Women still get 30% less pay than male colleagues

Amid the budding efforts to patch up the rocky relationship between South Korea and Japan, major Korean firms are expected to see momentum grow for the revival of their ailing Japan business. Japan has long remained a graveyard for Korean companies, even for the most successful ones like Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, because consumers there are known to prefer local brands and like Sony and Toyota -- who also happen to be Korean brands' archrivals in almost all sectors globally. Ov

Hyundai Motor Group on Tuesday premiered the all-new Kona Electric, the automaker's latest addition to its expanding portfolio of all-battery electric vehicles, in a video on its YouTube channel. According to the carmaker, the latest EV can drive 410 kilometers or more on a single charge, the longest driving length among EVs in the same classification. Hyundai Motor plans to present the all-new Kona Electric for the first time in an offline setting at the upcoming Seoul Mobility Show schedu

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday its retail store brand Samsung Digital Plaza will be renamed as Samsung Store from Wednesday – the first revamp since the brand was launched in 2000. In addition to some 360 retail stores nationwide, all shops within department stores and large supermarket chains will also carry the new name, the company said. Samsung said the rebranding aims to liven up its corporate image by focusing more on younger brand names such as Galaxy, Bespoke, SmartThings and Lif

Alpha Motor Corporation, a US electric vehicle developer, will make its debut at the upcoming Seoul Mobility Show, which runs from March 30 to April 9 at Kintex in Gyeonggi Province, the event organizers said Tuesday. Established in 2020 in California by a group of automotive, IT and financial experts led by Korean-Americans, Alpha Motor will unveil its EV pickup trucks Wolf and Wolf Plus at the event.

SK Inc. Materials, an advanced materials unit under South Korea’s SK Group, said Tuesday it is making an additional investment into 8 Rivers, a US clean energy tech firm specialized in developing carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). With the planned investment, the Korean firm is expected to become the largest shareholder of 8 Rivers. Under the renewed partnership, the two firms are set to further strengthen their existing ties on diverse clean energy products within the US. Fou

IT giant Kakao on Tuesday announced a tender offer for SM Entertainment’s shares held by minority shareholders at a price higher than what Hybe previously offered amid an intensifying race to win over the management rights of the K-pop powerhouse. Kakao and its subsidiary Kakao Entertainment offered 150,000 won ($115.55) per share with a goal to additionally secure up to 35 percent (some 8.3 billion shares) of SM Entertainment. This tender offer begins on Tuesday and ends on March 26. Th

SK Telecom said Tuesday that it has teamed up with Neubility, a delivery robot developer, and SK Shieldus, a security services firm, to develop artificial intelligence-based self-driving patrol robots. The telecom giant said the robots are equipped with camera-based solutions instead of high-priced LiDAR sensors. The three companies agreed to sign a deal for the commercialization of the robots in the second quarter, with an aim to make their market debut later this year.

South Korea's economic growth sharply slowed in 2022 as exports weakened amid growing recession woes stemming from aggressive monetary tightening at home and abroad, central bank data showed Tuesday. South Korea's gross domestic product -- a major gauge of growth -- expanded 2.6 percent in 2022, compared with a 4.1 percent advance tallied in the previous year, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The 2022 growth marked the slowest pace since 2020, when the economy contracted

SK Inc., the investment arm of SK Group, said Tuesday it has finalized the agenda for the upcoming shareholders meeting this month, which aim to boost both the expertise and inclusivity of its board of directors as well as enhance shareholder benefits. The holding unit of the nation’s third-largest conglomerate said the board held a meeting a day earlier to approve the agenda items and appointed a financial services lawyer as the final candidate for its outside director. Hyun-ju Helen Pak

South Korean steel giant Posco said Monday it is teaming up with North Gyeongsang Province for recovery efforts in the areas inflicted by Typhoon Hinnamnor last year. Officials of Posco and the local government signed an agreement in Andong, the provincial capital, earlier in the day, with Posco Vice Chairman Kim Hak-dong in attendance. Under the agreement, Posco will supply resources, including steel products, to be used in construction sites in Pohang and Gyeongju, the hardest-hit areas. Pohan

Highly coveted Korean beef expected to see further price cuts amid sagging demand

South Korean department store franchise Hanwha Galleria announced Monday that it is opening the first Korean store of US burger chain Five Guys in southern Seoul at the end of June this year. Five Guys is an American fast-food chain with over 1,800 stores across 23 countries. The upcoming Seoul opening is its sixth launch in Asia. The first Korean store, a two-story building with a total of 150 seats, will be located on a 618-square-meter site in the bustling Gangnam Station area in southern Seo

SM warns Hybe not to attempt block deal with agency's shareholders, citing illegality

Seoul to suspend temporarily WTO lawsuit against Tokyo’s export restrictions of key industrial materials