carmaker launched the Artificial Intelligence Research Lab late last year and hired Kim Jeong-hee, a South Korean expert in deep learning and former leader of Naver Lab’s i

Plan of building plant in Indonesia not confirmed, says the company

LG Chem will invest 500 billion won ($424 million) in building a 60,000 ton-capacity cathode material plant in Gumi, north Gyeongsang Province by 2024, the company said Thursday. Cathode is one of the four main parts of a lithium ion battery, alongside the anode, electrolyte and membrane. The cathode accounts for 40 percent of the raw materials cost of electric vehicle batteries. “Starting with the investment in Gumi, LG Chem will kick spur into producing its own core materials for batteri

Chipmaker plans to cut DRAM production from Q4 due to weak recovery in demand and concerns involving Japan curbs

These days, Kim Hyun-jin feels uneasy telling others where he works. “I have been working at Uniqlo for two years as a part-timer. I am proud of my workplace. It is a fun place to work, with nice people and relatively a good amount of pay,” said the 25-year-old student majoring in fashion at a university, who agreed to speak under a pseudonym.“But now, when I say I work at Uniqlo, people think I’m doing something very wrong and it makes me feel very uncomfortable. I

The Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization issued a statement Thursday calling for a withdrawal of Japan’s move to exclude South Korea from the trade whitelist, citing the peaceful nature of bio pathogens trade and the open collaboration required to foster the technology worldwide.The organization represents more than 300 companies, including major pharma and biotech firms. Japan requires approvals for trade of human, animal, plant pathogens and toxins, as well as fermenters and cross-f

Amid the ongoing tensions following export curbs by Japan on hi-tech exports to South Korea, the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Thursday expressed concerns that it could have a negative impact on global trade.“AmCham is committed to free and fair trade worldwide. The tightening of export controls on critical materials to Korea will have damaging effects on bilateral trade and also have negative implications globally,” the organization said in a statement. It added that

NCSoft, a pioneer in artificial intelligence research among Korean game companies, is shifting beyond the tech applicable to games to cover various original AI tech for cross-genre industries. Under the drive of CEO Kim Taek-jin and President Yoon Song-yee, the company put together an AI research team as early as 2011. Eight years forward, the company now has around 150 AI research-focused staff. NCSoft touts that its AI know-how is of international standards -- CEO Kim is quoted to have exchang

South Korea is slated to participate in the 27th official negotiations this week to discuss the implementation of an Asia-Pacific mega trade deal possibly this year. The upcoming talks for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will be held in Zhengzhou, China, from Friday. RCEP is, in essence, a massive regional trade deal between the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the six countries with which ASEAN has free trade agreements -- Korea, China, Japan, Indi

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it will release its first foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold in September, three months after postponing the launch due to display defects. To fix the problems, Samsung said the top protective layer of the foldable display has been extended beyond the bezel, making it apparent that it is an integral part of the display structure and not meant to be removed.  The Galaxy Fold also features additional reinforcements to better protect the device from external part

South Korea's top internet portal operator Naver Corp. said Thursday that its net profit dipped 90.1 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier largely due to increased spending on new businesses.Net profit reached 27.8 billion won ($23.6 million) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 282 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a press release. Operating income reached 128.3 billion won during the cited period, also marking a decrease of 48.8 percent from the year be

Japan rejected high-level talks that Korea proposed at WTO meeting

Kumho Asiana Group, a South Korean airline-to-petrochemical conglomerate, on Thursday began the process of selling its airline unit with the aim to complete it this year. The group put its construction affiliate Kumho Industrial Co.'s entire 33.5 percent stake in Asiana Airlines up for sale to secure liquidity as the group faces a cash crunch. In a public bidding notice, Credit Suisse, the deal's adviser, said it will send a prospectus to potential investors who have disclosed their intention to