Samsung SDI said Tuesday it will inject 1 trillion won ($900 million) into its battery plant in Goed, 30 kilometers north of Budapest, Hungary. In a regulatory filing, the battery maker said its European subsidiary Samsung SDI Hungary issued rights worth 403.8 billion won. Samsung SDI will also guarantee debt worth 538.4 billion won for the subsidiary, the company said. Samsung SDI explained that the rights offering is intended to shore up funds for expansion, including the construction of t

The recent Texas ice storm, which froze wind turbines and caused massive blackouts, sparked a heated debate on the efficacy of wind power in the United States -- a debate that has spilled over to South Korea as it plans to build the biggest wind farm in the world. Last week, the ice storm in Texas left millions of people without power after wind turbines froze. Vital equipment at gas wells and nuclear power plants was also affected. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, w

SK Innovation said Tuesday that it would sell off 49 percent of its petrochemical subsidiary, SK Global Chemical, as part of a strategy to unload carbon-intensive assets and focus its investments on green businesses. SK Innovation currently controls 100 percent of SK Global Chemical. According to the South Korean battery and petrochemical giant, it selected JP Morgan as a financial adviser in November before making the decision. “SK Global Chemical is reviewing a partnership with glob

Here’s the deal. The JBL Quantum series are decent headphones, but are they worth the price? Launched under the slogan “Sound is Survival,” the Quantum series are JBL’s first-ever headsets, designed exclusively for hardcore gamers to outlast opponents especially in first-point shooter games. After testing active noise-cancelling Quantum One -- priced at 299,000 won ($270) -- and comparing it them over Lunar New Year holidays with Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC headset avai

Iljin Materials said Tuesday it has shipped the first batch of domestically produced ultrathin copper foils to be used for semiconductor packing to Samsung Electronics. According to the electronic material producer of Iljin Group, it became the first South Korean company to commercialize the ultrathin copper foils, which had been produced exclusively in Japan. “When the Great East Japan Earthquake broke out in 2011, Samsung Electronics experienced difficulties importing the copper foi

LIG Nex1 said Sunday it is participating in the International Defense Exhibition and Conference 2021 to showcase its next-generation defense technologies. According to the South Korean aerospace and defense firm, it will display its medium-range surface-to-air missile M-SAM II, also known as Cheongung II, anti-tank guided missile Raybolt, wearable robot Lexo, unmanned surface vehicle Sea Sword and multipurpose, compact drone systems at the biennial defense expo that kicked off Sunday in Abu

Last week, Nexon apologized for misleading users of the odds of receiving different types of probability-based items inside its fantasy adventure PC game MapleStory, becoming the first company here to admit that those “random” items have a preset draw probability. In an apology posted Friday on MapleStory’s official website, Nexon director Kang Won-ki said a misunderstanding occurred due to different interpretations of the word “random.” The company has used the

The prolonged pandemic has intensified a polarization between top South Korean game companies and small and mid-sized ones. While the smaller players took a hit in revenue and employment amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the big three -- Nexon, NCSoft and Netmarble -- have reaped strong earnings and are returning part of them to staff and shareholders with dramatic hikes in salary and dividends. On Feb. 1, Nexon, which breached a 3 trillion-won ($2.72 billion) mark in revenue for the first time t

Hanwha Solutions on Thursday announced its first year-over-year results after its launch on Jan. 2, 2020 through the merger of Hanwha Chemical and Hanwha Q Cells & Advanced Materials. According to its regulatory filing, the company’s revenue shrank 2.8 percent to 9.19 trillion won ($8.3 billion) on-year, but its operating profit surged 29 percent to 594.2 billion won, improving its profitability despite economic downturn from the COVID-19 crisis. Meanwhile, net profit saw a whoppin

Amid a heightening blame game over the cause of Kona Electric Vehicle fires, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun and LG Energy Solution President Kim Jong-hyun on Thursday gathered at the automaker’s research and development center in Namyang, Gyeonggi Province to discuss a business model reusing expired EV batteries. At the event, the respective heads of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Glovis, LG Ener

In its self-proclaimed rivalry with LG Energy Solution, SK Innovation has been eyeing a split-off of its battery business with a potential initial public offering, but a major setback in the US could pose a challenge to the plan. Speaking at a battery expo in Seoul last October, Jee Dong-seob, the Seoul-based company’s battery division chief, said that he was considering the separation from a “financial perspective.” 　 As a latecomer in the white-hot electric vehicle batte

South Korean online game publisher Neowiz said Wednesday it has acquired a 60 percent stake in a local mobile game company Sticky Hands. “The acquisition will give Neowiz the business management rights over Sticky Hands and allow the company to boost its competitiveness in the global casual game market,” a Neowiz official said. Launched in 2016, Sticky Hands specializes in solitaire, a tabletop game which one can play by oneself, usually with cards. Its solitaire game series rec

Hanwha Q Cells said Wednesday that more than 100,000 households in Germany have joined its Q.Energy service so far, which allows customers to buy and consume electricity generated 100 percent by renewables. According to the solar power unit of Hanwha Solutions, the Q.Energy service sources the electricity from renewable-energy power plants in Germany and Austria and delivers the energy to the German households. “The Q.Energy service, which garnered more than 100,000 household subscri

Preserving trees isn’t always the answer to climate change, a local environmental group said Monday. South Korea needs to cut down old trees and plant new ones to help maintain local forests’ carbon-absorbing capacity, the Seoul-based Climate Change Center said. It cited a report written by the Gyeonggi Research Institute that said old forests can’t properly absorb carbon. “South Korea successfully turned barren mountains into forests by planting trees after the Kor

Following reports that polysilicon produced in the Chinese region of Xinjiang is linked with forced labor of detained Muslim minorities, solar companies in the US and Europe are seeking to exclude the region from their supply chains, opening a window of opportunity for South Korean firms to gain foothold in the market. A recent report by the consultancy Horizon Advisory suggests that Xinjiang’s production of polysilicon -- an essential raw material used in manufacturing most solar pane

LG Chem has raised 820 billion won ($744.1 million) through sales of environment, social and governance bonds to make aggressive investments into new growth engines -- carbon neutrality, battery materials, new drugs and sustainable growth, the company said Monday. According to South Korea’s leading chemical company, it issued bonds totaling 1.2 trillion won -- 820 billion won in ESG bonds and 380 billion won in general corporate bonds -- breaking records previously held by Hyundai Stee

The world recycles only 9 percent of its plastic waste. Around 12 percent is incinerated. The remaining 79 percent piles up in landfills or is thrown into the natural environment as litter. At this pace, there will be more plastics than fish in the ocean by 2050, according to the World Economic Forum. Brightmark, a waste solutions company based in San Francisco, aims to tackle the 79 percent with its patented recycling technology that can turn 93 percent of plastic wastes into reusable reso

On a boring afternoon of yet another day working from home, a smartphone comes to life with a delightful ringtone. It’s a call from Ahn Yujin, the lead vocal of South Korean female K-pop band IZ*ONE. In her trademark husky voice, she calls you by name, saying “How’s it going? I know you’re busy, but take some rest from time to time, okay?” The 25-second-long phone call is a moment of solace, at a time when almost all direct human contact has been replaced with

Upping the ante in its battle with rival SK Innovation after a victory in the US International Trade Court, LG Energy Solution on Thursday threatened further legal action in Europe and South Korea. In a final ruling delivered Wednesday, US time, SK Innovation was slapped with a 10-year ban on importing lithium-ion battery products to the US, with a grace period of up to four years, for stealing trade secrets from LG Energy Solution. “It’s difficult to say SK Innovation’s th

Market tension and political pressure escalated Wednesday as South Korea’s major battery makers -- LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation -- awaited the final ruling from the US International Trade Commission regarding their yearslong trade secret battle. While the outlook has so far largely favored LG, some market observers have suggested recently that newly inaugurated US President Joe Biden might veto the final ruling to support US-made vehicles. “SK Group is sinking about $2.6