Korea on Friday proposed a sweeping overhaul of its nuclear industry to shore up its global competitiveness and restore public confidence in one of its biggest sources of electricity. The plan, sketched out by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, focuses on notching up safety of the country’s 23 reactors and rooting out recurrent breakdowns that stoked jitters in light of the Fukushima meltdown in 2011. The measures were also designed to facilitate the government’s ambition to boost atomic power t

Hanwha Group has launched a research institute on solar power in the U.S. to develop related technologies and boost its charge into the fledgling industry, the Korean corporation said Friday.Hanwha Solar America in Silicon Valley in California will carry out research programs on photovoltaic cells and other next-generation technologies, the group said. The conglomerate runs two similar institutes in Korea and China. “Our ongoing investment in solar energy depicts the group’s firm belief and conf

A Korean Air passenger jet heading to Seoul made an emergency landing at a Canadian Air Force base after receiving a bomb threat, the country’s flag carrier said Wednesday. Its Boeing 777-200 was diverted at around 7:40 a.m. Korean time when the airline’s U.S. call center received the threat by phone 25 minutes after it departed from Vancouver, a company spokesperson said from Seoul. A Korean Air spokesperson in Los Angeles said the caller warned that an explosive was aboard the airliner. All th

Public discontent escalates as sky-high crude prices eclipse markdown effectsThe government is stepping up its push for discount gas stations to help lighten household utility bills despite continuing skepticism over its efficacy and state intervention in petrol prices. State-backed self-serves are a showpiece of the government’s battle against skyrocketing oil costs and a supply oligopoly by major refiners. It aims to set up some 1,300 outlets by 2015, of which about 430 are in operation now. W

There is no stopping the Korean cosmetics market. The value of the cosmetics market grew to 8.9 trillion won ($7.9 billion) in 2011 from 5.6 trillion won in 2006, an annual average increase of 10.4 percent. Even when the economy came to a near-standstill with GDP growing 0.3 percent in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis, the domestic cosmetics market grew 11.8 percent, proving itself to be recession-resistant.The rapid growth derives from new dynamics in the cosmetics industry. Risi

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering’s new chief executive Ko Jae-ho has been named to head the Korean Shipbuilders’ Association, the trade body said Monday.Ko, 57, will take over the remaining term of Nam Sang-tae, the association’s former chairman who resigned after his two terms ended at DSME, until March 18, 2013. Ko took office at the world’s second-largest shipbuilder last week.The organization’s presidency rotates through its nine members, also including Hyundai Heavy Industries, STX

Korean Air said Monday it expects to earn 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in sales of wingtips and cargo doors by 2021 as the country’s flag carrier boosts its aircraft parts business to diversify its revenue structure. The country’s largest airline said it delivered on Sunday the first set of its fuel-saving wingtip components, codenamed “Sharklets,” for Airbus S.A.S.’ A320 jets. The L-shaped parts, which will replace the current wingtip fence, will help enhance the aircraft’s payload range and

GS Group chairman Huh Chang-soo on Friday stressed smart grids as key to the future growth and climate efforts of Korea’s fifth-largest industrial group.Huh called on company officials to develop new technologies and boost commercialization capabilities for the conglomerate’s signature energy business during his tour to smart grid test-bed facilities on Jeju Island.The nascent technology enables transferring electricity loads to off-peak hours via a two-way, real-time communication between power

Hyundai Heavy Industries is venturing into the lithium-ion battery market for electric cars, hoping to bask in the soaring demand for long-range, environmentally friendly next-generation vehicles.The world’s largest shipyard said it clinched an agreement Monday with Canadian auto parts maker Magna E-Car Systems to launch a $200 million joint venture. The Korean company would take a 40 percent stake and the Ontario-based firm the remainder. Magna E-Car is another partnership between Magna Interna