The United Nations Security Council on Friday granted a sanctions waiver to the shipment of equipment to North Korea for video reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, diplomatic sources said.The UN sanctions committee on North Korea approved South Korea's request to permit relevant equipment to be sent to the North for the Koreas' video reunions of divided families on humanitarian grounds.Women walk through the streets of downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, March 7, 201

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK's "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" surpassed 700 million YouTube views Saturday, becoming the first Korean music group to set such a milestone.The video for "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" set the milestone in nearly nine months after being released last June, YG Entertainment said. (Yonhap)The music video also set a record among K-pop groups of adding 100 million views at the fastest pace after hitting 200 million views.BLACKPINK holds the most music videos topping 500 million YouTube views for a K-p

South Korea's trade surplus with the United States fell sharply to below the $20 billion mark last year for the first time in six years, U.S. data showed Saturday.The world's largest economy posted a deficit of $17.9 billion in trade with South Korea in 2018, down from a deficit of $23.1 billion a year earlier, according to the data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is the first time that the numbers have fallen this low since 2012, when the U.S. reported a $16.6 billion trade deficit with

With sales of vehicles in China plummeting sharply since 2017, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor said Thursday that it was considering suspending operations at its manufacturing plant in Beijing.Plans to suspend Hyundai Plant No. 1 are under review because the production rate has plunged to 50 percent. The carmaker’s Beijing office has already relocated or slashed 2,000 workers as part of a restructuring process.  (Yonhap)But the suspension of the plant would not mean a shutdown, it said. Hy

South Korean steel giant Posco said Thursday it has decided not to pursue the acquisition of a local electric vehicle parts maker, saying that it does not fit into its battery business.The company was eyeing KCFT, formerly known as LS Mtron, which manufactures copper foils and flexible copper clad laminates for lithium-ion batteries. “For expanding our secondary battery business, we had reviewed (the feasibility) of acquiring the copper foil maker, but decided not to pursue the case anymore beca

LSIS, a South Korean energy solution provider, has completed the construction of a solar plant in Japan capable of producing 18 megawatts of electricity a year, the company said Wednesday.The 46 billion won project was built on 300,000 square meters of land in Ishikawa Prefecture of Honshu. LSIS won the project in 2017. Its office in Japan will also run operation and maintenance of the plant for next 20 years.The plant in Ishikawa is the third large-scale solar plant built by LSIS in Japan. (LSI

South Korean solar-panel manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells has filed patent infringement complaints against three companies over allegations that they used its technology and imported it to the US, officials in Seoul said Wednesday.The solar-panel making unit under Hanwha Group filed the complaints against Jinko Solar Holding Co., Longi Solar and REC Group with the US International Trade Commission on Tuesday. It also sued the same companies at the US District Court for the District of Delaware, and s

A full week after reports surfaced, SK Group confirmed Tuesday that its chief, Chey Tae-won, would step down as chair of the board of SK Holdings, the conglomerate’s holding company, to improve transparency in corporate governance.The company said in a statement that it was considering amendments to its articles that would forbid CEOs from concurrently serving as board chair. The board will also have more outside directors to make the organization more independent and transparent, it added. The

Major conglomerates in South Korea began recruiting staff this month, but they appear to have made noticeable changes in the way they hire new employees, according to industry watchers Tuesday.In a survey of 646 companies in Korea, 63.7 percent of large businesses in South Korea confirmed plans to hire new employees this month, according to Incruit, a local job seeking site.Affiliates of top conglomerates, such as Samsung, LG and SK, have also announced job openings and held a series of recruitm

South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor has joined a partnership with five global companies, including rival Toyota, to develop standardized parts needed for refueling hydrogen-powered commercial trucks, the company said Monday.The consortium also includes Air Liquide, Nel, Shell and Nikola, an US manufacturer of hydrogen trucks, it added. Fuel-cell bus by Hyundai MotorThe partnership is aimed at accelerating the use of commercial trucks powered by hydrogen and standardizing refueling technology f

TOKYO -- The cost of generating solar energy can be reduced further even without state subsidies via technological advances that increase the power-generating capacity of each cell module, a marketing expert with a global photovoltaic system giant said last week.The levelized cost of a solar energy system -- that is, the net cost of installing it divided by the amount of energy it can be expected to produce over its lifetime -- has fallen rapidly in recent years. According to data compiled by th

TOKYO -- Amid the power industry’s shift toward digitalization worldwide, LSIS, South Korea’s largest power system and solution provider, is eyeing more M&A opportunities in the software sector to take the lead in the emerging smart grid market, its chief said last week. “As a traditional power system provider, we face limitations in achieving organic growth particularly in the era of the ‘fourth industrial revolution,’” said Koo Ja-kyun, CEO and chairman of LSIS, in an interview on Wednesday. “

TOKYO -- From solid-state batteries ready for commercialization to an integrated system for residential production and consumption of photovoltaic energy, the latest technologies aimed at realizing a complete shift of human dependence from fossil to clean energy was highlighted at an annual exhibition that kicked off in the capital city of Japan on Wednesday. The Tokyo Smart Energy Week features eight separate exhibitions specializing in renewable energy such as photovoltaic, wind, and biomass f

The Federation of Korean Industries, once the nation’s largest business lobby group, is reportedly having a hard time finding its next chairman. The organization, representing the business community, is set to hold a general assembly Wednesday to pick its new leader, but according to industry sources there is no candidate for the post. The FKI has been led by GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo for the past eight years. An FKI chairman is typically appointed for a two-year term, but he or she can ch

Amid growing calls for sustainable and eco-friendly products, South Korean steel giant Posco has looked closely into ways of assessing the impact of steel manufacturing, maintenance and its end-of-life phase, the company said Sunday.From a general point of view, steel is far from eco-friendly. But when assessed in terms of life cycle, steel’s competitiveness and benefits to the environment are highlighted, the company said, citing a WorldSteel report. Life cycle of steel (Worldsteel)According to

The reported departure of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won from the boardroom of the conglomerate’s holding company drew heated interest from the market on Thursday, with many viewing it as an effort to improve transparency in corporate governance. Some aggressive analysts also interpret the move as a prelude to more governance restructuring to raise SK Holdings’ stock value. According to local reports, Chey plans to leave the boardroom of SK Holdings and will have CEOs of other affiliates to do t

South Korea’s telecom-to-chip giant SK Group is close to taking the second spot from Hyundai Motor Group in the list of conglomerates by size of assets, a local corporate tracker suggested Wednesday, citing its large-scale investments. According to CEO Score, Samsung held 418.2 trillion won ($3.67 billion) in assets as of September last year, higher than the Korean government’s 2017 budget of 400.7 trillion won. It was the first time that the tech giant saw its assets surpass the 400 trillion wo

British luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce opened a boutique showroom in Seoul on Wednesday -- its first anywhere in the world -- pledging to provide “ultimate quality control” for the luxury cars by complying with the amended Automobile Management Act, also known as South Korea’s “lemon law.”“It is our responsibility as a pinnacle luxury brand to reassure our South Korean customers that we would stand by our promise of ultimate quality, ultimate quality control, and of course attention to detail,” sai

An annual scholarship program for aspiring artists by Han Sung Motor, the largest official dealer of Mercedes-Benz, was launched for its 8th year on Tuesday, with 15 new recipients. The Dream Gream is a corporate social responsibility program initiated by the dealer in 2012. The project is dedicated to broaden the horizons of young artists, and offer them a chance to participate in the list of art shows, the company explained. Under this year’s theme, “Customize your story,” the Dream Gream scho

LS Industrial Systems, a South Korean power and energy solution provider, was named one of the world’s 100 most innovative companies regarding intellectual property rights by Clarivate Analytics, a consulting group formerly owned by Thomson Reuters. The company made the list for the eighth straight year. LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics also made the list.  (LSIS)LSIS was one of the three energy companies along with Exxon Mobil of US and Total of France included in the list of the world’s