Global accounting firm Ernst & Young’s Korean member firm Ernst & Young Han Young (EY Korea) on Wednesday handed its top master entrepreneur award to local apparel manufacturer Global Sae-A Chairman Kim Woong-ki, the firm said Thursday. Kim was recognized at the 15th EY Entrepreneur of The Year Award ceremony held at Seoul Shilla Hotel. Ernst & Young’s annual award – currently stretching across 60 countries and 145 cities worldwide -- recognizes busines

The state-owned Korea Minting, Security Printing and ID Card Operating Corporation said Wednesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kyrgyzstan‘s Ministry of Digital Development to digitize government-issued documents, including identification cards and certificates of tax payment. In 2017, KOMSCO supplied Kyrgyzstan with IC chip-containing resident cards as part of its official development assistance efforts. The recent MOU aims to adapt these physical documents into mobile

Share prices of Korean ramen companies like Nongshim, Samyang Foods, and Ottogi are on the rise, as exports of Korean instant noodles hit new highs last month. Notably, foreign and institutional investors are demonstrating strong interest, according to analysts. Nongshim shares closed at 306,000 won ($252) apiece on Monday, up 2.68 percent from the previous session. The figure indicates a 9.42 percent rise in only half a month since its price stood at 281,000 won on Mar. 15. Institutional inv

South Korean convenience store GS25 said Monday it will launch its own series of sodas -- Batman Cola and Superman Cider -- in collaboration with entertainment giant Warner Bros. Both products will be priced at 1,700 won. “Our customer analysis shows that today’s younger generation no longer blindly goes for nationally recognized brand names but attaches greater value to product content,” the company noted as the reason behind launching a private brand product. According to

Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the construction arm of Hyundai Motor Group, said on March 22 that it started sales of its new Hillstate apartment complex in Geomdan New Town, Incheon. The apartment complex comprises 13 buildings and a total 1,535 units that range in size from 74 to 125 square meters. Since the Hillstate complex was partially built as public housing, it is subject to a price cap that is expected to push down sales prices compared to average market prices. Notably, apart

Hyundai Mobis, the parts-making unit of Hyundai Motor Group, said Wednesday it aims to bolster its software prowess in preparation for the future of transportation where software will enrich driver and passenger experiences. As part of its efforts, the firm has launched a four-week training course called “Mobis SW Academy,” which focuses on automotive software engineering and embedded software technology crucial for developing automotive parts. Job seekers can join the program, a

BIZA-Metaworld is a blockchain-based metaverse platform where the virtual world is almost seamlessly interwoven with the physical world, bridging the gap between the two realms. The term metaverse brings together the Greek prefix “meta” meaning after or beyond, and “universe,” which refers to physical reality. This “universe beyond real life” invites users to do practically anything that is possible in the real world, from shopping to socializing, and even m

BIZA-CarnegieMall is the world’s first blockchain-based peer-to-peer (P2P) shopping mall, an application of blockchain technology to an e-commerce platform. According to AMAXG, any entrepreneur can run their own store on the platform, without additional charges on signing up to the shopping mall or registering products. Transactions will be conducted through the company’s own digital currency, BIZA, while BIZA wallets will be used as payment gateway -- the virtual equivalent of a

Kumho Tire said Tuesday it has won an AA grade in Morgan Stanley Capital International’s recent environmental, social and governance evaluation, being ranked among the top 12 percent of the automotive parts industry. The tire manufacturer has improved its ratings every year, from a BBB grade in 2019 to an A in 2021 and an AA this year. 　 MSCI ESG Ratings identifies ESG risks financially material to all sectors and measures each company’s resilience to such risks relative to indust

LS Cable & System, LS Group’s cable manufacturing unit, has been solidifying its leadership in the floating solar farm market by developing custom cables and landing large-scale supply contracts, according to the company on Sunday. Earlier this month, the cable maker inked an agreement to supply power cables to Goheung Bay floating solar power plant in South Jeolla Province. The deal covers the full package of cables needed to build a photovoltaic power farm and connect the plant to s

SK ecoplant, the construction arm under SK Group, will kick off a $2.2 billion road construction project in Norway this year, becoming the first South Korean builder to enter the Nordic market. The company said Thursday it has recently signed a financial close and a concession agreement with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration for building the Rv555 Sotra Connection, a four-lane road that connects Bergen and Oygarden. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) deal marks the largest single con

BMW will soon kick off sales of its latest electric vehicle model i4 in South Korea, according to the carmaker‘s Seoul branch on Tuesday. Already raking in some 3,700 pre-orders, the i4 saloon is set to boast a strong presence in the Korean EV market. The i4 model, revealed in March 2021, is BMW‘s first four-door all-electric Gran Coupe. It brings together the sporting elegance that characterizes BMW coupes and the comfort and functionality of a four-door model.　 Specifically, the

South Korea‘s top instant noodle maker Nongshim announced Monday the launch of Shinbok-ghetti Big Bowl, a cup noodle that combines two of its top-selling ramyun, Shin Ramyun Fried Noodles, Nongshim’s spicy flagship noodle but without broth, and Jjapaghetti, instant black bean ramyun. “Having monitored social media mentions from last October through this February, we learned that Jjapaghetti was the word most frequently paired with Shin Ramyun Fried Noodles. So we officially b

Coupang Eats, the food delivery service launched by South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, is getting into delivering drinks.  The company said on its webpage earlier this week that it will start allowing restaurants signed up on the platform to sell alcohol, in an effort to help them increase sales. The new service will be rolled out within the first half of this year.  Coupang Eats had kept alcohol off the platform since its debut in May 2019. The move was in contrast to its top tw

A report released by Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation on Monday found that only 13 out of the 5,510 respondents, which represents a mere 0.2 percent, chose not to eat meat, specifically beef, pork, poultry, and fish. The questionnaire covered seven different types of vegetarian diet, from the most restrictive form, veganism, to more lenient ones along the scale. Out of the 5,510 respondents, 418 followed some kind of meat restrictive diet. These include some less restrictive p

South Korea’s construction giant Booyoung Group said Monday it will donate 500 million won ($403,000) to victims of the recent wildfires that ravaged the east coast, as well as 300 flats to shelter those who lost homes to the fire. The donation fund will be delivered through the Korea Disaster Relief Association, a non-profit organization that serves victims of domestic natural disasters. As for the flats, Booyoung plans to secure 300 housing units from its own apartment complexes in th

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens key supplies of energy and food, salmon has proven to be no exception. A ban from flying over Russian airspace is forcing Norway-farmed salmon to take a major detour to reach Asia, driving up freight costs, and ultimately retail prices. In one supermarket, 100-gram salmon filet prices increased by 15.5 percent, from 3,880 won to 4,480 won. The same day another supermarket lifted prices of its Norway-farmed fresh salmon by 26.4 percent. A 100-gram

Daewoo Engineering & Construction said Tuesday that it has earned its first revenue from sales of emissions credits through its hydropower plant project in Pakistan. The Patrind Hydropower Plant, located near the village of Patrind in Kashmir, Pakistan, was completed in 2017 in a joint venture project between Daewoo E&C and the state-run Korea Water Resource Corp. The power plant now generates 630 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year. The plant, registered to the UN as a Clean Develo

The Korea Digital Asset Industry Committee highlighted the need to create a government organization committed to fostering blockchain businesses. On Thursday, stakeholders in the blockchain industry and academia gathered to debate on how to better capitalize on the emerging opportunities of digital assets. The panel stressed the importance of fostering digital economy -- as in, cashing in on digital technologies -- in order for Korea to grow into the fifth-largest economy. “In the era o

Pokemon Bread, an iconic pastry series with kids of the 1990s, has been flying off the shelves since its return last week. Manufacturer SPC Samlip said Thursday, it had sold 1.5 million of the rolls over the previous week, six times more than the first week sales of the company’s average for a new product. The key to success lies in tapping into millennials’ nostalgic tendencies. Released in 1999, Pokemon Bread took the youth of the time by storm. The roll wasn’t the main