Hyundai Motor released teaser images of Kona N, its first performance-oriented sports utility model, on Wednesday. Kona N, the second variation of the automaker’s high-performance N brand to be launched in South Korea, is based on Hyundai’s Kona, which launched in September 2020. It is the second model in the N series in South Korea, after the Veloster N. Hyundai’s i30 hatchback also has an N variant, but it has not been released in the Korean market. In the teaser, Kona

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, said Wednesday it will recall nearly 380,000 Sportage SUVs and K7 sedans in the United States due to the risks of an engine compartment fire. In documents sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Kia said it will recall 372,251 Sportage SUVs for the 2017 through 2021 model years and 7,680 K7s from 2017-2019 to fix a potential short circuit problem in the vehicles' hydraulic electronic brake control unit. The K7 is sol

Chey issues first official letter as SCCI chief, soon-to-be KCCI head

Samsung Electronics Co. was relegated to the runner-up spot in the market for connected TV devices, which includes smart TVs, streamers and gaming consoles, in the fourth quarter of 2020, a report showed Wednesday. Samsung, the world's largest TV maker, shipped 11.9 million units of connected TV devices in the October-December period, up 2 percent from a quarter earlier, to account for a 10.9 percent market share, according to industry researcher Strategy Analytics. Despite increase in sales,

South Korean shipbuilders accounted for more than half of new orders in the global shipbuilding market in February, surpassing their Chinese rivals for the eighth consecutive month, industry data showed Wednesday. South Korean shipbuilders led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. won new orders of 43 ships or 1.56 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), which represented 56 percent of 92 ships or 2.82 million CGTs ordered globally in February, according to the data provided by global market researche

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday said it has launched a 5G network in New Zealand with the country's largest telecommunications service firm as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its presence in the network equipment market. In collaboration with Spark New Zealand Ltd., Samsung said its 5G network was installed in Christchurch in South Island of New Zealand. The launch marked New Zealand's first new network vendor in over a decade, and the company's first network installation in t

Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday they are targeting a 23 percent on-year gain in China sales this year. Hyundai and Kia aim to sell a combined 817,000 vehicles in China in 2021, up from 664,744 units a year earlier, a Hyundai spokesman said. To help achieve the goal, Hyundai launched the second generation of Mistra (or Mingtu in Chinese), a compact car exclusively developed for the Chinese market, earlier this month and plans to introduce the electrified Mistra compact

Samsung Electronics Co.'s research and development (R&D) spending last year hit a record high, its report showed Wednesday, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Samsung invested 21.2 trillion won ($18.6 billion) in R&D last year, up 1 trillion won from a year earlier, to mark its largest spending ever, according to its 2020 business report. Samsung's R&D investment was equivalent to 9 percent of its sales, up from 7.7 percent in 2018 and 8.8 percent in 2019. The South Korean tech

Samsung SDI spent a record 808.3 billion won ($710.2 million) on research and development for next-generation electric vehicle batteries in 2020. According to its annual report, released Tuesday, the amount was 7.2 percent of its revenue last year. “The investment is the seed of Samsung SDI’s future growth engine as the company prepares for the upcoming era of electric vehicles,” a company official said. This is the first time that Samsung SDI’s battery R&D sp

Calls to regulate the gaming industry are growing in South Korea after local game companies have come under fire for what users call a “deceptive” system of randomized, for-purchase game items. Yeo Myung-sook, the former head of the Game Rating and Administration Committee, threw her weight behind the pro-regulation argument, saying that games with a loot box feature, which offers randomized in-game items for sale, should be subject to the same tax imposed on casinos. “Ga

Samsung SDI Co., South Korea's No. 2 battery maker, said Tuesday it spent a record high of 808.3 billion won ($703.2 million) in research and development activities last year to develop advanced battery technologies. Samsung SDI's R&D spending accounted for 7.2 percent of its 2020 sales, according to its annual report. The company has been working on rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EV) that cost less, last longer and charge faster to meet growing demand from global automake

Samsung Electronics has an aim to boost its sales of customizable Bespoke products to 80 percent of total consumer electronics sales, the company’s president said Tuesday. During an online press conference held to announce the new Bespoke Home products, Lee Jae-seung, president of Samsung’s consumer electronics business, said the company will expand the Bespoke lineup further both at home and abroad. “The company aims to expand the Bespoke sales to account for 80 percent of

Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s partner company in the US is to begin a phase two study of using botulinum toxin complex injections as a preventive treatment for migraines, according to the South Korean firm Tuesday. AEON Biopharma, a California-based private clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has licensed the ABP-450 injection from Daewoong Pharmaceutical and has exclusive development and distribution rights for ABP-450 in the US, Canada and the European countries. Last year, the US

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone vendor, was the dominant player in the global foldable smartphone market last year, a report showed Tuesday, with its leading status expected to continue through 2021. For the whole of 2020, Samsung logged an 87 percent share on a unit basis in the global foldable smartphone market that was estimated at 2.2 million units, according to market tracker Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC). "The Z Flip was the No. 1 model with nearl

Seoul’s newest and biggest department store, the Hyundai Seoul, is enjoying immense popularity, in what industry insiders hope to be a sign of a revival of consumer sentiment amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. According to industry analysts on Tuesday, the shopping mall in the office district of Yeouido, central Seoul, is estimated to have recorded sales of 37.2 billion won ($32.6 million) in its first week of business, since pre-opening on Feb. 24. Some 1.5 million people are esti