Korea Petroleum Association Chairman Kim Hyo-seok died at the age of 70 on Saturday from chronic illness. He was born July 15, 1949 in Jangseong, South Jeolla Province. The location of the funeral is Seoul St. Mary’s Funeral Hall. The burial will take place at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Yongin Rodem Park in Gyeonggi Province. The three-term lawmaker was appointed as the chairman of KPA in November 2017. After earning bachelor’s degree in business administration in Seoul National Uni

The Korea International Trade Association on Sunday released a report defining the new consumption trend amid the coronavirus pandemic, encouraging local companies to prepare accordingly. Defining the new trend as “five Fs,” KITA said the market trend would revolve around fun, fitness, family, economic freedom and faith. The report pointed to the physical and psychological weariness caused by the pandemic. “Amid the virus outbreak, fake news reports increased rapidly, whi

The Fair Trade Commission Sunday added five more business groups to its list of corporations with total assets of 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) or more to its watch list, but said the firms’ net profits had almost halved since last year. According to FTC Sunday, the business groups suffered a 48.1 percent on-year plunge in net income in 2019, from 92.5 trillion won to 48 trillion won, citing sluggish sales in semiconductors and petroleum products The groups’ total revenue dipped

Nexon Korea is upping its game by bringing actors and actresses who starred in “Itaewon Class” -- a webcomic-turned-TV drama -- into first-person shooter game Sudden Attack. Nexon Korea said Wednesday it has introduced game characters modeled on Park Seo-joon, Yoo Jae-myung, Kim Dong-hee, Kim Da-mi and Kwon Nara, who play Park Sae-ro-yi, Jang Dae-hee, Jang Geun-soo, Jo Yi-seo and Oh Soo-ah in “Itaewon Class,” respectively. The final episode of “Itaewon Class&r

The South Korean government said Wednesday it had arranged two chartered cargo flights to help businesses facing difficulties in sending or receiving deliveries to and from China and Indonesia. The flights were each assigned for delivery to Chongquig in China and Jakarta in Indonesia, the routes of which have been disrupted amidst the coronavirus outbreak. The measure was jointly prepared by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association. The roundt

Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis said Wednesday its second research and development center in India has begun full operation, working on the development of automotive software for driverless vehicles. According to Hyundai Mobis, the second R&D center has been established in a new IT industrial complex adjacent to the company’s existing R&D center in Hyderabad, India, to focus on the development of a control system for self-driving cars and recognition algorithms for sensor techno

South Korea’s SK Innovation said Tuesday it will invest $727 million for the construction of its second battery plant in Georgia. The battery maker will begin construction of its second electric vehicle battery plant with 11.7-gigawatt-hour capacity in Georgia in July and initiate mass production starting 2023, it said. “While the global community faces challenging times, SK Innovation believes it is important to continue making strategic investments to drive economic growth and

Korea Aerospace Industries said Wednesday it has donated 10,000 coronavirus test kits to Indonesia as a sign of solidarity amid the global pandemic. The defense company and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering together donated 10,000 coronavirus test kits to Indonesia, which was the first export destination of KAI’s KT-1 and T-50 trainer aircraft. Also, it is the first country DSME exported submarines to. “Korea and Indonesia maintain an amicable relationship in various

The novel coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the power dynamics of the trade relationship between European automakers and South Korean battery makers, according to industry sources and market watchers. Though electric vehicle battery manufacturers are typically in a position to lure orders from automakers, the recent shortage of battery supplies exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak has given Korean battery giants -- LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation -- more bargaining power at the neg

South Korean chemical and battery firm LG Chem on Tuesday reported a swing to operating profit of 236.5 billion won ($192.7 million) in the first quarter by minimizing losses in its battery business. The Korean battery manufacturer cut its operating loss in the battery business by 80 percent to 51.8 billion won in the first quarter from 249.6 billion in the fourth quarter last year despite factory shutdowns from automaker clients amid the coronavirus epidemic. “Though the effects of

S-Oil on Monday reported a swing to an operating loss of more than 1 trillion won ($815 million) in the first quarter due to a sharp fall in oil prices amid the COVID-19 outbreak, recording the worst figure since the company started business in 1976. The Korean refiner posted an operating loss of some 1,007,300,000,000 won in the first quarter from 270.4 billion won from the same period last year. The company’s revenue dipped 4.2 percent to 5.1 trillion won on-year. “The loss w

The government is increasing efforts to make the logistics industry here greener. The Ministry of Environment said Friday it will be providing subsidies for 8,200 electric cargo trucks to reduce fine dust and carbon emissions. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with two automakers and five logistics firms -- Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors as well as CJ Logistics, Hanjin, Lotte Global Logistics, DHL Korea and Hyundai Glovis -- to put more environment-friendly electric cargo trucks on t

South Korean solar panel maker Hanwha Q Cells topped both residential and commercial solar power module markets in the US last year, industry data showed Sunday. Hanwha Q Cells controlled 25.2 and 13.3 percent of each sector last year, up 11.1 and 5 percentage points on-year, respectively, becoming the first solar power module manufacturer to top both markets since 2013, according to data compiled by energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. “With unrivaled technology and quality, Hanwh

South Korean pharmaceutical company Kainos Medicine said Friday that it had recently signed a contract with a domestic research facility in its efforts to develop a new drug to treat the coronavirus. By analyzing cells infected with coronaviruses -- including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 -- the lab will test the antiviral efficacy of the compound developed by Kainos Medicine. “Kainos Medicine’s self-developed compound has a similar mechanism and chemical structure with thos

South Korean game company Nexon said Thursday it will fix the faulty system of its online PC soccer game “EA Sports FIFA Online 4” in a move to sooth users that have warned of boycott. Nexon will readjust the system designed to benefit newly released game characters, which consequently brought down the price of existing game characters, drawing a barrage of criticisms from users who had faced depreciation. Currently, FIFA Online 4 operates under a “payroll system.” T

Computers are back on the list of South Korea’s top 10 export items as remote work becomes the new normal amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Korea International Trade Association on Thursday, Korea’s exports of personal computers and laptops in the first quarter recorded $3.1 billion, accounting for 2.4 percent of the $130.8 billion total, making computers the country’s No. 9 export item. They had dropped out of the top 10 in 2019. Computer exports increased o

South Korean bullet maker Poongsan is getting a boost in sales on the back of soaring gun demand in the US amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. According to the Korea International Trade Association, Korea’s bullet exports to the US witnessed a record high of $4.51 million in March, a 1,062 percent surge on-year. In the first quarter, bullet exports to the US spiked 653 percent on-year to $8.6 million, which accounts for 73.4 percent of $11.7 million in total bullet exports to the US in

South Korea might lose investments worth 10 trillion won ($8.1 billion) for its industrial complex project, as major refiners are struggling to find a middle ground over land prices before even beginning the project. South Chungcheong Province currently plans to transform 2.91 million square meters of land in Daesan industrial complex No. 2 and surrounding areas in the city of Seosan into an advanced chemical industrial plant. The project is expected to bring investments worth 10 trillion won

The COVID-19 outbreak has only accelerated the transition to electric vehicles, as major automakers stay on course for the change, benefiting Korean battery makers along the way. Despite resistance from internal combustion engine industries in Europe and the US citing market struggles from the pandemic, key auto brands are using the situation as an opportunity to take out their ill-prepared competition. The move consequently has brightened the outlook for Korean electric vehicle battery giant

South Korean chemical and tech materials firm SKC said Monday it would mass produce mask blanks this year, tackling the key material’s heavy reliance on Japanese suppliers. SKC, an affiliate of memory chip giant SK hynix, is testing a prototype of a high-end mask blank -- a core material for semiconductor production that relies 90 percent on Japanese supplies -- with domestic firms and will begin the mass production of the material in the second of this year, according to the company.