President Moon Jae-in called Tuesday for sharply expanding renewable energy production, saying it's not only clean and safe, but the industry will also create a number of jobs and help fuel economic growth.Moon made the remark during a ceremony held in the southwestern coast city of Gunsan to announce ambitious plans to establish one of the world's biggest renewable energy production complexes on the Saemangeum reclaimed land in the region."Renewable energy is healthy energy that protects the sa

Hankook Tire Co., the world's seventh-largest tiremaker by sales, said Monday that its third quarter net profit fell 30.9 percent from a year earlier on increased costs and weak sales.For the three months ending Sept. 30, net profit reached 118.9 billion won ($104.1 million), down from 171.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.  (Herald DB)The tiremaker said the decline in net profit could be blamed on weak sales in global markets and an increase in operating costs at the

Foreign executives working for South Korea's top 100 companies by sales made up just a fraction of the management, industry data showed Monday -- a sign of a fall in the diversity of corporate culture.The Korea CXO Institute, a market research firm, showed that foreign nationals accounted for 1.4 percent, or 94, of the 6,843 executives in the 100 listed companies.  (Yonhap)The figure represented a slight decrease from 1.5 percent in 2015, when the number of foreign nationals came to 101 out of 6

Moody's Investors Service, a global credit ratings agency, said Monday that Posco's robust third-quarter earnings results are "credit positive" for the South Korean steelmaker. Last week, Posco reported a 17 percent on-year jump in net profit in the July-September quarter to 1.058 trillion won ($931 million) from 906.6 billion won a year earlier. The net gain was helped by increased shareholding gains from affiliates.  (Yonhap)Operating profit jumped 36 percent on-year to 1.531 trillion won, wit

KOTRA is set to host two networking events this week in the US to connect Korean car parts suppliers with American business and trade experts, according to the government agency on Monday. (KOTRA)The events are a response to recent changes in the US automobile market, which are expected to have a severe impact on Korean companies. In May, the US began inspections of imported automobiles and parts with the aim of limiting the country’s dependency on imports. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreem

Lackluster sales at South Korean carmakers is taking a toll on local parts suppliers, with a growing number of them recording operating losses and seeking debt workout programs.Amid concerns that struggles at local carmakers would have a profound impact on local small and midsize parts suppliers, the government has stepped in to provide special credit guarantees worth 1 trillion won. (Herald DB)According to data from the Korea Auto Industries Cooperative Association, out of 89 listed first-tier

South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank said Monday that it would expand its support for gasoline quality assessments at gas stations during the winter season. A promotional image for the “Mobile Lab” service (Hyundai Oilbank)With a new service called the Mobile Lab, introduced by Hyundai Oilbank in May, mobile gas inspectors carry nine kinds of cutting-edge equipment in a 1-ton truck, visiting gas stations and assessing samples. Station owners are notified of the results within 30 minutes of an in

Riding on the growing popularity of “beer yoga,” South Korea’s largest beer maker by revenue Oriental Brewery said it recently hosted a beer yoga class in Itaewon, central Seoul.Beer yoga refers to a form of fitness originating from Berlin that has been trending since the mid-2010s. The class allows participants to do yoga while drinking beer, citing it can help reach the highest level of consciousness by pairing philosophy with pleasure. A poster for a beer yoga event by OB (OB)The event organi

Allergan will formally begin phase 3 clinical trials of Medytox’s Type A liquid-type botulinum toxin this week, as recruitment for the clinical study is slated to start Wednesday, according to data shown on ClinicalTrials.gov.Allergan recently posted its clinical trial agenda for MT10109L on ClinicalTrials.gov. The third-phase clinical study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the drug for the treatment of moderate to severe glabellar and lateral canthal lines, the firm said, referring t

Woongjin Group, a midsized South Korean conglomerate, will take back the country’s biggest small home appliance maker, Coway, after selling it off in 2013, the group announced Monday. In its regulatory filing, Woongjin said a consortium comprising Woongjin Thinkbig Co. and STIC Investment Inc. will purchase a 22.17 percent stake in Coway Holding for 1.68 trillion won ($1.48 billion) in a bid to diversify the group’s business portfolio. “I believe the rental business has great growth potential,”

South Korean video game company NCSoft is moving to strengthen its intellectual property portfolio by investing in and striking strategic partnerships with global webtoon and web novel platforms.NCSoft has struck investment relations or strategic partnerships with a number of webtoon and web novel production studios and distribution portals over the few years, with aims to promote and strengthen its game content IP. NCSoft`s headquarters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province (NCSoft)The Korean game giant

Apparently seeking a change after the earnings shock last week, Hyundai Motor carried out a major reshuffle of its executives on Monday.The South Korean carmaker promoted Thomas Schemera, executive vice president of its high-performance vehicle division, to head its product planning and strategy division. The former BMW M executive is now in charge of setting the direction for technology development and product planning in light of the fast-changing market and innovations in technology, the comp

Upon stepping into American classic sports utility vehicle brand Jeep, one cannot help but feel the urge to become a little bit more adventurous. The brand that symbolizes such boldness, however, gets a softer tone with the Jeep Compass, a midsized model in its SUV lineup, especially in its latest version. The All New Jeep Compass that reached the local market in July has gotten an urban touch with modern, young design elements. But it has kept its daredevil spirit inside. The Tighershark MultiA

Hyundai Motor is joining forces with a Chinese engineering institute to raise around $100 million for an investment fund for startups with innovative ideas on hydrogen technology and infrastructure building, the company said Monday.The South Korean carmaker and the Beijing-Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute signed a memorandum of understanding Friday, agreeing to establish a “Hydrogen Energy Fund.” The fund will be managed by Hyundai Motor and Yield Capital, an investment unit under the Chinese e

Barra highlights importance of GM Technical Center Korea in letter to labor union