Mercedes-Benz Korea will launch nine new models this year, including two electric vehicles, aiming to re-create the sales success of last year, the automaker said Wednesday. This year, the German brand will augment its flagship luxury sedan lineup by launching new C-Class and S-Class models. Also coming to local consumers this year are the revamped CLS, the four-door coupe and a new engine variant for the G-Class, the G 400 d. The automaker is also planning to roll out two pure electric v

Distiller HiteJinro has released a wide range of wine gift sets ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday season. The new range includes bottles from internationally renowned wineries such as Cambria, Sterling and Tarapaca as well as Marques de Riscal and Taittinger. From best-value bottles to limited editions, the gift sets range in price from 50,000 won ($42.25) to 1 million won. Hailing from multiple countries with different tastes, they make for great gifts to loved ones during Seollal, the comp

LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it has won a prestigious TV technology and engineering award in the United States for its high-end OLED TV as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its presence in the global TV market. LG said it has been named one of the recipients at the 72nd Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards organized by the US National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). The Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards honor those who contributed to technic

KT Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Wednesday it has started testing standalone 5G on its commercial network in its latest push for 5G technology. Currently, South Korean mobile carriers operate the non-standalone version of the latest generation network, requiring support from the previous 4G LTE network. The standalone version has benefits as it solely uses the 5G network, leading to decreased latency and improved battery life for devices, according to KT. While local mobi

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday its fitness app with advanced health tracking features will soon be available in 31 new countries as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its health service amid the pandemic. The world's largest smartphone maker said the Samsung Health Monitor app received a Conformity to European (CE) marking in December 2020 and will be allowed to use in 28 European countries. A CE marking is given when a product meets European Union safety, health and environme

LG Display Co., a major display panel maker in South Korea, on Wednesday said it shifted to a net profit in the fourth quarter of 2020, on the back of increased demand of its panels for IT products and sales of OLED displays amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. LG Display reported a net profit of 621 billion won ($561.2 million) for the October-December period, swinging from a loss of 1.81 trillion won a year earlier. Operating income for the fourth quarter was 685.5 billion won, comp

Philip Morris Korea Inc. has been certified as the ‘Top Employer Asia Pacific 2021’ for its ‘people-centric’ HR philosophy and management amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said Tuesday. The South Korean unit of the global cigarette and tobacco manufacturing firm also bagged the ‘Top Employer South Korea 2021’ prize from Top Employers Institute, while winning the honor for the Asia Pacific region for two years in a row. Praveen Upadhyay, Philip Morris

South Korean chemicals maker SKC said Tuesday it will establish its first overseas production base for copper foils in Malaysia and that the factory would be powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources. According to the company, its copper foil subsidiary SK Nexilis will invest 650 billion won ($587.4 million) and construct a copper foil plant with an annual production capacity of 44,000 metric tons at Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park in the state of Sabah. “After breaking ground in

Samsung Biologics joined the club of companies making more than 1 trillion won in revenue in 2020, just nine years after its founding. According to the company’s fourth quarter earnings report made Tuesday, Samsung Biologics’ full-year revenue increased 66 percent on-year in 2020, marking 1.16 trillion won ($1 billion). The previous year, Samsung Biologics made 463 billion won in revenue. Its operating profit also rose 12 percent on-year to 292.8 billion on, from the previous ye

A total of 101 products from South Korean companies were awarded at this year’s CES, taking 26 percent of the honors up for grabs, according to the Korea International Trade Association, Tuesday. In the most coveted Best of Innovation Awards, which recognized 27 items, seven local products took home prizes, up from six a year earlier. By category, South Korea grabbed 13 awards for health and wellness products, six for smart home solutions and five for sustainability. “CES 2021

South Korea will increase the coverage of the next-generation mobile networks, dubbed as 5G, to 85 cities across the country this year, from the current seven major cities, the Ministry of Science and ICT said. The ministry’s plan, unveiled Tuesday, also include an expanded support for local firms to transition to the ultra-fast networks, investments in research and development of mobile edge computing, a key component in driving the commercial use of 5G in areas such as virtual reality

Game-based therapies emerge as next-generation treatment globally, but face many hurdles in Korea 　

South Korea’s state power companies are projected to register 1.3 trillion won ($1.17 billion) in combined losses this year due to the nation’s anti-coal drive and low electricity prices. According to budget plans submitted by five subsidiaries of Korea Power Corp. on Tuesday, the Korea South-East Power, Korea Midland Power, Korea Southern Power, Korea East-West Power and Korea Western Power are expected to record net losses of between 230.8 billion won and 350 billion won. The b

South Korean defense companies enjoyed a solid performance last year despite complications from the pandemic and are expected to continue their momentum this year, according to market tracker FnGuide on Tuesday. Last year, five major local defense firms -- Hanwha Aerospace, LIG Nex1, Korea Aerospace Industries, Hyundai Rotem and Hanwha Systems -- were estimated to have logged sales similar or slightly lower than those of a year prior, as the coronavirus prevented them from landing new contra

Automaker sees global sales volume slip amid pandemic, profits from high-end model, SUV launches