Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. said it has been stepping up its efforts to boost safety and energy security as the operator of the country’s 23 nuclear power plants. The state-run utility hosted the two-day Nuclear Industry Summit in Seoul on Friday, setting the stage for leaders from across the globe to share their experience and knowledge in enhancing the safety of atomic power ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit on March 26-27. After being spun off from Korea Electric Power Corp. in 2001, t

Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s biggest car-parts supplier, is in discussions with joint venture partner Samsung SDI Co. about producing more electric car batteries independently of each other.Bosch has been discussing greater autonomy from its partner in the SB Limotive joint venture for at least a month as it seeks to react more quickly to customers’ demands, Udo Ruegheimer, a spokesman for the Stuttgart, Germany-based company said by telephone.“All customer contracts are decided jointly, so it

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., a Korean shipbuilder, on Monday set a milestone in vessel construction with the delivery of its 600th product in just 14 years.The affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipyard, said it handed over a container vessel with a capacity of 1,000 twenty-foot equivalent units to CK Line Co., a Seoul-based shipping line. The accomplishment came only 14 years after Hyundai Mipo tapped the market in 1997 with a focus on mid-size product carriers, the c

The Fair Trade Commission has launched an investigation into the country’s seven top-rated hotels in Seoul on suspicion of colluding to rig the prices of their wedding packages and rooms, according to industry sources and reports Thursday.The seven hotels are Lotte Hotel Seoul, Lotte Hotel World, The Shilla Seoul, The Westin Chosun Seoul, Sheraton Grande Walkerhill, W Seoul-Walkerhill and The Plaza Hotel Seoul.“FTC investigators requested yesterday documents related to our wedding business,” an

Hanwha Group said Wednesday it has appointed new chief executives of its five affiliates as part of its sweeping reshuffle aimed at reinforcing its charge into sunrise industries. The Korean conglomerate said it also promoted 102 employees to executive positions, up from 90 last year.The new commanders-in-chief are Shim Kyung-seop at the group’s industrial powder unit, Park Se-hoon at Hanwha Galleria, Han Woo-je at Hanwha Venture Capital, Lee Yul-guk at Hanwha 63 City and Kwon Hyuk-woong at Yeos

British American Tobacco Korea plans to lower the prices of its Vogue cigarettes less than a year after a controversial markup that triggered a plunge in sales and a customer migration to rivals.The local unit of the multinational tobacco giant said Wednesday it would bring the prices of Vogue back to 2,500 won ($2.20) per pack, down from 2,700 won, starting Monday.The pullback is aimed at better competing with other ultraslim cigarettes, the company said, chiefly KT&G Corp.’s Esse, which has lo

Retail prices of gasoline in Korea hit a fresh monthly record in February on the back of escalated tensions surrounding Iran and upbeat economic figures from the U.S. and China, data showed Tuesday.According to the state-run Korean National Oil Corp., the average price of regular gasoline was 1,986.54 won ($1.77) per liter last month, up 5.52 won from the previous high logged in November. That is also 31.46 won higher than in January. Oil prices have been skyrocketing over the last year as persi