Despite denials, market speculations persist over future of decades-old joint venture

Over 60 percent of international companies have either shaken up their global value chains or have plans to do so amid growing protectionism around the world, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said Sunday. A total of 246 companies in fields such as materials, devices and equipment were analyzed by officials at the state-funded trade organization, who looked at their business decisions over the past five years such as relocation, investments, mergers and acquisitions. Changes to globa

Samsung to remain as largest smartphone vendor, while Huawei faces uncertainties under US ban

Samsung Electronics said Sunday it has signed a partnership agreement with Hanssem, the country’s leading furniture maker, to seek business opportunities in the home interior remodeling market as consumers pay more atttention to their living spaces amid social distancing efforts. On Friday, the parties inked a memorandum of understanding and agreed to cooperate on expanding their house remodeling business; to explore new business models on retail sales; to develop smart home solutions.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has unveiled a plug-in electric sports utility vehicle, the Wrangler 4xe, and a revamp of a classic SUV, the All-New Grand Wagoneer next year. The automaker on Friday livestreamed the showcase held in Detroit on YouTube, to reveal the two new models. Jeep Wrangler 4xe is equipped with two electric motors and a 400-volt lithium-ion battery that can move up to 40 kilometers solely on electric power, cutting down both engine noise and carbon emissions. The automaker

South Korea‘s Fair Trade Commission on Sunday imposed a fine of over 1 billion won ($842,000) on Naver for predatory real estate practices. According to the antitrust government agency, Naver prevented real estate information businesses that it had ties with from working with Kakao. Naver has violated the Fair Trade Act by progressively extending the scope of its exclusivity contracts with real estate businesses and actively blocking Kakao from entering the market, the FTC said. As a

Biologics experts and industry officials will discuss accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines at the virtual Global Bio Conference 2020 starting Monday. According to the hosting Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, this year’s GBC is the sixth annual event and the first to open online. The Ministry anticipates participation from some 3,000 audience for the live broadcasts to be delivered by 61 speakers from 18 nations over three days. The number of speakers and partaking countries halved from

    SEOUL (Yonhap) --Cash-squeezed Doosan Group said Friday that it will repay 3 trillion won (US$2.5 billion) in debt to its main creditors by selling new shares of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. and other affiliates' assets.    Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is to float new shares worth 1.3 trillion won and sell them first to its shareholders and then to the public, the group said in an emailed statement.    Earlier, the power plan

LG Electronics has finalized the name of its new dual-display smartphone to be released on Sept. 14 as “LG Wing,” the company confirmed Friday. When choosing the name, LG Electronics reportedly narrowed down its options to LG Wing and LG Swing, but picked the former as consumers have become familiar with the name after months of exposure to the new phone’s codename “Wing.” The price of LG Wing is expected to be approximately 1.5 million won ($1,260), as the ph

NCSoft said Friday its North American subsidiary NC West will release a new rhythm game “Fuser” for both PC and console in North America and Europe on Nov. 10. Fuser is an interactive DJ music game developed by Harmonix -- a US-based video game development company -- and will be published by NC West. Fuser will be available on PC and three major console platforms -- PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. In Fuser, players will become music festival DJs, mixing vocals, bas

Diageo Korea said Friday it has appointed Dan Hamilton as a new CEO. According to the world‘s largest distiller and producer of major whisky brands including Johnny Walker and Windsor, Dan Hamilton has become the new CEO starting Friday as his predecessor Robert Rhee, who had led the company since 2018, will leave the business on Oct. 31. After joining Diageo in 2011, Hamilton served several senior leadership and general management roles in India, China, Japan and Europe. As the CEO

KakaoPage, an entertainment company specializing in online cartoons, web novels, film, and TV series, will expand its business overseas, according to the company’s announcement on Friday. KakaoPage will expand its investments in mergers and acquisitions to enter the market in the US, China and nations in Southeast Asia by 2022, KakaoPage CEO Lee Jin-soo said Thursday during a talk with Vivek Couto, an APOS organizer at Media Partners Asia. Lee‘s session was held as part of APOS

Coupang began procedures for the construction of a large-scale high-tech logistics base in Gwangju in partnership with the regional government, the firm said Friday. Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop and Coupang’s new business division head Park Dae-joon met Friday and signed a business agreement. Under the deal, the firm and Gwangju agreed to establish a mega-sized high-tech logistics center in the region and cooperate to boost the local economy and create jobs. The nation’s leading

Naver announced that it would start recruiting new platform developers and engineers starting on Friday. The IT firm said it would hire more than 200 developers this year. The business units that Naver are recruiting for include IT infrastructure unit Naver Business Platform, workplace collaboration tool developer Works Mobile, Snapchat-like camera app developer Snow, online cartoon platform operator Naver Webtoon and online financial platform operator Naver Financial. Those eligible to apply