South Korean IT giant Naver has become an open target on Thursday for selling fashion items suggestive of Japanese outfits that were popular when Korea was under colonial rule on its metaverse platform Zepeto. Fashion items evidently inspired by styles that were trending during the 1912-26 Taisho era were on sale from Tuesday, according to users. Naver seems to have not considered the cultural and political context of such fashion items for Koreans, some argued. The Taisho era was a time of rel

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group opened its first Southeast Asian manufacturing plant in Indonesia on Wednesday, gearing up its drive to expand its presence in a region long dominated by Japanese rivals.  The plant, located in the Deltamas industrial complex 40 kilometers east of the capital city of Jakarta, has started mass production of Hyundai's flagship electric vehicle Ioniq 5, the first EV to be manufactured in the country, the carmaker said. It plans to invest 1.92 trillio

Stepping closer to a longtime dream of mankind, Volocopter, a Germany-based startup that develops electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, will start a commercial air taxi business in the next two years -- but overcoming regulatory hurdles and gaining public acceptance remains a challenge. “At this point, it is no longer a question of if electric air taxi services will come to cities around the world, but when,” said Hon Lung Chu, Head of Singapore and BD Southeast As

Hyundai Motor Group’s flagship electric vehicle model Ioniq 5 is now available for mobility subscription service from Hyundai Selection in metropolitan areas including Seoul. The Korean automaker said Sunday that Ioniq 5 will be offered as an option in the monthly program Regular pack. The model was only offered for the daily-subscription plan Special pack subscribers in Jeju and Busan.  Hyundai Motor said such service expansion will allow more customers to experience Ioniq 5, which

Price increases of metals essential for electric batteries could spell trouble for automakers who are already struggling to keep costs down in the face of supply chain disruptions, market insiders said Wednesday. The price of nickel is surging as Russia, a key supplier of the metal, faces extensive global sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. On Tuesday, the price of nickel doubled to $100,000 per metric ton, causing the London Metal Exchange to suspend trading for the rest of the day on wo

There are more female members in corporate boardrooms in South Korea this year, as a revised law obliging big companies to improve gender diversity is due to take effect in August. But the presence of women executives yielding actual management power is still far from the global average, a survey and data showed Tuesday. Of the 104 outside directors set to start their terms in the first half of this year, 45 are female, according to data from market tracker Leaders Index.  Out of 73 execu

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday that it will make a $1 million donation to the Red Cross to aid their support for people in war-hit Ukraine. “As the humanitarian situation worsens in Ukraine, it is clear many vulnerable people and communities are in need of urgent assistance,” Hyundai Motor said in a statement. South Korea conglomerates like Samsung, SK, Kakao earlier announced that they have made contributions to aid Ukraine. By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)

The South Korean government decided to keep the current fuel tax cuts for another three months until July amid concerns that the war in Ukraine could propel energy prices.  In November last year, the government lowered fuel taxes by a record 20 percent in a bid to tame inflationary pressure. The measure was set to expire at the end of April. A 20 percent cut equals to a reduction of 164 won per liter of gasoline and 116 won per liter of diesel.  In a meeting on product price and in

Han Sung Motor, an official dealer of Mercedes-Benz Korea, said Friday that it has clinched a contract to sponsor three breakdancers. The sponsorship is part of a new project called WANNA.B by Han Sung Motor. It was established this year to support B-boy and B-girls to achieve what they want to become in the future. Through such a project, Han Sung Motor said it will launch more activities to expand the realm of breakdance and facilitate communication with millennials and Generation Z. 

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday that its flagship electric model Ioniq 5 has received a higher score than Mercedes-Benz EQB from German automotive magazine AutoBild’s review. The carmaker said AutoBild compared the two models based on seven categories -– body, comfort, powertrain, driving dynamics, connected car, environment and cost -– along with 53 subcategories. Out of 800 points, Ioniq 5 received 582 points, 20 points more than the EQB.  Ioniq 5 received higher poin

Kia Motors, a sister company of Hyundai Motor, is aiming to sell 4 million vehicles globally by 2030, with half of them being eco-friendly models, the company said on Thursday. The carmaker will expand the portion of electric vehicles and hybrids in overall sales from the current 17 percent to 52 percent by 2030. For markets with state-supportive policies for EVs –- Korea, North America, Europe and China -- Kia said it will pull up its EV and hybrid sales portion up to 78 percent by 2030

Hyundai Motor has set a new sales target of its electric vehicles at 1.87 million units a year, aiming to secure 7 percent of global EV market share in the next eight years. Such a goal would have EVs turning into a major cash cow for the carmaker over combustion engine cars, as the portion of battery-powered vehicles in overall sales will rise to 36 percent, the carmaker said in a statement released on Wednesday. By expanding the production of EVs, Hyundai hopes to generate bigger margins of

The number of deaths at workplaces due to safety accidents has fallen compared to a year ago after the country enforced a strengthened industrial safety act, according to government data.  The Labor Ministry data showed that from Jan. 27 to Feb. 26, a total of 42 people died from 35 fatal industrial safety accidents, compared to 52 deaths from 52 accidents that occurred over the same period last year.  In a one month period, 18 workers in the manufacturing industry lost their lives,

PLANA, a South Korean startup developing vertical take-off and landing aircraft powered by hybrid e-powertrain, shared its vision for advanced air mobility, or AAM, with its unique model at the 2022 Drone Show Korea that ended Saturday.  Plana CEO Braden J. Kim, who studied aerospace engineering and holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering, founded the company in July last year. He most recently worked at Hyundai Motor Group’s urban aircraft mobility development team.  In h

Hyundai Motor Group’s electric SUV models Ioniq 5 and EV6 have been picked as the most competitive electric SUVs in a ranking by the German automotive magazine Auto Zeitung, beating the same segment models from Mercedes-Benz, Tesla and Polestar, the carmaker said. Auto Zeitung’s latest edition compared Hyundai’s Ioniq 5, Kia’s EV6, Polestar’s Polestar 2, Tesla’s Model Y and Mercedes-Benz’s EQB, based on the categories of driving comfort, powertrain, dr

Starbucks Korea said Sunday that it has donated a piece of calligraphy by Manhae Han Yong-un, a 20th century Korean Buddhist reformer and poet who also fought for Korea’s independence, to the National Trust for Cultural Heritage to mark the 103th anniversary of Korea’s Independence Movement Day that falls on March 1.  The writing, which reads “Jeon Dae Beob Ryun,” has the meaning that a world of great truth does not settle but constantly evolves. As the only piece

Posco Chemical, the battery and chemical materials manufacturing arm of Posco Group, said Sunday it will expand investment in low-expansion anodes, a material needed for electric vehicle batteries. Low-expansion anodes are uniquely developed by Posco Chemical that enhance the safety, lifespan and charging speed but at a more affordable price, according to the company.  The production expansion plan from the current 7,000 metric tons to 35,000 tons was approved by the board of directors o

Hyundai Motor Group’s hydrogen-powered fuel cell bus Elecity FCEV provides public transport in Vienna in this picture released Sunday.  Austria’s public transportation corporation Wiener Linien began running the eco-friendly bus on its most crowded bus route, according to Hyundai.  The Korean carmaker’s supply of Elecity FCEV is part of the Austrian government-led hydrogen infrastructure expansion project called HyBus Project. Starting with the delivery of three E

Posco Group has been left baffled over calls from political circles and local communities not to establish a new holding company in Seoul, and to stay in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, where the firm was initially founded as a state-run enterprise in 1968.  All four leading presidential candidates have publicly urged Posco -- which will officially launch a new holding firm on March 2 -- to remain in its birthplace of Pohang for the sake of balanced regional development. Posco has den

HDC Group’s construction arm HDC Hyundai Development Co. said Wednesday that it has appointed its vice president Jung Ik-hee as its new Chief Safety Officer. Jung, 56, joined the firm in 1995 and has overseen the management at major construction sites until 2019. In 2020, he served an executive role to manage the local projects and engineering technology with his experience on sites.  HDC Hyundai Development Co. said the new CSO was named as part of safety improvement efforts driven