Video calls will be free of charge during the Lunar New Year holiday to encourage virtual family meetings, the ICT ministry said Tuesday, as the country's efforts to curb new coronavirus cases limit in-person contact. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the country's three major telecom operators -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- agreed to not charge for video calls made over the upcoming holiday period, which falls on Feb. 11-14 this year, for all smartphone users in the count

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker by sales, said Tuesday it will invest 29 trillion won ($26 billion) in car manufacturing facilities and future mobility technologies by 2025. Kia will spend 18.8 trillion won on enhancing profitability in the existing car manufacturing business and 10.1 trillion won on generating business opportunities through investments in future mobility technologies, the company said at this year's CEO Investor Day event. The maker of the K5 sedan and the Te

South Korea's e-commerce market expanded nearly 20 percent in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic to rank fifth in the world, a report showed Tuesday. Local e-commerce sales came to $104.1 billion last year, up 19.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the report released by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and based on data from market researcher eMarketer. China topped the global e-commerce market list with $2.8 trillion, trailed by the United States with $709.8 billion, Britain with $

KT Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Tuesday it shifted to a net profit during the final quarter of last year on the back of growing 5G users. Net income reached 39.1 billion won ($35 million) in the October-December period on a consolidated basis, compared with a loss of 10.2 billion won the previous year. Operating income rose 6.4 percent on-year to 166.8 billion won, while sales stood at 6.2 trillion won, up 0.2 percent over the cited period. KT said an increase in its 5G

A senior Renault Group executive on Tuesday said its South Korean operations should ramp up production and cut manufacturing costs to stay afloat amid the coronavirus crisis. Jose Vicente de Los Mozos, executive vice president in charge of manufacturing and supply chain at Renault, made the comments in a video message delivered to workers at the French carmaker's sole Korean plant in Busan, 450 kilometers south of Seoul. Last year, Renault Samsung Motors Corp. promised to improve productivity

South Korean petrochemical companies said Tuesday they will join the country's green energy drive, which centers on achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The country launched a new committee on achieving carbon neutrality under ties with the private sector, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The Moon Jae-in government has vowed to achieve carbon neutrality by that year, which means effectively reducing carbon emissions to zero. It is also pushing a Green New Deal aimed at

Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI), a producer of portable fuel cell power packs, said Tuesday it has signed a deal with a Chinese robot maker to jointly develop hydrogen fuel cell-powered firefighting robots. Under the deal with CITIC HIC Kaicheng Intelligence Equipment Co., DMI will work together to establish sales networks in China and other countries, the company said. The two companies plan to release a prototype of hydrogen fuel cell-propelled robots in the first half of the year and to st

Chinese electronics giant Skyworth has apologized over misusing an image of LG Electronics Inc.'s rollable TV during its presentation at a tech expo last month, industry insiders said Tuesday, following the South Korean tech firm's complaint. Skyworth USA Corp., the American unit of Skyworth, recently issued a statement acknowledging its unauthorized use of LG's rollable TV image during its Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021 online event. "Skyworth USA Corporation misused an LG Rollable

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday some of its electric vehicle (EV) motor production lines will be in operation even during the Lunar New Year's holiday as the tech giant eyes to expand its presence in the future mobility sector. LG recommends its local production sites allow workers to go on vacation on Wednesday for the Lunar New Year's Day, which falls on Friday, but its EV motor factory in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, will run during the holiday period to meet growing demand. The S

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Tuesday it shifted to the black in 2020 on the back of robust growth of its e-commerce services based on its messenger platform amid the pandemic. Net profit reached 167.1 billion won ($149.2 million) last year on a consolidated basis, swinging from a loss of 341.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales jumped by 35.4 percent on-year to reach an all-time high of 4.15 trillion won

Green Whale Global, the first South Korean firm to produce 100 percent biodegradable plastics, has successfully supplied international and Korean clothing brands with biodegradable hardened plastics, the company said. The clothing brands such as Recto, Nounou, and Nohant are soon to offer environmentally friendly packaging and hangers using plastics manufactured by GWG, according to the company. GWG also said it had also signed an agreement to supply cosmetic brands with biodegradable harden

Vuno, one of South Korea’s leading medical artificial intelligence companies, will make an initial public offering Feb. 26, CEO Kim Hyun-joon said at a press event Monday. Advance subscriptions for Vuno’s stocks will take place Feb. 16 and 17 through underwriters Mirae Asset Daewoo and Samsung Securities. Vuno is newly issuing 1.8 million shares upon going public. At an estimated 15,000 won to 19,500 won per share, Vuno is attempting to raise as much as 35.1 billion won with the li

Google to issue notifications in Korean, provide customer service from local representatives in the future

South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia confirmed Monday that they are “not in talks” with Apple over the manufacturing of the “Apple Car,” denying weeks of speculative reports. While the crucial dealbreaker yet remains uncertain, market observers suggested that this latest case may deliver some impact on the auto group’s credibility when it comes to confidential global deals. In their respective regulatory filings, the two automake

The founder of South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Monday that he will donate more than half of his wealth -- currently estimated to be more than 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion). "I have pledged to donate more than half of my assets to solve social issues throughout my life," Kim Beom-su said in a message sent to all of Kakao's employees. His assets are estimated to be over 10 trillion won, including 12.5 million shares of Kakao, valued at over 5.7 trillion wo