S-Oil said Wednesday it has delivered 100 million won ($83,900) to families whose members suffered injuries or death while serving as Coast Guard officers. According to the South Korean refiner, it held a donation ceremony with the Korea National Council on Social Welfare at the Korea Coast Guard headquarters in Songdo, Incheon, and distributed the amount among 21 children of officers who died in the line of duty and 25 officers who were injured during anti-illegal fishing operations and emerg

SK Innovation’s wholly owned subsidiary SK IE Technology, which makes separators for electric vehicle batteries, said Tuesday it will seek an initial public offering. The separator is one of the four key components of a lithium-ion battery, along with the cathode, anode and electrolyte. According to SKIET, it sent letter of inquiry proposals to domestic and foreign stock firms to underwrite its IPO. “A specific timeline for the IPO hasn’t been decided yet. An underwriter

Korea Water Resources Corp., also known as K-water, said Tuesday it is joining hands with UNESCO to raise awareness on water management and its relationship to climate change. According to K-water, it will collaborate with the UNESCO International Centre for Water Security and Sustainable Management to run a summer program on water management for international students and water-related professionals from developing countries receiving official development assistance from the Organization for

GS Caltex said Monday it has launched drone delivery services at its gas stations on Jeju Island, utilizing them as logistics hubs. According to the South Korean oil refiner, drones will deliver daily necessities to customers living in rural areas after they place orders through the app of its convenience store chain GS25. “Gas stations are easy for cargo trucks to enter, have enough storage space and are located all across the country, making them suitable for logistics bases,&rdquo

Asiana Airlines said Sunday it has resumed flights to Hanoi after Vietnam exceptionally allowed 220 South Korean students to enter the country. Since March 22, Vietnam has suspended the entry of all foreigners to contain the spread of COVID-19. In February, Asiana made an emergency return as the Vietnamese government refused to allow the plane from Korea to land at Hanoi.　 Asiana said its OZ733 flight carrying 218 Korean students departed from Incheon International Airport at 9:20 a.m. on Su

Given the nationwide social distancing norms in place, South Koreans are playing more computer games and watching videos on mobile devices, data showed Sunday. According to a report from local market research firm Nielsen KoreanClick, Koreans spent 34 percent of their time playing games on PCs in the March-April period, an 11 percentage-point increase on-year, topping other activities. Meanwhile, Koreans spent less time on internet portals and search engines, with the ratio dropping from 26

The South Korean game censorship body on Thursday gave an ultimatum to foreign firms that are distributing products here without receiving government ratings, launching a surgical strike on popular cloud platform Steam. Steam is a video game digital distribution service that also supports games from third-party publishers, allowing users to download them after purchase. According to Game Rating and Administration Committee Thursday, the agency has recommended Steam to receive ratings on unr

An unexpected collaboration was announced last Sunday, when Hyundai Motor chose Hanwha Q Cells to reuse dead electric vehicle batteries to make energy storage systems. The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding to co-develop solar power ESS using dead batteries. The deal, to the extent of which was publicized, was seen to be rudimentary, without any size or volume of the collaboration. As there are already major global battery-making players in South Korea, Hyundai’s choice see

LG Chem said Wednesday it will power Vietnam’s first-ever electric vehicle, which can travel up to 500 kilometers on a single charge. According to LG Chem and local media, Vietnam’s first domestic carmaker VinFast will load its first EV models with lithium-ion batteries manufactured by LG Chem. “We expect to officially debut the model at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2020; launch a test program in January 2021 and mass produce the cars by July 2021,” a VinFas

Despite daunting competition against market giant China and tech-savvy Japan, South Korean battery makers -- LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation -- have been making headway in the global electric vehicle battery industry. In the first quarter this year, buoyed by several consequences including the COVID-19 pandemic, LG Chem even seized the top spot with a 27.1 percent share of the global market. But they may face a harsh shift in dynamics if they fall behind in developing next-generation

Finding the right talent for the right company has become harder than ever before as the COVID-19 outbreak has dealt a heavy blow to the global economy and created a massive pool of jobs seekers at the worst possible gridlock. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki called the slump in job markets “grave” as the number of employed people in South Korea stood at 26.56 million in April, 476,000 fewer than a year ago, marking the biggest on-year decline since February

South Korean bicycles maker Samchuly Bicycle said Monday its sales of electric bicycles have surged as people are looking for new ways to travel amid the coronavirus outbreak. According to the company, its sales of electric bicycles have surged 34 percent on-year in the first quarter as they can serve as an alternative to crowded public transportation. “Demand for electric bicycles as well as general bicycles has jumped as customers can minimize contact with other people when travelin

LG Chem said Friday the Indian police have restricted its special task force comprised of eight officials from boarding a chartered flight back to South Korea. According to the company, its special task force -- dispatched to India on May 13 in the aftermath of a deadly styrene gas leak at a LG Polymers plant -- was blocked by Andhra Pradesh state police on Tuesday from boarding a chartered plane back to Korea despite approval from the local aviation authorities. The flight returned to Korea

South Korean retail giant E-mart’s online store SSG.com said Friday it has witnessed a spike in its business as worried customers are shunning online grocery delivery platforms of Coupang and Market Kurly whose logistics centers reported virus infections recently. According to SSG.com, the number and sales of early morning deliveries on Friday jumped 14 percent and 37 percent, respectively, compared to last week after two Coupang employees and one Market Kurly employee working at their

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI said Friday it has started injecting capital into EcoPro EM, a joint venture with EcoPro BM, a supplier of electric vehicle battery materials to Samsung. According to Samsung SDI, it will fund a total of 120 billion won ($96.9 million) with EcoPro BM into EcoPro EM. Samsung SDI and EcoPro BM will contribute 48 billion won and 72 billion won, respectively, to control 40 percent and 60 percent of the JV, respectively. The JV is expected to begin construc

Hyundai Oilbank said Friday it has launched new mascots as it finalizes its acquisition of the gas station business of SK Networks. The South Korean oil refiner introduced three dinosaur mascots -- Gio, Dio and Kio -- named to represent its respective brands for gasoline, diesel and kerosene. It is poised to take over some 300 gas stations from SK Networks. The takeover is expected to allow Hyundai Oilbank to dethrone GS Caltex and become the second-biggest oil station following SK Energy a

South Korean livestreaming platform Afreeca TV faced criticism Thursday for its lackadaisical response to a recent sexual harassment case on its platform. On Wednesday, ChulGu, a popular online streamer on Afreeca TV, allegedly made sexually offensive comments to a female streamer called Adlyn while on a show together. “You’re so my type. You give me (explicit). I feel adrenaline shooting at one place,” ChulGu was seen as saying. The female streamer, looking visibly perple

Amorepacific said Thursday it has opened a pop-up store selling products made by single mom business owners at its headquarters to boost their sluggish sales amid the coronavirus outbreak. According to the South Korean cosmetics giant, some 250 staff and executives purchased a total 550 products at the store, which was stocked with items from Hope Stores run by single mom owners and delivered profits worth 27.5 million won ($20,180). Amorepacific paid half the price for every purchase made

Hanwha Q Cells said Thursday it will sponsor a local green energy competition to raise awareness on solar energy and deal with fine dust and climate change. According to South Korea’s No. 1 solar module maker, it will sponsor the 2nd K-Solar League, the Korean version of Germany’s Solar Bundesliga, a renewable energy drive since 2003 that ranks all regions in Germany by the amount of electricity generated by solar power and solar heat. This year, 17 regional local governments, 2

South Korean ICT company specializing in smart livestock health management uLikeKorea said Wednesday it has successfully developed a COVID-19 body patch system that can monitor symptoms, activity level and location related to the virus in real-time. According to uLikeKorea, the system was made with non-toxic and environmentally friendly materials that can be attached to the chest. It can detect temperature, pulse, activity level and location in real-time, it said. “ULikeKorea used the