Boosting greenery in cities may seem like a difficult task. However, a project has been coming up with innovative solutions to the lack of green space for the past 20 years. School Forest Project -- launched in 1999 through a collaborative effort between nongovernmental organization Forest for Life and sanitary product manufacturer Yuhan-Kimberly -- targets public schools in South Korea lacking green space on their school grounds. By planting various types of greenery, such as trees and bushes,

Automaker Renault Samsung said Monday it has partnered with telecom firm KT to provide Easy Link, a “vehicle infotainment” system utilizing voice assistant technology.Easy Link is a new in-vehicle system that provides a combination of information and entertainment to car users. It will be equipped on the upgraded QM6, the company’s most popular midsized sport utility vehicle model that was unveiled in June. According to Renault Samsung, with a simple call to Giga Genie, KT&rsqu

Global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday that it has assigned South Korean construction and petrochemical company Daelim Industrial a Baa2 grade with a stable outlook. According to Daelim Industrial, it is the first construction company in Korea to be given a global rating. On Moody’s rating scale, Baa2 stands ninth out of 21 and is considered a medium grade, indicating a moderate credit risk. SK hynix and S-Oil have been assigned the same rating.“Da

Japan Tobacco International Korea, the local unit of a global tobacco manufacturer, announced Thursday the upcoming release of its odor-reduced tobacco vapor product Ploom Tech.The heat-not-burn vapor product, set to release on Monday next week is said to be the first vapor product to utilize hybrid technology, in which tobacco leaves are indirectly heated through vapor.According to JTI Korea, the liquid cartridge, which does not contain nicotine, is first heated at a low temperature to emit vap

South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction said Wednesday that it had obtained a whopping 3.2 trillion won ($2.7 billion) deal to expand the production capacity of an offshore oil field owned by Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company Saudi Aramco.The contract encompasses two oil development projects, Package 6 and Package 12, to be undertaken at the Marjan offshore oil field in northeastern Saudi Arabia. For Package 6, the company will expand the production capacity of an exi

Posco said Tuesday it has become the world’s first steelmaker to issue $500 million worth of environmental, social and governance-related bonds.ESG bonds are issued to finance sustainable outcomes within three categories -- environmental friendliness, social responsibility and improvement in governance. Posco has issued ESG bonds including green bonds that finance eco-friendly projects and social bonds that help alleviate social issues such as job creation.“The funds raised from the

Steelmaker Posco said Wednesday it has become the first South Korean company to be included among 10 leading firms joining the World Economic Forum’s global Lighthouse Network. The Lighthouse Network consists of facilities of leading manufacturers, dubbed “Lighthouse Factories,” in various industries across the world, which are advanced in applying technologies of the “fourth industrial revolution” -- such as the internet of things, artificial intelligence and big d

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi seems to be one of the first celebrities to have broken her silence on the pending divorce between Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo.On Thursday Zhang wrote on her official Weibo account, “Respect their choice, believe it to be the best choice, and hope to see them at their best in the future.” While she did not mention the high-profile couple by name, many believe the post alluded to Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, who on Thursday announced their plans t

A source close to Song Hye-kyo has disclosed that she has suffered from both mental distress and physical weight loss due to marital problems, according to a local media report. Newsen on Thursday cited a source allegedly close to Song as saying that she cried while talking about her marital problems and had lost around 5 kilograms from related distress.“(Song) is usually quiet and doesn’t normally talk about her feelings, but she cried as she talked about her marital problems,&rdquo

GS Group said Thursday it had signed a memorandum on energy and investments with Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company Saudi Aramco on Tuesday at Conrad Hotel in Seoul.The ceremony was attended by GS Group Vice Chairman Jung Taek-geun and Saudi Aramco President Amin H. Nasser, as well as executives of GS Engineering & Construction and GS Caltex.  Based on the agreement, the two companies will seek new business opportunities in areas such as oil and petrochemicals as well as constru

Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. (aT) said Thursday it is rebranding its flower business center to F Square, a cultural complex focusing on flowers.F Square will not only have functions the center previously provided, including the auction and wholesale of flowers, but it will also promote a new cultural space for flowers, such as by hosting a flower-themed flea market and displaying famous florists’ works.  aT will also launch the support program “Flower Youth,&rdquo

South Korea’s top steelmaker Posco said Wednesday it will invest a total of 20 billion won ($17.3 million) for the next five years to help small and midsized companies construct smart factories.The funds will go toward the construction of new smart factories as well as consulting programs for SMEs. Each SME can benefit from 20 million won to 100 million won in subsidies to build their own smart factories. Through consulting, Posco will also help SMEs find ways to improve manufacturing proc

South Korea’s largest air carrier by fleet size, Korean Air said Wednesday the company has planted 5,000 maple trees in a Mongolian desert located in Baganuur to fight regional desertification.Two hundred people including executives of Korean Air, staff of US carrier Delta Air Lines and local residents participated in the Global Planting Project that ran May 13-16, the company said. Delta Air’s participation was meaningful as it also marked the first anniversary of a joint venture be

SsangYong Motor seeks to conventionalize the use of pickup trucks in South Korea by introducing its Rexton Sports series as “open top SUVs,” the carmaker said Tuesday.Both the Rexton Sports and the new Rexton Sports Khan introduced in January boast most features of the company’s flagship SUV model G4 Rexton, but also include a large deck space designed for drivers who enjoy outdoor activities and recreational sports. By introducing the series as an open top SUV, the company hop

South Korean college students find Naver the most desirable company to work in, a survey showed Monday.According to the survey of 929 college students, conducted by job search portal Incruit, Naver topped 121 companies with 7.4 percent of respondents choosing it, followed by CJ ENM with 7.2 percent and Samsung Electronics with 6.2 percent.Naver had also ranked first on the list in 2015 and 2016.  Meanwhile, SK hynix was included among the top 10 firms for the first time, with 4.4 percent of

Thanks to the unconscious cultural assumption that foreign equals luxurious, foreign languages have long played a major role in the South Korean business world and influenced branding decisions accordingly. This strategy is known as foreign branding -- companies make their products or brands sound exotic to enhance their perceived value and make them more marketable. There are also cases where brand names are derived from foreign words even in the absence of a clear foreign branding strategy. Lo

South Korean consumer preference for imported beer is changing, with Chinese beer gaining popularity, industry data showed Thursday.An analysis of sales of imported beer in Korea over five years, by CU, South Korea’s largest convenience store chain under BGF Retail, indicated a shift in consumer preference for beer from different nations.Data showed that sales of Chinese beer have increased twofold since 2014, taking up 10.2 percent of total sales of imported beer and ranking third in term

South Korean game company Netmarble is releasing the original soundtrack for its new mobile game “BTS World” on Friday at 6 p.m. (local time), the company said.Titled “Dream Glow,” the soundtrack features BTS members Jin, Jimin and Jungkook, as well as British artist Charli XCX.It is produced by the Norwegian team Stargate, which has produced records for chart toppers Beyonce, Rihanna and Khalid, to name a few. The soundtrack was also mixed by renowned mixing engineer Man

Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group donated two eco-friendly trash skimmer boats to Vietnam, the group announced Thursday.On the occasion of World Environment Day on Wednesday, Hanwha Group hosted a donation ceremony of trash skimmer boats at Vinh Long in southern Vietnam. Some 80 officials representing Hanwha Group, Vietnam and the Global Green Growth Institute attended the event.The donated boats are to be used to collect trash floating on the Mekong River, Hanwha explained.According to the compa

Fried chicken continues to reign supreme as the main food delivery item in South Korea and many newer outlets are being launched, but more of them are closing each year, data by KB Financial Group showed Monday.KB Research under KB Financial Group released a detailed analysis of the fried chicken business, indicating that in the past four years, despite the rise in chicken consumption the business is becoming oversaturated. Compared to 2013 when the average per capita consumption of fried chicke