The final ruling on the battery patent lawsuit between LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation has been postponed to Feb. 10, the third delay in the US court case. The US International Trade Commission announced the delay on Thursday, without providing specific reasons. The court was originally scheduled to rule on Oct. 5, then the decision was delayed to Oct. 26 and then again to Thursday. The two Korean battery makers released official statements regarding the holdup, but with different int

GS Caltex said Thursday its biobutanol sales have jumped more than tenfold on-year in the first 11 months of this year, due to growing demand for eco-friendly raw materials. The 2,3-butanediol chemical compound is a 100 percent natural substance easily found in nature including in soil, animals and fermented food. Thanks to its superb moisturizing and preservation effects, the substance is widely used as a raw material for cosmetics and personal care products. However, as 2,3-butanediol is

Posco Chemical said Wednesday it will supply cathodes to Ultium Cells, a joint venture established by LG Energy Solution and General Motors last year. According to the refractory and secondary battery materials arm of South Korean steel giant Posco, it will provide cathodes to Ultium Cells’ electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility, which is set to begin mass production of NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum) batteries that contain 90 percent nickel starting next year. Ca

South Korea has rolled up its sleeves to support the domestic biodegradable plastic industry to address carbon-intensive plastic products and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. According to the recent “White Biotechnology Industry Revitalization Strategy” released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the government will create demand for biodegradable plastic products, which are two to three times more expensive than conventional plastic items. The fall in prices of oil a

S-Oil said Wednesday it had delivered 90 million won ($82,300) to eight firefighters for heroic actions. At an annual Hero Firefighters Award Ceremony held at its headquarters in Mapo-gu, western Seoul, the South Korean refinery and the Korea National Council for Social Welfare delivered award plaques of appreciation and cash awards to the eight awardees as part of its firefighter support campaign. Lee Sung-ha from Incheon Central Fire Station received the top award and 20 million won. Lee dis

LG Chem said Tuesday it has launched the “Like Green” mentorship program for elementary and middle school students to raise their awareness on sustainability. Here, Green is an acronym that stands for global warming, recycling, energy, ecosystem and next-generation technology, according to the company. The Like Green mentorship program will educate 100 young students from January to March regarding the five topics. They will be put in small groups with university students with

South Korean surveillance solution provider Hanwha Techwin on Tuesday suggested five key phrases to describe the trends in the video security industry next year. The security camera subsidiary under Hanwha Aerospace offered an acronym “Rodeo,” which stands for “Ready for the era of edge computing,” “Ongoing trend, cloud,” “Don’t worry about cyber hacking, cybersecurity,” “Everyone can join in, open platform” and “Only whe

If Anne Frank was not a real person and her diary was merely a work of fiction, would her story resonate as much with readers? As witnessed by Schindler’s List and The Pianist, films based on true stories connect people to the past in a visceral way. But would it be appropriate, or even necessary, to make a game out of such atrocities, even with a “noble” purpose in mind? In this sense, PC game The Wednesday, released on Dec. 1, is an utter disaster, as it reduces the bru

Hanwha Total said Monday it has increased its annual plastic production capacity to 140,000 metric tons as demand has spiked for plastic, the raw material for separators, one of the key components of lithium-ion batteries along with cathodes, anodes and electrolytes. The expansion, which cost 40 billion won ($36.9 million), will allow the South Korean petrochemical company to produce 140,000 tons of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) at its plant in Daesan, South Chungcheong Prov

The US has decided to impose anti-dumping duties on South Korean oil pipelines of up to 15 percent. According to the Korea International Trade Association on Sunday, the US Department of Commerce recently made a final ruling at an annual review of anti-dumping duties on Korea oil pipelines to levy tariffs between 9.33 percent and 15.07 percent. Compared to last year’s figure, which stood at 22.7 percent to 38.87 percent, the tariffs have been slashed by more than half. The US Departme

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won called for an incentive system that compensates for companies’ ESG -- environmental, social and governance -- efforts, according to industry sources Sunday. Speaking at Beijing Forum 2020, an event held jointly by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies and Peking University, Chey stressed the necessity of an ESG incentive system that provides reasonable compensations for companies to promote ESG value creation in both private and public sectors. Chey s

Just like how the idea of magic rails against common knowledge, Magical Atelier appears to defy the odds, being an unconventional game that transgresses the basic laws of typical Korean mobile games. For busy commuters, mobile games are supposed to be simple and easy to play. Also, they must include elements that can trigger competition among as many users as possible to guarantee profitability. Magical Atelier, developed by Smilegate, meets neither of the two criteria. Released in South K

China has granted a license to a game made by a South Korean company for the first time in nearly four years, finally lifting an implicit ban on Korean games that has persisted since 2017. According to Korean mobile game developer Com2us, Summoners War: Lost Centuria has been given a foreign game service license from China‘s National Press and Publication Administration, the first such license issued since March 2017. In 2017, Korea deployed the US anti-missile Terminal High Altitude D

Posco Group said Thursday its salt lake in Argentina contains 13.5 million metric tons of lithium reserves, more than six times greater than initial calculation of 2.2 million tons. Based on the massive reserves, which are enough for 370 million electric vehicles, the group aims to establish a robust value chain of EV battery raw materials. According to the South Korean steel giant, the latest exploration of the Hombre Muerto salt lake in northern Argentina conducted with a US consulting firm

Hanwha Q Cells has become the world’s first solar module manufacturer to pass international product testing institute TUV Rheinland’s new Quality Controlled PV certification. TUV Rheinland’s QCPV certification is an extended stress test program based on International Electrotechnical Commission technical standards. Compared to the IEC’s certification, which only conducts a short-term credibility test on solar modules, the QCPV certification comprises three stages: shor

LG Chem's battery business has been officially launched as the wholly-owned “LG Energy Solution” Tuesday, taking its first independent step as the world‘s leading batterymaker and overall energy solution provider. LG Energy Solution will be led by Chief Executive Officer Kim Jong-hyun, whose mission is to almost quadruple the revenue of the battery business to 30 trillion won ($27 billion) by 2024 from the 8.2 trillion won it made last year. “LG Energy Solution has led

Nikola shares nose-dived 26.9 percent Monday after General Motors announced that it would revoke its initial plan to acquire an 11 percent stake once worth $2 billion in the electric truck startup. Upon the news, attention in South Korea quickly shifted to Hanwha Solutions and its President Kim Dong-kwan, who decided in November 2018 to invest $100 million to acquire a 6.13 percent stake in Nikola. Nikola, which was touted as a promising partner for Hanwha’s renewable energy push, ha

S-Oil on Monday awarded 140 million won ($127,000) to 19 people here who risked their lives to save others. At the annual Hero Citizens Award Ceremony held at its headquarters in Mapo-gu in western Seoul, the South Korean refinery delivered 10 million won each to two community heroes who suffered injuries while helping others. It also presented 10 million won each to eight individuals and four groups totaling nine people who carried out acts of self-sacrifice. Awardees include Shin Dong-ju

LS Cable & System is expanding its portfolio and entering the solar power business by acquiring international technology and safety certifications for its cables and supplying them to massive solar power projects. The world‘s third-largest wire and cable maker by sales says it has supplied its cables to more than 30 solar power projects, including South Korea’s biggest solar power plant in Haenam, South Jeolla Province. “Based on its knowledge from working with submari

Former Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo has been discharged from the hospital in healthy condition after about four months of treatment for colonic diverticulitis, according to industry sources Friday. The former chairman was discharged earlier Friday and is expected to stay at his home in Hannam-dong, central Seoul. Chung had been hospitalized for the chronic illness since mid-July. Though Chung was scheduled to be discharged as soon as his condition was brought under control,