South Korea's financial watchdog has ordered Kyobo Life Insurance Co. to pay a fine of 350 million won ($295,000) for letting its subsidiaries use its brand for free, the company said Friday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) also issued warnings to five officials, including a retired employee of the insurer, in connection with the matter, according to the company. Kyobo Life Insurance, No. 3 life insurer in South Korea, was accused of providing undue support to the subsidiaries by letti

SK Bioscience Co., a vaccine unit of South Korea's SK Group, said Friday it has extended an agreement to manufacture a component of the US-based biotechnology company Novavax Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine by one more year. Under the extended agreement, SK Bioscience will reserve additional manufacturing capacity to produce antigen, a key component of NVX-CoV2373 -- Novavax's recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine -- through 2022. Last year, the two sides initially signed the agreement to reserve

Sales of imported commercial vehicles in South Korea fell 23 percent in November from a year earlier amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic, an industry association said Friday. The number of newly registered imported commercial vehicles declined to 360 units last month from 468 a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. Decreased sales of MAN, Scania, and Mercedes-Benz trucks weighed on the monthly result, KAIDA said. From January to Nov

  Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's national flag carrier, said Thursday it will secure 557.8 billion won ($470 million) through a property sale as part of its efforts to improve its financial status amid a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, Korean Air will sign a deal to sell its land and building at Songhyeon-dong in central Seoul to the public housing developer Korea Land & Housing Corp., the company said in a regulatory filing. LH will exchange the Songhyeon-dong site with

The head of a local carmakers’ association said Thursday that the country’s finished carmakers would enter the certified used car market here starting next month, despite resistance from small businesses. Jung Man-ki, chairman of the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, said that local carmakers will no longer wait and will prepare to register for business licenses and establish physical spaces to launch their B2C secondhand car businesses.  “Although there is no

Ham Young-joo (left), vice chairman of Hana Financial Group, congratulates Hong Hwa-jin, leader of the data & investment division at Hana Bank, who led the first 33 participants for the last six months in the group’s program designed to nurture women leaders.

South Korean conglomerate Doosan Group said Thursday it will unveil innovations centered on hydrogen and robotics technologies at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show. Under the theme “delightful life,” Doosan Group and its major affiliates will showcase their latest innovations at a 450-square-meter booth at the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center from Jan. 5-8, local time. The West Hall is where mobility, auto and self-driving companies are grouped. Doosan Group Chairm

Aiming to more than triple its corporate value by 2030, Posco Group plans to have its steel business focus on eco-friendliness and global growth, while fostering new growth engines such as materials for rechargeable batteries and hydrogen. The holding company will be llisted, while the steelmaking unit Posco, as well as other corporations to be set up under the holding company will remain unlisted to allow quick decision-making. This is to prevent undermining existing shareholder value and a

Blockchain company champions convergence of big data, AI, metaverse and NFT

SK Telecom’s big data analysis platform Geovision lists top 100 sales districts in the country

The government unveiled a revised road map on improving regulations for self-driving cars Thursday to hasten their commercial adoption starting next year. The road map, confirmed at an interagency government meeting earlier in the day, came as South Korea is expected to see a fast adoption of autonomous driving for commercial vehicles beginning in 2022, starting with the launch of Level 3 self-driving cars -- made for conditional driving automation that requires human intervention. The governm

Chinese technology firm stresses digital tech's role in reducing power consumption, carbon emissions　

A trial run of hydrogen-powered heavy duty trucks kicked off Thursday as part of South Korea's broader efforts for a shift to eco-friendly vehicles in line with the carbon emission cut initiative. Five 11-ton fuel cell trucks, including Hyundai Motor Co's Xcient, will run on roads in the Seoul metropolitan area and the southern region for the next 12 months, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a release. Two logistics companies -- CJ Logistics Corp., Hyundai Glovis Co. -

Automaker spurs drive as smart mobility service provider with its vision for new tech

Hundreds of small business owners took to the streets in Seoul on Wednesday to express their pent-up anger over the government‘s retightening of COVID-19 protocols nationwide. Chants of “Stop politically-motivated quarantine measures that kill all business owners” resounded throughout Gwanghwamun Plaza in central Seoul, as the large group of protesters demanded an immediate lift of gathering bans and operation hour limits. “The more than three-month long level four so