Hyundai Motor Group has donated 5 billion won ($4.1 million) to Hope Bridge Association of the National Disaster Relief to support medical personnel and offer relief goods amid the quickly escalating COVID-19 outbreak across the country.  The donation was made to especially help people in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the company said.  Hyundai Motor Group and the Hope Bridge Association said the donation will be used to offer products needed for the prevention of epidemics a

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun has resigned as an inside executive director of the group’s steel affiliate, Hyundai Steel, the company said Wednesday.  Chung aims to focus on the group’s core automotive business as the group seeks to transform itself into a smart mobility solutions provider, according to the company.  Chung served in his executive role at Hyundai Steel since 2012 but rarely made an appearance at its executive directors’ me

Incheon International Airport Corp. began taking bids for existing airport duty-free operations on Wednesday, accepting proposals from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., industry sources said Wednesday. Eight duty-free operators including Shilla, Lotte, Shinsegae and midsized operators like SM which currently operate business over 11,645 square meters in the duty-free zone need to submit proposals including the bid price, if they wish to continue to operate. Their contracts end in August.  Beyond the bi

The South Korean government has decided to restrict the export of face masks until April 30, amid concerns that supplies are running short as COVID-19 spreads nationwide.  Manufacturers will be allowed to export up to 10 percent of the masks they produce each day.  The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Tuesday that the measure is authorized under Article 6 of the Price Stabilization Act, which stipulates that regulations can be adjusted in emergency situations. Mask manufacture

Kumho Tire said Tuesday three of its products had won 2019 Good Design Awards in the transportation design category.  The Good Design Awards is a global design competition which began in 1950, awarded by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design for the most innovative and cutting-edge industrial products and graphic designs of the year.  The Korean tire manufacturer said its tires Majesty 9, Ecsta PA51 and WinterCraft Wi51 have won the awards.  Majesty 9 is a ne

Delta Air Lines, the third-largest shareholder of Hanjin KAL which owns Korean Air, has bought 1 percent additional stake to support Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae, industry sources said Monday.  The US air carrier reportedly bought 114 shares of Hanjin KAL stake on Thursday and Friday via Goldman Sachs for around 60 billion won ($49 million). Delta now owns 11 percent stake in the holding firm of Hanjin Group.  Currently, local activist fund Korea Corporate Governance Improvemen

With global motor shows either being delayed or likely to be called off due to coronavirus concerns, automakers are likely to face setbacks in their plans to unveil their latest models, according to industry sources Sunday. Organizers of Asia’s largest auto event, Beijing Motor Show slated for April 21-30, have announced that it has been “indefinitely delayed.”  The event has been “postponed until further notice,” and a decision will be taken after closely w

Hyundai Motor’s global hydrogen advertisement featuring BTS is aired via Marriott Marquis Hotel’s digital signage display at Times Square in New York on Friday.  In the advertisement, which played for an hour, BTS members explained the company’s vision and efforts to achieve a future hydrogen society through its hydrogen fuel cell car Nexo. (ddd@heraldcorp.com)

Sitting 480 meters above sea level, Namhansanseong is a mountain fortress 25 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The fortress stretches 12 kilometers, and is said to have been built during the Unified Silla Kingdom in the seventh century. Namhansanseong’s significance as a fortress emerged in 1624 when King Injo designated the city to serve as an emergency capital and administrative center in the Joseon era in times of war. Namhansanseong is protected dually under the Cultural Heritag

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday that it has developed a self-controlling gearshift that measures traffic ahead and predicts optimized gearing, which it said is the first of its kind in the world. While existing smart drive modes work by learning the pattern of the drivers, the new information and communication technology-connected transmission system recognizes road situations and automatically changes gears for speed, the automaker said. The new technology will be adopted in upcoming models

Hanjin KAL, the holding firm of Hanjin Group which owns the country’s largest air carrier Korean Air, said Thursday that it has partnered with US startup accelerator Plug and Play for business diversification. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Plug and Play has previously clinched development partnerships with global information and communications technology firms including Google, PayPal, Dropbox and Logitech. It has also worked with Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Singapore Airlines and Americ

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday found Socar CEO Lee Jae-woong and VCNC CEO Park Jae-wook not guilty of violating transportation laws with their ride service that is strongly opposed by the taxi industry. Socar is the parent of VCNC, which runs Tada, an 11-seat van-hailing mobile app service. The court said in a ruling that Tada is seen as an “innovative mobility business” that cannot be categorized based on the existing transportation business frame.  &ldqu

Korean full-service carrier Asiana Airlines said Tuesday that all executives, including the CEO, have offered to resign to improve the company’s financial health, which has been severely hurt by the latest outbreak of the coronavirus that has cut into aviation services.  In a letter sent to Asiana employees, the air carrier’s CEO Han Chang-soo said that the company has activated an emergency business management due to the crisis following the epidemic outbreak.  Han said

Kim Chi-hoon, a former Korean Air executive director who was proposed as one of the inside directors for Hanjin Group, said Tuesday he was voluntarily resigning from the candidacy. His withdrawal deals a blow to a coalition formed by Hanjin Group heiress Cho Hyun-ah to counter her brother, Chairman Cho Won-tae, as Kim had been recommended by them. Kim reportedly said that he was “against what the coalition intends to do,” according to Hanjin KAL, the holding company of Hanjin Group

SsangYong Motor’s flagship sports utility vehicle Rexton Sports has sold more than 40,000 units annually for the second year in a row, the carmaker announced Monday.  This is the first time Ssangyong has sold over 40,000 units of an SUV brand two years in a row, the company said.  SsangYong Motor said 41,717 Rexton Sports vehicles were sold in 2018, accounting for 99.2 percent of the total number of pickup trucks sold in Korea that year. In 2019, a total of 41,328 Rexton Sport

  Mercedes-Benz has consistently commanded the top position in the South Korean imported vehicles market. Last year alone, it sold 78,133 units, led by its flagship sedan series E-Class. Compared to sedans, the German luxury automaker’s sport utility vehicles had taken a back seat. To expand its clout in the promising SUV sector, the automaker began bolstering its SUV lineup early this year, bringing back a facelifted version of the GLC compact SUV after four years. The GLC is on

Korean Air’s unionized workers on Friday warned against a coalition comprising a Korean Air heiress and activist fund Korea Corporate Governance Improvement.  In an apparent scheme to oust incumbent Chairman Cho Won-tae, former Korean Air Vice President Cho Hyun-ah and Hanjin Group’s largest and third-largest shareholders -- KCGI and Bando Construction -- said Thursday they are proposing eight figures, including former SK Group Vice Chairman Kim Shin-bae, as candidates for boar

The Netherlands’ flag carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines apologized Friday for banning South Koreans from using a restroom on a plane amid coronavirus concerns.  According to a Korean passenger onboard the KLM 855 flight bound for Incheon from Amsterdam on Monday, a hand-written note that read “cabin crew exclusive restroom” in Korean was posted on the door of a restroom. Koreans made up 135 out of 279 passengers on the plane.  When a passenger asked why the note wa

South Korean air carriers have been facing a tough time following the nationwide boycott of trips to Japan last year and the oil price hike, only to face a triple whammy with the novel coronavirus outbreak, forcing them to suspend almost 90 percent of their lucrative China routes.  According to industry sources, air carriers have been making all-out efforts to secure capital amid the dwindling number of passengers and continued business uncertainties led by external factors.  The co

Mercedes-Benz Korea on Wednesday began sales of the first sedan in its A-Class lineup -- unveiled during the Paris Motor Show in 2018 -- and also launched its second-generation premium coupe sedan, the new CLA 250 4matic.  Until now, the automaker sold only hatchback A-Class models, and said it has introduced the first sedan model to the lineup to expand its premium sedan range, which comprises C-Class, E-Class, CLS and S-Class.  The new A-Class lineup includes two models -- A 220 s