An increasing number of South Korean pharmaceutical companies are catching on to Switzerland’s potential as a portal to the wider European market. Most Koreans know Switzerland for its chocolate, cheese, Army knives, watches and the Alps. But it is not these seemingly iconic items that are holding up the Swiss economy, whose gross domestic product per capita in 2019 ranked second only to Luxembourg in International Monetary Fund’s book — a ranking that demands appreciation giv

   South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. may see their combined share in the European market surpass 7 percent for the first time this year, industry watchers said Friday. Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold 101,322 vehicles in Europe in September, down 0.8 percent from a year earlier and representing a 7.8 percent market share, according to the two companies. Hyundai's sales declined 4.6 percent on-year to 49,439 units in Europe last month, w

LG Electronics has introduced a teaser video on its official website and its YouTube channel, in which the company hinted at a new collection of home appliances it would roll out Wednesday. In the 15-second video, the company showed silhouettes of different types of home appliances, including laundry machines, dishwashers and the company‘s signature steam closet. The new home appliances from LG Electronics are expected to come in refreshed designs and colors, according to the industry s

Homeplus said Friday it had signed a strategic partnership with E&J Gallo, a US-based winery, to introduce a wide range of US wines to the Korean market. According to the hypermarket chain, the two companies held an online joint business plan signing ceremony, to agree on establishing a stable distribution network. Founded in 1933, E&J Gallo stands as one of the biggest wineries in the US, Homeplus said. E&J Gallo currently has 75 affiliate companies and runs 120 brands, expor

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the shipbuilding holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, announced Friday that the company has secured 140 billion won of new deals from overseas companies. The Korean shipbuilder plans to deliver a 40,000 cubic-meter liquid petroleum gas carrier to a Singaporean firm and two product carriers to its Liberian contractor, starting in March, 2022. The new ships by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering are able to control emissio

KT announced Friday that the company has partnered with a Korean firm to develop AI-powered remote health care services. HealthHub, KT‘s new partner company, specializes in facilitating remote analysis of clinical images and videos. HealthHub has partnerships with some 1,200 medical institutions, and currently holds a market share of about 60 percent. KT and HealthHub have agreed to combine their technologies to develop enhanced remote medical solutions, KT said. The telecommunication

Samsung Electronics Co. topped the world's best employer rankings released by US business magazine Forbes, industry officials said Friday. The South Korean tech giant ranked No. 1 on the Forbes list of the world's best employers for 2020 followed by US tech juggernauts Amazon, IBM and Microsoft. Samsung made a big leap in the rankings, jumping from 106th last year. In 2018, the company was ranked 76th on the Forbes' best employer list. Industry officials said Samsung's achievement is meani

SK Telecom announced Friday that the company would spin off its mobility platform and start a new joint venture with US ride-hailing company Uber Technologies. SKT plans to spin off the unit by Dec. 29, according to the regulatory filing. The company’s shareholders would vote on the plan at a general meeting scheduled on Nov. 26. In the spinoff, tentatively named T map Mobility, Uber will invest around $50 million, according to the telecommunications firm. The South Korean telecommunic

　South Koreans’ card payments to Netflix reached a fresh high of 46.2 billion won ($40.2 million) last month, data showed, nearly double from a year earlier. 　An estimated 3.36 million people here spent the record amount in September on the popular video streaming platform, according to app tracker WiseApp’s data based on local payments made through credit and debit cards on Netflix. 　Last month’s figure marks a jump from the 24.1 billion won spent in September last year

Samsung Electronics Co. dominated the 5G smartphone market in Western Europe in the first half of the year, a report showed Friday, but its market share is likely to decline in the second half as Apple Inc.'s first 5G-supporting handset, the iPhone 12, will go on sale. Samsung captured an 88 percent market share of all 5G smartphones shipped in Western Europe in the first six months of the year, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. "Samsung today is the clear 5G leader acr

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Friday it will spin off its mobility platform business into a separate entity as it partners with US ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. in a move to strengthen its focus in the connected mobility sector. The business -- tentatively called T map Mobility Co. -- will be wholly owned by SK Telecom and become a separate company on Dec. 29, the mobile carrier said in a regulatory filing. In a joint statement with Uber, SK Telecom s

Volkswagen Korea unveiled the new seventh-generation Jetta at a press show on Thursday as it posted sales of over 10,000 units during the first three quarters of 2020. The new model comes at a price of around 27 million won ($23,600), while its prestige model is priced at just over 29 million won. The Jetta, since its birth in 1979, has sold 17.5 million units around the world. Of them, 17,000 have been sold in South Korea. As for its Korea operation overall, Volkswagen Korea said its sales w

South Korean coffeehouse chain Ediya Coffee said Thursday that revenue from its coffee delivery service increased around 660 percent over the last year, compared with a year before. According to data from the company, the number of delivery orders made between last October and September this year stood at 1.1 million, up 612 percent. from the same time last year. Ediya Coffee saw a sharper increase in order volume between April and June this year, during which the company saw a near 1,000 perc

Amazon Global Selling Korea said on Thursday it is ramping up support to help sellers and businesses branch out into the international market. Speaking at a livestreamed press event, Lee Sung-han, head of the South Korean unit of the e-commerce giant’s export program, praised South Korea’s handling of the pandemic as he unveiled plans to assist businesses in the country. “Despite the pandemic this year, we thank many sellers in South Korea who worked with Amazon to provide hi

Starting his first day as Hyundai Motor Group’s chairman on Thursday, Chung Euisun attended the government’s hydrogen economy committee meeting, riding there in his company’s first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the Nexo. Prior to the meeting, Chung had agreed to establish a joint entity with the government to expand the number of hydrogen charging stations across the country, clearly showing his commitment to creating a hydrogen ecosystem. During the meeting, Hyundai Motor s