Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Wednesday it has developed a new material that enhances the energy density of lithium-ion batteries by 20 percent while maintaining their stability. According to a research led by Cho Eun-ae, materials science and engineering safety professor at KAIST, lithium-ion batteries that contain 80 percent nickel inside cathodes demonstrate energy capacity of 200 ampere-hours per gram. However, the newly developed cathode materials can accommodate

Damning allegations likely to deal a blow to government seeking to stabilize property market

Hyundai Glovis is forging ties with a Chinese logistics company to expand and strengthen its logistics business from China to Europe, the firm said Wednesday. As part of the partnership deal, China’s Changjiu Logistics has bought from Hyundai Glovis a 30 percent stake in Adampol, a Poland-based company that Hyundai Glovis acquired in 2014. Hyundai said the two companies will join forces to launch a new railroad transport brand, dubbed ECT, or Euro China Train. As shipping costs are sp

A nephew is challenging the leadership of his uncle, incumbent Chairman Park Chan-koo, at Kumho Petrochemical, launching a campaign to win the support of shareholders Wednesday. Park Chul-whan, the company’s largest shareholder with 10 percent of the shares, opened a website for his shareholder proposal in which he claimed that mismanagement was blocking growth of the company and suggested the direction that the company should go to increase its value.  The younger Park is the son

A local survey showed around half of local startup founders are from the country’s four most prominent universities, implying that educational background could play an important role in starting a new business here. “Many people easily associate startup founders with their individual talents or abilities rather than their educational backgrounds. (But data underlines) that the startup sector here is skewed towards certain universities,” said Park Ju-gun, industry tracker CEO

South Korea’s telecommunications firms KT and LG U+ said Wednesday they have invested a total of 26 billion won ($23.1 million) in the homegrown app market ONE store, a subsidiary of SK Telecom. KT has spent 21 billion won to acquire a 3.1 percent stake in ONE store, while LG U+ has acquired a 0.7 percent stake with 5 billion won, according to a joint statement released Wednesday. SK Telecom currently has a 50.1 percent stake, and local tech giant Naver has a 26.3 percent share in the

The United States International Trade Commission has launched an investigation into an allegation that Samsung Electronics violated a patent related to LTE devices. According to the ITC on Tuesday in the US, the commission voted to institute an investigation of certain LTE-compliant cellular communication devices sold by Samsung and Motorola. The complaint was filed by Austin-based communication device company Evolved Wireless last month. The US firm claimed the importation into the US and

Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) said Wednesday that it has signed a deal with Saudi Arabia's state-run oil firm Saudi Aramco to cooperate on a hydrogen project. Under the deal, Hyundai Oilbank Co., HHIH's refining unit, will import liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Saudi Aramco to produce blue hydrogen, which is derived from fossil fuel resources such as natural gas, the holding company said. Carbon captured and stored during the production process will also be provided to Saudi

South Korea on Wednesday unveiled another set of measures to support airlines hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in the latest move to help airlines stay afloat during the crisis. The government will continue to reduce the airport usage fee for the airlines until June, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement, adding the fee will be lowered by 45.7 billion won ($40.6 million). The ministry said it will later consider whether to extend the fee reduction again by tak

The average amount of time South Koreans spent using the internet reached over 20 hours per week last year, 2.7 hours more than the time spent the previous year amid the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic, a report showed Wednesday. South Koreans used the internet 20.1 hours a week on average last year, compared with 17.4 hours the previous year and 16.5 hours in 2018, according to the report from the Ministry of Science and ICT that surveyed 60,000 people over the age of 3. The report

South Korea's ICT ministry said Wednesday it will extend support for online religious activities until next month due to continued COVID-19 infections across the country. The Ministry of Science and ICT first introduced support for such activities in April last year, such as providing network data and technical assistance to religious organizations, to discourage in-person meetings to prevent COVID-19 infections. Under the support measures, the ministry also plans to provide 100 gigabytes of d

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has approved a deal by Emart Inc., the country's biggest discount store chain, to buy the professional baseball club owned by energy and telecom giant SK Group. Emart, a unit of retail giant Shinsegae Group, agreed in January to buy the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) from SK Telecom Co., the top mobile carrier, for 135.2 billion won ($122 million). The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it has given the green light t

Samsung Electronics Co. further expanded its presence in the Latin American smartphone market last year to cement its leading status amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Wednesday. The South Korean tech giant accounted for 40.5 percent of smartphone shipments in Latin America in 2020, up from 38 percent from a year earlier, to remain as the region's largest smartphone vendor, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research. Samsung led all Latin American countries during

Major South Korean telecom operators KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. said Wednesday they invested a total of 26 billion won ($23.1 million) for a minority stake in the homegrown app market ONE store, bolstering the smaller local rival to Google's Play store. KT has invested 21 billion won for a 3.1 percent stake, while LG Uplus has clinched a 0.7 percent stake with 5 billion won, according to a joint statement from the mobile carriers. The two telecom operators join the existing majority sharehold

LOS ANGELES -- South Korea's leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co. saw its US sales drop nearly 9 percent in February from a year earlier due to bad weather, company data showed Tuesday. Hyundai Motor sold 48,333 vehicles last month, down 8.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Hyundai Motor America, the firm's US subsidiary. Sales to general consumers fell 2 percent on-year, and those to companies and rental car providers plunged 47 percent. Hyundai Motor said this year's F