Jean-Marc Otero del Val, co-CEO of Hanwha Total Petrochemical, a 50-50 venture between South Korean conglomerate Hanwha and French petrochemical firm Total, has been elected as a representative of French Foreign Trade Advisors’ Korea division, the company said Tuesday. The advisory group, Les Conseiller du Commerce Exterieur, has more than 2,600 members in 145 countries where French companies have made inroads. The organization’s branch in Korea is operated by executives of French fi

Japan’s latest moves to curb exports of key materials used in South Korea’s high-tech industry is to be an agenda at the World Trade Organization’s General Council meeting next week amid mixed forecasts about the results. The Moon Jae-in administration announced Sunday that it planned to use the upcoming meeting to explain its stance on Tokyo’s decision to apply stricter export rules for three materials used for producing chips and displays, and to remove South Korea from

Facebook art producer Gulaya Pizarro says company takes great care to stop biased beauty standards from infecting new camera technologies

LG Electronics announced on Tuesday the commercial launch of the world’s first capsule-type automated beer maker in line with the growing home-brewing trend. The LG HomeBrew machine will be rolled out with a retail price tag of 3.99 million won ($3,390) in South Korea, including the price of receiving after-sales service for up to three years and 10-year warranty for the core inverter compressor. After inserting one capsule and water into the double-metal cylindrical machine, consumers can

 　After South Korea became the first country to launch commercial services of the 5G wireless network in April, the country’s biggest mobile carrier has taken it a step further by working with a Swiss counterpart to launch international roaming service on the platform. 　SK Telecom announced Tuesday that it will launch “the world’s first” 5G roaming service with Switzerland’s biggest mobile carrier, Swisscom. Those visiting Switzerland will be able to use the se

The number of South Korean users subscribing to the US video streaming platform Netflix Inc. has nearly tripled on-year to surpass the 1.8 million mark, industry data showed Tuesday. Netflix is estimated to have 1.84 million paid active streaming subscribers as of June, compared with 630,000 users during the same period a year earlier, according to the data compiled by industry tracker WiseApp. The data showed that some 38 percent of Netflix users in the country are in their 20s, followed by

While on a plane back from an overseas trip to an exhibition on rural food, I asked without a great deal of anticipation whether the in-flight service includes Korean traditional liquor, besides wine, beer and whiskey.To my surprise, the flight attendant immediately replied that they did indeed serve traditional liquor and had canned makgeolli. The fact that Korea’s traditional liquor was available on the plane made me incredibly grateful and glad, especially as the representative of Korea

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he hopes to see expanding cooperation between the Middle East country’s startups and South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor in the fields of smart, connected and green mobility, the company said Monday.In his visit to the Hyundai R&D Center in Namyang, Gyeonggi Province, the Israeli leader met the carmaker’s de facto chief, Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun, vowing to take the lead in the development of future cars by strengthening partnership

Japan’s ‘political’ trade restriction is latest case of governments holding companies hostage to diplomatic disputes, experts suggest

South Korea’s major business groups are shifting to emergency mode, setting detailed contingency plans for a variety of scenarios amid concerns that the restrictions on exports of key tech materials from Japan to Korea could stay in place for a long time, according to the industry on Monday. The leaders of the country’s five biggest conglomerates -- Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Group, SK Group, LG Group and Lotte Group -- are tightening their reins on the groups’ operatio

The maker of South Korean business card app Remember launched a new business networking service Monday, targeting corporate recruiters and job seekers in hopes of competing with LinkedIn in the country’s hiring market.Drama & Company, the Seoul-based tech firm that developed the Remember app, said it was introducing Remember Career to connect companies’ PR managers with Remember app users. Once the users post their job profiles and resumes on Remember Career, recruiters can

South Korea’s full-service carrier Asiana Airlines said Monday that it has adopted a smart work platform called A-tab for its cabin crew to increase their work efficiency and convenience. The system,which works on a tablet PC, allows crew members to easily and conveniently check their work schedule, information on flights, work manual and also hand in work-related reports, the air carrier said. Some 4,000 cabin crew members will be given tablet PCs equipped with the system by the

Posco International, the trade and resources development arm of Posco, said Sunday that it had sent some 30 executives and employees to Papua, Indonesia, to perform volunteer work. Together with 30 medical experts from Korea University Ansan Hospital, the Women’s Health Foundation and Seegene Medical Foundation, the Korean volunteer team conducted medical checkups for some 1,160 residents in Indonesia’s eastern province of Papua from July 6 to Saturday. Posco International&rsquo

Shilla Duty Free, South Korea’s second-largest duty-free operator in terms of sales, has seen a twofold jump in number of Chinese customers on its online mall following the introduction of WeChat Pay, the company said Monday.According to the duty free operator, the number of customers who joined Shilla Duty Free’s Chinese online mall has surged as of July, compared to in March when it introduced WeChat Pay as one of its payment options. WeChat is China’s most popular mobil

The three large Korean oil refiners -- Hyundai Oilbank, GS Caltex and SK Innovation -- are seeking new opportunities in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, amid slowing sales of diesel cars and weakening profitability in the saturated gas station market. On Monday, Hyundai Oilbank said it signed with local EV charger producer JoongAng Control and charger operator Charzin to build charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Korea. Under the agreement, the three firms will form a hybrid