South Korean game developer Netmarble Corp. said Monday it plans to acquire Hong-Kong based social casino game company SpinX Games in a deal estimated at $2.1 billion.    Under the plan, the South Korean company will purchase a 100 percent stake in Cayman Island-based Leonardo Interactive Holdings Ltd., which fully owns the social casino game developer.    SpinX Games, established in 2014, operates various types of mobile casino content, including

‘Double drop in business births and deaths undermine Korea’s potential growth’

South Korea’s top tobacco maker KT&G is expanding its social outreach to Indonesia, offering vocational training and programs on Korean culture and language in the Southeast Asian country. The company said Monday that it’s accepting applications to join the second round of job training at KT&G’s vocational training center at the Universitas Kristen Cipta Wacana in Malang city. Since opening its first session in March, the center offers a three-month professional se

Korea Aerospace Industries said Monday it had won a $78 million deal from Thailand to supply two T-50TH advanced trainer jets and provide support for their operation. The contract period is until Jan. 30, 2023. The deal, which follows a 274.4 billion-won ($237.8 million) deal KAI signed with Indonesia last month to supply six T-50i jets, raises the total T-50 series exports so far to 72 units -- 14 to Thailand, 22 to Indonesia, 12 to the Philippines and 24 to Iraq. T-50TH are advanced trai

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will expand overseas sales of its wind-free air conditioner after the product posted robust sales in the first half of the year amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. The tech giant said its wind-free air conditioner sales outside South Korea jumped 75 percent in the first six months of 2021 from a year earlier. Samsung's wind-free air conditioner boasts a cooling technology that disperses cool air through a maximum of 270,000 micro air holes to en

Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI), South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, said Monday it has received a $78 million deal to supply trainer jets to Thailand. Under the deal, KAI will supply two T-50TH advanced trainer jets to the Thailand air force by November 2023, the company said in a regulatory filing. KAI has achieved $400 million worth of deals to supply 16 T-50 trainer jets to date. KAI has exported 156 trainer jets worth US$3.1 billion -- 72 T-50 advanced trainer jets worth $2.6

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's fifth-largest vendor of Chromebooks in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Monday, as the South Korean tech giant aims to expand its presence in the portable PC market amid the pandemic. Samsung had a market share of 7 percent in the April-June period after shipping 900,000 Chromebooks that refer to laptops or tablets running on Google's Chrome operating system (OS), according to a report from market researcher International Data Corp. (IDC).

South Korea marked its first trade surplus in medicines in 2020, backed by gains in drug exports, the government said Sunday. According to data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the country posted a surplus of 1.39 trillion won ($1.21 billion) in pharmaceutical trade in 2020, which grew 62.5 percent from the year earlier. The export of drugs jumped 92.3 percent to 7.93 trillion won, taking up 79.6 percent of all outbound shipments, the ministry explained. It was the first time th

LG Energy Solution on Sunday announced its new environmental, social and governance vision, pledging to source electricity generated 100 percent by renewables at all its business sites by 2030 and go carbon neutral by 2050. According to the world’s leading electric vehicle battery manufacturer, it will gradually reduce carbon emissions from its 2019 level of 960,000m metric tons to zero by 2050. Also, the company aims to accomplish RE100 by 2030, which is 20 years ahead of the global

South Korea’s exports in July surged 29.6 percent to $55.4 billion on-year, a record monthly figure since the nation began compiling the data in 1956, according to the Trade Ministry Sunday. In the first seven months of this year, Korea’s accumulated exports were worth $358.7 billion, setting another record. Also, this is the first time in 10 years that the country saw double digit growths for four consecutive months in 10 years -- 41.2 percent in April, 45.6 percent in May, 39.8

How battery firms tap X-rays and CT scanners to flag defective battery cells

The race to acquire the troubled SsangYong Motor is heating up beyond expectations, with nine groups reportedly having expressed interest. According to local reports, a total of nine have submitted letters of intent to buy a controlling stake in the automaker, which is currently under court receivership, before the Friday deadline.  They include Cardinal One Motors, set up by US-based auto importer and distributor HAAH Automotive Holdings, a consortium led by Korean electric bus maker E

Samsung Electronics Co. retained the top spot in the global smartphone market in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Friday, although its market share declined from the previous quarter due to fewer shipments. The South Korean giant had a market share of 18 percent in the April-June period, after shipping 58 million Galaxy smartphones, up 7 percent from a year ago, according to a report from market researcher Counterpoint Research. But compared with the first quarter, its market s

Samsung Electronics Co. stayed on as the world's second-largest tablet computer vendor in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Friday, as it strives to catch up with industry leader Apple Inc. The South Korean giant logged a market share of 18 percent in the April-June period, after shipping 8.2 million Galaxy Tab tablets, up 19 percent from a year ago, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. "The Android tablet market is undergoing big changes as vendors retool th

LG Chem said Thursday it has acquired separator business from LG Electronics for 525 billion won ($458.5 million) to target the fast-growing global electric vehicle battery materials market. According to South Korea’s leading chemical firm, the company took over chemical electronic material business under LG Electronics’ business solutions division. The acquisition includes all tangible and intangible assets of the business including its production facilities and personnel. The