A team of 30 investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency searched the BMW Korea office in central Seoul to seize documents related to exhaust gas recirculation, the defective part BMW cited as the reason behind its vehicles catching fire, according to police Thursday.This is the first time police have searched BMW Korea’s office. It has been investigating whether BMW intentionally hid the defect, upon criminal investigation sought by 41 BMW owners earlier this month against BMW offic

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-largest carrier by revenue, said Thursday that it will launch a new route to Barcelona later in the day as part of its efforts to expand its services in Europe. (Yonhap)The debut service to the Spanish city is set to begin at 12:45 p.m., with the 300-seat B777-200ER being used on the route. The carrier said it will offer flights four times a week -- Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.The new flight adds to Asiana's existing European routes to Fr

South Korea has stepped up sampling inspections of US beef imports following a confirmation of a mad cow case, the government in Seoul said Thursday.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it has increased sampling inspections carried out on American beef from the current 3 percent to 30 percent, after the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease, from a 6-year-old cow in Florida.The inspection involves opening the package, defrosting the

A consortium of Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction was selected for new nuclear power plant projects in the Czech Republic and Poland, pushed by state-run nuclear operator Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, according to Daewoo on Wednesday. The consortium was selected after a weeklong screening of its business proposal based on prequalification (60 points) and the business development plan (40 points). The prequalification is based on capability for business p

Kumho Petrochemical is strengthening the management system for workspace safety, viewing that safe distribution, storage and use of chemical substances are critical for a company handling chemical substances.An employee inspects a safety management system. (Kumho Petrochemical)The company adopted a chemical management system in 2016 to better systematically monitor the entire workplace. Once raw materials, such as butadiene or styrene monomer used for synthetic rubber and synthetic resins, enter

Southeast Asia is expected to see greater demand for health care services, for services that increase the mobility of its populations, and for entertainment, experts said Wednesday, attributing these trends to the rise of the middle class in the region and to its relatively young populations.At the ASEAN-Korea Business Forum in Singapore, Manoj Menon, the Asia-Pacific managing director of Frost and Sullivan, talked about the region’s significant market potential and said he saw a growing number

Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded an appeals court sentence Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin to 14 years in prison on charges of bribery and other irregularities.They also demanded the court order him to pay a 100 billion-won ($90 million) fine and forfeit 7 billion won. Shin is serving a 30-month jail term on the bribery conviction in connection with a massive corruption scandal involving ousted President Park Geun-hye and her friend, Choi Soon-sil. The lower court in February found Shin guil

Ride-hailing service Uber’s Chief Operating Officer Barney Harford on Wednesday said the company is seeking new partnerships with technology companies in South Korea, an important market equipped with advanced technology. “The size of Korea as an economy is very significant. Also this is a country that is deep in technology. I think there is potential for us to work closely with some of the great companies in Korea and develop partnerships that serve the Korean market well, but also help us take

South Korean biopharma company Medytox said Wednesday that it had submitted a biologics license application for its type A botulinum toxin drug, Medytoxin, to the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration.　Medytoxin has been filed for approval under the name Neuronox in Taiwan. If approved, the BTX product will be marketed locally by Medytox Taiwan, a joint venture between Medytox and Dynamic Medical Technologies, a Taiwanese medical equipment company with a specialty in aesthetic lasers.Neuronox woul

South Korean air carrier Asiana Airlines has renovated a school in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent and supplied classroom equipment for local students, according to a firm Wednesday.  Asiana Airlines officials, Uzbekistani authorities and students pose for a photo after a reopening ceremony for a renovated school in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Tuesday. (Asiana Airlines)It was part of the airline’s “Beautiful Classroom” project, a corporate outreach campaign the company began in 2012 to improve the educati

Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the main construction unit of Hyundai Motor Group, will begin sales of 2,513 units of Hillstate Samsong Skansen in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, from Friday, the company said Wednesday.Hyundai E&C said that it intends to include elements of the Scandinavian lifestyle in the complex, hence the use of Skansen, the name of a museum in Stockholm, Sweden. The planned Hillstate Samsong Skansen development. (Hyundai E&C)Hillstate Samsong Skansen spans 180,000 square met

Golfzon Newdin, holding company of a leading indoor golf simulator franchise, has acquired 100 percent of shares in Leadbetter Golf Academy, a US-based institute founded by legendary golf coach David Leadbetter, the company said Wednesday.Launched in 1983, the academy operates 37 institutes in 13 countries around the world, with certified coaches trained by Leadbetter himself.By acquiring LGA, Golfzon Newdin will bring golf lessons into a new level by integrating the institute’s coaching knowhow

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s most widely used mobile messenger service, KakaoTalk, said Wednesday that it will begin developing a medical big data platform in partnership with the Asan Medical Center in Seoul.The envisioned big data platform would pool and consolidate different kinds of medical records and other information into one integrated system, so they can be utilized and analyzed by interested parties.Kakao Investment, Kakao’s venture investment arm, has signed an agreement with

South Korean biopharma company Celltrion said Wednesday that it has concluded all clinical trials for its subcutaneous (SC) version of Remsima, and is scheduled to seek approval for the drug from European drug regulators by the year’s end.Celltrion said it had concluded phase 3 clinical trials for Remsima SC and is now preparing to submit the drug for approval to the European Medicines Agency in the latter half of the year.　 Celltrion employees are seen in an R&D lab at the company's headquarter

Binggrae, a South Korean food and beverage company, said Wednesday that it had introduced “sized-up” versions of its popular coffee drinks to boost sales and exports.The A Cafe la brand drink, called Size Up and available in flavors Americano, sweet Americano, cafe latte and vanilla latte, is 350 milliliters “to offer good taste with better affordability.” A Cafe la`s Size Up (Binggrae)The Americano drinks contain coffee beans from Brazil and the latte drinks contain coffee beans from Colombia,