A record high of nearly 3 million vehicles were recalled in South Korea last year for the replacement of faulty parts and other repairs, government data showed Sunday. According to the data provided by the land ministry, around 2.93 million cars of a total of 2,443 models -- both foreign and domestic -- were recalled in 2021, the largest annual number ever since the recall system was first introduced in 2003. Of the total, some 1.76 million units of 71 domestic models were recalled, with the

LG Energy Solution finds a way with 'peanut butter-jelly' tech

Samsung Electronics on Friday debuted its new Galaxy XCover Pro, a rugged smartphone that features a removable battery, a feature long gone in today’s smartphone market. The compact phone, priced at 275,000 won ($231.80), comes in black and white and features a 5.3-inch LCD display as well as a waterproof and dustproof body. The most distinctive feature is a 3,000 mAh replaceable battery that lasts long enough for all-day use and supports a quick charge rate of up to 15 watts. Upon its

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering is in search of a new owner again after a merger plan with its larger rival Hyundai Heavy Industries failed due to an EU veto on monopoly concerns. The European Commission announced Thursday its prohibition for the merger, claiming that the deal could reduce competition in the global LNG carrier market amid soaring energy prices. Back in 2019, Hyundai Heavy announced it would acquire a 55.7 percent stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding from its largest shar

Celltrion’s COVID-19 antibody treatment Regkirona has received temporary approval in Switzerland, the Korean biopharmaceutical company said Friday. Celltrion submitted the results from its global third-phase clinical trial and all clinical data on virus variants including the delta variant, according to the company. Swissmedic, which is responsible for the authorization and supervision of therapeutic products in Switzerland, gave the temporary nod Wednesday. The approval is for use Reg

South Korean materials producer Solus Advanced Materials said Friday it has won incentives worth 24 million euros ($27.5 million) from the Hungarian government for facility expansion in the Central European country. The funds will be granted in cash by 2023. The firm said the funds will be used for the expansion of its plant No. 2 in Hungary that manufactures copper foil for batteries used in electric vehicles. The new incentives come after the Hungarian government provided cash incentives w

South Korean electric vehicle battery giant LG Energy Solution and Japanese automaker Honda are in talks to form a joint venture in the US in a rare partnership between Korean and Japanese companies, according to industry sources Friday. The two companies are reportedly in the early stage of discussions to set up a 4 trillion-won ($3.3 billion) EV battery factory in the US with an annual production capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours, which is enough to power 600,000 EVs. Details such as establish

Samsung Electronics Co.'s all-new portable projector, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last week, has gotten off to a good start, as preorders were sold out at home and abroad, the company said Friday. The new product, The Freestyle, is a light, portable screen and entertainment device, especially aimed at Generation Z and millennials, with no separate screen required and the cradle rotating up to 180 degrees to enable users to see video anywhere from tables to ceilings. It was

SK Networks Co., the general trading arm of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Friday it has invested $20 million in a US biotech startup specializing in making alternative leather. SK Networks took part in a round of $126 million funding for MycoWorks, a Silicon Valley-based biomaterials company, and it is the largest amount among the strategic investors, SK said in a press release. MycoWorks owns technologies that produce leather-like fabric from engineered mycelium, a biomaterial made

　The South Korean webtoon industry saw its combined sales top 1 trillion won ($843.6 million) for the first time in 2020, government data showed. 　The total sales of the local web-based comic market amounted to 1.05 trillion won in 2020, up 64.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Culture Ministry and the Korea Creative Content Agency. 　It is the first time that the annual industrywide sales surpassed the 1 trillion-won threshold since 2017, when the ministry started to

The South Korean government said Thursday that a decision by the European Union to block the merger between the two local shipbuilders – Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering – may have a limited impact, citing a recovery in global ship orders. “The industry is seeing much better conditions than in 2019 and we will continue searching for the right ‘civilian’ operator for DSME,” the government said in a statement jointl

Korea’s IT giant Kakao said Thursday it will ban CEOs and executives representing its subsidiaries from selling company shares shortly after their market debuts in an apparent move to quell public criticism over their management ethics.　 According to Kakao’s Corporate Alignment Center, the new control tower that oversees Kakao affiliates, CEOs and executives will be prohibited from exercising stock options within two years and one year after the listing day, respectively. In partic

Their complete exit hinges on success of high-end push

The South Korean government said on Thursday it will standardize automotive data and promote intelligent manufacturing by carmakers and parts makers as part of efforts to support digital transformation of the auto industry. The aim is to turn 1,200 automotive component makers into future car companies by 2030, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement. The ministry said it will secure eight petabytes of automotive data, which is more than 10 times what is currently in stor

South Korea’s top steel maker Posco said Thursday that it will be working with the Indian conglomerate Adani Group to build a reduced-emissions integrated steel mill in India and carry out other projects to reduce carbon emissions. The firm said the two are currently reviewing the western state of Gujarat as the potential site for the new steel mill, with an estimated investment worth about $5 billion. “Under the latest deal, Posco’s strength in steel making technology and