South Korean firms operating large-scale factories in Vietnam have forked out tens of billions of won for the Southeast Asian country’s COVID-19 vaccines procurement plan, Korean media outlets reported said Sunday. To date, Samsung Electronics has offered 2 billion won ($1.7 million) to Vietnam’s central government and 770 million won to local governments. The amount is the largest donation made by a multinational company operating in Vietnam to the country’s vaccine supply

South Korean conglomerates that operate large manufacturing facilities will start vaccinating their workers in line with the government’s efforts to boost the nationwide COVID-19 inoculation drive. Samsung Electronics will start the administration of Moderna‘s COVID-19 vaccine to its workers at its in-house clinics from July 27, according to industry sources Sunday. The firm notified its employees of the plan Friday, asking employees aged 18 to 59 at its plants and research faci

US automakers overtook Japanese brands to take the No. 2 spot in the imported car market in South Korea last year, a report showed Sunday, taking advantage of local consumers' boycott of Japanese products over trade and wartime legacy disputes. A total of 46,000 cars from US automakers were sold in South Korea last year, accounting for 15.2 percent of the overall imported car sales, according to data by the Korean Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA). German brands topped the ranking w

Modetour Network Inc., South Korea's second-largest travel service provider, has offered a voluntary retirement program for the first time in the company's history after suffering from the prolonged novel coronavirus pandemic, industry insiders said Sunday. All of the travel agency's 990 employees will be eligible to apply for the program, according to the sources. High-ranking executives have already tendered their resignations for the company's worsened business conditions. Earlier this mo

Coway, a South Korean home appliance rental firm, has been named one of the “Best Korea Brands 2021” by global management consulting firm Interbrand. This year’s recognition marks the seventh year running that the company has been named among the 50 best brands that represent South Korea. Coming in the 27th place, Coway’s brand value enjoyed a 8.1 percent year-on-year increase and was estimated at 1.12 trillion won. Leading the global environmental home appliances with

Once dominated by mass-produced best-sellers, beer industry is shifting towards more independent, smaller breweries

Cumulative electric vehicle (EV) sales in Europe from South Korea's two largest automakers -- Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. -- have surpassed 200,000 units, company data showed Sunday. Hyundai and Kia, both under Hyundai Motor Group, had sold a combined 227,919 EVs in the European auto market as of May since they first began selling EVs there in 2014. Hyundai's EV sales reached 131,719 units, while those of Kia totaled 96,200 units. Their cumulative EV sales in Europe topped 10,000 units i

South Korea's industry ministry said Sunday it has approved 53 projects with a budget of 85 billion won ($75 million) this year in line with efforts to develop fully automated cars by 2027. Around 373 organizations and 3,500 experts are expected to join the research projects, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea said the budget will be spent on developing automotive parts for self-driving cars, along with artificial intelligence software. The announcement came

Retail sales in South Korea moved up 12.9 percent in May from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, as more consumers visited offline shops amid the country's aggressive inoculation program. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers reached 13.1 trillion won ($11.6 billion) last month, up from 11.6 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Sales from offline stores advanced 8.8 percent over the cited period as Sou

After internet, social media, next big wave is to take people to brave, new virtual world with convergence of cutting-edge technologies

Lotte Maison Dong Busan, the first brick-and-mortar shopping complex for furniture, home appliances and accessories with 38 domestic and foreign brands opened its doors in the southern port city on June 24. 　 A number of top furniture brands, including Simmons, Hanssem, and ACE, have their products on display inside the shopping complex. 　 Aside from the furniture stores, the living-focused mall features unique spaces as well, including “Pet Park”, a playground and training field fo

South Korean refiners are jacking up investment in the burgeoning hydrogen market to secure their place in a world shifting away from fossil fuels and to get ahead of the next big change in the energy industry. Hydrogen, which burns clean when mixed with oxygen in a fuel cell, can be used for various industrial purposes, vehicles and ships, but it has been mostly used in oil refining and production of fertilizers. Large-scale usage of hydrogen requires not only manufacturing factories but als

A Seoul court on Friday ruled against global video streaming giant Netflix in its prolonged network usage fee dispute with South Korean major internet access provider SK Broadband Inc. The Seoul Central District Court dismissed a request from Netflix to confirm that the United States-based video streaming service provider is not liable to pay network usage fees to SK Broadband. The court also rejected Netflix‘s request to confirm that it has no obligation to negotiate with the South Kore

Choi In-hyuk, chief operating officer of Naver, the country’s largest portal operator, on Friday announced that he will step down from his post, apologizing for an employee’s suicide. Choi is one of co-founders of Naver, which was established in 1999. He is a close ally of Lee Hae-jin, the de facto chief of the internet company. The executive, however, will maintain his CEO post at Naver Financial. Naver released a statement regarding the employee’s death after an interna

South Korean steelmaker Posco is working with Chinese steel producer HBIS Group Co. to produce and sell automotive galvanized steel sheets, the company said Friday. Through an online signing ceremony, the two companies inked an agreement to establish an equally invested joint company, Posco said. Posco Chief Executive Officer Choi Jeong-woo and Kim Hag-dong, the head of steel business unit, attended the event. “From our collaboration with HBIS Group we plan to reinforce our position a