The Korea Electric Power Corp. has appointed Cheong Seung-il, the former vice minister of trade, industry and energy, as its new chief executive, the state-run utility said Tuesday. At an inaugural ceremony held at Kepco headquarters in Naju, South Jeolla Province, the 21st president of Kepco urged staff and executives to “lead the changing paradigm of zero carbon” and “seriously consider an aggressive transition of the energy system.” During the speech, Cheong sugg

Hanwha Group has won a 24.3 billion-won ($21.8 million) deal from the Agency for Defense Development to develop a key device that helps laser beam weapons target drones flying several kilometers away, the company said Monday. Over the next four years, Hanwha will develop a prototype of an amplification device that magnifies the output and travel distance of laser beams. “Laser weapons can shoot down fast-flying objects at the speed of light. Based on 20 years of research into laser t

Hyundai Oilbank said Monday it will establish a blue hydrogen ecosystem with an annual production capacity of 100,000 metric tons by 2025 and convert carbon generated from the production process into commercial products such as dry ice. According to the South Korean energy company, the ecosystem will extract hydrogen from natural gas and refinery by-products and remove carbon to make the hydrogen “blue.” The hydrogen will be then transported, delivered and supplied to customers to

LG Electronics said Sunday it will conduct a beta test of a robot lawn mower to develop a model optimized for Korean customers. This is the first time the company will conduct a demo test and develop a product together with customers. According to LG Electronics, it will receive 50 volunteers by June 11 and let them use the robot lawn mowers for two months. Based on their feedback, LG Electronics will develop a model customized to Korea’s residential environment. “Participants

The gap between the world’s top two chip companies -- TSMC of Taiwan and Samsung Electronics of South Korea -- has widened over the past 12 months in terms of market cap, according to a Seoul-based corporate tracker. CEO Score said on Sunday that the market capitalization of TSMC and Samsung Electronics had a difference of about $10 billion a year ago, but the gap has widened to $117 billion. As of May 27, the value of TSMC was $543.3 billion, a 96.3 percent surge from $276.8 billion

For average customers, one of the easiest ways to pursue a green lifestyle is to purchase eco-friendly products. To target these customers and raise their brand images, companies in South Korea are rolling out eco-friendly products one after another, including some made of biodegradable plastic. Typically made from natural materials such as corn starch, biodegradable plastic is designed to break down naturally when it goes to landfills. However, these efforts – and extra expenses -- m

Jam City, Netmarble’s mobile game subsidiary in the US, will go public in a deal with a blank-check company in the second half of this year, company officials said Friday. The company has reached a merger agreement with a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company DPCM Capital, which will result in Jam City being listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The combined company will have a valuation of $1.2 billion, according to Jam City. Jam City will use the cash proceeds to acq

LIG Nex1 said Thursday it will develop a hydrogen drone that can carry 200 kilograms of cargo, the largest in South Korea. According to the defense and aerospace firm, it was selected by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to carry out the 44-billion-won ($38.8-million) national project for the development of autonomous cargo drones powered by hydrogen fuel cells. “The development will be completed in 2025 and the drones will be deployed to the military as transportation drones

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who is currently visiting the US as part of the unofficial business delegation of President Moon Jae-in’s first summit with President Joe Biden, is likely to announce joint investment with Ford to build a new battery factory in the country. According to a Reuters report Thursday, SK Innovation -- a battery-to-petrochemical unit of SK Group -- is set to sign an agreement with the US automaker to form a joint venture for the production of electric vehicle ba

State-run Korea Gas Corp. said Tuesday that it will build the world’s first hydrogen equipment inspection support center in Wanju, North Jeolla Province. The 50 billion-won ($44.2 million) inspection center, set for completion by 2023, will be responsible for safety checks on four types of hydrogen equipment manufactured domestically and imported from overseas -- stationary fuel cell, portable fuel cell, electrolysis equipment and hydrogen extraction equipment. In February, South Kore

Samsung Display CEO Choi Joo-sun said Tuesday that OLED displays, which use organic light-emitting diodes, will spearhead a digital transformation to what people in the industry call the metaverse era. At Display Week 2021, an annual symposium and trade show organized by the Society for Information Display that runs Monday through Friday in the US, Choi gave a keynote speech on “the metaverse and the great future of displays.” The global display industry faces a turning point, he

S-Oil said Tuesday that it received the world‘s first compliance management system certification from the International Organization for Standardization. The ISO 37301 is an international standard for compliance management officially adopted by the international rule-setting body last month. The new standard combines ISO standards with international agencies’ guidelines, including those from the International Chamber of Commerce, the OECD’s best practice guidelines for ethi

South Korean agriculture technology company N.Thing said Monday that it has recently inked a $3 million deal with Sarya Holdings in the United Arab Emirates to export smart farms. The contract, set to proceed next month, will allow the firm to construct vertical smart farming containers in the UAE by December this year. The container can reduce the use of water up to 98 percent compared to a typical farm and cultivate crops in any environment, whether that is in Siberia, the Middle East, or

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews with executives of South Korea’s leading corporations on their response to environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, issues, which have become central factors globally in measuring the sustainability of an investment or business decision. -- Ed.  Though expensive and difficult to make, green hydrogen is the call of the times, says Jeong Ji-won, chief technology officer at Hanwha Q Cells, a solar-to-hydrogen unit of

South Korea’s state-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute said Monday it has developed hybrid electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries that are free from explosions. Lithium-ion batteries are charged and discharged when lithium ions go back and forth between the positive side and the negative side. Lithium-ion batteries are filled with liquid called electrolytes, which help the ions travel. As liquid electrolytes are flammable, efforts have been made to develop solid