Hyundai Elevator said Monday that its smart floor indicator has won Japan’s Good Design Award 2023, one of the four major international design awards. Launched last November, PI-DD is a smart floor indicator that purifies and sterilizes the air inside the elevator. The display device, sterilizer and air filter are all hidden behind the stainless metal perforated sheet that naturally matches the interior design of the elevator. The device draws in contaminated air through holes in the hidde

South Korean energy-to-retail conglomerate GS Group announced Monday that it is searching for startups and future entrepreneurs to join its incubator program it runs with Seoul National University. “The GS Challenges with SNU” is a joint program with Seoul Techno Holdings, which supports the commercialization of SNU's in-school technology. It provides local startups the opportunities to meet diverse actors outside the business for solutions. Startups with less than five years of

South Korean food manufacturer Samyang Foods said Friday it would launch a new tom yum flavor of its bestseller Buldak Spicy Chicken Ramen series in the US market later this year. Featuring the traditional Thai hot and sour soup, tom yum, the new export-version of Buldak targeted Asians as well as big fans of Asian food in the United States. It blended the tangy, sweet and sour flavor of Thai soup with spicy chicken noodles and also added lemongrass and cilantro to complete the iconic tom yum ta

Visitors browse a preview of the Nintendo pop-up store in Seoul at HDC IPark Mall in Yongsan, central Seoul, Thursday, a day before its official opening. The pop-up, operating from Oct. 20 to 26, is the first official Nintendo goods store opened in South Korea. Video game enthusiasts will have the opportunity to purchase unique and limited-edition merchandise previously available only at stores in Japan, as well as experience the latest game, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which released Friday. (Y

South Korean oil refiner S-Oil announced Thursday that it has joined forces with Shinhan Bank to bolster its transition to achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two on Wednesday, the Korean lender will support S-Oil in reducing its carbon footprint in the refining industry, one of the key contributors in global greenhouse gas emissions. As the industry is calling for prompt action to tackle carbon emissions, the agreement will be an opport

SK Group has opened registrations for its annual tech conference, the SK Tech Summit 2023, which will be held on its largest scale ever, the telecom carrier SK Telecom said on Wednesday. Under the theme of “AI Everywhere for a Better Future,” the SK Tech Summit 2023 is scheduled to take place from Nov. 16 to 17 at Coex in southern Seoul. A total of 17 subsidiaries under the conglomerate, including SK Telecom, will prepare sessions, exhibitions and additional activities featuring

Seoul-based private equity firm MBK Partners Founder and Chairman Michael Byung-ju Kim has offered a donation to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to promote Korean art in the museum, the firm said Tuesday. The donation is part of the Korean Art Initiatives project, which was devised to honor the 25th anniversary of the Arts of Korea gallery at the museum, along with the Korea Foundation and the Samsung Foundation of Culture. Scholarships and educational programs will help to bolster th

South Korean chemical and battery materials manufacturer Posco Future M has achieved 100 percent recycling of refractory waste, gaining a foothold in green transformation, the company said Monday. Usually, in the shape of bricks, refractories are solid materials that can withstand high temperatures, preventing the heat of metal from damaging the steelmaking furnaces. Posco Future M used to bury refractory waste in landfills, as recycling was only limited to refractories made of renewable sources

South Korea’s top wire and cable maker, LS Cable & System Asia, has secured a partnership with a Vietnamese state-run company as part of its bid to foray into the underwater cable market in Southeast Asia. LS Cable & System Asia announced Thursday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding for a submarine cable business partnership with PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation, a subsidiary of Vietnam-owned oil and gas group, PetroVietnam. PTSC provides the technical servi

Leading South Korean conglomerates with affiliates in Israel, including Samsung Electronics, are keeping a close watch on the heightened conflict in the Middle East, a report by corporate tracker Korea CXO Institute showed Thursday. Among the nation’s 82 companies with more than 5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) in assets, four conglomerates, including Samsung, SK, LG and OCI, operate subsidiaries in Israel, owning at least a 50 percent stake in the affiliates. Samsung has the largest number o

South Korean oil refiner GS Caltex announced Thursday that it has secured a partnership with Posco International to expand their presence in the biofuel industry, accelerating efforts toward a green transformation. The agreement was signed at the Posco Center in Gangnam, Seoul, Thursday, with top executives including GS Caltex CEO Hur Sae-hong and Posco International Vice Chairman and CEO Jeong Tak in attendance. Through a joint venture, the two will build the new refinery facility in Kalimantan

Choi Se-yeong, a student at Gimhae Bunsung High School, delivered congratulatory remarks for The Korea Herald’s Humanity in Tech Forum as a representative of future scientists moving forward for the nation’s space industry. “I would like to first express my heartfelt gratitude for giving such an exceptional opportunity to speak at this huge forum,” said Choi at The Shilla Seoul on Wednesday. As part of an experiment last month, students at Aircraft -- an aerospace enginee

DB Robotics, a first-generation robot developer in South Korea, has revealed the nation’s first hybrid electric rollator that also converts into a wheelchair, the company said Tuesday. Compared to a standing walker, the new electric rollator has motors around each of its four wheels, enabling individuals with limited mobility to leave their house freely. Even on an incline, the electric motors accelerate, allowing the wheels to move up the slope without additional effort. In order to preve

SK C&C, the IT solutions unit of SK Group, announced Thursday it has newly invested in San Francisco-based industrial software startup Glassdome, as part of its efforts to expand its net-zero business and bolster ties with related tech firms. The number of shares it acquired was not disclosed due to deal conditions. The investment is an extension of SK’s extensive partnerships with global tech startups, with the aim of launching IT services and taking a step forward to digital transfor

In the upcoming Korean Thanksgiving holiday of Chuseok, the first since the official end of the three-year pandemic, South Koreans are eyeing travel to Japan while giving fruit as gifts, a recent analysis showed Tuesday. According to a big data analysis on social media of 2023 Chuseok trends conducted by KPR digital communication lab, there is a growing interest in overseas travel as well as gifts that reflect consumers' personal values. The data revealed an increase in keyword searches rel

South Koreans are more likely to travel domestically than abroad during the upcoming six-day Chuseok holiday, the longest in six years, a recent survey showed Wednesday. According to a weekly survey on travel plans and patterns conducted by the research firm Consumer Insight, among respondents going on trips during the Chuseok break, 16 percent plan to go on domestic trips while 4 percent plan to travel abroad. The survey was conducted on some 2,000 Koreans between two to five weeks before the C

South Korean retail giant and the nation’s fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group has carried on diverse corporate social responsibility projects this year, under the slogan “From heart to heart." Earlier this month, Lotte hosted the “17th Korea Brand Expo” in Jakarta, Indonesia, bringing together small and medium-sized enterprises looking to enter the local market. Over four days, it provided business counseling for 50 Korean enterprises, giving tips about Indonesia

Manpower Korea, the global workforce solutions provider with over two decades of experience, offers a thorough, strategic reference check service, one of the most important phases in the hiring process. Reference checks are conducted to learn more about candidates’ background, experiences and skills, assessing their eligibility and potential for certain positions. The Korean branch of ManpowerGroup shared two examples that showed how vital the role of methodical, expert-led reference check

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the nation’s leading mutual financial institution, said Tuesday it has successfully hosted a regional workshop in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific last week. Under the theme of digital inclusion and community development, the two-day event discussed the solutions to achieve Sustainable Development Goals -- a universal call to end poverty and inequality by the UN -- through d

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the nation’s leading mutual financial institution, said Friday it had further expanded its global financial inclusion model for developing countries, allowing greater access to financial services that can help them alleviate poverty. “Under the Sustainable Development Goals, a universal call to end poverty and inequality by the United Nations, we will continue to practice environmental, social and corporate governance effort