In addition to raising the issue at the World Trade Organization’s General Council on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, the South Korean government sent a strong opinion to the Japanese administration calling for the complete withdrawal of its export restrictions.In parallel, calls are also growing from global tech firms to urgently settle the trade dispute that may cause supply chain disruptions and impact the global economy. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press brie

South Korean steelmaker Posco posted an operating profit of 1 trillion won ($848 million) in the second quarter this year, buoyed by its lucrative infrastructure and trade operations despite the sluggish steel business, the firm said Tuesday. The company also posted 16.3 trillion won in sales, with a net profit of 681 billion won. Sales rose 1.5 percent, but operating profit and net income declined 14.7 percent and 14.7 percent on-year, respectively. The decline was mainly due to its sluggi

Amid escalating trade tension between South Korea and Japan, the Trade Ministry here said Monday its senior official would participate in the World Trade Organization’s General Council on Tuesday to better respond at the scene due to the gravity of the issue. Kim Seung-ho, deputy minister for multilateral and legal affairs, will participate in the general council, the highest decision-making body, in Geneva. The council is slated to discuss the two nations’ trade dispute at its meeti

South Korea is sparing no efforts to persuade the international community to press Japan to withdraw its export restrictions on hi-tech materials and impugn Tokyo’s reasoning behind its retaliatory measures. Early this month, Japan announced it would curb exports on Korea’s hi-tech materials crucial to the production of chips and display panels. It also said it plans to remove South Korea from a whitelist of 27 countries that receive preferential treatment for trade with Japan. The J

State-run Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) is expanding its global presence in the liquefied natural gas market with its robust technologies and overseas networks. The company is currently participating in 25 global projects in 13 nations, including the exploration, development and production of natural gas. It also includes liquefaction of LNG and the construction and operation of gas pipelines and terminals overseas. Last year, Kogas sold 36 million tons of LNG in Korea after purchasing from Qatar

Volvo Group said Thursday it has entered into a strategic alliance with Samsung SDI to develop battery packs for electric trucks. The Swedish automaker said the alliance will cover joint development of battery packs specifically developed for its models. While Samsung SDI intends to provide battery cells and modules to meet the demand for the automaker’s electric trucks, Volvo will utilize the battery pack technology for assembly in its plants. “The alliance with Samsung SDI is

To combat growing trade risks with Japan, South Korean chip and display makers are seeking ways to localize key materials and diversify supply sources, although it appears difficult in the short term. On July 1, the Japanese government tightened its export procedures to Korea of three classes of hi-tech materials crucial to the production of chips and display panels. They include fluorinated polyimide, photoresist and hydrogen fluoride, used mostly by Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Samsung Displ

The three large Korean oil refiners -- Hyundai Oilbank, GS Caltex and SK Innovation -- are seeking new opportunities in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, amid slowing sales of diesel cars and weakening profitability in the saturated gas station market. On Monday, Hyundai Oilbank said it signed with local EV charger producer JoongAng Control and charger operator Charzin to build charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Korea. Under the agreement, the three firms will form a hybrid

The first round of working-level talks between South Korea and Japan ended without progress Friday evening, with Japan retracting its earlier claims and saying its decision to impose restrictions on the export of high-tech materials to South Korea has nothing to do with North Korea.Representatives of Japan’s Trade Ministry, instead, said the export control systems of both South Korea and Japan were being mismanaged and accused Japanese exporters of violating the country’s export

LS Cable & System won a deal worth 89 million euros ($100 million) with Denmark’s state-run energy firm, Orsted, to build a submarine power grid in Taiwan, the firm said Friday. The Korean industrial company said it had agreed with Orsted to supply submarine power cables to offshore wind farms in Changhua, a city in central Taiwan, and put them in place by 2022. The Taiwanese government plans to invest around $23 billion to increase the amount of renewable energy generated in the

The aggravating trade dispute with Japan reveals some hard truths about South Korea’s lack of basic technologies despite being dubbed as a tech powerhouse, not to mention the dire need to diversify its supply channels to reduce its heavy dependence on the neighboring nation. On July 1, the Japanese government tightened the export process to Korea of three classes of hi-tech materials crucial to the production of chips and display panels and removing it from the white list. The materials in

With the new anti-office bullying act coming into force next Tuesday, over half of surveyed companies in South Korea said the regulations are ambiguous and that voluntary change within each firm should come before legal measures.According to a poll of 300 Korean firms conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry last week, most large conglomerates said they had made due preparations, while some 20 percent of small and midsized businesses said they were not yet ready. Almost all, or

Hyundai Heavy Industries said Tuesday it has signed a $49 million deal with Indian firm Powerica to supply emergency generators for nuclear reactors.The generators include 10 units of the 6.3-megawatt HiMsen propulsion system developed by HHI. They will be supplied to Unit 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, by 2022. The generators help stabilize maintenance of a nuclear reactor by supplying power to a circulating water pump during emergencies.

Amid the growing political and economic row between South Korea and Japan, Hyundai Heavy Industries faces fresh concerns over its decision to acquire Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering as it needs to get approval from Japan’s regulators amid a widespread anti-Korean sentiment. After submitting a request for formal approval from Korea’s Fair Trade Commission early this month, HHI is slated to make similar requests to antitrust watchdogs in Japan, China, Kazakhstan and the Eu

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on the quest of South Korea’s government and businesses to switch to renewable energy. -- Ed.Solar energy is among the keys in the Moon Jae-in administration’s push for renewable energy in response to concerns about life-threatening air pollution and demand for cleaner and safer energy. In December 2017, the government announced “Renewable Energy 2030,” aiming to increase renewable energy’s share of generation capa

The South Korean government has embarked on a 160 billion won ($136 million) project to develop disruptive technologies, including technologies to produce electric vehicles capable of traveling more than 600 kilometers after just one minute of charging, officials said Sunday.The seven-year project, called “Alchemist,” is a follow-up to the “manufacturing renaissance” vision and strategy announced by the Industry Ministry in June. It will cover six categories of products,

Apple has offered to take voluntary action to correct its business practices in the local telecom market, South Korea’s top antitrust watchdog said Thursday, after having previously accused the tech company of abusing its superior position and harming local mobile carriers. Apple applied for a consent order June 4, the Fair Trade Commission said, meaning the company has initiated a process to close a case early by voluntarily agreeing to take corrective action to restore order to the marke

The Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Wednesday its female leadership group Women in Korea kicked off the second generation of its mentorship program. KGCCI started the mentorship program in 2018 with 14 mentors who are international and Korean C-level female executives in Korea and 16 mentees who are female employees in the middle management of KGCCI’s member companies. The second generation of the WIR mentorship program has more than doubled the number of participa

The state-run Korea National Oil Corporation and GS Energy have become the first South Korean companies to start oil production in the United Arab Emirates, together with the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. On Tuesday, KNOC and GS Energy held a ceremony with ADNOC in Abu Dhabi to celebrate the commencement of commercial oil production in oil fields in Haliba, located in east Abu Dhabi. The event was attended by KNOC CEO Yang Su-yeong, GS Energy CEO Huh Yong-soo and ADNOC CEO Sultan Ahm

Steelmaker Posco said Tuesday it reactivated five furnaces that were shut down at its Gwangyang steel mill due to a blackout the day before. On Monday, the company halted the operation of five furnaces at its steel mill due to a power failure. Posco said all the five furnaces have returned to normal operations and all other major production facilities are running as usual. The blackout is estimated to temporarily increase fixed costs by at least 40 billion won ($34 million) due to reduced p