More than 100,000 Samsung Electronics employees held an online discussion in April about how to minimize the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the company’s 2020 Sustainability Report, released Friday. The report said 107,000 Samsung Electronics employees participated in the two-week discussion using its collective intelligence platform Mosaic and came up with 1,620 ideas. “After review, Samsung Electronics will filter ideas on daily quarantine, sterilization, he

LG Chem ranked second in the Chinese electric vehicle battery market for the January-March period this year, according to industry data. Market tracker the China Battery Enterprise Alliance said Thursday that LG Chem supplied EV batteries in China with a combined capacity of 2,087 megawatt-hours, surpassing local competitor BYD’s 1,943 megawatt-hours. Another local competitor, CATL, was in first place with 6,173 megawatt-hours. “LG Chem equipped 39,393 Tesla Model 3s built in Sh

Daewon Media, which retails more than half of all Nintendo Switch game consoles here, said Friday that sales of the Japanese game consoles spiked 30 percent in the first quarter, thanks to the nationwide popularity of the hit game Animal Crossing: New Horizons amid the coronavirus outbreak. The South Korean game distributor said it sold 82,848 Nintendo Switch consoles in the first quarter, a 30.4 percent increase on-year, and 287,590 Nintendo Switch games in the same period, a 57.4 percent s

Hyundai Oilbank said Thursday it has developed a new system that can detect oil leaks from underground pipes at gas stations to help prevent environment pollution. According to the South Korean refiner, Hyundai Oil Leakage Monitoring Expert System, or Holmes, can detect and locate oil leaks from old pipes buried underneath gas stations, preventing possible soil contamination that can cost millions of dollars for restoration. “Leaks from oil tanks can be easily checked by gauges, but l

Korea Aerospace Industries said Wednesday it will finalize the assembly of its next-generation KF-X fighter jet in the second half of this year. South Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer is currently assembling each of the top, middle and bottom parts of the fuselage of its fifth-generation fighter and the final assembly is scheduled for the second half of the year. "To introduce a prototype next year, KAI is looking forward to a final assembly of the jet in the period,” a

S-Oil said Wednesday it has delivered 100 million won ($83,900) to families whose members suffered injuries or death while serving as Coast Guard officers. According to the South Korean refiner, it held a donation ceremony with the Korea National Council on Social Welfare at the Korea Coast Guard headquarters in Songdo, Incheon, and distributed the amount among 21 children of officers who died in the line of duty and 25 officers who were injured during anti-illegal fishing operations and emerg

SK Innovation’s wholly owned subsidiary SK IE Technology, which makes separators for electric vehicle batteries, said Tuesday it will seek an initial public offering. The separator is one of the four key components of a lithium-ion battery, along with the cathode, anode and electrolyte. According to SKIET, it sent letter of inquiry proposals to domestic and foreign stock firms to underwrite its IPO. “A specific timeline for the IPO hasn’t been decided yet. An underwriter

Korea Water Resources Corp., also known as K-water, said Tuesday it is joining hands with UNESCO to raise awareness on water management and its relationship to climate change. According to K-water, it will collaborate with the UNESCO International Centre for Water Security and Sustainable Management to run a summer program on water management for international students and water-related professionals from developing countries receiving official development assistance from the Organization for

GS Caltex said Monday it has launched drone delivery services at its gas stations on Jeju Island, utilizing them as logistics hubs. According to the South Korean oil refiner, drones will deliver daily necessities to customers living in rural areas after they place orders through the app of its convenience store chain GS25. “Gas stations are easy for cargo trucks to enter, have enough storage space and are located all across the country, making them suitable for logistics bases,&rdquo

Asiana Airlines said Sunday it has resumed flights to Hanoi after Vietnam exceptionally allowed 220 South Korean students to enter the country. Since March 22, Vietnam has suspended the entry of all foreigners to contain the spread of COVID-19. In February, Asiana made an emergency return as the Vietnamese government refused to allow the plane from Korea to land at Hanoi.　 Asiana said its OZ733 flight carrying 218 Korean students departed from Incheon International Airport at 9:20 a.m. on Su

Given the nationwide social distancing norms in place, South Koreans are playing more computer games and watching videos on mobile devices, data showed Sunday. According to a report from local market research firm Nielsen KoreanClick, Koreans spent 34 percent of their time playing games on PCs in the March-April period, an 11 percentage-point increase on-year, topping other activities. Meanwhile, Koreans spent less time on internet portals and search engines, with the ratio dropping from 26

The South Korean game censorship body on Thursday gave an ultimatum to foreign firms that are distributing products here without receiving government ratings, launching a surgical strike on popular cloud platform Steam. Steam is a video game digital distribution service that also supports games from third-party publishers, allowing users to download them after purchase. According to Game Rating and Administration Committee Thursday, the agency has recommended Steam to receive ratings on unr

An unexpected collaboration was announced last Sunday, when Hyundai Motor chose Hanwha Q Cells to reuse dead electric vehicle batteries to make energy storage systems. The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding to co-develop solar power ESS using dead batteries. The deal, to the extent of which was publicized, was seen to be rudimentary, without any size or volume of the collaboration. As there are already major global battery-making players in South Korea, Hyundai’s choice see

LG Chem said Wednesday it will power Vietnam’s first-ever electric vehicle, which can travel up to 500 kilometers on a single charge. According to LG Chem and local media, Vietnam’s first domestic carmaker VinFast will load its first EV models with lithium-ion batteries manufactured by LG Chem. “We expect to officially debut the model at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2020; launch a test program in January 2021 and mass produce the cars by July 2021,” a VinFas

Despite daunting competition against market giant China and tech-savvy Japan, South Korean battery makers -- LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation -- have been making headway in the global electric vehicle battery industry. In the first quarter this year, buoyed by several consequences including the COVID-19 pandemic, LG Chem even seized the top spot with a 27.1 percent share of the global market. But they may face a harsh shift in dynamics if they fall behind in developing next-generation