Reinforced rules by South Korea’s antitrust regulator began to take effect Tuesday to prevent social media influencers from advertising products without telling viewers of their business ties with corporate sponsors. According to the Fair Trade Commission’s guidelines, the online streamers and social media influencers should explicitly disclose their business ties when they are provided with financial means to produce promotional posts or videos. The FTC said it revised old guidel

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Monday that an increasing number of companies occupy a regulatory blind spot that shields the owner families. Owners increased their shares through indirect investment from public corporations and overseas affiliates this year, it said. The Fair Trade Commission said it analyzed the stock ownership of the 64 largest groups and their 2,292 affiliates. Among the groups, the equity held by owner families amounted to 3.6 percent, down 0.3 percentage p

Incheon International Airport Corp. is set to post an annual deficit of over 430 billion ($ 363 million) won this year, according to its latest projection Monday. As things stand in August, the airport is on course to be in the red this year, marking the first time in 17 years since 2003. The projection comes following a sharp drop in the number of flights and revenue during the first half of 2020, which saw its previous projected deficit grow over time since the first quarter. “The pro

After successfully bolstering the supply side with aggressive investments over the last six months, the semiconductor industry is again in a conservative mode at least until the second quarter of next year, according to industry sources Monday. Such conservatism in making new investments is running deep across the memory market, in particular amid growing forecasts of slowing demand in the second half of the year. According to sources, the world’s two largest memory providers Samsung

Hyundai Motor said Monday it will introduce brand song of its new electric vehicle Ioniq with boy band BTS. The brand song “Ioniq: I’m on it” will be distributed on the automaker’s global website at 7 p.m. on Monday. Hyundai Motor and BTS have been working together on various marketing activities for three years since the band was chosen as Palisade’s global PR ambassador in 2018. The automaker said the latest project aims to convey a vision of the infinite po

Home transactions in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province have plunged over the last three months, after the government introduced strict measures to stabilize real estate prices, including tax hikes and loan regulations, data showed Sunday. The number of apartment transactions in Seoul dropped to 1,923 in August from 15,589 in June, while that of Gyeonggi Province too decreased to 7,117 in August, from 34,899 in June. The housing prices, which the government aimed to rein in, remained flat. As of

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun will give a congratulatory speech at this year’s “Social Value Connect,” the largest privately-held social value festival in Korea hosted by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. According to SK Group Sunday, SOVAC 2020 -- which will be held online from Sept. 1 to 24 -- will feature business leaders including Chung, Posco Chairman Choi Jung-woo and Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung giving congratulatory speech

Hyundai Motor will launch nine new cars in China by the end of next year to seek a turnaround in its sluggish sales in the world’s biggest car market. South Korea’s largest automaker announced Sunday that, starting next month with sport utility vehicle Palisade, it will introduce three sedans, three recreational vehicles and two electric vehicles in the country through 2021 to rebound after sales there plummeted in recent years. The automaker’s three sedans include the new

CSOT, a panel unit of Chinese home appliance maker TCL, acquired Samsung Display’s Suzhou LCD plant for $1.08 billion, making China the producer of half the world’s large LCDs, industry sources said Sunday. According to the sources, CSOT signed a deal with Samsung Display to acquire 60 percent of the Suzhou plant for $1.08 billion. The remaining 10 percent will be owned by the parent company, TCL, and 30 percent by the Suzhou city government. The Suzhou plant was responsible for

Shoppers look at luxury goods at Lotte Department Store in Jamsil, Seoul, in July. Department store sales of luxury brands jumped more than 30 percent last month, although overall sales declined due to the pandemic and the rainy season, government data showed Sunday. Analysts say people spent more of their savings on luxury goods because they were not allowed to travel abroad during the holiday season. (Photo: Yonhap)

As competition in over-the-top and pay TV services market intensifies, SK Broadband is seeking to overhaul its solutions. The company said Sunday it has changed the brand name to Lovely B tv, while adding new features and contents to its platform to increase user experience, including artificial intelligence recommendation engine and Supernova, which is designed to improve the quality of image and sound source based on AI-deep learning algorithms. The company has also transformed the user exp

Wellness-focused yougurt products by Binggrae are gaining popularity recently, amid rising demand from health-conscious consumers, according to the company on Sunday. Dairy food company Binggrae has introduced several yogurt brands to the Korean market, contributing to growing the market. Its flagship yogurt product Yoplait topped the local market in sales last year, selling about 360 million units and recording some 140 billion won ($119 million) in sales. Alongside the prominent Yopla

Hyundai Engineering & Construction said Sunday that the company will start distribution of its newly built Hill State apartments in the city of Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, in early September. The new complex consists of seven 20-story buildings with five basement floors and offers a total of 565 units in five different sizes ranging between 63 and 84 square meters. It is the company‘s first Hill State brand launched in the neighborhood in the vicinity of Samdong Station on the Gye

Hyundai Oilbank recently filed a patent application for its new oil leak detection system known as Hyundai Oil Leakage Monitoring Expert System, the company said Sunday. The newly developed system, also known as Holmes, can monitor possible oil leaks through detection sensors designed to keep an eye on fuel dispensers, allowing gas station owners to be updated in real time on mobile devices. Oil leakage at gas stations in downtown areas can lead to soil contamination underneath buildings, and

Aero K CEO Mike Kang confident in targeting niche market with mold-breaking identity