Hyundai Mobis has begun mass-producing electric powertrain systems at a new plant in Slovakia, its first such facility in Europe, as it strengthens its foothold in the region’s electric vehicle market. The company invested about 250 billion won ($184 million) in the Novaky plant, which can produce 280,000 power electric, or PE, systems annually. A PE system combines an electric motor, inverter and reducer into a single powertrain unit. Hyundai Mobis held an opening ceremony Wednesday attended by

“The Indiana fab will become a gateway to deliver the first ‘Made in USA’ HBM products,” SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung said at the groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 26. Those products, however, will begin in South Korea. SK hynix will make the DRAM wafers at its Korean fabs, ship them across the Pacific and then stack, package and test them in West Lafayette, Indiana. The $4 billion-plus facility, the company's first HBM production base in the US, is due to begin mass production in the second half of

Eurasian otters are making a comeback in Seoul’s Han River, decades after the endangered species disappeared from the capital’s stretch of the waterway. A new DNA survey identified 27 otters along the river and its tributaries, up from 15 in a city-commissioned survey four years ago, a state-run institute said Thursday. The National Institute of Biological Resources identified the animals by analyzing DNA from 106 fecal samples collected at 27 locations between January and April. Twenty-one otte

Italian and Korean contemporary art converged in Seoul on Tuesday as the Italian Embassy hosted “Italy at Frieze,” an event alongside Frieze Seoul. Organized with the Italian Cultural Institute in Seoul, the event was held at the Italian ambassador’s residence in Hannam-dong. At the event, Italian Ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto highlighted contemporary art as a means of strengthening cultural dialogue between Italy and Korea. “Italy’s strength lies not only in its extraordinary historical heri

Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won said Thursday he had no intention of directing prosecutors to withdraw the indictments against President Lee Jae Myung, responding to opposition concerns over his previous support for dropping the cases. “The justice minister does not have direct authority over the matter, and I have no intention of issuing directions through the prosecutor general,” Kim told reporters as he arrived at a temporary office set up to prepare for his confirmation hearing. The m

Twenty-five plastic surgery and dermatology clinics in Seoul violated medical-waste rules, including two cases in which human fat and blood from cosmetic procedures were dumped into sinks and toilets, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday. The city’s special judicial police investigated 120 sites — 112 medical clinics and eight waste collection and transport companies — from January 2025 through July this year. Investigators uncovered 36 violations at 25 clinics. In the two cases of il

Porsche Korea CEO Mathias Busse will take charge of the German sports carmaker’s expanded Overseas region, covering key growth markets across Asia and the Middle East, while retaining his current role in Korea. Busse will become Porsche AG’s regional lead for Overseas on Oct. 1, Porsche Korea said Thursday. The appointment is part of a global sales overhaul that will reduce Porsche’s regional structure from five divisions to four. Germany will be folded into Europe, while North, Central and Sout

The Korean government unveiled a sweeping public-sector overhaul Thursday that aims to merge major state-run power, port and energy companies while splitting housing giant Korea Land and Housing Corp., or LH, into two. The Public Institution Functional Reform Plan seeks to reduce the number of public entities by 109 through strategic restructuring, consolidation of overlapping functions and absorption of subsidiaries and small agencies. The five state-run power generators — Korea South-East Powe

OCI Holdings’ US subsidiary OCI Energy has broken ground on a 260-megawatt solar farm in Texas, expanding its US power business as artificial intelligence data centers fuel electricity demand. Construction of the SunRoper project began Tuesday in Wharton County. OCI Holdings Chair Lee Woo-hyun attended the groundbreaking ceremony alongside OCI Energy President Sabah Bayatli and Arava Power CEO Ilan Zidkony. OCI Energy and the Israeli energy developer each hold a 50 percent stake in the venture.

A bimanual humanoid robot places cushioning paper into a shipping box at CJ Logistics’ Olive Young fulfillment center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. CJ Logistics has deployed two such robots in its first humanoid-powered logistics operation and plans to expand their roles to picking, sorting, inspection and packaging as it develops all-purpose logistics robots using physical artificial intelligence. (CJ Logistics)

Indoor golf simulator company Golfzon has completed the Korean round of the global screen golf tournament, with 20 Korean golfers advancing to the December final. The 2026 Golfzon China Open brings together professional and amateur golfers from Asia, America and Europe. About 20,000 golfers entered the domestic qualifiers, held from March 10 to May 31. The field included 4,461 professionals and 15,523 amateurs, surpassing 40,000 rounds played. About 200 golfers who met the qualification requirem

Dongkuk Steel Group has wrapped up a seven-day architectural study tour in the UK for seven students chosen as the first cohort of its 2026 Songwon Future Architecture Talent Fellowship. The participants, known as “Luxteeliers” — a combination of Dongkuk’s Luxteel brand and “sommeliers” — toured the UK from Aug. 4-10. They were selected in May through document screening, interviews and an orientation program. The itinerary examined London’s architecture through five themes, spanning historic lan

The South African Embassy in Seoul marked Nelson Mandela International Day on Monday with a call for community service, honoring the late president’s legacy of social justice and public service. The event, held in collaboration with the Kim Dae-jung Presidential Library and Museum, included participants from Eden I Ville, a children’s home in Seoul. Nelson Mandela International Day is observed annually on July 18, Mandela’s birthday. The UN General Assembly established the observance in 2009 in

Defense minister nominee Kang Shin-chul said Thursday that South Korea should pursue the transfer of wartime operational control in a way that strengthens the South Korea-US alliance. Kang made the remarks as he arrived at the Defense Convention in Yongsan, central Seoul, for his first day of preparations ahead of his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly. The hearing is expected to take place on Sept. 16. "The OPCON transition is possible because the South Korea-US alliance exists," Kan

Entertainment platform MuseM is expanding its artist intellectual property business by taking charge of global licensing for an immersive exhibition built around Enhypen’s music and creative universe. “House of Vampire — Dive into Enhypen Chronicle” opened Aug. 13 at Ara Art Center in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, following an earlier run in Tokyo. The exhibition combines music, visual content, spatial design and interactive elements around the vampire narrative that has played a recurring role in E