A Seoul bankruptcy court on Tuesday approved a local consortium led by chemical-to-steel firm KG Group to acquire a 58.85 percent stake in SsangYong Motor at a reported 900 billion won ($700 million), ending a two-way race to acquire the debt-ridden South Korean SUV maker. SsangYong has been under court receivership for 14 months after its Indian parent Mahindra & Mahindra failed to attract fresh funding amid worsening financial health during the pandemic.  Following the court&rs

The country’s largest air carrier, Korean Air, is gearing up to restore international flights that had plunged during the last three years due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We plan to restore international flights to 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels by September,” the company said Tuesday. Currently, Korean Air’s international flights are only one-third of the pre-pandemic level, but it plans to gradually increase flights starting in July, when the summer

Korea Aerospace Industries is venturing into the air taxi business with an aim to develop a small-sized Urban Air Mobility aircraft by 2024 so it can be used as a test model. KAI said it will later develop a full-scale UAM aircraft that can be used as a standardized model for the air taxi business in Korea amid the government’s push to commercialize air taxis by 2025.  According to industry sources, KAI is building a small-sized UAM aircraft that will be 25 percent to 40 percent sma

The engineering and construction division of Samsung C&T Corporation is aggressively entering the eco-friendly energy businesses such as small modular reactors, or SMRs, green hydrogen and ammonia. The Engineering & Construction Division of Samsung C&T recently invested $70 million in NuScale Power, an American SMR company, laying a stepping stone for its SMR business overseas. SMRs are safer compared to conventional nuclear reactors, emits nearly zero carbon, and guarantees a stab

Seagulls are seen as pests elsewhere, but in Korea city dwellers sometimes pay to feed them

With vote for walkout set for Friday, union calls for more EV plants at home

Porsche Korea CEO Holger Gerrmann was elected as the ninth German chairperson at the 41st Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry Annual General Meeting on Thursday. Run by a co-chairing system, KGCCI will now be led by Gerrmann and Korean Chairperson Park Hyun-nam, who is also the Deutsche Bank CEO. “We will continue to create the foundation for Korean and German companies to grow together, honoring the long-standing successful business relationships of our two countries and emp

JEJU CITY -- The new and partially electrified SUV lineup Lexus NX could be an alternative for big car-loving Korean customers looking for a fuel-efficient vehicle that does not compromise on luxury. NX 450h+, the first plug-in hybrid vehicle from the luxury auto brand, can drive up to an average of 23.8 kilometers on a liter of gas. Its fuel efficiency is close to that of the all-new Kia Niro, also a hybrid sport utility vehicle that can drive up to an average of 23.7 kilometers on a liter of

Execs says more EVs under GM brands being considered for Korea sales

A sketch released on Tuesday shows the design concept of Hyundai Motor’s new electric vehicle Ioniq 6.  Hyundai Motor said Ioniq 6 will have streamliner design typology called Electrified Streamliner, with simple lines and aerodynamic form, reflecting its commitment to fulfill both aesthetic and functional aspects of an EV. Built on the carmaker’s Electric Global Modular Platform which is developed to provide an optimized wheelbase and interior design, Ioniq 6’s full de

The South Korean government on Sunday decided to further extend tax cuts on fuel consumption as part of efforts to ease inflationary pressure from surging energy costs. Starting next month, the legal cap of fuel tax cuts will be increased to 37 percent from the current 30 percent. The tentative measure will be effective until the end of this year. "The government will immediately implement measures to ease the burden from high oil prices,” Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho told repor

Hybrids, EVs now make up more than 10 percent of automotive duo’s total sales

Kia’s 2nd generation Niro boasts longer driving range with cheaper price tag

Lime, the world’s leading operator of rented electric scooters and bikes, said in a statement on Wednesday that it will be withdrawing its operations from South Korea on June 30. Constant traffic law revisions and differing local government policies were named by the company as the primary reasons behind this “tentative suspension” of operations. Lime saw a sharp drop in its customers in 2021, when a law that made wearing helmets mandatory for people riding electric scooters

Early this month, an electric vehicle caught fire in Busan, sparking safety concerns among drivers of battery-powered cars. It was an Ioniq 5, Hyundai Motor’s all-electric model, that went up in flames just three seconds after crashing into a highway toll gate. The driver and one passenger in the car died in the accident, but investigations are ongoing to figure out whether they died from the crash or whether they were not able to escape from the fire that broke out so quickly. While th