Korea’s resource developers should boost investment and productivity to ensure stable energy supplies and better cope with price swings, a think tank warned. Despite a recent upsurge in investment by state-run utilities and trading firms, their competitiveness remains weak compared to with their international peers due to a lack of technological knowhow and experience and passive risk taking, Samsung Economic Research Institute said in a report released last week.“Korea is in urgent need of its

Pan-governmental measures include a new petrol  supplier, tax breaks for discount gas stations and electronic trading Samsung Total Petrochemicals Co. is set to break into the tightly controlled retail petrol market as part of the government’s across-the-board drive to rein in skyrocketing gas prices and revamp Korea’s fuel supply structure. A pan-governmental task force headed by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy unveiled the proposal on Thursday, which also envisages an upsurge in electronic t

GS Group chairman Huh Chang-soo on Wednesday emphasized the corporation’s role in promoting fair competition and corporate citizenship to build public trust and attain sustainable growth.He pledged to scale up the Korean conglomerate’s social contribution programs and foster co-prosperity with its smaller suppliers and subcontractors.“Being accepted as a respectable corporate citizen is as critical as running a successful business,” Huh said in a meeting with executives in Seoul. “That’s what we

Hyundai Heavy Industries has grabbed $120 million worth of orders for earth-moving equipment at a trade fair in Europe, the world’s largest shipbuilder said Tuesday.In the deals, the Korean firm will supply 1,050 excavators and 450 wheel loaders to companies from around the world. But the number and nationality of its clients are unclear because some of the contracts were signed through agents, a company spokesperson said. The orders came while the shipbuilder is taking part in the Intermat 2012

CEO vows to turn Paju R&D into high-tech display meccaLG Display announced Tuesday that it opened a research and development center which would focus on developing next-generation display panels, including the organic light-emitting diode displays, in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.Built on 68,572 square meters of land, the 15-story building will bring together researchers and developers as well as those involved in OLED projects for better performance, according to company officials.According to an LG

 Before sunrise on March 8 in Myeong-dong, one of Seoul’s top shopping districts, dozens of people lined up in front of an H&M store. Some had spent the night on the street. They were waiting to get limited edition clothing from a collaboration between H&M’s specialty retailer and premium brand Marni. Freezing weather was not their first concern. The “Marni at H&M” edition went on sale that day globally and were sold out in Korea a few hours after the store opened. According to the companies, Ko

Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee said Tuesday he will not back down in the inheritance battle with his siblings, vowing that he will even take it to the Constitutional Court.“If they file suits against me, I will take the same actions and I am even thinking of going to the Constitutional Court, taking it a step further than the Supreme Court,” he said. “I have no intention of giving them any money.”Indicating that the property-sharing already took place between the siblings, CJ Group has

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. chief executive Kim Jong-shin stepped down on Monday amid simmering criticism over recent power outages and cover-up attempts an atomic plant. His resignation will be accepted by Cheong Wa Dae and the selection process for his successor will be under way soon, Knowledge Economy Minister Hong Suk-woo said. “I’ll try naming his successor quickly so as not to create a vacuum in the company’s operations,” Hong told reporters at a meeting. The country’s sole nuclear pl

Farmers in North Jeolla Province are stepping up efforts to spur exports of food and beverages made with “bokbunja,” a wild blackberry indigenous to the region, to carve out a niche market and foster the local economy.The Jebba Food & Beverages Corp. was launched in early 2011 to spearhead their campaign, representing bokbunja growers in Gochang, Sunchang and Jeongeup in the country’s southwest. The wild fruit has been a major part of the region’s agriculture since its residents first started cu

Bokbunja, a Korean wild black raspberry, has for decades been widely consumed by local residents around the country. Its popularity has been increasing in recent years due to its supposed antioxidant, anticancer and beauty effects. The market for bokbunja-based food and beverages has grown nearly five-fold in seven years to about 200 billion won last year, according to the Jebba Food & Beverages Corp., a guild of bokbunja growers in North Jeolla Province. The fruit contains four times as much an

Korea on Friday proposed a sweeping overhaul of its nuclear industry to shore up its global competitiveness and restore public confidence in one of its biggest sources of electricity. The plan, sketched out by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, focuses on notching up safety of the country’s 23 reactors and rooting out recurrent breakdowns that stoked jitters in light of the Fukushima meltdown in 2011. The measures were also designed to facilitate the government’s ambition to boost atomic power t

Hanwha Group has launched a research institute on solar power in the U.S. to develop related technologies and boost its charge into the fledgling industry, the Korean corporation said Friday.Hanwha Solar America in Silicon Valley in California will carry out research programs on photovoltaic cells and other next-generation technologies, the group said. The conglomerate runs two similar institutes in Korea and China. “Our ongoing investment in solar energy depicts the group’s firm belief and conf

BMW Korea is recalling nearly 19,800 cars due to flawed battery cables that could cause fires, the country’s Transportation Ministry said Thursday.The recall applies to 17 models of its 5 Series and two each from the 6 Series and M Series manufactured between April 2003 and March 2010, according to the local unit of the world’s largest premium automaker.The announcement comes on the heels of the Munich-based group’s largest-ever recall in late March involving about 1.3 million vehicles for a pot

Philip Morris International Korea said Thursday it plans to lower the prices of its Virginia Slims brand by almost 14 percent to better compete with other superslim cigarettes. Starting April 23, the Virginia Slims will be sold at 2,500 won ($2.20) a pack, down from the current 2,900 won, the Korean unit of the U.S. tobacco giant said. The Esse, the top-selling ultraslim cigarettes by KT&G Corp., also has the same price tag. Its 17 varieties together control about 80 percent in the segment here

Korea’s oil spot market hit a snag just two weeks after its launch as refiners, traders and vendors appear lukewarm about the electronic bourse aimed at boosting transparency and competition in the local petrol market. Since March 30, a mere 10 transactions have been at the Korea Exchange, the completed country’s bourse operator, with trading volumes staying at 300,000 liters. Only 120,000 liters of gasoline was sold via four deals, which were initiated by importers. The trading scheme is the la

A Korean Air passenger jet heading to Seoul made an emergency landing at a Canadian Air Force base after receiving a bomb threat, the country’s flag carrier said Wednesday. Its Boeing 777-200 was diverted at around 7:40 a.m. Korean time when the airline’s U.S. call center received the threat by phone 25 minutes after it departed from Vancouver, a company spokesperson said from Seoul. A Korean Air spokesperson in Los Angeles said the caller warned that an explosive was aboard the airliner. All th

Public discontent escalates as sky-high crude prices eclipse markdown effectsThe government is stepping up its push for discount gas stations to help lighten household utility bills despite continuing skepticism over its efficacy and state intervention in petrol prices. State-backed self-serves are a showpiece of the government’s battle against skyrocketing oil costs and a supply oligopoly by major refiners. It aims to set up some 1,300 outlets by 2015, of which about 430 are in operation now. W

There is no stopping the Korean cosmetics market. The value of the cosmetics market grew to 8.9 trillion won ($7.9 billion) in 2011 from 5.6 trillion won in 2006, an annual average increase of 10.4 percent. Even when the economy came to a near-standstill with GDP growing 0.3 percent in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis, the domestic cosmetics market grew 11.8 percent, proving itself to be recession-resistant.The rapid growth derives from new dynamics in the cosmetics industry. Risi

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering’s new chief executive Ko Jae-ho has been named to head the Korean Shipbuilders’ Association, the trade body said Monday.Ko, 57, will take over the remaining term of Nam Sang-tae, the association’s former chairman who resigned after his two terms ended at DSME, until March 18, 2013. Ko took office at the world’s second-largest shipbuilder last week.The organization’s presidency rotates through its nine members, also including Hyundai Heavy Industries, STX

Diageo Korea saw a leap in sales of its flagship whiskies last month as wholesalers rushed to boost their stockpiles prior to a price increase, industry figures showed Monday.The shipment volume of Windsor topped 1.1 billion liters in March, up almost 40 percent from the combined volume in the preceding two months. The product is the top-selling whisky in the domestic market. Johnnie Walker Black, another whisky distributed by the Korean unit of the London-based drinks group, also saw an 11.6 pe