South Korea’s pharmaceutical and biopharma companies are ramping up efforts to get listed on the Nasdaq market, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Korean e-commerce giant Coupang with their US market debut. According to industry sources Thursday, CoImmune, a joint venture between SCM LifeScience and Genexine, is preparing for an initial public offering on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. CoImmune’s appointment of biotechnology and finance expert Dr. Edgardo Baracchini to the co

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its sales jumped 22 percent last month from a year earlier on robust demand for its SUV models despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The country's biggest carmaker sold 375,924 vehicles in March, up from 307,176 units a year earlier, helped by strong demand for the Palisade SUV, the Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle, the Genesis GV70 and GV80 SUVs, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales climbed 2.3 percent to 73,810 units from 72,180 during the same per

Renault Samsung Motors Corp. said Thursday its sales plunged 43.2 percent last month from a year earlier due to weak domestic deman. The South Korean unit of Renault S.A. sold 8,572 vehicles in March, down from 15,100 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales tumbled 52.7 percent on-year to 5,695 units last month, and exports slid 6.8 percent to 2,877 units over the cited period, the company said. A total of 102 Renault Zoes, its supermini electric car, were sold i

Ailing SUV maker fails to secure letter of intent, faces increased chance of court receivership

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GM Korea Co. said Thursday its sales decreased 21.8 percent last month from a year earlier on weak demand at home and abroad. The South Korean unit of General Motors Co. sold 29,633 vehicles in March, down from 37,981 units the previous year, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales sank 31.4 percent on-year to 6,149 units, and exports declined 18.9 percent to 23,484 autos over the cited period, it said. The Detroit carmaker has three Korean plants -- two in Bupyeong and one in Changwo

Kakao Mobility, Korea’s digital transportation service app operator, said Thursday the company will explore new business opportunities together with Google. Under their partnership, Kakao has attracted investment of $50 million from the US tech giant, which is to be paid completely by April 22, according to the company’s regulatory filing. With the investment, Kakao and Google will work together on advancement of artificial intelligence technologies based on the cloud, create s

Samsung Electronics Co. has lowered the price of its latest foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold2, industry insiders said Thursday, in an effort to popularize the foldable smartphone category. The ex-factory price for the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, which was launched last September, has been set at 1.892 million won ($1,675) here, down from 2.398 million won, according to people in the mobile industry. The ex-factory price, or list price, refers to the selling cost of goods from the manufacturer's p

South Korea pledged Thursday to support the power semiconductor industry amid growing demand for energy-efficient chips with stronger durability. Under the goal, the country plans to develop at least five power semiconductor products by 2025, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea also plans to support local businesses to establish the production lines of six- to eight-inch foundry factories. Power semiconductors are used to convert, stabilize and distribute elect

South Korea's information and communication technology (ICT) companies spent more than 40 trillion won ($35.3 billion) on research and development in 2019, data showed Thursday, as the country focuses on developing new 5G and artificial intelligence technology. ICT companies' total R&D spending reached 41.4 trillion won in 2019, up 3 percent from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. By sector, 38.1 trillion won, or 91.9 percent of the total, was spent on informa

South Korea's ICT ministry said Thursday it aims to encourage more competition in the local 5G market through the release of affordable mobile data plans from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). The ICT ministry said 10 MVNOs in the country, including Sejong Telecom Inc., will release new data plans starting this month that provide up to 30 gigabytes of data for around 40,000 won ($35). The country's major telecom operators -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- do not currentl

System integrator Doosan Logistics Solutions Co. (DLS) said Thursday that it has provided an automation sorting system to Vietnam Post, Vietnam's largest delivery company. The subsidiary wholly owned by Doosan Corp., a holding company of Doosan Group, plans to aggressively tap into the Vietnamese e-commerce market and delivery automation market with the latest provision of automation equipment to a center of the state-run Vietnam Post in Da Nang, a central port city of Vietnam, DLS said. The p

LG Electronics Inc. on Thursday launched a new 17-inch laptop boasting high performance as the South Korean tech giant eyes boosting notebook sales amid the pandemic-induced remote working and distance learning trends. The new model in the LG UltraGear 17 series comes with a price tag of 2.24 million won ($1,980) here, according to LG. The new UltraGear 17 is equipped with a 17-inch Wide Quad Extended Graphics Array display that has a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels, according to the company.

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to report robust earnings in the first quarter of the year, analysts here said Thursday, as its mobile business has apparently offset relatively sluggish performance from its semiconductor unit. The South Korean tech titan was projected to log 60.64 trillion won (US$53.7 billion) in sales in the first three months of 2021, up 10.9 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit was estimated to surge 38.8 percent on-year to 8.95 trillion won over the peri

Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday released a teaser for the Santa Cruz pickup ahead of its unveiling in the United States this month. The Santa Cruz sport adventure vehicle (SAV), a model that sits between a sport utility vehicle and a pickup truck, boasts a bold yet sophisticated design, advanced connectivity and an all-wheel drive platform, the company said in a statement. "Santa Cruz, with its bold styling, breaks open all-new segment territory, both for Hyundai and the industry as a whole