LG CNS, the information technology services unit of South Korea’s LG Group, said Thursday that it is spinning off its in-house venture Danbee, a developer of smart chatbot systems powered by artificial intelligence.Danbee was established as an in-house venture in January 2017 with just four employees. It was able to develop, test and perfect new chatbot technologies using LG CNS resources, while being given independent decision-making rights, LG said. (LG CNS)After a sufficient trial-and-error p

South Korean retailers are increasingly crossing boundaries between their commerce platforms from television to offline and online to attract more customers, market watchers said Thursday. Shinsegae TV Shopping Inc., the home shopping arm of retail giant Shinsegae, is set to open an offline shop for luxury goods sold through its program S-Style at the retailer's mall in Paju, north of Seoul, on Saturday. The 159-square-meter store will mark the first case for a television-based commerce firm to

Prices of naengmyeon, or cold buckwheat noodles, soared this summer following the continued popularity of the dish amid the sweltering heat, as well as a cold noodle craze sparked by the inter-Korean summit in April. (Yonhap)According to Statistics Korea, prices of naengmyeon at 148 restaurants across the country went up by 4.5 percent and 4.3 percent in June and July, respectively, compared to a year ago. The increase in June was the biggest since March 2012 when prices rose 5.3 percent.Particu

South Korea's top 30 conglomerates hired 14,000 employees in the first half of this year and increased the number of permanent staff, according to corporate data Thursday, showing they are keeping in step with the government policy of creating quality jobs.Business tracker CEO Score gathered data on 262 companies who filed first-half business reports for this year and had hiring records that could be compared with the corresponding period of last year.  (Yonhap)Results showed that CJ Group toppe

Major losses of two-largest energy public corporations prompt critics to raise voices

POCHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- Sweden-based carmaker Volvo has completed its sport utility vehicle lineup with the launch of the XC40, stepping into the compact SUV market for the first time in the carmaker’s 90-year history. The XC40 is smallest in the XC family consisting of the flagship large-size SUV XC 90 and XC60 midsize SUV.In the hope of continuing popularity garnered by the XC60 last year, the XC40 was released here in June, targeting younger drivers. The Korea Herald had a chance to tes

Counterfeits of famous foreign brands have been on a steady decline here, reflecting growing awareness of trademark protection, data showed Wednesday.The number of trademark invalidation trials filed by foreign entities against local copycats has been on a downward trend since 2015, according to data compiled and released by the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board.The IPTAB is a special administrative tribunal affiliated with the Korean Intellectual Property Office that handles disputes

Samsung, LG vie for world’s first 5G phones in partnership with global mobile carriers

Parking banned for recalled BMW vehicles in government buildings

Chaebol owners and business tycoons’ paychecks revealed on FSS’ salary report system

Following the continued trend of “honsul,” or drinking alone, and increased single-person households, more liquor companies are releasing smaller products.South Korean brewer Oriental Brewery said it has launched mini beer cans in 250-milliliter servings, which the company said are “perfect for the summer vacation season” because they are easy to carry around and can be consumed at once. Oriental Brewery’s Cass (OB)OB also released mini-sized Hoegaarden Rose bottles, in an effort to diversify it

A BMW vehicle, which was not included in the German carmaker's massive recall, caught fire on Wednesday, fueling further concerns over safety.Police and firefighters said a BMW X1 vehicle in North Jeolla Province, south of Seoul, caught fire at 4:17 a.m. Smoke was seen coming from the front part of the car when the driver stopped after hearing a rattling sound coming from the car, investigators added. No casualties were reported. (Yonhap)The BMW X1, produced in 2012, is a model not included in t

U.S. online travel company Expedia Group Inc. said Tuesday it will closely review feedback from customers in South Korea, one of the most wired countries in the world, to better accommodate the increasing number of travelers using mobile transactions globally. 　According to the company, more than 50 percent of the traffic at its Expedia website arrives via mobile platforms, with one-third of its bookings made through mobile devices. In South Korea, more than 50 percent of bookings are made using

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, South Korea’s two-biggest memory chip makers, dominated the global DRAM market with the largest combined share in the second quarter of the year, showed data from market researcher DRAMeXchange on Tuesday. Samsung and SK hynix accounted for a combined 73.5 percent of the world’s DRAM market in the April-June period, recording the biggest share. Samsung’s share dropped slightly from 44.9 percent in the first quarter to 43.6 percent, while SK hynix’s expanded from

South Korean duty-free store operators are divided over President Moon Jae-in’s remarks on the possibility of opening duty-free shops at arrival airport terminals to alleviate the inconvenience of having to travel with duty-free goods.  Passengers ready for departure at Incheon Airport. (Yonhap)On Monday, President Moon ordered a long-debated review of opening duty-free stores at arrival terminals during a meeting with his secretaries, saying that arrival duty-free shops could boost domestic spe