A major US ride-sharing company will operate electric water taxis powered by Samsung SDI batteries near the Golden Gate Bridge next year. According to industry sources on Monday, the San Francisco-based startup will operate three electric water taxis -- each loaded with 220 kilowatt-hours of Samsung SDI batteries -- in the Golden Gate Strait starting in the second quarter of next year. The price of the electric water taxi is around $280,000 and it can carry one driver and six passengers. Th

ULSAN -- A city the size of Hong Kong churns out 5,400 cars every day, builds 12 percent of the world’s ships and runs Asia’s third-largest petrochemicals complex. It’s no surprise that Ulsan has the highest carbon emissions per person in South Korea. The port city, sitting on the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula, aims to turn its weakness into a strength by collecting massive waste hydrogen generated at petrochemical facilities and using it as a fuel to power the c

State money that covers 1 charger per station limits profits, leaves stations in deficit, city officials say

Kyobo Life Insurance, one of South Korea's leading life insurers, said Monday that it has requested a reinvestigation into and punishment of some accountants of Deloitte Anjin accused of conspiring to inflate the prices of a put option that one of its strategic investors exercised years earlier. In October 2018, Affinity Equity Partners exercised a put option on 6 million shares in Kyobo Life Insurance at a strike price of 409,000 won ($345) per share after the insurer failed to deliver on its

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met with Conni Jonsson, founder and chairperson of Swedish private equity firm EQT Partners, and discussed expanding ties on future industries, such as green energy and health care, officials said Sunday. In the meeting held Friday in Seoul, Chey told Jonsson about the conglomerate’s efforts in reducing carbon emissions, improving transparency in governance and creating both economic and social values, they said. “South Korea is a leader in hydrogen

Prices of groceries and nonalcoholic beverages in Korea rose 5 percent on-year in the July-September period, marking the fifth-largest increase among OECD nations, data showed Sunday. According to data from Statistics Korea and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, prices of food and beverages grew even higher last month on-year at 6.1 percent on the back of strong price increases of agricultural and processed products. The quarterly price growth of food and beverages w

Food delivery apps saw their users decline after South Korea entered the first phase of the “living with COVID-19” scheme last month. But amid growing competition and a push by delivery apps for “one order per trip” to promise a speedy service, a delivery rider shortage is likely behind the rising cost of your order, industry sources said. According to IGAWorks’ mobile index, Android phone users who used delivery apps Baemin and Yogiyo dropped by 8.9 and 7.5 perc

An advertisement campaign from Daesang took home two honors at the Korea Advertising Awards this year, according to the food company on Sunday. Founded in 1994, the Korea Advertising Awards are considered the most prestigious awards in the industry here. Some 2,000 advertisements are submitted for consideration each year, the organizers said. An advertisement series of Daesang’s “Anjuya” products -- ready-made side dishes to be paired with alcohol -- received two nominatio

New variant brings back strict office quarantine rules again, executives mull trip to CES 2022

South Korea will increase the number of electric vehicle chargers at highway service areas nationwide to over 1,000 by the end of 2022, the transport ministry said Sunday. Currently, there are 435 EV chargers at the country's highway rest stops. The government plans to increase the number to 730 by the end of this month and then add more than 300 chargers next year, it said in a press statement. The move is meant to help meet rising demand for EVs and the charging infrastructure, as the gover

Amid worries over the omicron variant of COVID-19, Korean testing kit makers showed confidence in their equipment’s ability to detect the new virus variant, pushing up their stock prices again. GreenCross Medical Science said Friday that the effectiveness of its COVID-19 testing kit has been confirmed for the new omicron variant as well. In order to assess the validity of the result from its testing equipment, GCMS conducted the ‘in-silico’ experiment, which refers to a typ

Silence prevailed at the departure gates of Incheon Airport on Thursday, a day after the nation reported its first cases of COVID-19’s omicron variant. People waiting to check in for their flights were seated meters apart with masks on. Some were wearing plastic gloves and face shields for extra protection. Cafes at the terminal were open but practically empty. “I mean, it’s the airport. Even my parents think working here makes me vulnerable to omicron. So I understand that

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Friday it has signed a 383 billion-won ($325 million) deal to build a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV). Under the deal with Monaco's Eneti Inc., the vessel will be delivered by the first half of 2023, DSME said. The latest deal was made in accordance with the 370 billion-won contract with Eneti in May, under which it has an option to place an order for an additional WTIV. The two WTIVs, which are 148 meters long and 56 meters wi

The licenses of six botulinum drugs will be revoked on Dec. 13, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced Thursday. The Drug Ministry said the drugs were being sold in the country without obtaining the state approval to sell them in the domestic market. The drugs are four of Hugel’s Botulax units and two of Pharma Research Bio’s ReNTox units. The Drug Ministry will also shut down Pharma Research Bio’s production for six months, citing that the biopharmaceutical firm&

Speculations grow over junior Chey’s role at battery spinoff from SK Innovation