Comprehensive real estate taxes have been levied on nearly half a million homeowners in Seoul this year, up more than 20 percent from last year, as housing prices and tax rates surged. Seoul homeowners collectively faced 2.8 trillion won ($2.35 billion) in comprehensive real estate taxes, 2.3 times the amount levied last year. The sharp increase in the property holding tax could affect the market as some homeowners may choose to sell their homes to reduce the tax burden, thereby bringing down

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said on Monday that he called on the US to begin talks on revising restrictions on steel imports from South Korea during last week‘s meeting with his US counterpart. “As the US has recently reached an agreement on or has begun negotiations with the European Union and Japan, we strongly conveyed (to the US) that they should begin talks with South Korea, their ally which is competing with the EU and Japan in the US market,” Yeo said in a press briefing

Korea Gas Corp. is undergoing a paradigm shift from a fossil fuel resource developer to a hydrogen-based eco-friendly company by pushing forward its hydrogen as well as natural gas businesses. Established in 1983 with a mission for safe and stable supply of natural gas, KOGAS owns 74 storage tanks with a total capacity of 11.56 million kiloliters at five production sites in Pyeongtaek, Incheon, Tongyeong, Samcheok and Jeju; 4,945 kilometers of natural gas pipelines nationwide; and 413 supply ma

Posco on Thursday unveiled Korea’s largest walkable art installation named Space Walk in the southeastern port city of Pohang, where the company is based. The 333-meter curved steel track that looks like a roller coaster stands in the city’s Hwanho Park, and the Pohang steel mill, Youngil Bay and Youngildae Beach can be seen while walking on it. Some 317 tons of steel, all produced by Posco, were used to create the sculpture by German artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth. Space W

DataStreams said Wednesday its CEO won a bronze tower order of industrial service merit from the government for the company’s technological prowess in big data solutions. Founded 20 years ago, DataStreams is a leader of the local big data solution market and is taking steps to get listed in Kosdaq. In addition to the order of merit won by CEO Lee Young-sang, the company’s big data platform named TeraONE won a tech award from the minister of trade, industry and energy. By Kim So-hy

LG Innotek said Wednesday one of its senior officials won a presidential commendation at the 2021 Korea Tech Show for developing innovative technology and products. Lee Kwang-tae, head of LG Innotek’s package substrate production division, received the award for contributing toward enhancing the competitiveness of Korea’s semiconductor substrate industry. Lee joined LG Electronics in 1999 and has worked on substrate development and production technology. Since 2008, he has led the

Big data platform company DataStreams said its CEO Lee Young-sang won a global management award from Maekyung Media Group last week. Founded 20 years ago, DataStreams is a leading company in the local big data solutions market and is taking steps to get listed on the Kosdaq. The company also plans to set up corporations in the US, Vietnam and China, and a joint venture with a Vietnamese partner next year to explore the Southeast Asian market. DataStreams has won a number of orders this year i

　SHK Smarter 7 said it has developed a varnish that inactivates, or virtually kills, more than 99 percent of the novel coronavirus. 　The eco-friendly paint and varnish producer said that when its Dr. Virus varnish is painted on walls and ceilings, repeated air circulation allows it to inactivate the COVID-19 virus and bacteria in the air. 　The anti-COVID-19 test of the new product was conducted at a bioveterinary research lab of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, which is an internation

　The US Food and Drug Administration recently authorized for the first time an electronic cigarette to be sold in the US, drawing attention to a harm reduction policy, which is designed to lessen the negative social or physical impacts associated with tobacco use. 　The US FDA last month issued marketing granted orders to vapor company R. J. Reynolds for its electronic nicotine delivery device and accompanying tobacco-flavored e-liquid pods through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA

　A consumer group said on Monday that large automakers should be allowed to enter the secondhand car market where consumers are suffering due to opaque pricing and insufficient after-sales maintenance service. 　Nearly 2.52 million used cars are sold annually in South Korea -- 1.32 times the sales volume of new cars -- and over 55 percent of those sales are direct transactions between individuals. 　The reason direct sales account for a huge chunk of the market is because there is no competitive

LG Energy Solution said Thursday it has joined a nonprofit coalition of leading companies dedicated to improving social, environmental and ethical conditions in their global supply chains. The company said it is the first Korean battery producer to join the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) which has some 180 members including Apple, Google, Volkswagen and Tesla. By becoming a member of the RBA, LG Energy Solution will apply RBA’s code of conduct in labor, health and safety, environmen

Lotte Group is commemorating what would have been the 100th birthday of its late founder Shin Kyuk-ho by publishing his memoirs, giving out scholarships and funding for startups, holding a concert, and opening a memorial hall in the Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul. On Monday, Lotte unveiled a bronze bust of Shin and a memorial hall displaying media and historical records of the conglomerate’s history, a replica of Shin’s office in the early days, his old shoes, reading glasses, p

Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday its mobility and software developers and leaders of research and development will speak about the conglomerate’s future technologies at an online conference from Nov. 10-11. 　Albert Biermann, head of Hyundai-Kia’s R&D division, will talk about where the group stands now in research and development, and where it is headed to, how it is speeding up software development to provide a platform that hyper-connects the user and the vehicle. 　Cho Kyo-wo

LG Innotek said on Tuesday its Gumi factory in North Gyeongsang Province has earned international certification for having zero waste go to landfill, a first in the materials and components industry here. The electronic parts supplier said its Gumi plant received platinum grade “Zero Waste to Landfill” certification from the international institution Underwriters Laboratories for its resource circulation efforts. ZWTL grants different grades based on how much industrial waste is re