Encouraged by signs of improving sales in the US, South Korean automaker Hyundai is going trendy in marketing its next vehicles in the global market. According to Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, they sold a combined 102,600 units in the US in November, up 1.1 percent on-year. Hyundai Motor’s sales last month in the US market came to 57,082 units, up 3 percent on-year, while Kia Motors saw a 1.8 percent increase at 45,101 units. Increased sales in the US, largely due to the wider range of sport uti

The Korea International Trade Association is hosting a two-day trade fair from Tuesday to match global retail buyers and local exporters in Seoul. The 11th Korea Grand Sourcing Fair 2018, sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and KB Kookmin Bank, is taking place at the Coex Convention and Exhibition Center with 118 buyers from 24 nations and around 600 Korean companies. KITA CEO Kim Young-ju (front left) talks with buyers at the 11th Korea

SK Holdings C&C, the information technology solutions unit of South Korea’s SK Group, said Tuesday that it has partnered with ConsenSys, a leading US-based Ethereum blockchain technology company, to develop an “enterprise blockchain development hub” for use by Korean businesses.The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to work on building an enterprise blockchain business model utilizing “smart contracts” among designated entities, SK Holdings C&C said. (123RF)Under the ag

Lotte Cultureworks, the retail giant Lotte Group's cinema affiliate, has made inroads into Indonesia, with a goal to open 20 movie theaters in the Southeast Asian country by 2020, the company said Tuesday.As the initial step, the operator of Lotte Cinema, one of the biggest South Korea movie theater chains, recently opened a theater inside Lotte Mart Fatmawati in southern Jakarta.The new outlet has five screens that can accommodate 759 moviegoers. One of them is fitted with recliner seats as a "

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday greenlighted a set of voluntary rules agreed to by convenience store operators including the minimum distance between each store to quell excessive competition.Five members of the Korea Association of Convenience Store Industry, CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, Mini Stop and C-Space, along with nonmember E-Mart 24, came up with the voluntary agreement on rules to curb excessive competition in the course of opening, operating or closing stores. Under the deal, fr

Market estimates Samsung’s operating profit to decline to W60tr next year as chip boom ends

[Doing Biz in Korea] ‘WeWork, Lina life insurance, Kelly services are good examples with right business models’

South Korea will unveil a comprehensive plan to foster the nuclear decommissioning industry next year to target a growing market for such work and satisfy the local supply chain under the nuclear phase-out plan, the energy ministry said Monday. Sung Yun-mo, minister of trade, industry and energy, made the pledge during his visit to the Kori-1 reactor in the southeastern port city of Busan, which was shut down in June 2017 following 40 years of commercial use. (Yonhap)"We need to build up the nuc

South Korean cosmetics company Nature Republic said Tuesday that it has opened four pop-up stores inside Italy’s Coin Department Stores located in Rome, Milan, Torino and Bari.The Coin Department Store is Italy’s largest department store in terms of the number of outlets. It first opened in 1916, and now has over 50 stores selling clothing, beauty and home decoration products across the country.The company said its entry into Italy would help the firm expand its presence in the European market,

The head of South Korean retail giant Lotte Group left for Vietnam and Indonesia on Monday as the conglomerate moves to expand its presence in emerging Asian markets.The trip is Chairman Shin Dong-bin's second foreign outing, following a visit to Japan, after being released from jail in October. The tycoon was imprisoned for his involvement in a corruption scandal that led to the ousting of former President Park Geun-hye.  (Yonhap)Shin is first scheduled to visit the Lotte Center Hanoi -- a buil

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, the nation’ first research-intensive institution established with a development loan from the US in 1971, will help the Kenyan government build a science research hub starting next year, it said Monday.KAIST has concluded a deal with the Kenyan government to build a science research institution with a 107 billion won ($95.7 million) loan from the South Korean government. KAIST leads a South Korean consortium that includes local builders and

South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion said Monday that the European Medicines Agency has accepted for review its Remsima SC -- a subcutaneous version of Remsima, a Celltrion-developed biosimilar referencing Johnson & Johnson’s autoimmune disease treatment Remicade.　Celltrion expects to receive an opinion from the EMA’s new drug approval committee on approving Remsima SC by the second half of 2019 at the earliest.After launching Remsima, a biosimilar copy of Remicade (infliximab), Cell

MotorTrend’s cover story on the Genesis G70 (Hyundai Motor)The 2019 Genesis G70, a sports sedan under Hyundai Motor’s Genesis marque, was named car of the year by US magazine MotorTrend last week, the company said Monday.The luxury sports sedan competed with 19 other car of the year award contenders, including the BMW3, in the magazine’s annual evaluation. It won the award for being the most competent, desirable and capable vehicle to debut for the 2019 model year, the magazine said in a stateme

South Korea’s petrochemical companies promised Monday to invest a combined 14.5 trillion won ($13 billion) and hire 1,685 new workers through 2023 as industry players continue to seek growth in the face of tougher policies.Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo and related government officials attended a conference joined by representatives of eight local petrochemical companies -- LG Chem, Hyundai Chemical, Kumho Petrochemical, Hanwha Total, Hanwha Chemical, GS Caltex, Yeochun NCC a

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Monday its November sales fell 9.2 percent from a year earlier due to weak demand for its models. GM Korea, which sells it cars under the Chevrolet badge here, sold a total of 38,621 vehicles last month, down from 42,543 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.  The Chevrolet logo used on cars made by GM Korea (Yonhap)Domestic sales declined 20 percent to 8,294 units last month from 10,349 a year ago. Exports were down