LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's biggest chemical firm, said Sunday it will produce biodegradable plastics after joining hands with a smaller local chemical company in a move to expand its presence in the eco-friendly product market. Under the partnership with TK Chemical Corp., LG Chem will develop and produce poly butylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT). PBAT are synthetic polymers based on fossil resources and can naturally degrade within six months after buried in soil. The two companies said th

  Genesis, the independent luxury brand of Hyundai Motor Co., sold more than 100,000 sport utility vehicles (SUV) globally in just 1 1/2 years since its SUV market debut, thanks to brisk sales at home and in North America, data showed Sunday. Genesis' SUV sales totaled 107,700 units from the launch of its first SUV, GV80, in January 2020 until the end of July this year, according to Hyundai Motor's investor relation data. Genesis rolled out its second and smaller SUV flagship GV70 in Janua

South Korean listed companies' half-year dividends surged to a record high this year as their businesses posted strong performance, market data showed Sunday. A total of 62 local listed firms paid out 4.39 trillion won ($3.75 billion) in interim dividends in June, up 66.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from market tracker FnGuide. It marks the first time that listed companies' half-year dividends surpassed the 4 trillion-won mark. Half-year dividends from South Korean firms r

Kakaopay, a financial unit of tech giant Kakao Corp., will suspend its car insurance comparison service later this month after providing an unauthorized brokerage service, industry sources said Friday. Kakaopay's service to help customers find the best deal among six partnered car insurers, including Hyundai Marine and Fire Insurance Co. and DB Insurance, will be suspended from Sept. 25, according to the sources. The Financial Services Commission said the online program is not advertising tha

Doosan Infracore on Friday announced that it will sell stocks to raise 800 billion won ($682 billion). The proceeds from the stock sale will be used mainly to pay off its debts and for other purposes, the company said in a regulatory filing. Doosan Infracore will issue some 115.1 million common shares at a price of 6,950 won per share. The stocks will be sold to the firm's existing shareholders. Hyundai Genuine, the holding company of Doosan Infracore, will buy up to 28.8 percent of the sto

Apple Inc. on Friday rejected US game maker Epic Games Inc.'s request that its hit title "Fortnite" be rereleased in South Korea in a case that highlights a tug-of-war over lucrative payment systems on the app market. The video game maker earlier tweeted that it asked Apple to restore its "Fortnite" developer account and that it plans to relaunch the game on Apple's mobile operating system in the country in light of a new legislation that effectively allows alternative in-ap

Two sides deadlocked over how to calculate 10 percent market share cap

Lotte Confectionery said Friday that it will release a special BTS edition of its popular Xylitol chewing gum next month. The new edition will come in 10 packaging options -- seven representing each member of the septet and the other three featuring the group in its entirety. The gum has two flavors, Apple Mint and Purple Mix, which is a mixture of grapefruit and blueberries. With the volume of the package double the regular size, the company said the new special edition will make them more

Amid growing scrutiny of online giants Naver and Kakao, South Korea’s antitrust watchdog chief on Friday spoke of the need to regulate massive online platforms in order to better protect small vendors and consumers. “E-commerce platforms have brought new benefits and convenience, but concerns over side effects have newly arisen,” Joh Sung-wook, chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission, said during a breakfast meeting organized by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

Genie Music became the largest stakeholder of Millie’s Library, an e-book service provider, as the KT-backed music-streaming platform looks to expand its audio content business. According to the company Friday, Genie Music acquired a 38.6 percent stake in the e-book firm for 46.4 billion won. Millie’s Library is a subscription-based e-book service startup. The platform is No. 1 in the South Korean market, boasting 3.5 million subscribers, some 100,000 e-book titles and some 3,000

US robotics startup Boston Dynamics said Friday it will expand its partnership with South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group to integrate its robotics technologies in future mobility solutions and expand their applications in other industrial sectors. Boston Dynamics demonstrated its latest robotics technologies during an online media event after the automotive group in June completed the $880 million purchase of its 80 percent stake from Japanese conglomerate Softbank. Boston Dynamics, spu

South Korean telecom operators have so far installed less than 200 base stations that support millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G, data showed Friday, highlighting the lack of progress to commercialize the technology that unlocks the fastest speeds on the network. Major mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- have installed just 161 mmWave 5G base stations as of the end of August, lagging far behind the government requirement of over 45,000 base stations by the end of this yea

　Golf courses on Jeju Island appear to be an exception to the COVID-19 recession, with the southern resort island inundated with record numbers of golfers from elsewhere for the second consecutive year. 　The number of visitors to Jeju’s golf courses totaled 1.66 million in the first seven months of this year, marking an increase of 37.3 percent from 1.21 million in the same period of last year, data from the provincial government showed. 　There are 30 golf courses on Jeju, of which

SK ecoplant has won a bid to build a $2.2 billion expressway in Norway, making them the first South Korean construction company to enter the infrastructure business in the north European country. According to the construction arm of SK Group, a “Sotra Link” consortium consisting of SK ecoplant, Australia’s Macquarie Capital and Italian construction company Webuild, has been chosen for the “Rv555 The Sotra Connection” expressway construction project. SK owns a 2