Samsung SDI President Jun Young-hyun (left) shows materials used to make lithium-ion batteries to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (center) at the company’s new plant in Goed, Hungary, Monday.(Samsung SDI)Samsung SDI, a leading South Korean battery maker, has completed the construction of a battery plant for electric vehicles in Hungary, looking to expand its presence in Europe and create synergy with other overseas plants, the company said Tuesday.The new plant is a former production line

NEW RIDE -- Children and social workers pose for photo in front of new school buses donated by Hyundai Motor at a motor show event held in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. The carmaker has donated five buses -- four Starex and one Solati -- to welfare institutions as part of a joint project with Citizens’ Coalition for Safety to raise public awareness on traffic safety for kids. (Hyundai Motor)

BMW Group Korea, the local unit of the German luxury carmaker, has unveiled the second-largest regional distribution center worldwide here, the company said Tuesday.A total of 130 billion won ($115.6 million) was invested in the new regional distribution center, or RDC, which covers 57,103 square meters of land, the company said. Wolfgang Baumann (sixth from left), vice president of Parts Logistics Management, and Kim Hyo-joon (seventh from left), CEO of BMW Group Korea, attend a ceremony for th

Posco, South Korea’s leading steelmaker, hosted the annual Posco Global Volunteer Week, the company said Tuesday.Some 79,000 Posco employees working in and out South Korea across 52 countries participated in the eighth volunteer event that took place from May 24 until 30. Posco Chairman Kwon Oh-joon (right) participates in a volunteer event repairing a historical landmark lecture hall in Sungkyunkwan University. (Posco)On the last day, Posco Chairman Kwon Oh-joon visited the historical landmark

The volume of non-performing loans have fallen to pre-global financial crisis levels following the completion of the government’s large-scale restructuring of Korea’s ailing shipbuilding and shipping industries, according to the Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday. The FSS announced that non-performing loans held by local banks reached 23.7 trillion won ($21.1 billion), or 1.38 percent, at the end of the first quarter, a 0.04 percentage point improvement compared to the end of l

As part of its corporate social responsibility efforts, Samsung C&T is continuing the company’s global humanitarian contributions through its C&T Village and Dream Tomorrow programs. As a construction and engineering firm, the company established the C&T Village program in 2014. The program is a residential improvement project in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity Korea building new homes, restrooms and improving drinking water hygiene in fiscally struggling villages worldwide.  Participants

A significant surge by the nation’s major market index was entirely driven by Samsung Electronics, and without the tech giant’s contribution, the benchmark index could have fallen, a study showed Tuesday.According to the report by Korea Capital Market Institute, a private research center on the nation’s stock market, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index saw an increase of 211 points over a year solely led by Samsung Electronics’ stock price growth, which added 231 points

Joining the global rise of artificial intelligence, South Korean mobile carrier KT is currently working on the development of English and Chinese versions of a voice-activated AI device, the company’s AI chief said Tuesday. In an email interview with The Korea Herald, Lee Phill-jai, executive vice president of the GiGA Genie business division of KT, confirmed the mobile carrier had completed and held unofficial demonstrations of the English and Chinese versions of GiGA Genie, with an aim to comm

More than 2 billion won ($1.7 million) of Cheong Wa Dae’s budget spent after former President Park Geun-hye’s suspension from duty is unaccounted for, a local cable channel reported Monday.According to the cable channel JTBC, the presidential office spent 3.5 billion won of its special activities budget between Dec. 9, when the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion, and March 12 when Park left the presidential office.Former President Park Geun-hye (Yonhap)Citing former Presidential Sec

Rep. Kim Young-choon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, nominated for minister of oceans and fisheries, is a three-term lawmaker known for his reformist stance.During the latest presidential election, Kim was in Moon’s camp as the chief architect of agricultural and maritime policies. Currently in the 20th National Assembly, he serves as the chairman of the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee.Rep. Kim Young-choon of the ruling Democratic Par

President Moon Jae-in’s pick for the first culture minister of his administration, Rep. Do Jong-hwan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, has had a diverse career. By training, Do is a Korean language teacher with a doctorate in Korean literature from Chungnam National University. Do, whose name has been linked to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for sometime, began his career as a teacher in the 1980s.Rep. Do Jong-hwan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (Yonhap)However, his

Chosen as nominee for minister of land, infrastructure and transport, Rep. Kim Hyun-mee of the Democratic Party of Korea is a three-time lawmaker who has devoted much of her legislative career to economic issues.The 55-year-old served as the chairwoman of the 20th National Assembly’s special committee on budget and accounts for a year from June last year. She was the first female lawmaker to head the powerful body that decides on the government budget. She also served on the 19th National Assemb

Tapped to lead the Ministry of Interior, Rep. Kim Boo-kyum of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is something of an icon of political reform. Kim’s political career has been marked by his efforts to break regionalism and to keep his distance from factionalism. Despite his ties to former President Roh Moon-hyun, he is only loosely associated with the pro-Roh faction.Rep. Kim Boo-kyum (Yonhap)In 2012, he was elected to the supreme council of the Democratic Party and made history in 2016 when he

A man plunged to his death from Seoul’s recently opened overpass-turned-park around midnight Monday, in an apparent suicide, police said Tuesday.　According to police, a 32-year-old man from Kazakhstan threw himself from Seoullo 7017, near Cheongpa-ro, west of Seoul Station. The elevated park, which opened May 20, has 1.4-meter high safety walls erected on both sides. 　 Safety walls are built on both sides of the Seoullo elevated park. (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)According to police, the park ha