LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it is promoting the film "Okja" that has received acclaim at home and abroad, with its latest organic light-emitting diode TV.LG Electronics said the LG Signature OLED TV W will provide the most optimized environment for audiences of the film. (Yonhap)The South Korean tech giant said its cutting-edge TV sets support both Dolby Vision display and Dolby Atmos sound systems, providing viewers with theatre-like experiences.The sci-fi film was co-produced by three Holl

Korea will start the construction of a new 3,000-ton submarine for the Navy, the state arms procurement agency said Friday.The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said a steel-cutting ceremony for the third submarine in the Jangbogo-III project will be held at the shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, some 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul, later in the day. An image of a submarine to be built in the Jangbogo-III Batch-I program in a photo provided by the Defense Acquisition Prog

Samsung Electronics Co. showcased new solutions in the entertainment and signage business helped by its takeover of US automotive electronics firm Harman International Industries Inc., business sources said Friday.New solutions introduced through the collaboration between the South Korean tech giant and Harman also include a hotel system, which adopted Samsung's motion sensor, along with Harman's voice recognition system, allowing clients to control curtains and other facilities in their rooms. 

South Korea's main stock index retreated from an all-time high Friday, tracking declines on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 12.5 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,383.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 1.67 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor remained flat, and top steelmaker POSCO slipped 0.53 percent.The local currency was trading at 1,146.75 won against the U.S. 

South Korea's industrial output gained ground in May from a month earlier on a turnaround in production of semiconductors, government data showed Friday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries edged up 0.2 percent on-month last month, rebounding from a 2.2 percent on-month drop in April, according to the data by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)From a year earlier, the figure also climbed 0.1 percent last month as a gain in machinery and electronic parts was offset by a

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., a major shipyard here, said Friday that it has launched the world's largest offshore plant after five years of construction.In June 2011, along with France's Technip, the shipyard clinched a $3.4 billion deal from Shell to build the floating LNG production facility, named Prelude FLNG. This photo, provided by Samsung Heavy Industries Co., shows the world's largest offshore platform ever built, the Prelude FLNG. (Yonhap)The floater, 488 meters long and 74 meters wide

A business center that helps Korean content production companies advance in Japan opened in Tokyo Thursday.The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency ran the center's opening ceremony at the Korean Cultural Center inside the Korean Embassy in the city. The center is expected to assist Korean content businesses by providing them with meeting venues and various services for exhibition and promotion. It will, in particular, be used to introduce Korea's latest

The police said Thursday that a woman was found dead behind a flower bed located in the parking lot of a church in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. The body of the woman in her 20s was found in a small enclosed concrete circular frame near the church at around 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The flower bed was a meter away from a pedestrian walkway and there were three security cameras at the location. However, no footage was available as the cameras turned out to be fake.(Yonhap)The police said that

Bank lending rates on new household loans inched up in May and interest rates paid by banks on new deposits remained unchanged, central bank data showed Thursday.The average interest rates on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 3.47 percent in May, up 0.06 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The BOK data came amid South Korea's efforts to tackle rising household debt. South Korea's household debt stood at 1,359.7 trillion won ($1.2 trillion)

The amount of payments made electronically hit a record high in the first quarter, central bank data showed Thursday, in the latest sign that a growing number of South Koreans are using online means to conduct financial transactions.The daily average amount of electronic financial transactions came to 432.6 billion won ($379.8 million) in the January-March period, up 11.7 percent from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.The figure is the highest reached since the c

South Korea does not face an imminent crisis over its growing household debt, but it needs to address some inevitabilities, foreign economists said Wednesday.South Korea's household debt stood at 1,359.7 trillion won ($1.2 trillion) as of end-March, a dramatic increase from 665 trillion won at the end of 2007, according to the Bank of Korea.The ratio of South Korea's household debt to gross domestic product came to 92.8 percent as of end-2016, up 4.7 percentage points from a year earlier, accord

A private think tank urged the government Wednesday to exempt taxes on income earned by South Korean multinationals abroad so they can easily repatriate funds that can fuel investment in the country."The core of the new US administration's tax reform revealed in April is centered on the country moving away from an extraterritorial or residence tax regime to that of a source base system so that dues are only levied on income incurred domestically," Lim Dong-won, a researcher at the Kore

South Korean stocks slumped on Wednesday, retreating from the previous session's all-time high, as foreign investors remained net sellers. The Korean won declined against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index declined 9.39 points, or 0.39 percent, to close at 2,382.56. Trade volume was moderate at 340 million shares worth 5.79 trillion won ($5.06 billion). The local stock market opened lower with subdued sentiment after a key vote on US President Donald Trump's heal

South Korean electronics firm LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it plans to tap deeper into the global chiller market currently dominated by U.S. rivals.The South Korean tech giant said the chiller market could become a new growth engine for its air-conditioning business, claiming that its sales will grow 10 percent annually down the road. A worker stands in LG Electronics Inc.'s production facility of chillers, located in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, in this photo released by the company on Jun

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday showcased its own image sensor brand dubbed ISOCELL, tapping deeper into the sector amid the rising demand from the Internet of Things industry.The South Korean tech giant said it introduced the brand during the Mobile World Congress Shanghai. Image sensors refer to system chips which detect images and transmit them into electronic signals. (Yonhap)Market watchers said Samsung's move to launch the ISOCELL brand came amid the rising demand for the products fro

South Korean shares traded lower late Wednesday morning as sentiment subdued after a key vote on US President Donald Trump's healthcare reform was delayed. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.17 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,385.78 as of 11:20 a.m.Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 1.37 percent and global chipmaker SK hynix down 1.59 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.31 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors traded

Insurance firms in South Korea are required to gradually increase their capital reserves from the end of this year, the financial regulator said Wednesday, in the latest step to help them better cope with changes in global accounting rules.South Korea is one of more than 100 nations that will adopt the new global bookkeeping standard or the International Financial Reporting Standards 17, starting in January 2021. When adopted, some insurers in South Korea will face capitalization pressure b

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., South Korea's top power equipment maker, traded sharply lower Wednesday after the government said it would halt the construction of two nuclear reactors for three months in order to gauge public opinion on the atomic power generation.Doosan Heavy stocks were trading at 20,600 won ($18) on the Seoul bourse as of 1:30 p.m., down 4.63 percent from the previous session's close and nearing their lowest level in one year. (Yonhap)On Tuesday, the government s

South Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group said Wednesday it plans to create a consultative body to boost business efficiency for its retail affiliates.The retail giant said the group will be comprised of teams in charge of procurement, facility, design, public relations and new businesses at its 14 retail-related affiliates.Employees enter a Lotte Group office building in downtown Seoul on Aug. 26, 2016. (Yonhap)The plan is aimed at improving business efficiency and maintaining consis

South Korea's chipmaking and petrochemical sectors are positioned to benefit the most from the ongoing global economic recovery, with the sectors' exports expected to remain bullish moving forward, a report showed on Wednesday.IBK Economic Research Institute, a research arm of Industrial Bank of Korea, said in the report that small and mid-sized firms in the sectors are poised to gain from the upward business cycle.The country's exports of computer chips reached $20.2 billion in the first quarte