Chinese electronics firm Xiaomi has scheduled a livestream event on Tuesday night to unveil its new flagship smartphone Mi Mix 4, just one day before Samsung’s annual Unpacked event, in an attempt to steal the spotlight from the South Korean electronics giant. Industry watchers say the timing of the Mi Mix 4 launch, an under-display camera model, is an open challenge to Samsung, whose soon-to-be unveiled foldable phone also happens to be a UDC model. A UDC smartphone refers to a mode

Hanwha Solutions said Monday it has acquired a 100 percent stake in renewable energy developer RES France at 727 million euros ($855.2 million) to expand its business portfolio in Europe. With the deal, led by the company’s green energy division Hanwha Q Cells, Hanwha Solutions will hold full ownership of RES France’s solar and wind power projects worth 5 gigawatts. “The acquisition, which will be finalized by October, will increase the global capacity of Hanwha Solutions

South Korea’s first energy minister, Park Ki-young, said Monday that he would redesign the country’s energy market for carbon neutrality. “This is an important year to lay down the foundation for carbon neutrality. We have to reconstruct the current fossil-fuel-based energy supply and demand system and market structure into clean-energy-focused ones,” Park said in his inauguration speech. To that end, the newly appointed energy minister pledged to secure an optimum

Kim Dong-kwan, the eldest son and apparent heir of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, has proved his mettle by taking the helm of the group’s money-bleeding solar business in 2011 and turning it into the world’s No. 6 solar energy player, Hanwha Q Cells. Poised to succeed his father to lead the country’s seventh-largest conglomerate, the 38-year-old now oversees Hanwha Solutions, launched last year after the merger of Q Cells and two other Hanwha companies, and is also s

“Game & Art: Auguries of Fantasy” -- on show at Daejeon Museum of Art Creative Center through Sept. 5 -- peeps into an altered world of “fantasy reality” forged through the synthesis of video games and art. The exhibition, sponsored and participated by NCSoft, one of the top three game developers in South Korea, examines how video games can become playgrounds of images and sounds conceived through imaginations. Walking into the exhibit, viewers are greeted by Ki

Hanwha Corp.’s operating profit surged 53.4 percent on-year to 769 billion won ($672.8 million) in the second quarter, backed by an earnings surprise from its affiliates, the company said Friday. According to the holdings firm of South Korea’s seventh-largest conglomerate, Hanwha Group, its revenue jumped 15.2 percent to 12.6 trillion won and its net profit rose 63.1 percent to 572.1 billion won. “Hanwha Solutions’ chemical division logged 2.8 trillion won in revenue

TDL has established a solid-state battery production line with an annual production capacity of 80 megawatts in Naju, South Jeolla Province, the company said Thursday. According to the South Korean industrial material company, the pouch-type 2-ampere-hour solid-state batteries will be mounted on small-sized energy storage systems with the capacity of 1 to 5 kilowatts. Lithium-ion batteries are filled with an inflammable liquid solution called electrolytes. Solid-state batteries replace the

South Korean cosmetics-to-health care conglomerate Aekyung Group said Thursday it has decided to merge its three chemical businesses into one entity tentatively named Aekyung Chemical. The merger of Aekyung Petrochemical, AK ChemTech and the current Aekyung Chemical is subject to approval by the respective company’s board and shareholders and a review by authorities. The new entity, expected to launch by November, would have 1.7 trillion won ($1.4 billion) in combined revenue this ye

South Korea will drastically increase its strategic stockpiles of nickel, cobalt and other critical metals, in a bid to ensure a stable supply of raw materials vital to key industries including electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy, the government said Thursday. National stockpiles of 35 rare metals -- designated by the government -- will increase to cover 100 days from the current 57 days, it said. New facilities will be built while some existing ones will be expanded and the stat

South Korea’s largest game developer Nexon will break the conventional boundaries of games and develop 10 “super” intellectual properties, or IPs, to appeal to a global audience, its chief executive said Thursday. During an online media showcase, Lee Jung-hun stressed that the firm will only regress should it stick to the gaming business, as increasingly more new forms of entertainment are replacing games and carving out people’s time. “The pandemic totally ch

SK Innovation will split off its battery and oil businesses as wholly owned subsidiaries to further propel their growth, the company announced Wednesday. The new entities, tentatively named SK Battery and SK E&P, will officially launch on Oct. 1, following the approval of general shareholders at a meeting slated for next month. The announcement came as the firm reported a return to the black in the second quarter, with a net profit of 415.9 billion won ($362.2 million) and an operating p

LG Chem said Wednesday it has exported the first shipment of its “bio-balanced” superabsorbent polymer to Jordanian diaper company Baby Life. The eco-friendly SAP, which can absorb water 200 times its weight, was manufactured at its plant in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, using plant-based materials such as waste cooking oil, the chemical firm said. “LG Chem’s bio-balanced SAP is the world’s first SAP product that obtained the International Sustainability and Ca

The idea is so simple but powerful. By replacing inflammable liquid solution inside conventional lithium-ion batteries with solid materials, solid-state batteries would eliminate fire concerns, have a greater life span, support faster charging, offer a lighter weight and provide greater capacity. The race has already begun among rising solid-state battery startups and established lithium-ion players, including the South Korean trio LG Energy Solution, SK Innovation and Samsung SDI, to debut

Korea Aerospace Industries said Monday it had won a $78 million deal from Thailand to supply two T-50TH advanced trainer jets and provide support for their operation. The contract period is until Jan. 30, 2023. The deal, which follows a 274.4 billion-won ($237.8 million) deal KAI signed with Indonesia last month to supply six T-50i jets, raises the total T-50 series exports so far to 72 units -- 14 to Thailand, 22 to Indonesia, 12 to the Philippines and 24 to Iraq. T-50TH are advanced trai

LG Energy Solution on Sunday announced its new environmental, social and governance vision, pledging to source electricity generated 100 percent by renewables at all its business sites by 2030 and go carbon neutral by 2050. According to the world’s leading electric vehicle battery manufacturer, it will gradually reduce carbon emissions from its 2019 level of 960,000m metric tons to zero by 2050. Also, the company aims to accomplish RE100 by 2030, which is 20 years ahead of the global

South Korea’s exports in July surged 29.6 percent to $55.4 billion on-year, a record monthly figure since the nation began compiling the data in 1956, according to the Trade Ministry Sunday. In the first seven months of this year, Korea’s accumulated exports were worth $358.7 billion, setting another record. Also, this is the first time in 10 years that the country saw double digit growths for four consecutive months in 10 years -- 41.2 percent in April, 45.6 percent in May, 39.8

Electric vehicles are powered by hundreds, even thousands of battery cells. If just one defective cell catches fire, a massive recall will not only cost billions of dollars but also the trust of customers. So how do battery manufacturers sort out the bad apples? “For automakers, the safety of EVs are their key competitiveness, so they require stringent safety standards from their battery suppliers,” said Zin Hwang, chief financial officer at Innometry, a South Korean firm that

LG Chem said Thursday it has acquired separator business from LG Electronics for 525 billion won ($458.5 million) to target the fast-growing global electric vehicle battery materials market. According to South Korea’s leading chemical firm, the company took over chemical electronic material business under LG Electronics’ business solutions division. The acquisition includes all tangible and intangible assets of the business including its production facilities and personnel. The

Expectations are running high as the release of NCSoft’s Blade & Soul 2 is less than a month away. Set for launch on Aug. 26, the massive multiplayer online role-playing game is the sequel of NCSoft’s Blade & Soul, which notched the grand prize at the 2012 Korea Game Awards. The game will be available on both PC and mobile devices. Users can enjoy Blade & Soul 2 on PC through cross-play service Purple. Preregistrations reached 7.46 million, a record in Korea, break

As lithium-ion batteries near their full potential, new challengers are preparing a coup d‘état with their next-generation technologies. If successful, the coup would render conventional lithium-ion batteries obsolete overnight and subvert decades-long industrial order led by Asian battery firms. Are the days of lithium-ion battery manufacturers coming to an end? SolidEnergy Systems, a Singapore-based battery developer, is one of the most threatening contenders, with its lith