Naver Corp., South Korea's top internet portal operator, said Monday it is moving its overseas data backup center from Hong Kong to Singapore amid privacy concerns in the Chinese territory. Concerns about leaks of personal information arose after China implemented a new security law in Hong Kong early this month. Naver said it is in the process of changing the host country of backup data servers to Singapore from Hong Kong. "(We) deleted all backup data saved at the center in Hong Kong

LG Display Co., South Korea's major display panel maker, said Monday it will begin to mass-produce OLED panels soon at its factory in Guangzhou, China, after a one-year delay due to the new coronavirus outbreak. LG Display said it is currently producing 8.5 generation OLED panels at the factory on a small scale but will begin mass production soon. The company completed the construction of the factory in August 2019, but its plan to produce the panels was largely held off due to the COVID-19 p

GS25 said Monday the bestselling product from its mobile app for wine and liquor orders was Disaronno, an Amaretto-tasting liqueur. Over 70 percent of wine orders made via the app were made outside of Seoul, it added. The convenience store chain launched the mobile app Wine25 Plus on July 13, allowing customers to order alcoholic beverages and pick them up from a nearby GS25 store. Analyzing the data for the past week, the convenience store operator revealed that 28.8 percent of liquor order

Paris Baguette, South Korea’s biggest bakery brand operated by SPC Group, said Monday it is testing a new subscription business by launching a monthly discount service for its coffee and sandwich menus. Usable once every day for 30 days, the subscription offers either coffee or a sandwich and coffee set, respectively priced at 19,800 won ($16.40) and 48,900 won. There will be 12 sandwich menu choices. Users can subscribe to the service on Happy App, the SPC Group’s mobile applicat

South Korea’s rental service firm SK Rent-a-Car said Monday it has launched a rental service for Tesla Model 3 at its 10 branches in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province “As demand for electric vehicles continues to increase, we have recently released new products of Tesla, the most favored EV of customers,” a company official said. A total of 21 Tesla Model 3 units will be offered as short-term rental cars. Customers can make reservations through the firm’s website or custome

The coronavirus pandemic is turning out to be a blessing in disguise for game companies who are staying resilient in South Korea, with Kakao Games’ market valuation soaring -- a blessing in disguise after its failed attempt for an initial public offering in 2018. According to over-the-counter trading platform Pstock, Kakao Games’ market value soared to 2.8 trillion won ($2.3 billion) as of Friday from 1.7 trillion on June 11, when it applied for a preliminary IPO examination on th

Volvo Cars Korea said Monday it will no longer offer pure diesel or gasoline cars starting with its 2021 models and instead sell only hybrid cars. According to the automaker, Volvo cars will be available only in mild hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles starting with its 2021 models in Korea, as it aims to become carbon neutral by 2040. Korea will be the first country where Volvo won’t sell pure diesel cars at all, the company said. Volvo Cars Korea will replace D5, T4, T5 and T6 inte

E-commerce giant Coupang has appointed software engineering expert Jeon Joon-hee as the new vice president of engineering for its express delivery service, the company said on Monday. Jeon, who has previously worked at global companies like Google and Uber, will focus on advancing Coupang’s express delivery service known as ”Rocket Delivery.“ “As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the world is watching Coupang’s innovative delivery system, which is fast and precise.

Incheon International Airport Corp. says it is not going forward with a mythical bird-inspired logo for the corporation’s 20th anniversary next year after a leaked image online drew criticism. In an emailed statement on Sunday, the company confirmed it had ditched the new corporate identity design after “considering the majority’s opinions.” “It’s regretful that the draft was misreported as an official one,” the company said as it explained it was one

GC Pharma announces plan for clinical test, Celltrion aims to manufacture drugs from September

The owner family of LS Group recently bequeathed about 33 billion won ($27 million) worth of shares to children and relatives, regulatory filings showed Monday. The move by the South Korean conglomerate came as stock prices of its affiliates have plunged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which allows them to pay lower gift taxes. Group Chairman Koo Ja-yeol, LS-Nikko Copper Chairman Koo Ja-hong, LS Cable & System Chairman Koo Ja-yub and heads of other units have given a total of 959,

SsangYong Motor on Monday unveiled a teaser image of its first electric vehicle, which has been developed under the project name “E100.” The automaker’s new, electric subcompact sport utility vehicle is set to be released in the first half of next year. Prior to the launch of the new EV, the automaker released an image that graphically expresses its exterior design. The firm said the overall design is based on a streamlined line that reflects aerodynamics optimized for urban

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Monday that it has won an 86 billion won ($71 million) deal from a European company to build two petrochemicals (PC) carriers. Under the deal, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., a shipbuilding unit of Korea Shipbuilding, will start constructing the ships in November and deliver them to the buyers from the second half of 2021, Korea Shipbuilding said in an e-mailed statement. The deal has an option to build an additional PC carrier. So far thi

Samsung Electronics has hinted it is planning to unveil its second edition of Galaxy Fold at the upcoming Unpacked event in August, according to a short teaser video uploaded on one of its social network channels. On a Twitter account run by Samsung’s UK office, a video clip featured a drop of rose gold paint transforming into a symmetrical shape assumed to be a butterfly. It also displayed the date of the Galaxy Unpacked event that falls on Aug. 5. The butterfly image previously sym

During the state-led sales festival, called the “Korea Donghaeng Sale,” aiming to boost consumption amid the pandemic, non-face-to-face sales of department stores and large discount stores were estimated at 25.94 billion won ($21.56 million), data showed Thursday. Between June 26 and July 12, sales at the nation’s major three department stores increased 4 percent on-year. Sales at the top three large discount stores decreased 1.4 percent on-year due to mandatory holidays. B