Deal is 10 times larger than company’s usual yearly revenue in diagnostics kits sector

Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday that it will open the country’s largest driving center, called the HMG Driving Experience Center, in the first half of 2022 to offer customers new opportunities to experience the brand and practice driving.  The automaker said the facilities will be built within the driving test site of local tiremaker Hankook Tire Technology in Taean, South Chungcheong Province.  A ceremony to celebrate the partnership was held at Hyundai Motor Group’s

Samsung Electronics Co. recaptured the top spot in the Southeast Asian smartphone market in the first quarter of the year by edging out its Chinese rivals, a report showed Wednesday. Samsung's market share in Southeast Asia stood at 18.9 percent in the January-March period, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research, outperforming Chinese phone maker Oppo by 0.2 percentage point. Chinese players also occupied the third to fifth spots on the list. Xiaomi came in third at 14.8 percent,

Porsche Korea said Wednesday it sold over 4,200 units last year for the second consecutive year, highlighting its achievement in the local market along with its effort to introduce a more varied lineup of models here.  “(Porsche Korea’s sales performance has paved) the way for Porsche’s future product strategy, which focuses on emotional gasoline, powerful hybrid and progressive electric vehicles,” said Porsche Korea CEO Holger Gerrmann during a press conference he

Non-US firms close gap with Silicon Valley while rivals sit idle due to pandemic

The Korea Forest Service has been expanding collaboration with Ethiopia to restore degraded forests and facilitate cooperation among ethnic groups in conflict regions through sustainable agroforestry. The latest event was a launch ceremony held on Wednesday for a book “Re-greening Ethiopia” co-published by KFS and the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, a federal institution of Ethiopia. During the event, a memorandum of understanding was also signed for P4G, the Pa

The number of monthly active users of local video streaming service giant Wavve declined over the past months, while that of Netflix soared to cement its top status, a report showed Thursday. Wavve, which was launched last September by South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS, had 3.46 million monthly active users last month, down 8.8 percent from 3.79 million in October 2019, according to market researcher Nielsen KoreanClick. Monthly act

South Korea said Wednesday it will spend 160 billion won ($132 million) to launch a vessel capable of sailing with just a minimum number of sailors by 2025. Under the six-year project, South Korea plans to develop ships with "degree-three" autonomous features, which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) defines as vessels that are fully controlled remotely, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Still, a limited number of sailors are required to be on board

Housing polarization is rapidly deepening in South Korea, with the price gap between high and low-priced apartments widening to the highest levels in 10 years, latest data showed. According to the monthly housing price trend released by Kookmin Bank, prices of low-cost apartments nationwide have fallen by 2.2 percent, or 2.5 million won ($2,069), while those of expensive apartments have risen by 15.5 percent, or more than 100 million won, over the past year. 　 Compared to two years ago, the

Clinical trials in South Korea to evaluate the potential therapeutic efficacy of an anti-malaria drug, chloroquine, for the treatment of the novel coronavirus have been halted, hospital officials said Wednesday. Two major general hospitals in Seoul -- Asan Medical Center and Gangnam Severance Hospital -- have recently ceased their clinical study of using chloroquine for the treatment of certain hospitalized COVID-19 patients, they said. The move comes after the US Food and Drug Administration

Spot market prices for DRAM chips are on a downward trend after reaching their peak in April, industry data showed Wednesday, boding ill for South Korean chipmakers. The spot price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM, a benchmark price for the category, reached $2.90 as of Wednesday, which was down 19.4 percent from the April 7 peak of $3.60, according to data from market tracker DRAMeXchange. On June 9, the spot price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM fell below $3 for the first time since Dec. 13, according to DRA

The South Korean government is carrying out a nationwide quality inspection of its 5G networks amid growing dissatisfaction among people using the service, which came out last year. According to an ICT Ministry announcement Tuesday, the government has started assessing 5G networks and service in the nation’s major cities -- Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju and Ulsan. The government has sampled around 100 locations in those cities, checking call quality and 5G network recept

Despite loopholes in safety rules, Hyundai makes big push for hydrogen vehicles

SK Biopharmaceuticals’ imminent initial public offering on South Korea’s main bourse Kospi has the stock market excited. But is it really the right time to buy? The global coronavirus pandemic has definitely given investors a moment to give a second look at previously-bypassed biologics stocks, and many who have never purchased any stocks are contemplating trying their chances.　　 But as SK Biopharmaceuticals’ CEO Cho Jeong-woo said at the online press event on Monday, just

SK Innovation ranked 5th in the global electric vehicle battery market in April, according to industry data Tuesday. According to market tracker SNE Research, SK Innovation took up 3.5 percent of global EV battery market by supplying 189.1 megawatt-hours of batteries. Samsung SDI was next, accounting for 3.4 percent by deploying 187.2 megawatt-hours of batteries in April. Meanwhile, South Korea’s No. 1 EV battery maker LG Chem took the second spot, commanding 18.2 percent market share