Chung Euisun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, visited the Czech Republic to ask for the country's support for Busan’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo, according to the carmaker on Friday. In the meeting with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Chung explained Busan’s competitiveness and the port city’s future vision for hosting the global event. “Busan Expo seeks nature-friendly life and technology innovation to prepare for a sustainable future and resolve global issue

South Korean builder Daewoo E&C held a ground-breaking ceremony of Vietnam Hanoi Starlake B3CC1 Complex, a $500 million development project that involves two multipurpose 35-story buildings in the Vietnamese capital, on Wednesday. Spanning over 211,462 square meters of floor space, the complex will comprise a hotel and offices. Korean hotel chain Hotel Shilla will be responsible for the operations of the envisioned hotel. Dignitaries including Daewoo E&C CEO Baek Jung-wan and Hanoi Peopl

South Korean builder Daewoo E&C and its Nigerian counterpart signed a letter of intent to rehabilitate an oil refinery in the African country with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in attendance. The letter of intent signed by the Daewoo E&C CEO Baek Jung-wan and the Group CEO of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Mele Kyari is aimed at reoperating the Kaduna refinery located at Chikun, Kaduna, Nigeria, capable of producing up to 110,000 barrels of petroleum per day. The plant h

The working population of the manufacturing industry in South Korea is aging faster than those in the US and Japan, showed research published Wednesday by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a local organization representing businesses. According to the research of Korean manufacturing industry workers from 2001 to 2021, the ratio of young workers, aged 15 to 29, dropped from 29.7 percent in 2011 to 14.8 percent in 2021. Also, the ratio of workers in their 30s decreased from 33.9 percent

Overseas flight bookings skyrocketed during the first three weeks of this month by 1,336.3 percent compared to the same period last year, according to Interpark on Tuesday. The noticeable increase of overseas travel bookings comes after COVID-19 travel restrictions have been lifted not only in South Korea but in other popular tourist spots as well, says the online ticketing site. Japan was topped the list of popular travel destinations with 48.2 percent of flights booked heading there. The numbe

Mercedes-Benz Korea has donated vehicles to local communities for seven consecutive years as part of its social outreach project called Mercedes-Benz All Together, according to the company on Tuesday. Mercedes-Benz Korea launched its Mercedes-Benz CSR Committee in 2014 to make a systematic and continuous contribution to Korean society such as donating cars to social welfare institutions. The committee has donated a total of 44 vehicles to 43 institutions as of this year, the German carmaker said

It’s no wonder why Volkswagen took a while to introduce its electric vehicle in South Korea. With its all-electric SUV ID.4, the German carmaker offers an accessible EV solution for local customers pursuing an eco-friendly family life. The electrified midsize SUV boasts remarkable spaciousness. It is big enough to accommodate a family as well as equipment for activity lovers. There is enough leg- and headroom in both the front and back seats, and the trunk is capable of storing up to 543 l

A Korean Air plane overran a runway at the Cebu International Airport in the Philippines while attempting to land in poor weather late Sunday. No injuries were reported. The flight had 162 passengers and 11 crew onboard. Korean Air flight KE631, which had departed from Incheon to Cebu, had attempted to land twice in poor weather, and on the third attempt overran the runway, according to the South Korean air carrier while delivering an apology. “We sincerely apologize to our passengers and

A worker was injured at one of South Korean bakery giant SPC Group’s bread-making factories on Sunday, just two days after its chief extended a public apology in response to a deadly accident in another factory run by the bakery group. A factory worker in his 40s lost a finger when trying to sort out defective products from a conveyer belt at a Shany bread-making factory operated by SPC Group in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at around 6:10 a.m., police said. Two more workers were reportedly

Robots that resemble animals such as dogs or snakes patrolling industrial facilities will soon be a familiar sight as manufacturers look for high-tech solutions to prevent human casualties or injuries which could hold them legally responsible. Hyundai Steel Co. is testing a four-legged walking robot to help prevent damage to humans in case of accidents or disasters. The robot, called Spot, can check whether oxygen gas valves are open or shut and inspect areas that pose safety risks. Therefore, i

Tech giant Naver is delving deeper into artificial intelligence with its supersized HyperClova platform trained in the Korean language, and hopes to use the technology to connect to users on a deeper level to identify their needs, said a ranking executive leading the development. Portraying how society would be a much warmer place for the elderly and those with health conditions with advanced AI, Naver Clova CIC Executive Officer Sung Nako introduced the firm’s voice AI-powered services,

South Korea has been outpaced by most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development regarding key labor-related indicators, a local business lobby found Tuesday. According to the Federation of Korean Industries, Korea ranked 29th for its employment rate among 37 OECD members in 2021, a drastic fall from the 23rd position it had maintained between 2016 and 2000. Though Korea saw its ranking for men’s employment rate climb from 20th in 2000 to 12th in 2016, it slid t

Renault Group will be investing hundreds of millions of euros in South Korea for the next six years to turn the country into an export hub for its mid to large-size vehicles, its CEO said Tuesday in Seoul. “We want to make Korea the key export hub for large (-vehicle) segments. Being in Korea is also a fantastic way for us to keep the group partnered to one of the most innovative tech ecosystems in the world. We have a lot to learn here,” said Luca de Meo during a press conference he

LS Cable & System, LS Group’s cable manufacturing unit, said Tuesday it would make a 25.2 billion won ($17.58 million) equity investment in KT Submarine to foster its undersea cables business. The company will acquire 4.04 million stocks, 16 percent of KT Submarine’s share, becoming the second-largest shareholder of KT Submarine. The cable manufacturer has been expanding investment in undersea cables amid a rapidly growing demand for offshore wind power generation, which requires

Hanwha Engineering and Construction will withdraw from the 14 trillion won ($10.1 billion) Bismayah New City construction project in Iraq as the Iraqi government has failed to make payment. According to Hanwha E&C on Monday, its parent firm Hanwha Corp. informed the Iraq National Investment Commission last Friday it would revoke the contract due to the outstanding construction cost payment. The revocation comes into effect in three weeks. In May 2012, the firm had won the development project

South Korea's antitrust regulator, the Fair Trade Commission, is likely to go through an organizational reform to enhance its role in investigating antitrust cases and while focusing less on policy formulation, related ministries said Sunday. The plan set to be carried out by the end of this year, would have the agency focus more on regulating unfair practices, they said. Currently, the FTC is consists of a committee and a secretariat. The committee is the decision-making body that has nine

A parliamentary inspection of the Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Committee kicked off Thursday to question businesses over their mishaps or irregularities that undermined public safety, but hearing sessions went on without business chiefs in attendance. The initial list of requested witnesses submitted by the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea included 96 business executives in total, but only four appeared as witnesses on the day. Business tycoons w

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering said Wednesday it has inked a 2.09 trillion won ($1.46 billion) contract to build seven eco-friendly ships. KSOE, the world’s biggest shipbuilder by order backlog, signed contracts with Denmark-based integrated logistics company Maersk and Excelerate Energy, for six 17,000 TEU methanol-powered large container ships and one 170,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas-floating and regasification unit (LNG-FSRU) respectively. Under the deal, Hyu

South Korean builder Daewoo E&C and its parent company Jungheung Group participated in a campaign to improve the living environment of a descendant of an independence patriot as part of its corporate social responsibility project on Friday, the companies said Tuesday. The campaign hosted by Habitat Korea involves renovating old houses in which descendants of independence patriots experiencing economic difficulties live. Employees of Daewoo E&C and Jungheung Group traveled to the residenc

The government will raise late-night taxi-hailing fees to 5,000 won ($3.49) which will go into the pockets of taxi drivers, not platform companies, to bring back drivers who left the industry during the pandemic curfew, the transport ministry said Tuesday. According to the plan devised to resolve the nighttime taxi shortage, taxis operating from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. will receive up to 5,000 won as hailing fee. When the midnight basic fare is added, passengers in Seoul are likely to pay more than 10