Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics scooped various accolades at an international industrial design competition, the two companies said Wednesday. LG Electronics bagged 10 prizes, including a gold award for its StanbyME TV, famous for its moving stand design, at the 41st International Design Excellence Awards. The plugless TV model has previously received the main prize at the iF Design Awards and the Red Dot Design Awards 2021. Four other products -- LG’s Soundbar Eclair, a laundr

NBA superstar LeBron James will be playing in a Bibigo-branded jersey for the upcoming season, as CJ’s frozen dumpling and sauce brand signed a partnership deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. The basketball team announced on its social media Tuesday, local time, that it signed a marketing partnership with Bibigo’s US branch.  Attached with the announcement was a photo of LeBron James wearing a Bibigo-embroidered uniform. ”We’re proud to introduce our new patch part

Beauty products often come in extravagant packaging -- only to later end up in a landfill after a single use. Statistics show only 10 percent of cosmetics packaging is recyclable, due to the complex designs, colors and multilayer structures. Faced with growing criticism for its contribution to the global waste problem and in a bid to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers, cosmetics companies are turning to refilling stations where consumers can bring empty bottles and buy what they

Only six South Korean companies made it on the list of the world’s top 500 global leading firms, compiled by the Federation of Korea Industries, the business lobby group said in a report Thursday. The list is made by its affiliate research body based on operating profits and sales revenue data from S&P Capital IQ, an international market research and information provider. A total of six companies -- Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics, Posco and Kepco &ndas

Google, under fire in South Korea for allegedly abusing others with its market power, on Wednesday hit back at the criticism, arguing it contributed 11.9 trillion won ($10.25 billion) in economic benefits to Koreans last year. Holding an online press event it called “Google for Korea,” executives of the US giant cited data from global market analysis firms to tout the positive side of its presence in Korea. “Last year, YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed around 1

Volvo Korea unveiled the latest face-lifted version of its flagship sport utility vehicle XC60, equipped with a new smart car system developed in partnership with South Korean mobile carrier, SKT. “Cars no longer only have the function of transportation. It’s a means of one’s lifestyle experience. We hope (the new XC60) becomes a trendsetter in this new wave of change,” said Lee Yoon-mo, CEO of Volvo Cars Korea, during an online meeting with the press on Tuesday. The

Consumer appetite for expensive imported cars is bigger than ever in South Korea. According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association on Monday, total sales of imported cars with a retail price exceeding 100 million won ($85,156) as of August jumped 65.5 percent on-year. The total number of vehicles in that price range sold in the first eight months of the year was 45,042. This exceeds the total number of high-end imported cars sold in all of 2020, when sales

Genie Music became the largest stakeholder of Millie’s Library, an e-book service provider, as the KT-backed music-streaming platform looks to expand its audio content business. According to the company Friday, Genie Music acquired a 38.6 percent stake in the e-book firm for 46.4 billion won. Millie’s Library is a subscription-based e-book service startup. The platform is No. 1 in the South Korean market, boasting 3.5 million subscribers, some 100,000 e-book titles and some 3,000

SK ecoplant has won a bid to build a $2.2 billion expressway in Norway, making them the first South Korean construction company to enter the infrastructure business in the north European country. According to the construction arm of SK Group, a “Sotra Link” consortium consisting of SK ecoplant, Australia’s Macquarie Capital and Italian construction company Webuild, has been chosen for the “Rv555 The Sotra Connection” expressway construction project. SK owns a 2

Hyundai Motor’s plans to develop a remote charging system for battery-powered electric vehicles has been given a go-ahead from the Korean government, it was announced Thursday. The wireless EV charging system is among the 10 pilot projects granted a regulatory sandbox, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the sandbox support center at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The regulatory sandbox measure, introduced in 2019, seeks to foster new business

BMW Group Korea will upgrade and relaunch its two after service mobile apps, as the carmaker bids to turn all aftersale services digital. The new BMW Plus and Mini Plus will be key platforms for the company’s digital and contactless after-sales service business, it said. 　 With the upgrade, an expanded number of services can be reserved in real time, explained the carmaker, which includes general maintenance, parts replacements and recall services. Customers can also select a service ad

When Lee Bok-kee, founder and CEO of Wanted Labs, quit his high-paying consulting job in 2013, he had only one goal: to solve problems. Having spent around five years at a consulting firm seeing tech mammoths like Samsung and LG pay millions of won to solve business problems, he was certain there would be at least one problem he can solve on his own. But finding the right one was not an easy journey. After brainstorming hundreds of businesses ideas, two failed startups, and losing his 100

Malaysia will present halal products to the global audience at the upcoming Malaysia International Halal Showcase, or MIHAS, set to kick off Thursday. “We truly believe that small and medium sized Malaysian brands have the potential to become Halal champions. Through MIHAS we hope to facilitate the sourcing and selling of quality halal consumables, products and services globally,” said Dr. Halim Mohammad, the chairman of Malaysia External Trade Development Corp. during an online me

Hanwha General Chemicals, the chemical affiliate of Hanwha Group, announced a new company name, “Hanwha Impact,” as it seeks to shift its identity to focus on future-oriented, green business fields. The new name reflects its new vision to “create a positive impact on humanity and the earth through technological innovations,” explained the company. To execute the vision, Hanwha Impact will increase what it called “impact investing,” investing in companies

Labor unions of South Korea’s largest shipping company HMM on Thursday scrapped a strike plan after reaching a new wage deal with management. HMM officials and representatives of the two unions, separately representing land-based and longshore workers, agreed to a 7.9 percent increase in wages, a bonus payment amounting to 650 percent of their monthly salary and a 2.7 percent increase in welfare benefits. The deal, reached early Thursday morning after marathon negotiations, ended 77 d

Audi Volkswagen Korea has appointed Sacha Askidjian as the new managing director of the Volkswagen brand in Korea, the company announced Thursday. He will replace Stephan Krapp starting from Oct. 1, who will move to the company’s headquarters in Germany to take charge of pricing strategies of Volkswagen cars in Europe. Joining the Audi Volkswagen Group in 2000, Askidjian built a 10-year career in customer service and marketing at the group’s French office. He moved on to the gr

South Korean food catering service provider Our Home will run a cafeteria for the United States Postal Service, becoming the first Korean firm to clinch a deal from a US public institution. The company said Wednesday that its US branch won a bid to operate a cafeteria in the institution’s processing and distribution center in Los Angeles. The 1,421 square meter facility will open by the end of this month and operate for 24 hours every day. The USPS is a public institution that oversee

South Korea continued to report record-shattering export results in August, data showed Wednesday, reinforcing an economic recovery almost single-handedly driven by overseas sales as domestic spending remains weighed down by the pandemic. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, outbound shipments jumped 34.9 percent from a year earlier to $53.2 billion last month, the best performance that the Asia’s fourth-largest economy has ever pulled off in August.  The previ

Hyundai Motor Group’s honorary chairman Chung Mong-koo will donate 10 billion won ($8.63 million) to build a vaccine research center in South Korea, the company announced Tuesday. “I decided to donate the money to build a vaccine research center as a means to give back to everyone who supported Hyundai Motor Group,” Chung was quoted as saying in the group’s statement.  “I’d like to contribute to helping people overcome infectious diseases as well as i

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won filed a defamation lawsuit against a YouTube channel, saying the channel has spread false information about his private life. According to local media reports Tuesday, Chey filed a criminal complaint with the Yongsan Police Station, accusing the channel of violating slander laws. He claimed that the channel, which mainly covers the private lives of celebrities and high-profile businesspeople, aired false information about his past, relatives and his romantic r