Innovation, aggressive investment key to firm’s stellar growth in Korean e-commerce market

Founder of online grocery service Market Kurly Sophie Kim Seul-Ah and CEO of Viva Republica Lee Seung-gun, the company behind online bank Toss, have been named part of this year’s Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. Kim and Lee are among the 112 Young Global Leaders, who received the prize in the business and banking and investments categories, respectively. Describing Kim as the South Korean entrepreneur and a former Goldman Sachs analyst, the WEF said Market Kurly has the

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Thursday it has raised 3.3 trillion won ($3 billion) in a share sale for its planned acquisition of smaller rival Asiana Airlines Inc. Korean Air issued 173.6 million shares at 19,100 won per share, which is lower than the closing price of 27,400 won Wednesday, the company said in a regulatory filing. The national flag carrier plans to list the shares on the Korea Exchange on March 24, it said.   Out of the rights issue pro

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology’s research team has discovered a new way of treating the movement disorder dystonia, it announced Wednesday. Patients with dystonia suffer from involuntary muscle spasms or contractions, resulting in repetitive movements and abnormal body posture. Led by Professor Kim Dae-so, the research team has found that volinanserin, or MDL100907, has the potential to treat dystonia as an antagonist to 5-HT2AR, a serotonin receptor. According

　Strong sales of iPhone 12 models lifted Apple to the top of the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter, a survey showed. 　The report by market tracker Gartner showed Apple sold some 79.9 million iPhones in the final three months of the year - a 15 percent surge from a year earlier - to leapfrog Samsung in sales in a global smartphone market which shrank by some 5.4 percent. 　The California giant captured 20.8 percent of the market to take the top spot for the first time since the

Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday released a teaser for the all-new minivan Staria ahead of its domestic launch in the first half of this year. The seven-seat multipurpose vehicle will replace the Starex minivan, a company spokesman said. Hyundai expects the Staria will help boost sales due to increasing outdoor activities amid the extended coronavirus pandemic. Prices and other details about the new Staria will be released later, he said. (Yonhap)

Facebook said onWednesday it was launching a "lite" version of Instagram in 170 countries that will enable people with poor internet to access the photo and video sharing social networking service. Instagram Lite will be available for Android-based phonesand require less bandwidth than the traditional version.The app itself requires just 2 megabytes (MB) -- versus 30 MB for Instagram -- and runs even on slower 2G networks, allowing customers in parts of India, Africa, Asia and Latin

Kumho Tire Co., South Korea's second-largest tiremaker by sales, said Wednesday it will invest some 340 billion won ($298 million) to expand its production facilities in Vietnam. In a regulatory filing, Kumho Tire said that the investment will raise its tire production by about 3.8 million units, including 3 million for sedans and some 800,000 for trucks and buses. The investment will begin in the third quarter of this year, and is set to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023

Safety enhanced at reactors; nuclear phase-out road map under scrutiny

Public servants in local governments bought land in redevelopment zone, using insider information

South Korea’s leading battery maker LG Energy Solution is in the race for mass production of a new type of battery cells designed in-house by and under pilot production at Tesla, according to industry sources and media reports. The Korean firm, which currently supplies cylindrical batteries that contain 80 percent nickel to Tesla Model 3 sedans manufactured in China, is making preparations for its major client’s future deployment of larger-format batteries, referred to as 4680 ce

Samsung Electronics is preparing for another event to unveil some of its newest Galaxy devices next week as a likely move to garner attention for products other than its flagship S series. The tech giant has sent out invitations to a new unveiling event for its Galaxy devices, “Galaxy Awesome Unpacked.” The event is a new addition this year to Samsung’s existing Galaxy Unpacked events, which are usually held twice a year to announce flagship phones. The invitation said

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that the company will roll out the first consumer drive without DRAM -- the 980 Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe) SSD, which delivers the highest performance among DRAM-less SSDs at a faster speed. Previously, DRAM-less designs had a disadvantage in speed as they lacked the short-term memory for fast access to data. To address the issue and overcome any performance drawbacks, Samsung used the Host Memory Buffer technology, which links the drive directly

Amorepacific said Wednesday it has joined RE100, a global renewable power initiative, becoming the first South Korean cosmetics firm to do so. The company plans to supply electricity in the workplace entirely with renewable energy by 2030 in an effort to help tackle climate change. From production to logistics, energy sourced to run all of its facilities at home and abroad, including the headquarters and its research center, will be affected by the initiative. Launched in 2014 and led by the

S-Oil said Wednesday it will deploy drones and smart helmets at all business sites by 2023 to accelerate its digital transformation. According to the South Korean refinery, drones will fly above 100 meters at its plants and check the safety of flare stacks, a gas combustion device in the shape of a chimney designed to burn unwanted or excess gases. The drones will provide video feeds and analysis of the facilities. “Digital transformation is not a matter of choice, but a must to comp