WASHINGTON -- The chairman of South Korea's SK Group was in Washington on Wednesday, vowing to make a commitment not only to the US market but also its people and society. This photo shows SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won speaking at the opening of SK hynix`s office in Washington on Nov. 28, 2018. (Yonhap)Chey Tae-won, who heads South Korea's third-largest conglomerate by assets, formally opened the Washington office of chipmaker SK hynix Inc. in the presence of dozens of American dignitaries, inc

South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion announced Thursday that the US Food and Drug Administration had approved Truxima, a biosimilar referencing Rituxan, for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.Truxima is the first-ever Rituxan biosimilar to be approved in the US and is therefore expected to reap gains from being an exclusive product in the drug segment. It was developed by Celltrion and will be marketed in the US by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.Celltrion`s headquarters in Songd

Samsung Electronics Co. has ranked No. 4 among 1,000 major global companies in terms of spending on research and development over the past one-year period, a report showed Thursday.The South Korean tech juggernaut spent $15.3 billion on R&D projects over the period beginning in the second half of last year, retaining the No. 4 spot for two years running, according to a report from global accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. (Yonhap)The amount was up 6.8 percent from the same pe

The world semiconductor market is expected to grow at a much slower-than-expected pace in 2019, industry sources said Thursday, amid a heated debate over an oversupply.According to the sources, a recent report from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics has forecast global chip sales to rise 2.6 percent on-year to US$490.1 billion next year. (Yonhap)The projection is much lower than a 5.2 percent estimate presented by the WSTS, an organization of 42 chip suppliers that pools sales data in Augu

High-profile startups optimistic about the Korean startup scene in 2019

Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph Stiglitz speak on second day of sixth OECD World Forum

The Investor’s Choice Award 2018 was held to honor Korean startups at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on Wednesday.(Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Hosted by The Investor, the event aimed to acknowledge innovative key players in the industry and stimulate discussion about Korea’s startup environment. Fleur Pellerin, co-founder and managing partner of Korelya Capital. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)(Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Fleur Pellerin, co-founder and managing partner of Paris-based Korelya Ca

LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it opened two new organizations under the direct control of its chief executive officer that will focus on bolstering its robot and self-driving solution businesses.The two were created as part of a regular reshuffle which promoted 56 executives. LG Electronics said it decided to bring some changes to the structure as well to reflect its business strategy.LG Group`s Twin Tower headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul (Yonhap)The South Korean tech giant said it opened the

SsangYong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Wednesday it has launched the Rexton Sports sport-utility vehicle in Latin American markets to boost sales. SsangYong Motor launched the Rexton Sports SUV in Chile in September, Ecuador in October and Paraguay in November, following its launch in Europe in the second and third quarters, the company said in a statement.  In this photo taken on Sept. 25, 2018, SsangYong Motor`s Rexton Sports SUVs are displ

CREDIT CARDLOTTE CARDCredit card company Lotte Card made a foray into the Vietnamese market, in a first for a Korean credit card company, with the full acquisition of Hanoi-based Techcom Finance approved in March. In March, the firm received approval from Vietnam’s central bank for the acquisition. It earned licenses to operate credit cards and related businesses, becoming the first Korean credit card company to enter the Southeast Asian country’s consumer finance market. Telecom Finance is a su

Samsung BioLogics said Wednesday that it has filed an administrative suit against South Korea’s financial regulator over its ruling earlier this month that the company had violated accounting regulations by intentionally inflating its profits ahead of its market listing in 2016.　The biopharmaceuticals manufacturer under Samsung Group said that it was also seeking a court injunction to nullify the penalties imposed by the Financial Services Commission, including recommendations to dismiss its chi

The number of mobile phone subscribers at KT Corp., the nation's second-largest mobile carrier, sharply fell for three days in a row after a fire at one of the company's facilities in western Seoul led to major Internet and phone disruptions, market data showed Wednesday. The fire broke out at a building in western Seoul on Saturday, paralyzing the fixed-line, mobile and Internet networks for individuals and businesses using KT in Seoul's western wards of Mapo, Seodaemun and Eunpyeong, as well a

South Korean chemical-to-textile company Kolon Group said Wednesday that Chairman and CEO Lee Woong-yeol is resigning from his post. According to the group, the chairman announced that he would step down next year, after 23 years of overseeing the company’s management.  Kolon Group Chairman Lee Woong-yeol (Kolon Group)The company said in a press release that the group will be operated without a chairman. Instead, the group’s major business plans will be handled by a holding company and president

South Korean discount chain operator Homeplus will grant full-time and permanent employment status to some 600 contract workers at its stores, starting from Saturday. The move comes five months after the company converted the status of some 430 contract workers to regular positions. Homeplus cashiers (Homeplus)This year, a total of 1,200 Homeplus workers would have been converted to full-time and permanent positions, including 600 contract workers and security guards whose contracts end this yea

South Korean hypermarket chain operator Homeplus Co. said Wednesday it will upgrade some 1,200 contract and outsourced workers to its permanent payroll this year.A total of 600 contract workers, who have no set limits to their contracts and have worked for the company for 12 years and longer, will become full-timers starting in December. (Yonhap)Female workers account for 98.9 percent of the total contract workers, with those in their 50s or older taking up 68.4 percent.In addition, an unspecifi