German luxury car brand Porsche had its best year in Korea in 2020, selling a record number of vehicles, the company said Thursday. Porsche Korea’s 2020 sales surpassed 1 trillion won ($900 million) for the first time since it set up a business presence here in 2014. With 7,779 units sold, South Korea was the automaker’s fifth-largest market in terms of annual sales, following China, North America, Germany and the UK, the company said. “Last year was a milestone, as more

Faced with a COVID-19 vaccine shortage, South Korea is taking the first steps to consider Russia’s Sputnik V. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Thursday that it would collect clinical data on the Russian vaccine to study its efficacy and safety. The ministry has requested the help of the Foreign Ministry and its overseas missions for the collection of data from 12 countries where the vaccine has been rolled out, officials said. A Drug Ministry official, however, attempted to d

ESG -- short for environmental, social and corporate governance -- is the buzzword in the corporate world now. At GS Engineering & Construction, EGS efforts had already begun long before industries began paying attention to the trends. GS E&C, which received an “A” rating for its ESG efforts from the Korea Corporate Governance Service last year, has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia/Pacific Index for 10 consecutive years. In 2014, GS E&C joined the Korea

CU is implementing electric trucks for supply deliveries to its stores to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the convenience store chain said Thursday. BGF Retail, the operator behind the convenience store chain, said it is introducing Kia’s Bongo EV, the pure electric version of the automaker’s compact pickup truck. The trucks will be delivering products from BGF Logis Gwangju, its distribution center in Gyeonggi Province to midsized and large CU stores in Seoul’s Gangnam ar

Korea Aerospace Industries said Thursday it will invest 98.5 billion won ($88.3 million) to develop a customized smart manufacturing system and apply it first to the production of KF-21 Boramae fighters. According to the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturer, it will develop the smart manufacturing system by 2023 and apply the system to all of its business sites. The system will be modeled after KAI’s most advanced A350 smart factory located at its headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeo

Low-cost carrier Jeju Air said on Thursday it will resume the flights between Incheon and Saipan late next month. The decision to fly again to the western Pacific island from May 28 comes after a hiatus of over one year. Around March last year, airlines including Jeju Air suspended flights to multiple destinations across the world including Saipan as the number of coronavirus cases began to increase. Though the move will help Korean nationals living in Saipan as well as travelers, a mandatory

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit nearly tripled compared to a year earlier on a base effect and an improved product mix. Net profit for the three months that ended in March jumped to 1.52 trillion won ($1.36 billion) from 552.68 billion won a year ago, the company said in a statement. The net result exceeded the median forecast of 1.32 trillion won by local brokerages. In the first quarter, Hyundai suspended some of its assembly lines in Korea due to shortages of p

South Korean household goods and cosmetics maker LG Household & Health Care Ltd. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose more than 10 percent on robust sales despite the coronavirus pandemic. Net income came to 258.8 billion won ($231.9 million) in the January-March period, up 10.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its operating profit expanded 11 percent on-year to 370.6 billion won. Sales climbed 7.4 percent to 2.04 trillion won. The operating

Samsung Electronics Co. will introduce its expanded lineup of customizable home appliances to global audiences next month as the South Korean tech giant aims to boost sales amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. Samsung sent media invitations on Wednesday for its BESPOKE HOME online event on May 11 to showcase its latest products and technologies that can enrich users' home experiences. BESPOKE is a brand promoted by Samsung that allows consumers to tailor their own configurations by mat

South Korea will invest 114.7 trillion won ($102.7 billion) over the next decade to expand the railway network for major cities across the nation, the transport ministry said Thursday. The fourth nationwide railway plan aims to extend the railway from the current 4,274 kilometers to 5,137 km by 2030 to allow people to travel across the nation in less than three hours, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said. The project would raise the railway transportation capacity to ab

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's seventh-largest tiremaker by sales, said Thursday it began to supply tires for the Porsche 718 Boxter this year. Hankook Tire has provided the high-performance Ventus S1 evo 3 tires for the sports car since early this year, the company said in a statement. The company did not provide the exact time frame for the supply deal or the value of the deal. It has provided its original equipment (OE) tires for Porsche's Macan SUV, Cayenne SUV, and elect

Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest budget carrier by sales, said Thursday it will resume flights to Saipan late next month in a preemptive measure to absorb post-coronavirus travel demand. Jeju Air plans to reopen the Incheon-Saipan route on May 28 upon permission from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a company spokesman said over the phone. "The transport ministry is in consultations with the health authorities to decide whether to approve one flight a week on the r

Samsung SDS Co., an IT service unit of Samsung Group, on Thursday said it swung to the black in the first quarter of 2021 on the back of robust cloud business and logistics platform projects. The company reported net profit of 158.5 billion won ($141.7 million) in the January-March period, shifting from a loss of 30.3 billion won a year earlier. Its operating profit jumped 26.8 percent on-year to 217.1 billion won, while sales rose 25.7 percent on-year to 3.06 trillion won in the first three m

CEO Park Jung-ho highlights cooperation with SK hynix, confirms acquisition plan

Naver is considering listing its web cartoon in the US as part of efforts to go global, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. Naver’s chief financial officer Park Sang-jin said the company is eyeing more dollar bond sales and a possible future US initial public offering for Naver Webtoon, according to the wire service. “To grow, it’s inevitable that we go global,” Park was quoted as saying. “We should find business opportunities and meet capable partners to suppleme