The used phone upcycling program of Samsung Electronics has been chosen as an exemplary case of responsible business management. According to the mobile industry on Monday, the South Korean tech giant’s “Galaxy Upcycling at Home” program received the circular transition award at this year’s Reuters Responsible Business Awards. The award is an annual event that has been taking place since 2009 to acknowledge excellent sustainability business strategies. Samsung Electron

Rising fuel prices and a weak local currency are dampening the mood for South Korea’s aviation industry, which has pinned hopes for recovery on travel bubbles and the easing of social distancing rules. The jet fuel price stood at $94.60 per barrel, as of Oct. 8, up 5.8 percent compared to the previous week, according to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association. Averaging $73.90 per barrel this year, the price as of early this month was also up 17.5 percent compar

LG Energy Solution and global automaker Stellantis said Monday they will form a joint venture in the United States to target the fast-growing North American electric vehicle market. The partnership will break ground on a new EV battery manufacturing facility in the second quarter next year. Scheduled for commercial operation by the first quarter of 2024, the new factory is to churn out 40 gigawatt-hours of EV batteries annually. “The name and the location of the joint venture haven&rsq

Some 247,000 sole proprietors have lost jobs amid prolonged social distancing regulations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Monday. According to Yonhap News Agency’s analysis, 247,000 people who were self-employed in mid-September last year lost their jobs and fell into the category of the unemployed and economically inactive within the past 12 months. The report defines unemployed as those who are able and willing to work and who have been in search of a job but unable

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Monday it has signed a 416 billion-won ($350.4 million) deal to build two container carriers. Under the deal with a shipping company in the Marshall Islands, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. will build the vessels and deliver them by April 2024, the shipbuilding holding company said in a regulatory filing. KSOE, the subholding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH), has three shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy Industries

SPC Group’s bakery chain Paris Baguette will enter Indonesia, opening its first franchise store in Jakarta next month, it said Monday. According to the South Korean food and bakery maker, it has has set up a joint venture with Indonesia’s Erajaya Group for the purpose. The joint entity will operate Paris Baguette bakeries in Indonesia. Following the November opening of the first store in the capital, more Paris Baguette stores will be added in major cities like Bali and Medan, SP

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Monday that it has signed a $1.7 billion order to provide design, parts and blocks for seven shuttle tankers. Under the deal with a company in Eurasia, Samsung Heavy Industries will supply design, parts and blocks for the vessels by January, 2027, the company said in a regulatory filing. Shuttle tankers refer to oil tankers plying between offshore oilfields and oil plants on land to transport crude. With the latest order, the shipbuilder has won a combined $1

Around 100 South Korean and Swedish maritime officials and experts will gather this week for a forum to explore ways to curb illegal fishing, South Korea's oceans ministry said Monday. During the four-day forum set to kick off Tuesday, officials from the governments and major international organizations, such as the International Maritime Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization, and maritime experts will discuss ways to better implement international agreements on illegal, unrep

South Korean Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday the country plans to closely cooperate with local chipmakers to respond to the US' latest request for them to share information on their supply chains. The US Department of Commerce has recently asked global chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics Co., to share information on inventories, demand and other details by Nov. 8 to "help improve trust and transparency within the supply chain." The request spawned concerns about the lea

South Korea's major travel agencies are expected to recover from the prolonged fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and swing to a profit in 2022 on growing demand for overseas travel, a market tracker said Monday. Local brokerage houses have projected that industry leader HanaTour could register a consolidated operating income of 3.9 billion won ($33 million) in the coming year, a sharp turnaround from an operating loss of 114.9 billion won last year, according to financial information provider Fn

South Korea will test its first domestically-developed satellite launch vehicle this week, which, if successful, will mark a major step forward in the country’s space program. The three-stage liquid fuel rocket, also known as Korean Space Launch Vehicle II or the Nuri, will lift off at 4 p.m. on Thursday from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, carrying a 1.5-ton dummy payload. If all things go well, the payload will enter into low orbit 600 to 800 kilometers above

South Korea’s car production in the third quarter this year dropped, marking the lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to a local industry report, Sunday. According to Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association’s report, the combined number of automobiles domestically manufactured during the July-September period reached 761,975, down 20.9 percent on-year. The figure was the lowest since 2008, when local carmakers’ production reached 760,121 during

South Korean companies are ending strict pandemic-era rules and restrictions, resuming overseas trips and in-person meetings, as offices prepare to gradually shift to the “living with COVID-19” phase set to start next month. The move is also in line with rising vaccination rates across the country.  According to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, 78.7 percent of the population had completed at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 64.6 perce

Stung by its employees‘ first collective action, Starbucks Korea said Sunday that it will hire 1,600 more baristas and store staff by the end of this year and improve working conditions. The hiring plan is part of the firm’s package of measures announced in response to recent complaints from in-store staff that they were overworked and underpaid. “We plan to hire in order to secure more staff and enhance work efficiency at stores nationwide. The company is also reviewing p

Porsche Korea just built an indoor playground in Seoul as part of its Porsche Dream Playground program. The carmaker said Thursday that it has completed construction of the playground on the premises of Seokgwan Elementary School in Seongbuk-gu, northern Seoul. Holger Gerrmann, CEO of Porsche Korea, and officials from the school and ChildFund Korea attended a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the project’s completion. Through its community outreach program, Porsche Dream Playground, the c