Some of Amazon’s planned 100,000-strong fleet of electric delivery vehicles will likely be powered by LG Energy Solution batteries, according to a recently-revealed deal between the US e-commerce giant and a Canadian EV maker. In its recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Lion Electric said it has a framework agreement with Amazon Logistics in place since summer last year to reserve production facilities for 500 Lion 6 and 8 electric trucks per year from 2021 and 20

S. Korean tech giants parade robots and AI at CES 2021

Ford Sales and Service Korea will release six new vehicles to gain an edge in the South Korean market, the automaker said Wednesday. Revealing the company’s business plan for 2021 in an online media conference, Ford Korea’s Managing Director David Jeffrey said the company aims to achieve strong growth in 2021 by focusing on the sport utility vehicle segment. “We approach 2021 full of energy, with a strong plan to launch relevant and exciting new vehicles that will ensure t

Telegram records 25 million new downloads; Signal adds 7.5 million downloads

As people looked for ways to enhance their immune system amid the coronavirus pandemic, red ginseng is enjoying a surge in popularity both in Korea and elsewhere, according to Korea‘s leading red ginseng brand CheongKwanJang. “Since the coronavirus outbreak, consumption of red ginseng in Korea has risen for its immune-boosting and other health benefits,” one official at Korea Ginseng Corp. said on Wednesday. “Korean Red Ginseng Concentrated Extract, made of 100 percent

South Koreans spent an average of 4.4 hours on mobile devices a day last year, up 19 percent from the previous year amid the pandemic, a report showed Wednesday. The country's increased use of mobile apps was in line with last year's global daily average of 4.2 hours, up 20 percent over the same period, according to the report from mobile data tracker App Annie. App Annie said the time South Koreans spent on financial apps last year especially increased, with the country's top five financial a

A majority of South Korean retailers expect their business conditions to worsen slightly in the first quarter of 2021 than three months earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, a poll showed Wednesday. The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry said its retail business survey index (RBSI) stood at 84 for the January-March period of the year, down from 85 three months earlier. The figure is based on a poll of some 1,000 retail businesses across the nation. A reading below 100 means that pessimis

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to unveil another batch of shareholder-friendly measures, including big dividend payments, later this month, industry sources said Wednesday, in a move to smooth out the group leadership succession. Samsung, the world's largest memory chip and smartphone maker, is expected to announce its new shareholder return initiative for the 2021-2023 period on Jan. 28, along with its fourth-quarter earnings report. Local analysts widely expect that Samsung's new measur

　South Korea’s exports of agriculture products reached an all-time high of $7.57 billion last year on the back of strong demand for kimchi and processed foods, data showed. 　The record amount represents a 7.7 percent rise from the previous year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 　Outbound shipments of fresh products rose 3.4 percent on-year to $1.43 billion. Those of processed goods increased 8.8 percent to hit $6.14 billion. (Yonhap)

South Korea's transport ministry said Wednesday that a Mercedes-Benz S Series model became the first model that will be exchanged for malfunctions under a local lemon law. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it held an experts' review committee meeting last month to decide whether the Mercedes-Benz S 350d 4MATIC sedan should be exchanged or refunded. The committee found the S 350d model's Idle Stop and Go (ISG) start-stop system is malfunctioning and ordered the German carm

Thousands of unionized workers of Hyundai Steel Co. began a walkout Wednesday to demand higher wages and bonuses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the union said. The workers will go on strike for two days through Thursday, affecting production at five domestic plants of South Korea's second-largest steelmaker, the union said. Still, some 2,000 essential workers did not join the strike as they need to work at three blast furnaces in Dangjin, about 120 kilometers south of Seoul. The strike by the 8,

South Korea's exports of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are expected to jump nearly 20 percent on-year to an all-time high in 2021 on growing global demand, sources said Wednesday. Overseas shipments of OLED panels are projected to soar 19.6 percent on-year to $13 billion this year, accounting for more than 70 percent of overall display exports, according to the industry ministry and the Korea Display Industry Association. Bolstered by the sharp increase, South Korea's overall di

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday unveiled its new mobile application processor Exynos 2100 through an online event ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Unpacked event this week. The Exynos 2100, which is expected to power the upcoming Galaxy S21 series, is Samsung’s first mobile application processor integrated with a 5G modem. Manufactured on Samsung’s 5-nanometer extreme ultra-violet process node, the new processor comes with the most cutting-edge central processing unit and graphic

From airplanes to dosing centers, COVID-19 immunization will require meticulous planning, coordination across supply chain

BioNTech, Moderna stress mRNA application for wider diseases, Hanmi promotes Pyeongtaek plant for DNA, mRNA vaccine contract manufacturing