South Korean home appliance maker Coway has said its new advertisements featuring K-pop group BTS have racked up over 10 million views on YouTube. In yet another sign of the group’s commercial success in the advertisement industry, the septet’s commercials promoting the company’s products, including a water purifier and a mattress, were met with millions of views and over 25,000 comments within 17 days, Coway said. The ads, which are available on the company’s official

WeMakePrice O and Baemin to adopt ‘One order per delivery’ amid growing competition

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Sunday it has decided to order two importers of medical devices to take corrective actions over their unfair business practice. Abbott Korea Co. and Medtronic Korea Co. provided financial support to doctors for their participation in overseas seminars between 2014 and 2019 in a bid to encourage them to use their imported cardiovascular stent, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The commission also decided to fine Abbott Korea 16 million w

South Korea said Sunday it will spend 42 billion won ($37.6 million) by 2025 to develop a response system against illegal drones amid growing security threats from the fast-developing technology. A consortium of 23 companies and research institutes -- which includes the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and aerospace and defense firm LIG Nex1 Co. -- will develop a response system that spots and neutralizes the illegal unmanned aircraft, according to

South Korea will allow three more airports to run international "flights to nowhere" to help the pandemic-hit airline and duty-free industry ride out the prolonged crisis, the transport ministry said Sunday. Flights to nowhere start and end at the same airport and offer tax-free sales, while passengers are exempted from mandatory COVID-19 testing and the quarantine process after arrival. Starting from May, airlines will be allowed to operate international flights without destinations

The Seoul Botanic Park has attracted more than 10 million visitors since its opening 30 months ago, the city government said Sunday. Located in western Seoul, the park began to accept visitors in October 2018 before formally opening in May 2019. It is the country's first botanic park built inside a city, with a forest, lake, wetlands and greenhouses laid across 500,000 square meters of land, according to the city government. A total of 10.04 million people have visited the park since October

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution said Saturday its joint venture with American automaker General Motors will build a $2.3 billion (2.58 trillion won) electric vehicle battery factory in Tennessee.  Ultium Cells, the joint venture between LG and GM, will build a second US factory with an annual capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours, similar to the first one under construction in Ohio, LG Energy said. "With the joint venture's factory construction, LG Energy Solutio

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Friday it will spend 1.06 trillion won ($950 million) to build a battery factory in the United States with American automaker General Motors Corp. In a regulatory filing, LG Energy, wholly owned by LG Chem Ltd., said that it and GM will each invest the same amount in their joint venture, Ultium Cells, to step up electric vehicle (EV) battery production in the US. Together with 600 billion won worth of loans, the total investment for the

KEF, CJ Group chief Sohn calls for Samsung chief Lee’s pardon

Hyundai Motor and Kia, Hyundai Motor Group’s two automakers, are joining hands with SK Innovation to develop batteries for hybrid electric vehicles, the group said Friday. The auto group will work with the country’s leading battery producer, SK Innovation, to develop “pouch-style” batteries optimized for electric vehicles. They hope to apply the batteries to Hyundai’s hybrid electric vehicles slated for release in 2024. The partnership will boost the country&rsq

Posco C&C decided to end their business partnership with Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL), one of Myanmar’s two largest military holding companies, the company said Friday. The affiliate of South Korea’s steel giant Posco said it will end its partnership with MEHL by purchasing all the stakes MEHL has in their joint venture, Myanmar Posco C&C Co., following public outcry against Myanmar military’s brutal crackdown on its citizens after a coup in

LG Energy Solution, South Korea’s leading battery maker, has marked the industry’s first case of joining both RE100 and EV100, the two global campaigns addressing climate change and clean energy, officials said Friday. Abbreviated for Renewable Electricity 100%, RE100 is an international campaign launched by nonprofit organization the Climate Group in partnership with Carbon Disclosure Project in 2014. The campaign aims to have businesses that consume more than 100GWh a year switch

The founder of South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. and his wholly-owned company has sold 500 billion won ($447 million) worth of stocks in Kakao part of his pledge to donate half of his assets, a filing showed Friday. The move came after Kim Beom-su, who serves as Kakao's chairman, pledged in February this year to donate more than half of his assets, which at the time was estimated to be worth more than 10 trillion won. In March, he joined the Giving Pledge, a global campai

South Korea said Friday it plans to increase investment in research & development (R&D) on key technologies for next-generation vehicles in a bid to help local automakers take the lead in the market. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government will spend 367.9 billion won ($328 million) in supporting R&D on next-generation autos this year, up 37 percent from the previous year. "It is urgent to make an investment in R&D on next-generation vehicles in a preemptive manne

Shares in Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. slumped Friday after its creditors signed a deal to sell the financially troubled shipbuilder. Hanjin Heavy fell 4.08 percent to 7,750 won ($6.90) as of 10:48 a.m. Creditors of Hanjin Heavy, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), signed a deal with a consortium led by local builder Dongbu Corp. to sell it a 66.85 percent stake in the company Thursday. The consortium plans to complete the acquisition of the company by August