In his first appearance since pardon, Lee Jae-yong holds rare forum with employees

Hyundai Steel, the nation’s No. 2 steel maker, said Sunday it is betting big on waste recycling in its renewed push for carbon neutrality. The company has recycled used coffee grounds as part of its social contribution activities. More recently, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Incheon Yeonsu Rehabilitation Center to accelerate related research. The North Gyeongsang Province Government Public Institute of Health and Environment, the key beneficiary, will carry out a stu

Posco Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo recently touted battery materials as a key growth driver during his meeting with investors in Singapore, the steelmaker’s holding group said Sunday. The pledge came as Choi briefed officials from US-based investment giant BlackRock and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation – a state-run investment agency – of Posco’s performance so far in management and strengthening its financial soundness on Friday, according to Posco H

South Korea’s reliance on China for semiconductor exports jumped nearly 13-fold in the last two decades and Seoul needs to take action to resolve any associated risks, a report said Sunday. Semiconductor exports made up 39.7 percent of Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s total exports to China last year, a surge from 3.2 percent in 2000, said the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a major business lobby that represents some 300 companies including Samsung Electronics and SK

AI era gives rise to part-time workers helping machine learning algorithms become smart

In recent months, a severe taxi shortage saw people hailing a taxi on the streets of Seoul to no avail while ride-hailing apps like Kakao T failing to dispatch a driver, especially during nighttime peak hours. Between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., only one 1 of 4 attempts to call for a taxi succeeds, according to Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong last month. The taxi crisis is blamed on a number of factors, including a sudden post-pandemic spike in demand and a reduced driver pool after many switched o

Hyosung Group said Friday that it has donated10 AI care robots, called Pibo, to older patriots and veterans, as part of its social contribution activities.  Pibo, an AI care robot developed by a South Korean startup, Circulus, offers information such as news and weather while also monitoring the user’s body temperature and heart rate. It also manages medication tracking by setting a specific reminder of a user’s treatment schedule. The robot can monitor a user’s state of

Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong revived his management activities by participating in the groundbreaking of a new semiconductor research and development complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday. This marked Lee‘s first official activity after being granted a pardon by President Yoon Suk-yeol earlier this month. In a speech during the groundbreaking ceremony at the company’s Giheung campus, Lee said it is time to “make the future using new technologies.&r

More than one-third of newly registered taxis this year were electric vehicles, illustrating their continuously expanding market in the country. According to Transport Ministry data analyzed by CarIsYou data center, 7,394 electric vehicles were newly registered for taxi operation from January to July. This equates to 36.4 percent of the 20,296 units newly registered as taxis in the same period.  The number of electric taxis has significantly increased in the last decade. In 2013, there

Celltrion Inc., a major South Korean biopharmaceutical firm, said Friday it has secured a 110 billion-won ($83 million) drug substance supply deal from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. for use in producing the Israel-based generic drugmaker's migraine medicine. Under the contract manufacturing organization (CMO) deal, Celltrion will provide drug substance material for Ajovy, Teva's prescription medicine used for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. The deal is approximate

Facebook, the US social media network operated by Meta Platforms Inc., has seen an over 25 percent decline in the number of monthly active users (MAU) in South Korea across the past two years, an industry analysis report showed Friday. According to Mobile Index, the big data analysis unit of local data tracker IGAworks, the South Korean MAU tally for Facebook reached 11.09 million as of last month, compared with 14.87 million in May 2020, when the company started compiling related data. Mobile

President Yoon Seok-yeol has appointed a professor who specializes in insurance law and investor protection to lead the Fair Trade Commission, the presidential office said Thursday in a statement. Han Ki-jeong, who teaches commercial law at Seoul National University and led the private Korea Insurance Research Institute between 2016 and 2019, will help revitalize a free market economy the Yoon government seeks, according to the statement. “Han has long studied what consumers need and kno

Coway Co., South Korea’s leading water purifier maker, said it began full operation of its production plant in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, to meet high demand for its new ice-making water purifier. Sales of Coway’s Icon ice-making water purifier jumped 30 percent on-year in July as frequent heat waves sizzled the nation. The new product’s inventory for August was sold out in the beginning of the month, and orders continue to flood in, according to a Coway official.

After record downpours in Seoul last week, experts warn soaked cars could return to used market in about two months

Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said Thursday it will set up two manufacturing subsidiaries -- one in charge of modules and the other for auto parts -- that will be wholly owned by the company. Its current module manufacturing units located in Ulsan, Gwangju and Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, will come under the module subsidiary, while the auto parts manufacturing units in charge of air bags, lamps, brakes, steering and electrification will come under the au