The South Korean government on Friday lifted an overseas travel ban on GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem, almost 16 months after the Australian GM executive was barred from leaving the country on charges of illegally outsourcing labor. Kazen is currently standing trial for violating labor laws after the carmaker was found to have hired some 1,719 workers from 24 subcontractors to work at its local plants between September 2017 and December 2020. The Seoul headquarters is suspected to have directly inst

Posco Holdings said Thursday that construction of a plant in Argentina kicked off to commercialize lithium, a key material for electric vehicle battery production.  With the lithium extraction plant in Argentina and Posco’s mining rights in the South American country, the company will be able to entirely manage production of lithium hydroxide, which is used in the production of cathode material for lithium-ion EV batteries. Lithium is extracted from brine or seawater, which is rich

The race to come out on top in the future mobility sector is reaching a fever pitch. Market estimates show there are at least 200 global carmakers, aircraft manufacturers, telecommunication firms and startups working on developing urban air mobility (UAM) or flying cars. And Korean companies are no exception. Hanwha Systems, the country’s major defense electronics and related smart technologies and infrastructure service provider, is seeking to pivot its airspace business to target the g

After the Ministry of SMEs and Startups greenlighted the large automotive companies’ entry to the secondhand car market, carmakers here have been quick to announce their plans to launch secondhand services within the year.  Their entry could bring huge change to the used car market here, which has been protected by the government until recently for microenterprises. Lotte Rental, which operates a rent-a-car business, announced Friday that it would also enter the used car market in

South Korean IT giant Naver has become an open target on Thursday for selling fashion items suggestive of Japanese outfits that were popular when Korea was under colonial rule on its metaverse platform Zepeto. Fashion items evidently inspired by styles that were trending during the 1912-26 Taisho era were on sale from Tuesday, according to users. Naver seems to have not considered the cultural and political context of such fashion items for Koreans, some argued. The Taisho era was a time of rel

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group opened its first Southeast Asian manufacturing plant in Indonesia on Wednesday, gearing up its drive to expand its presence in a region long dominated by Japanese rivals.  The plant, located in the Deltamas industrial complex 40 kilometers east of the capital city of Jakarta, has started mass production of Hyundai's flagship electric vehicle Ioniq 5, the first EV to be manufactured in the country, the carmaker said. It plans to invest 1.92 trillio

Stepping closer to a longtime dream of mankind, Volocopter, a Germany-based startup that develops electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, will start a commercial air taxi business in the next two years -- but overcoming regulatory hurdles and gaining public acceptance remains a challenge. “At this point, it is no longer a question of if electric air taxi services will come to cities around the world, but when,” said Hon Lung Chu, Head of Singapore and BD Southeast As

Hyundai Motor Group’s flagship electric vehicle model Ioniq 5 is now available for mobility subscription service from Hyundai Selection in metropolitan areas including Seoul. The Korean automaker said Sunday that Ioniq 5 will be offered as an option in the monthly program Regular pack. The model was only offered for the daily-subscription plan Special pack subscribers in Jeju and Busan.  Hyundai Motor said such service expansion will allow more customers to experience Ioniq 5, which

Price increases of metals essential for electric batteries could spell trouble for automakers who are already struggling to keep costs down in the face of supply chain disruptions, market insiders said Wednesday. The price of nickel is surging as Russia, a key supplier of the metal, faces extensive global sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. On Tuesday, the price of nickel doubled to $100,000 per metric ton, causing the London Metal Exchange to suspend trading for the rest of the day on wo

There are more female members in corporate boardrooms in South Korea this year, as a revised law obliging big companies to improve gender diversity is due to take effect in August. But the presence of women executives yielding actual management power is still far from the global average, a survey and data showed Tuesday. Of the 104 outside directors set to start their terms in the first half of this year, 45 are female, according to data from market tracker Leaders Index.  Out of 73 execu

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday that it will make a $1 million donation to the Red Cross to aid their support for people in war-hit Ukraine. “As the humanitarian situation worsens in Ukraine, it is clear many vulnerable people and communities are in need of urgent assistance,” Hyundai Motor said in a statement. South Korea conglomerates like Samsung, SK, Kakao earlier announced that they have made contributions to aid Ukraine. By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)

The South Korean government decided to keep the current fuel tax cuts for another three months until July amid concerns that the war in Ukraine could propel energy prices.  In November last year, the government lowered fuel taxes by a record 20 percent in a bid to tame inflationary pressure. The measure was set to expire at the end of April. A 20 percent cut equals to a reduction of 164 won per liter of gasoline and 116 won per liter of diesel.  In a meeting on product price and in

Han Sung Motor, an official dealer of Mercedes-Benz Korea, said Friday that it has clinched a contract to sponsor three breakdancers. The sponsorship is part of a new project called WANNA.B by Han Sung Motor. It was established this year to support B-boy and B-girls to achieve what they want to become in the future. Through such a project, Han Sung Motor said it will launch more activities to expand the realm of breakdance and facilitate communication with millennials and Generation Z. 

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday that its flagship electric model Ioniq 5 has received a higher score than Mercedes-Benz EQB from German automotive magazine AutoBild’s review. The carmaker said AutoBild compared the two models based on seven categories -– body, comfort, powertrain, driving dynamics, connected car, environment and cost -– along with 53 subcategories. Out of 800 points, Ioniq 5 received 582 points, 20 points more than the EQB.  Ioniq 5 received higher poin

Kia Motors, a sister company of Hyundai Motor, is aiming to sell 4 million vehicles globally by 2030, with half of them being eco-friendly models, the company said on Thursday. The carmaker will expand the portion of electric vehicles and hybrids in overall sales from the current 17 percent to 52 percent by 2030. For markets with state-supportive policies for EVs –- Korea, North America, Europe and China -- Kia said it will pull up its EV and hybrid sales portion up to 78 percent by 2030