Exports of kimchi have been rising steadily in recent years, reaching $97.5 million last year, up 20 percent from the previous year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs showed Wednesday.The ministry has been collecting kimchi export data since 2006 and said last year’s was the biggest annual jump in kimchi exports. The highest export figure for kimchi was $104 million in 2012. (Yonhap)The number of countries importing kimchi also increased, from 63 in 2017 to 68 last ye

Hyundai Motor said Wednesday that its Kona EV has debuted on the ride-hailing market in Singapore via carpooling service Grab. It is the first time an electric vehicle has been chosen for a carpooling service in Southeast Asia, according to the firm.Hyundai Motor said it has provided 20 Kona EVs for the launch of the electric vehicle carpooling service. By year-end, up to 200 Kona EVs will be added for Grab drivers, according to the firm. Established in 2012, Grab has been called the Uber of Sou

The health supplement market grew 20 percent over the past three years to reach 4.3 trillion won ($3.8 million) in 2018 as compared with 3.5 trillion won in 2016, the Korea Health Supplements Association said, crediting the growth spurt to e-commerce channels.Tablets and pouch-type health drinks such as ginseng extract led the sales, according to a KHSA representative. The rapid growth of the market for health supplements was largely the result of strong purchases through online shopping platfor

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to launch its first smartphone with a camera hole in the display itself in South Korea later this month, industry sources said Wednesday. The world's largest phone maker plans to release Galaxy A8s in the domestic market in the coming weeks, following its unveiling in China last month, according to a Samsung official.  (Yonhap)The Galaxy A8s comes with a 6.4-inch screen with a 24-megapixel selfie camera. It also has three cameras on the back. The battery capacity st

　The global market for organic light-emitting diode TVs has surged twofold every year since 2015.　IHS Markit said sales of OLED sets are estimated to have reached some 2.6 million units in 2018, up from just 335,000 in 2015. Data showed that sales reached 724,000 units in 2016, followed by 1.59 million units in the following year.　Total sales may rise to 3.6 million units this year, nearly double to reach 7 million units in 2020 and surpass 10 million units in 2021.　The market researcher said OL

　South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom on Tuesday unveiled a new text-message service designed to more efficiently deliver videos and pictures -- a move that industry watchers said signaled an intention to compete against the country’s top mobile messenger service, Kakao Talk. 　SK Telecom said the new system, based on technology called Rich Communication Services, allows users to send high-resolution pictures and short video clips without consuming massive data and incurring high fees. 　Accordi

Hotel Shilla said Tuesday that it is opening its first overseas hotel in Danang, Vietnam, this year, aiming to become a global hotel chain. It will open more hotels in 10 further overseas locations, including in the US and China. Under its new brand Shilla Monogram, the hotel in Danang will be an upscale hotel comprised of a beach restaurant, lobby bar and 300 guest rooms across nine buildings.  Shilla Monogram Vietnam Danang (Hotel Shilla)The company said its overseas hotels will be operated ba

South Korean tech giant Kakao said Tuesday it will suspend the test run of its carpooling service, following a monthslong standoff with taxi drivers who claim the business will threaten their operations.   　In a statement, Kakao said the company will no longer provide the trial carpooling service to users until it reaches a consensus with the taxi industry. The company said it would even consider scrapping the carpooling service altogether. 　“There are no conditions attached to the dialogue. … W

　South Korea’s biggest internet portal Naver said Tuesday that “feminist” was the most searched word in the company’s online Korean dictionary last year, reflecting heated debate over gender equality amid the #MeToo movement that had swept the country.　Citing data for the period between Jan. 1 and Dec. 27 last year, Naver said “feminist” ranked the highest in the number of queries on the website’s Korean dictionary. The word took second place in 2017. 　The second most searched word last year was

Hoping to nurture young professionals, company plans to open cultural space for future mobility in Seoul this year

At star-studded Detroit auto show, carmaker unveils Veloster N TCR, Kia Telluride

Nexon is up for sale because of the dismal future of the Korean games industry, experts argued Monday in a discussion at the National Assembly about the potential sale of one of the country’s biggest game companies.Earlier this month, speculation spread that NXC CEO Kim Jung-ju had decided to put on the market 98.64 percent of shares in NXC, Nexon’s biggest shareholder. Kim later said he was considering various ways to make the firm more globally competitive.While Kim has neither confirmed nor d

SAN FRANCISCO -- Jackson Square is a neighborhood in San Francisco inhabited by companies brimming with ideas of integrating designs into new technologies born in Silicon Valley. At the center of this design-centric area is Samsung Design Innovation Center, which is responsible for the designs of Samsung Electronics’ new products and services. The center was relocated from nearby Palo Alto in Silicon Valley in 1994 to Los Angeles in 2008, then back up to San Francisco in 2012. Federico Casalegno

Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., a midsized South Korean shipbuilder, said Tuesday that its Philippine affiliate has received approval for a rehabilitation scheme.In a regulatory filing, the shipbuilder said a Philippine court had okayed HHIC-Phil Inc.'s insolvency scheme earlier this week. (Yonhap)Early this month, HHIC-Phil, which operates the Subic yard, filed for an insolvency scheme in the archipelago country.Hanjin Heavy and its affiliate have been suffering from a drop in new o

Sales of brewed coffee at local convenience stores have increased as more South Koreans seek cost effective drinks in the face of rising consumer prices, industry data showed Tuesday.BGF Retail Co., the operator of South Korea's largest convenience store chain, CU, said revenues from brewed coffee at its outlets jumped 42.9 percent in 2018 from a year earlier. (Yonhap)Its brewed coffee is priced between 1,200 won ($1.07) and 2,200 won, less than half the average price at local coffee chains.Sale