GS Group’s retail units merged to combine online and offline strengths

South Korean manufacturers’ business sentiment reached a seven-year high for the third quarter this year, as the global economy shows signs of recovery amid vaccine rollouts against the coronavirus pandemic, a poll revealed Wednesday. According to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Business Sentiment Index, which it compiles quarterly, stood at 103 for the July-September period, up four points from the previous quarter. It was the first time in seven years that it surpassed

Quarantine-free travel to Saipan to be allowed as early as late July

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday announced that its kiosk machine is now available in more countries as the tech giant eyes to bolster its self-service machine business amid the pandemic-induced contactless trend. Samsung Kiosk is now launched in 12 countries worldwide, including the United States, Britain, Spain, Australia and Singapore. Its kiosk machine was first unveiled in February in South Korea. The kiosk with a 24-inch touch-screen display is powered by Samsung's system on chip (So

QLED and OLED TV shipments are projected to reach record highs this year, a report showed Wednesday, boding well for the South Korean TV makers that lead the premium TV market. The annual shipment of QLED TVs for 2021 is expected to reach 11.02 million units, up 22.4 percent from a year earlier, while that of OLED TVs is estimated to be 7.1 million units, up 80 percent from a year ago, according to market researcher TrendForce. "Continued price hikes of TV panels, as well as a simultaneou

Three South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery makers accounted for a third of the global market in the first five months of the year, but their share has slightly slipped since last year in the face of toughening competition with Chinese rivals, a market research firm said Wednesday. The trio -- LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK Innovation Co. -- supplied a combined 88.4 gigawatt-hour (GWh) equivalents of EV batteries in the January-May period, up from 33.6 GWh a year earlier,

Samsung Electronics Co. has signed a partnership with Germany's telecom giant Deutsche Telekom AG to develop an environment-friendly 5G smartphone, company officials said Wednesday. Their strategic partnership for sustainability was signed during the Mobile World Congress 2021, according to officials. The deal includes collaboration in developing a "green smartphone" that is easy to repair and equipped with a removable battery. It is expected to be released by end-2022. The two sides

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday its Mini LED TVs will hit the shelves this week as the South Korean tech giant eyes to expand its presence in the premium TV market. Starting with North America, LG's QNED Mini LED TVs will be available in major markets, including Europe, South Korea and Japan. Its first Mini LED TV comes in 65-, 75- and 86-inch sizes in 4K and 8K resolutions. In South Korea, four QNED Mini LED TV models will be sold with prices ranging from 5.09 million won ($4,500) to 16.8 mi

South Korean biopharmaceutical companies have joined forces to co-develop and co-produce 100 million doses of a homegrown messenger RNA vaccine for COVID-19 next year, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Tuesday. Dubbed the “K-mRNA vaccine consortium,” it will be led by three major firms -- Hanmi Pharmaceutical, GC Pharma and ST Pharm -- and backed by the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association and the Korea Innovative Medicines Consortium, a gr

Netflix likely to continue legal battle over network usage fees; attention likely to turn to Google’s position, net neutrality

South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor on Tuesday released a promotional video featuring K-pop supergroup BTS and robots, as part of efforts to reposition the company as a tech firm leading future technologies. Titled “Welcome to the Family with BTS,” the clip, which is around two and a half minutes long, was uploaded to the carmaker’s official YouTube channel. It seeks to make the field of robotics familiar to young people, by introducing Spot and Atlas of Boston Dy

Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Tuesday that efpeglenatide, its long-acting diabetes drug candidate, had significantly reduced the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events and kidney disease, quoting the results of phase 3 clinical trials. Sanofi, which has purchased the license for efpeglenatide from Hanmi, presented the results of the global, large-scale clinical trial at the American Diabetes Association’s 81st Scientific Sessions. The phase 3 clinical trial involved 4,076 patient

In an ambitious push for a global audience, South Korean game firm Netmarble on Tuesday showcased Marvel Future Revolution, an open world role-playing game featuring Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Captain America and other beloved characters from Marvel Comics. During a media showcase held at its headquarters in Guro-gu, western Seoul, Netmarble executives unveiled the details of the new title, set for a global launch in 240 countries and territories in the second half of the year. The event also

Samsung Electro-Mechanics said Tuesday the company has developed a multi-layer ceramic capacitor with the largest storage capacity for 5G smartphones. Known as MLCC, the component enables stable supply and control of electric charge within electronic devices. It is as thin as human hair. At least 1,000 capacitors are needed for today’s smartphones per unit. The Samsung unit said the latest MLCC is 1.0 millimeter by 0.5 millimeter and is capable of storing 27 microfarads of electric c

South Korea will offer additional frequency bands for further 5G deployment and non-telecom companies are eligible to join the bid, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced Tuesday. 　 The wireless spectrums to be provided are a 600 megahertz block of a 28 Gigahertz frequency band and another 100MHz block of 4.7GHz. According to the ministry plan, the government will divide the 28GHz band into 12 blocks, and the 4.7GHz band into 10 blocks for the frequency rollout and companies or institution