The defense chiefs of South Korea and China discussed security situations on the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday and vowed to continue exchanges and cooperation, Seoul's defense ministry said. During the telephone talks, South Korea's Defense Minister Suh Wook explained recent security circumstances to his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, and asked for Beijing to play a "constructive role" for peace and stability on the peninsula. Wei stressed the need to make joint efforts toward th

President Moon Jae-in continued his phone diplomacy Wednesday to help South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee win the ongoing competition to become the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Moon had back-to-back phone talks with the prime ministers of Denmark and India -- Mette Frederiksen and Narendra Modi -- and requested support for Yoo's bid, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Moon said that Yoo is a candidate with expertise on trade affairs and political leadersh

LG Chem enjoyed the greatest quarterly revenue and operating profit in its history in the July-September period ahead of its controversial battery business split-off, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday. The South Korean refinery-to-battery firm recorded 7.5 trillion won in revenue ($6.6 billion) in the third quarter, a 8.8 percent increase on-year, while its operating profit jumped 158 percent to 902.1 billion won in the same period. The revenue and operating profit figures would b

Samsung, SK’s strides bring LG’s old life sciences biz back in focus

Samsung Biologics marked an operating profit in the first three quarters of 2020 of more than double its entire yearly performance of 2019, proving it has been undamaged and even buoyed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has largely slashed earnings across various industries. During the three months of July through September, Samsung biologics made revenue of 274.6 billion won ($242.4 million) and an operating profit of 56.5 billion won, according to the accumulated third quarter report on Wednesd

South Korea’s biggest battery expo, “Inter Battery,” opened Wednesday, the first and the largest expo to be held in Coex, Seoul, since Oct. 12, when the social distancing measures were lowered to Level 1. At the expo, which will be held until Friday, 198 companies are participating, including LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation, to tout their battery technologies. To enter the expo, visitors had to scan their QR codes and wear masks and disposable gloves. As Korea&rsquo

After the success of K-pop, K-drama and even K-movies internationally, the letter “K” is now often placed in front of Korean products that make Koreans proud. “K-quarantine” was a word used in multiple headlines this year to recognize the relative success of Korea in containing the COVID-19. However, there is one K- word that became widespread online this year that does the opposite: “K-censorship” is a derogatory term used to criticize excessive censorship

K-pop quartet BLACKPINK performed and shared its stories on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," becoming the first K-pop girl group to appear on the US late-night show. The band, which Kimmel introduced as "the most popular all-female group in the vast realm of music known as K-pop" joined the show through video chat on Tuesday (US time). BLACKPINK's four members -- Jisoo, Jennie, Rose and Lisa -- talked about their successful gig at the Coachella music festival last year and behind-the-s

LG Display signed a three-year strategic partnership with Walt Disney Studios’ StudioLAB to provide it with organic light-emitting diode TV panels, the company said Wednesday. The deal will add transparent, ultrahigh-definition display panels developed and manufactured by LG Display for StudioLAB. StudioLAB is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios that researches cutting-edge filmmaking technologies. Walt Disney Studios comprises of Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation

Harman International Korea said Wednesday its Lexicon Premium Sound System is being offered as an option for the Genesis sports sedan, the New G70, which was recently rolled out. According to the car audio supplier, the Lexicon Premium Sound System adds six more speakers to the originally installed nine to offer the best audio sound quality, with a high power output Class D Amplifier and under seat subwoofer. The 15 speakers balance the different ranges of sound, and the subwoofer installed

Vietnam’s leader has asked Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of South Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung Electronics, to make an investment in building a semiconductor plant in the country, according to news reports by Vietnamese media on Wednesday. During a meeting held in Hanoi on Tuesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressed his hope that Samsung makes an investment in Vietnam by building a chip manufacturing plant there. While visiting Seoul in November 2019

Self-employed, young job-seekers take hardest blow from epidemic fallout

  The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that it would inject an additional 40 billion won ($35.2 million) into South Korea’s tourism industry in the form of loans in the next two months. “As of the end of September, tourism industry sales had dropped by 9 trillion won compared to last year,” Choi Yoon-hee, second vice minister of culture, sports and tourism, said during a press conference Wednesday. In its 2020 budget, she explained, the ministr

The 25th Busan International Film Festival kicked off Wednesday for a 10-day run in a year that has seen many film festivals around the world canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this year’s BIFF is a much scaled down version with all large crowd-attracting events such as the opening and closing ceremonies, outdoor greetings and open talk sessions canceled. “Many leading overseas film festivals were canceled due to COVID-19, but we decided to hold it, as we have trust i

Unification Minister Lee In-young vowed Wednesday to push ahead with inter-Korean cooperation projects to reconnect railways and allow for travel to North Korea, saying that it is the way that the two Koreas should go no matter what. Lee made the remark during a speech at a forum of the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), stressing the need to seek practical inter-Korean cooperation amid several challenges. "We are faced with the task of moving the US-North Korea nuclear talk