Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday flew to Hanoi to hold a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister to discuss possible additional investment plans in the country. The South Korean tech giant’s heir apparent is visiting the country for the first time since October in 2018. Samsung’s smartphone business chief Roh Tae-moon and display unit head Lee Dong-hoon joined Lee on the trip. Lee will meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Tuesday. Whether the two

Jin Air Co. said Monday it will begin operating a passenger plane converted to carry cargo to offset a sharp decline in air travel demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. Jin Air plans to deploy the B777-200ER jet, which has been converted into a cargo plane under approval from the transport ministry, on routes from Incheon to Bangkok and Qingdao from Saturday, the company said in a statement. The 315-seat converted plane will make two flights a week on the Bangkok route and three flights a wee

South Korea's exports of automobiles rebounded in September to snap a decline of five consecutive months on the back of improved shipments to North America, data showed Monday. Local carmakers shipped 193,081 units of cars overseas last month, up 14.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, auto exports advanced 23.2 percent to $3.8 billion. Over the January-September period, the country shipped 1,330,859 uni

South Korea’s stock market has been reinvigorated by a series of major initial public offerings this year. Starting with the IPO of SK Biopharmaceuticals in July, promising biopharmaceutical firms and other tech companies went public with their initial prices soaring rapidly ahead of IPOs. But recently, newly listed stocks were bearish unlike initial expectations. Big Hit Entertainment, the entertainment agency behind K-pop boy band BTS, slid for two straight days right after the hig

South Korean airlines will not impose fuel surcharges on international routes in November on low oil prices due to the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Monday. The surcharge for one-way tickets on international routes will remain at zero next month, unchanged from a month earlier, according to the sources. Local air carriers' fuel surcharges on international routes will stay at zero for the eighth consecutive month, raising expectations that the zero rate may last down the road. L

South Korea on Monday eased regulations to allow for environment friendly ways to utilize used batteries from electric vehicles. The approval came as the number of scrapped EV batteries is anticipated to increase sharply down the road with the country's green energy drive, which centers on promoting EVs and hydrogen fuel-cell cars. "While the used EV batteries can have adverse impacts on the environment, they can create new business opportunities when recycled," the Ministry of Trade

LG Electronics Inc. said Monday it has signed a partnership with Italian luxury furniture maker Molteni&C SPA to better promote its high-end brand LG Signature. Under the deal, the two sides will collaborate in marketing, promotion and product development related with LG Signature home appliances, Molteni&C residential furniture and Dada kitchen furniture for the next three years. The South Korean tech firm said the collaboration will create synergy between their premium brands and d

LG Display Co., a major display maker in South Korea, is expected to return to the black in the third quarter of the year, analysts here said Monday, on the back of a price increase in LCD panels and solid demand for displays used in IT gadgets amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home economy. LG Display was projected to log 6.8 trillion won ($5.9 billion) in sales in the July-September period, up 17 percent from a year earlier, while its operating profit was estimated at 106 billion won, shiftin

Kolon Life Science will separate its biologics drug manufacturing business to an independent entity tentatively called Kolon Biotech. The separation is effective from Dec. 1, Kolon Life Science said through a shareholders’ notice on Friday. Kolon Biotech will be responsible for contract manufacturing of biologics drugs, using a facility that has been freed up after Kolon Life Science ceased production of the controversially revoked gene therapy Invossa. Kolon Life Science had battled an

With lack of infrastructure and market for recycled panels, Korea struggles to prepare ways to manage outdated solar panels

International Shareholder Services, one of the world’s two largest proxy advisory firms, has advised shareholders to vote for LG Chem’s decision to split off of its battery business division as a wholly-owned subsidiary. According to industry sources Sunday, ISS said in a recent report that LG Chem’s split-off is reasonable considering that the company will be able to secure funding to finance the investment required for the expansion of its fast-growing battery business.

Korea Gas Corp. said Sunday it would impose a new format for supplying liquefied natural gas starting 2022 to address cherry-picking by electricity suppliers which it says ultimately leads to higher electricity bills. The state-run gas company has long provided supplied LNG to local power utilities at same prices based on the average import costs, dubbed as an “average tariffs” formula. Last year, Kogas imported LNG from about 15 countries including Qatar, Australia and the US an

Incheon Port Authority announced on Sunday a multiproject plan to build a smart port, a move in line with the country’s New Deal program that seeks a way out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the plan, a total of 35 projects will take place to build a smart port that is eco-friendly, safe and beneficial to the local economy. The IPA said it set out the goals after co-opting the government’s new deal strategy. As part of efforts to go smart, the Incheon Port will adopt a completely a

HMM said Sunday the company will dispatch two more container ships to support South Korean exporters that are struggling to ship out their products to foreign countries amid the protracting COVID-19 pandemic. A 5,000-twenty-foot-equivalent-unit container vessel dubbed HMM Prestige and the 4,600-TEU BMM Integral will depart from Busan on Oct. 31 for Los Angeles with a schedule to arrive on Nov. 11. The company said demand for container ships has become tighter recently as the export volume to

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of South Korea's top conglomerate, plans to visit Vietnam this week, his second overseas business trip this year after returning from Europe last week, industry sources said Sunday. According to the sources, Lee will depart for Vietnam on Monday and probably meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during his trip to the Southeast Asian nation to discuss possible investment plans. Lee's planned visit to Vietnam marks t