The number of registered vehicles in South Korea had surpassed 25 million as of end-March, which means one out of every two South Koreans owns a vehicle, data showed Wednesday. Car registrations had come to 25.07 million units in the country of 52 million people as of end-March, up 2.12 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number of environmentally friendly cars registered here had advanced 7.7 percent from the previous y

Aviation experts from around the world gathered in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss ways to promote the aviation industry’s safe recovery in the post-pandemic era. During the 2022 International Civil Aviation Organization’s Legal Seminar hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, South Korea’s Transport Minister Noh Hyeong-ouk pointed out that governments around the world have sought for diverse ways to support the air industry to recover from plunging travel dem

Edison Motors Co. has filed a court injunction seeking to block SsangYong Motor Co.'s move to find a new buyer after its takeover bid fell through due to payment failure, a filing showed Tuesday. Edison said in a regulatory filing that it lodged the injunction request with the Seoul Central District Court, claiming SsangYong must not "proceed with a new takeover other than the one with the Edison consortium under the contract signed in January."  Edison has agreed to buy Ssang

Korea’s food delivery app Baemin logged 2.3 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in sales last year, a 70-fold surge from 2014 when it started filing financial reports to authorities, its operator Woowa Brothers said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. “The stellar performance in recent years was largely driven by COVID-19, with many restaurant partners joining our app,” said an official from Woowa Brothers. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the company surpassed 1 trillion won i

South Korean luxury resort developer Ananti said Tuesday that it has decided to pull out from its resort and golf club project in the Kumgangsan tourist zone of North Korea, a business that once symbolized inter-Korean rapprochement. The decision comes after a news report that Pyongyang appears to have started demolishing South Korean facilities at the Kumgangsan Ananti Golf & Spa Resort on the North’s eastern coast. On Monday, US news outlet NK News published satellite images sugg

Korea‘s Public Procurement Service is set to host an annual consultation fair in November to assist small- and medium-sized enterprises seeking entry into overseas procurement markets valued at $12.8 trillion. The annual event titled Global Public Procurement Marketplace (GPPM) has supported SMEs since 2016 to provide information concerning offshore markets such as foreign procurement laws and local market trends. According to the PPS, the event brings together Korean enterprises, forei

South Korean companies are keeping a wary eye on looming supply chain disruptions and slowing consumer electronics demand as the pandemic lockdown in China shows no signs of ending. While there are signs that the severe lockdown and fast spreading coronavirus in the Chinese port city Shanghai could spread to other cities, including port city Guangzhou, prospects of the slowing demand of consumer electronics -- especially in China -- is adding to the concerns. The lockdown in Shanghai, beginnin

South Korea and Israel have pledged to invest up to $5.3 million (6.6 billion won) to support the joint development of robotics technology under a new strategic collaboration project named the Lighthouse Program, officials said Tuesday. As a joint research and development project between Seoul and Jerusalem, the Lighthouse Program is a follow-up of the revisions made to the industrial technology agreement between the two countries last year. Both sides agreed to double the annual funding for th

Korean small- and medium-sized companies certified by the governmental Public Procurement Service for their technological aptitude and product quality saw their overseas shipments grow despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The certified companies -- called Government Performance Assured (G-PASS) companies -- have recorded $1.25 billion in actual exports last year, a 69.1 percent increase from $740 million in 2020, according to PPS authorities. This far exceeds South Korea’s average expor

SK Group is reportedly seeking to acquire a sizeable stake in TerraPower, a US nuclear power startup backed by Bill Gates, as part of its investment push in the carbon-free energy sector such as electric vehicle batteries and hydrogen. According to local daily Chosun Ilbo on Tuesday, the nation’s third-largest conglomerate is in talks to purchase a 10 percent stake, worth $15.4 million, in TerraPower, from India’s Reliance Industries. “Nothing has been decided yet,” an

Agency chief vows to support youth startups, companies with innovative products and introduce ESG values in public procurement

Financial affiliates of Samsung Group, South Korea's top conglomerate, on Tuesday said they will launch a new integrated brand and unified platform to secure a larger pool of customers from the MZ generation. Named Monimo, the single platform, which will house five financial affiliates, including Samsung Life Insurance Co. and Samsung Securities Co., will provide various services. The platform will go into operation Thursday. Additionally, the affiliates said they will launch a new and unified b

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's sixth-largest tiremaker by sales, said Tuesday it started supplying tires for Mercedes-Benz's S-Class sedan last year. Hankook Tire has been providing the high-performance tires, including Ventus S1 Evo3 and Ventus S1 Evo3 run-flat products, since early last year in the form of original equipment (OE) products for the luxury sedan, the company said in a statement. To enhance its global brand image, the tiremaker has provided its OE tire products for

Hyundai Glovis Co., the logistics unit of Hyundai Motor Group, said Tuesday it has signed a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping deal with Australian energy firm Woodside. Hyundai Glovis has ordered a local shipbuilder to build an LNG ship to transport LNG for Woodside. Once the ship is delivered in late 2024, the company will begin shipping, a company spokesman said. Hyundai Glovis is the first Asian shipping company to sign an LNG shipping deal with Woodside. The company said it will

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest carrier, said Monday it will resume the Incheon-Rome route in June to meet pent-up demand amid eased virus curbs. Asiana plans to offer two flights a week to Rome from June 18 and gradually increase the number depending on demand, a company spokesperson said over the phone. The carrier suspended the Rome route two years and three months ago as countries strengthened entry restrictions to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Asiana used