CJ chairman’s LA meeting likely convened to emphasize investment in US, not China

South Korean defense companies’ operating profits nose-dived last year due to a significant drop in exports and an increase in R&D costs, data showed.According to the Korea Defense Industry Association, the combined operating profits of its 93 member companies amounted to 60.2 billion won ($53.06 million) in 2017, an 88 percent decrease from 503.3 billion won in 2016.Revenue also dropped 13.9 percent to 12.761 trillion won, down 13.9 percent from a year earlier.By Choi Ji-won (jwchoikr@heraldcor

South Korean smartphone makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are planning to unveil their first fifth-generation network-enabled smartphones at the biggest mobile industry tradeshow in Barcelona in February, aiming to launch the phones in March upon commercialization of wireless 5G services, according to industry sources Sunday. Industry observers are paying attention to the Mobile World Congress 2019 that opens in Barcelona in late February in order to witness the new phones of the fir

In line with the South Korean government’s push to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with Southeast Asia, Korean entrepreneurs are increasingly seeking new opportunities in the region to benefit from its fast-growing economies, which have a combined population of 630 million and a combined gross domestic product of $2.4 trillion. The New Southern Policy is the Moon Jae-in administration’s key foreign economic policy and reflects its strong commitment to prosper together with the ASEAN coun

South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific’s organic skin care brand Innisfree opened a new store in Melbourne, its third in Australia. The company’s third store in Australia makes its debut six months after the first, as local consumers show increasing interest in K-beauty and organic cosmetics, the company said. (Innisfree)The new Innisfree store is located on the first floor of the Chadstone Shopping Centre, Australia’s largest shopping mall. The company said the store’s decor reflects Innisfr

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker by sales, said Sunday legendary rally driver Sebastien Loeb will contest six rounds of the 2019 World Rally Championship. Nine-time WRC champion Loeb will start the two-year contract with Hyundai by attending the Monte-Carlo Rally with the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC in Monaco next month, Hyundai Motor said in a statement. Sebastien Loeb (Reuters)Hyundai Motor's World Rally team is now composed of rally drivers Thierry Neuville, Andreas Mikkelsen, Dani

Hyundai Heavy Industries has completed building an eco-friendly power plant in Colombia’s northern port city of Santa Marta, with its own dual-fuel engine, HiMSEN, according to the Korean shipbuilder on Sunday. In February of last year, Hyundai Heavy Industries won an $80 million contract from Colombian private power company Axia to build a 93-megawatt power plant. Termonorte power plant constructed by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Colombia (HHI)The firm said its own dual-fuel engine HiMSEN has si

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's biggest auto parts maker by sales, said Sunday it will introduce a windshield display technology for its autonomous vehicles that can play movies and be controlled with hand gestures.Hyundai Motor plans to unveil the technology, which tracks a driver's eye and finger motions to manipulate the display while in autonomous drive mode, at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show, the carmaker said in a statement. (Yonhap)A movie can be shown on a wraparound windshield that

Celltrion Inc.'s biosimilar to Roche's breast cancer treatment Herception has won approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, the South Korean drugmaker said Saturday. Celltrion's Herzuma is the biosimilar to Roche Holding AG's breast cancer treatment Herception, one of the world's most successful antibody medicines that raised $7.18 billion in sales in the United States in 2017. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., a global pharmaceutical giant, will be in charge of its sales in the US m

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday it will put greater focus on reviving sales in the United States and China next year by giving more leeway to the carmaker's regional business headquarters.The move comes amid deteriorating business environments such as the ongoing US-China trade dispute, planned rate hikes in the US and rapidly changing customer appetites for vehicles.The South Korean automaker plans to launch new sport utility vehicle models in the two important automobile markets in 2019 to dri

KAIST, South Korea’s top science and technology university, on Friday decided to delay its decision on dismissing its incumbent President Shin Sung-chul, who has been accused by the government of mishandling public funds during his previous post at another university. KAIST’s board said it will reconsider the dismissal of the president at the next board meeting, given the gravity of the issue and continued dispute over the accusations by the Ministry of Science and ICT.The ministry alleges that

South Korea’s dominant portal web operator Naver and Seoul’s Dongdaemun Special Tourist Zone have been included on the European Union’s “watch list” for acts of piracy and counterfeiting, according to a recent report.The European Commission, with the support of the EU Intellectual Property Office and Europol, published its first-ever watch list last week, naming 52 non-EU websites and marketplaces in more than 20 countries it alleges engage in, facilitate or benefit from piracy. (Credit : Seoul'

A South Korean court on Friday ruled against a request of Volkswagen and its affiliate Audi that a hefty fine, imposed on the local unit of the German automakers two years ago for false advertisements on its fabricated emissions results, be canceled.The Seoul High Court ruled that there was no problem with the Fair Trade Commission's imposition of a record 37.3 billion won ($33 million) fine in 2016 on Audi Volkswagen Korea, the local unit of the German carmakers, for producing false advertiseme

South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Friday that Sanofi has signaled the start of two new phase 3 clinical studies of the Type 2 diabetes drug candidate efpeglenatide by officially listing the plans on ClinicalTrials.gov, a US-based clinical trials registry site.By doing so, Sanofi has officially executed all five of its planned phase 3 clinical trial agenda for efpeglenatide, which Hanmi licensed out to Sanofi in 2015, according to the Korean drugmaker.So far, Sanofi has been carrying out th