Food companies are seeking to cooperate together within the industry to appeal to the younger generation who have become an important consumer demographic. Lotte Chilsung Beverage, the beverage unit of South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group, said Friday it would launch a makgeolli-flavored soft drink product in collaboration with Korean traditional liquor company Kooksoondang Brewery, starting Wednesday. Makgeolli cider, or “maksa” for short, is a cocktail of Korean rice wine calle

South Korea’s manufacturing and retail conglomerates released a combined 115 trillion won ($90 billion) investment plan on Thursday to achieve low-carbon digital transformation and create new jobs, joining a relay of announcements heralding a business-friendly new administration. Steelmaking giant Posco Group said it would invest 53 trillion won to pursue eco-friendly steelmaking by deploying electric furnaces. It said it would secure new technologies and raw materials that are crucial f

South Korean men shop at a convenience store more often than women, with men in their 20s visiting most often among all age groups of both men and women, at nine times a month on average, according to data released by Samsung Card on Thursday. In the first quarter this year, men using the firm’s card visited a convenience store 6.3 times a month on average, while women shopped there 3.9 times a month on average. How many users were surveyed were not known but as of September last year,

Big conglomerates‘ flurry of announcements seen as move to drive Yoon’s call for private-led economic growth

Hyundai Steel said Thursday that it has set up its new and unique steel production system using an electric furnace called Hy-Cube, with a goal to produce low-carbon, high-quality steel products toward 2030.  Hy-Cube refers to Hy3 or Hyundai Hydrogen Hybrid, a process of melting raw iron material to remove impurities when adding new components by using a new electric furnace concept called Hy-Arc.  With this new electric furnace, Hyundai Steel plans to minimize carbon emissions by u

Hanwha Solutions CEO Kim Dong-kwan attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as the only entrepreneur among President Yoon Suk-yeol’s delegation, the energy-to-material firm said Thursday. During the four-day forum which started Monday, Kim met with Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of S&P Global, and discussed the Russia-Ukraine war’s impact on the energy industry and geopolitical dynamics, according to Hanwha Solutions. Kim also helped arrange a meeting between fo

South Korean cablemaker LS Cable & System has been accelerating its cooperation with local small and medium-sized enterprises to foster shared prosperity. LS Cable & System said Thursday that it has launched a local area network cable testing device in collaboration with Kangwon Electronics, a local company specializing in hardware and software wholesale. The newly developed device allows for the fast and accurate inspection of LAN cables for short circuits and wiring errors. It was

The number of startups in South Korea dropped 3.4 percent in the first quarter of the year due largely to a one-off factor, government data showed Thursday. A total of 348,732 startup businesses were set up in the January-March period, compared with 360,846 a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups. The ministry attributed the decline mainly to a base effect as there had been a sharp increase in the number of newly set-up re

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday the government will support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with bold infrastructure investment that will enhance their competitiveness and innovation. Yoon also vowed to make efforts to create "fair" market environments for the co-existence of large firms and SMEs, during his speech at an SMEs event organized by the Korea Federation of SMEs at the presidential complex in Seoul. "The government will help SMEs with bold infrastructure

South Korean steelmaking giant Posco said Wednesday that its high manganese steel which withstands extremely low temperatures has received technical approval from global energy firm ExxonMobil for usage in LNG storage tanks. The two firms joined in a technical partnership in 2020 to expand the use of high manganese steel which Posco succeeded in mass-producing for the first time in the world. High manganese steel is a new type of material that Posco has developed in 2013, by adding 10 to 30 p

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said it will offer a special interest rate of up to 2 percent per annum to new customers opening a checking account by May 31. Launched in July last year, the SC My Signature account has been popular for its stable interest rate amid high market volatility. For those with over 100 million won ($79,140) in SC bank transactions, an interest rate of up to 1.7 percent will be applied to the amount in deposit for 31 or more days, the bank said. For those making their

South Korean recycled leather company ATKO Planning said Wednesday that it has been selected by German carmaker BMW as a potential business partner at a startup pitching event held at the Seoul Trade Exhibition Center on April 21. The annual event, BMW Startup Garage Open Innovation Pitching Day, is co-hosted by the automaker, the Korea Venture Investment Corp., and Korea’s trade promotion agency Kotra to select local enterprises that could work with BMW to accelerate the automaker&rsquo

T'way Air, a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Wednesday it has added three A330-300 planes to its fleet to open a new route and resume flights on international routes amid eased COVID-19 virus curbs. In February, T'way Air brought in its first A330-300 plane and has been operating it on the Gimpo-Jeju route since March 22. The second one arrived last month and the third has just been added. With the latest two A330-300s, T'way Air plans to open the Incheon-Singapore route and t

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI Co. said Wednesday it is investing $1.29 billion in an electric vehicle battery plant to be built in the US state of Indiana under a joint venture with Stellantis N.V. Samsung SDI will own a 51 percent stake in the $2.5 billion joint venture company set up with the Chrysler parent, and its investment could increase to as much as $1.57 billion in the long term, it said in a regulatory filing. Samsung SDI and Stellantis may boost their investment in the proje

  An employee of Woori Bank and his brother were indicted on Tuesday on charges of embezzling more than 60 billion won (US$47.4 million) from one of the nation's largest commercial banks.    The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office said it indicted the brothers for embezzlement and violating the law on flight of domestic property. The employee, identified only by his surname Jeon, was also charged with forgery of documents.    The employee was arrested on April