LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's major home appliance maker, on Monday unveiled a new massage chair with a voice control feature as it aims to boost health care products amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. The new model of LG's HealingMe massage chair, MH60G, comes with a voice-activated system with which users can set massage courses and strength control, the company said. It also automatically detects users' shoulder width and leg length to set a comfortable position for massage

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to report strong third-quarter earnings, analysts here said Monday, as its mainstay semiconductor business remained solid despite a decline in memory prices, while its mobile and home appliance sales soared on pent-up demand amid the pandemic. Samsung was projected to log 63.95 trillion won ($54.5 billion) in sales in the July-September period, up 3.1 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit was estimated to surge 33.7 percent on-year to 10.4 tril

LG Chem, South Korea’s leading chemical company, is pushing ahead with its environmental corporate social responsibility vision “Green Connector.” The chemical company’s new CSR vision is dedicated to help conserve biodiversity, foster green education, expand use of renewable energy and support eco-friendly social enterprises. The company said it will newly recruit around 20 students to work with local ecologists on the ecosystem of Bamseom, a pair of uninhabited isle

Journey to solar power biz to get further boost in state-led green initiative

An independent investigative body under the US International Trade Commission submitted a written opinion in favor of LG Chem, which filed a motion in August accusing SK Innovation of destroying crucial evidence in the ongoing patent lawsuit between the two battery giants. According to the USITC on Sunday, the Office of Unfair Import Investigations said it “supports” LG Chem’s motion requesting sanctions against SK Innovation. In the written letter, OUII said that SK Inno

Majority of companies point to coronavirus as biggest factor affecting global value chain

The nation’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor, said Sunday that it had unveiled new cars and technologies targeting China at the 16th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, which kicked off a day earlier. The automaker said it showcased a technology brand, called “H Smart+,” exclusively for China. The space consists of three areas: a clean field that focuses on electric cars and hydrogen cars, a connected field showing connectivity technology such as Baidu 3.0 and B

Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. voted to accept a wage freeze for the first time in 11 years as the nation's largest carmaker struggles to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the company said Saturday.  In a vote held Friday, 53 percent of 44,460 workers who cast a ballot approved this year's wage agreement between the labor union and management, the company said in a text message. Hyundai Motor and its union reached a wage deal without a strike for the second cons

Hyundai Motor Group appointed powertrain expert Alain Raposo as executive vice president in charge of its powertrain tech unit at the group’s research and development division on Friday. Hyundai said Raposo will be responsible for engine, transmission and electrification development for Hyundai and Kia brands at the group’s global R&D headquarters, starting Monday. According to the automaker, Raposo is an expert who has led the research and development for powertrains, electr

Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow has become the face of Merz Aesthetics’ global campaign for its botulinum toxin product, Merz Korea said Friday. Paltrow has been using Xeomin for years before she agreed to become the ambassador for the wrinkle-removing neurotoxin, according to Merz Aesthetics.  This global campaign is built on Paltrow’s principles for beauty, which is that women should permit themselves to do whatever they need for their happiness. Paltrow will use the hashtag

Celltrion Group announced Friday it has established Celltrion Healthcare Holdings as a first step of its plan to merge three affiliates by the end of 2021. The creation of the holding company is required to materialize the merger plan in compliance with the legal standards for Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. The merger of Celltrion, Celltrion Pharma and Celltrion Healthcare has been widely expected since early this year. It will be a merger of the existing Celltrion Holdings, comprisi

Hyundai Motor said Friday it is participating in this year’s ADAC Total 24H Race to be held in Nurburgring, Germany, with three vehicles from its high-performance brand N. Hyundai Motor said all of its three vehicles of Hyundai N -- i30 N TCR, Veloster N TCR and i30 Fastback N -- will compete in the contest from Sept. 26 to 27 to test their endurance. It is the fifth time the automaker is taking part in the race since 2016, the company said. The Nurburgring circuit is a 25-kilometer c

President of Incheon International Airport Corp. Koo Bon-hwan said he is mulling legal action against what he says has been mistreatment, after authorities passed a resolution to remove him from his position. During the press conference at the airport on Friday, Koo said he feels “a weight has been lifted off his shoulders” and is “sad” being forced to resign halfway through his three-year term. The outgoing chief also accused the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tr

Korean mobile carriers are preparing a variety of communication services and events for people staying at home during the Chuseok holidays next week. KT, the country’s No. 2 telecom company by subscribers, said Friday it will launch a challenge using the rich communication service, known as RCS, which is aimed to encourage people to send messages to loved ones. The RCS, which is a free messaging service launched between the country’s three major mobile carriers, can open gro

There is a surge of movement from Korean telecommunications firms noticeably seeking to enter the digital health care market. KT on Friday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with local gene sequencing company NGeneBio to jointly develop a personalized health care product based on genetic data analysis. Earlier in the week, KT also said that it will work together with Medical Partners Korea to launch an information and communication technology-based epidemic control system in Kaz