Pernod Ricard Korea, the local unit of the global beverages group, launched a campaign against drunk driving Monday in Seoul as part of the France-based company’s worldwide initiatives.The maker of Absolut Vodka and Ballantine’s whisky has been laying out its “smart driving” campaign here since 2007, aiming at reducing alcohol-related car accidents and promoting a sound drinking culture. This year

OB, Lotte Liquor make big gains on larger market rivals Hite, JinroNo. 2 brands of beer, soju and whisky are hot on the trail of front-runners in the Korean drinks market, industry data showed Tuesday. In the beer market, Oriental Brewery, the country’s No. 2 beer maker since 1994, made big strides in the first quarter of the year beefing up its stake to 46.6 percent by shipment volume, according

Korean firms’ aggressive drive to explore overseas resources is shoring up their revenue and helping them secure a stable supply while boosting public demand for commodity investment products. Natural resources such as oil, gas and rare metals have been deemed a promising revenue source by companies including POSCO, STX and Hyundai Heavy Industries amid energy price surges. The developers are sett

The Korea Overseas Investment Fair 2011 kicked off Thursday in Seoul to provide Korean companies with comprehensive information on foreign investment, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, its organizer. In the two-day event at COEX in southern Seoul, officials from 29 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America had one-on-one meetings and discussed bus

Korea Electric Power Corp., the state-run energy company, said Wednesday that it has won a $46 million order from the Dominican Republic to install power transmission lines in the Caribbean island nation.KEPCO said it signed the deal with the Dominican government on Tuesday in Santo Domingo, the country’s capital, to replace 400 kilometers of old power cables in three major cities there by May 201

GS Group chairman Huh Chang-soo emphasized the value of challenge, innovation and practice at a forum with executives of the conglomerate’s affiliates Wednesday. The Value Creation Forum was created last year to “uplift and settle the significance of innovation and change” in the corporate culture by sharing successful cases of innovation management among affiliates, GS said. About 400 officials f

Korea granted permanent residency to seven European entrepreneurs on Tuesday, acknowledging their contribution to the country’s economic growth. The recipients have lived here for two to 13 years largely working for European investment firms and were recommended by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea. The list includes Friedrich Stockinger, president of Trumpf Korea; Holger R. Doerre,

The Macallan premium single malt whisky from Speyside, Scotland, is returning to Korea with a new special edition, aiming to generate chemistry between whisky and the legendary photographer Albert Watson.For the biennial “Master of Photography” project, the Scottish distillery selects an artist to portray the craft of whisky-making through photography.  Photographer Albert WatsonFollowing the firs

Lotte Shopping, Korea’s leading retail group, said Monday that it has been ranked the sixth-largest retailer worldwide by Forbes Magazine, joining the ranks of global top sellers.The Korean company runs chains of Lotte Department Store, Lotte Mart and Lotte Super. Tied with Chile’s Falabella, it ranked higher than U.S. giants such as Sears and Nordstrom and Japan’s Isetan Mitsukoshi.Forbes has bee

Korea’s first 3-D animation movie “Bolts & Blip” will be released on DVD in Canada later this year, its producer Redrover said.The company signed a copyright deal with Canadian home entertainment group Nelvana last week at MIPTV 2011, the world’s largest entertainment content market in Cannes, France. Set on the moon in 2080, the comedy follows the adventures of two misfit robots, Bolts and Blip.I

The protracted nuclear crisis in Japan and sky-high oil prices are lending fresh impetus to the solar power industry.Shares of solar energy firms have soared recently amid rising safety concerns about atomic energy. Analysts are increasingly optimistic of the prospect of Korean companies increasing investment in the sector to catch up with global rivals.Solar power came into prominence with global

The government, telecom operators, handset makers and credit card companies are teaming up to expedite the development of a new mobile payment technology. The Korea Communications Commission announced Tuesday the launch of a coalition to foster near-field communication technology, which allows shoppers to apply their mobile devices to an electronic reader at the check-out to pay for goods and serv

Kyobo Life Insurance Co., Korea’s third-largest life insurer, is seeking to broaden its client base in the retirement pension market by providing custom-tailored products for multinational firms operating here.The company ranks second in the corporate pension segment, with 1.43 trillion won ($1.28 billion) in assets under management as of February. About 2,800 companies adopted Kyobo’s pension pla

Seniors to make up 38% of populationResearch forecast Monday that Korea will become the world’s most aged society by 2050, raising an urgent need to prepare a safety net for the elderly and cope with a shrinking labor force.People aged 65 or older are predicted to make up 38.2 percent of Korea’s total population in 2050, according to the report by the Korea Institute of Finance, more than tripled

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.’s transportable power-generating equipment to be delivered to Japan is loaded onto a ship at a port in Ulsan on Saturday. (Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.)Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s top shipbuilder, said Sunday that it sent four power generators to Japan over the weekend in support of the disaster-stricken country’s efforts to ensure a stable electricity su

Government, companies to establish grain trading firm, boost overseas farmingAlarmed over a surge in global food inflation, Korea is ratcheting up its efforts to safeguard against price volatility and secure a stable supply. The government and companies are joining hands to expand the country’s overseas farming bases, establish a direct import channel and modernize agricultural production and dist

South Korea formally signed a free trade agreement with Peru on Monday which would broaden its access to the Latin American country’s vast natural resources and fast-growing consumer market. The pact was inked by the two countries’ trade ministers, Kim Jong-hoon and Eduardo Ferreyros, in Seoul two years after they launched negotiations in March 2009. A preliminary deal was made last November. It i

Plant in Guangdong to make steel sheets for cars in 2012POSCO, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, said it begun work Monday on a new plant in China to produce galvanized steel sheets for cars. The plant will be built on a 270,000 square-meter area in Guangdong, southern China in a joint project with the firm’s subsidiary Guangdong Shunde Steel Co. and the Guangdong Province government, the com

Finance ministers from the Group of 20 member nations will hold a meeting in Washington, D.C. next month to discuss the economic impacts of the Japanese crisis and measures to curb volatility in global financial and commodity markets, government officials said Sunday. The meeting, slated for April 14-15, is mainly aimed at gauging the aftereffects on the energy sector amid the nuclear crisis follo

Honda Motor Co., the Japanese carmaker that builds most of the autos it sells in the U.S. at North American plants, is temporarily halting orders from U.S. dealers of Japan-built models after a suspension of production there following last week’s earthquake.Honda informed U.S. Honda and Acura dealers, who typically order vehicles six weeks in advance, of the suspension yesterday in a memo, said Ch