The Korea Fair Trade Commission designated younger leaders of LG, Doosan and Hanjin as new heads of the conglomerates on Wednesday to replace their fathers who recently passed away. Every May, the FTC announces an updated list of conglomerates with assets more than 5 trillion won ($4.2 billion) and the owners of the groups, for the purpose of regulating large companies. LG Group’s head position was changed to Koo Kwang-mo, 41, who takes the place of his late father, former Chairman Koo Bon-moo.

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin became the first South Korean conglomerate leader to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House since he assumed office, where the two discussed business investments and job creation, the company said Tuesday.The meeting, which was held at the firm’s request, took place during Shin’s visit to the US to attend the completion ceremony of Lotte Chemical’s ethane cracking center in Louisiana last week. The meeting on Monday was attended by US National Securi

South Korea’s exports declined for the fifth consecutive month in May, dragged down by a prolonged trade war between the world’s two largest economies -- US and China-- and a fall in chip shipments. According to the Korea Customs Service on Monday, exports in the first 10 days of the month dropped by 6.4 percent to $13 billion from the same period last year, posting a trade deficit of $2.1 billion. Exports have been declining since December. (Yonhap)By segment, semiconductor exports fell 31.8 pe

South Korea’s export-reliant economy is likely to suffer a setback as a trade battle between the world’s two largest economies is escalating, according to a local trade organization on Sunday. According to a report released by the Korea International Trade Association, the country is predicted to see a drop of over 0.14 percent in annual exports following the US’ recent move to increase tariffs on Chinese goods. On Friday, the US increased tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10 percent

South Korea’s largest gas industry conference to discuss the future of the industry was held in Daegu last week, with around 200 theses presented and exhibitions organized by public and private gas-related firms. The three-day symposium, called 2019 APGC & KIGAS Spring Conference, took place from Wednesday at Daegu Exhibition and Convention Center, sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Attendants take a photo at 2019 APGC & KIGAS Spring Conf

SK hynix has delivered samples of its new 1-terabit quadruple-level cell product to major solid-state drive controller companies, according to the firm on Thursday. The product is applied with the firm’s own quadruple-level cell technology based on four-dimensional NAND flash.The Korean chipmaker intends to expand its NAND portfolio to 96-layer-based 1-terabit QLC products in response to the growing next-generation high-density memory market.QLC stores 4 bits of data in one NAND cell, allowing h

South Korea plans to foster 15,000 e-commerce exporters by 2022 with additional infrastructure and financing, amid the rapid growth of e-commerce globally. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy unveiled plans to help small and medium exporters advance in the global market using online platforms. The plan was jointly announced by the ministries of finance, SMEs and culture. “The local online export market has surged over the past years but there has been a lack of support from

Korean shipping companies could weather a downturn in the industry by achieving economies of scale through mergers and acquisitions, amid steady growth forecasts for the global cargo market, according to a latest report released by KPMG Samjong Accounting Corp.The Korean shipping industry had ranked fifth in the global market in 2009 on the back of government support, but it dropped to seventh place last year due to continued weak performance and a lack of investments. The industry has been in d

South Korea and Kuwait are expected to expand cooperation on renewable energy, the government said Friday. Deputy Minister for Trade Kim Yong-rae, who accompanied Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon on his visit to Kuwait, visited a test complex for layered solar power generation, which is operated by a joint consortium of the two nations on Thursday. The complex located within Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity and Water has been jointly run by the ministry and Korea’s Kepco Engineering & Construction si

Samsung Heavy Industries has received a $190 million order to build one liquefied natural gas-carrying ship, according to its regulatory filing Friday. Under the deal, the Korean shipbuilder is slated to deliver the LNG ship by March 2022 to an Oceania-based ship owner. The name of the company was not disclosed due to confidentiality reasons. (Samsung Heavy Industries)So far this year, Samsung Heavy has won orders to build eight LNG ships and one floating production storage and offloading vessel

The South Korean government has delayed releasing the results of its monthslong probe into successive fires at energy storage system facilities, further extending the suspension of ESS operations by battery makers already suffering from plunging sales in the first quarter. “We will announce the investigation results on the fires at energy storage system facilities as well as plans to strengthen ESS safety and foster the industry ecosystem next month,” said Park Jung-wook, chief of the Ministry o

South Korea, the world’s top memory chip provider, aims to rise to an unrivaled position in both memory and non-memory semiconductor industry by 2030, President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday as he visited a Samsung facility, unveiling a set of policy measures worth over 1 trillion won ($860 million) to support industry players. The president made the announcement titled “System Semiconductor Vision and Strategy,” as Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong looked on along with some 280 particip

LG Chem has filed complaints against SK Innovation with the US International Trade Commission and the District Court of Delaware, alleging its rival violated rules on trade secrets. LG Chem said Tuesday it has requested the commission to completely ban imports of SK Innovation’s cells, packs and samples of its secondary batteries while seeking compensation from its rival at the district court of Delaware, where SK Innovation’s US battery arm is located. (LG Chem)LG Chem has alleged that it found

Sinopec-SK Petrochemical, a joint venture firm of South Korea’s energy and chemical company SK Innovation and Chinese oil and gas enterprise Sinopec, has acquired an oil refinery based in Wuhan city in China, according to the firm on Monday. Factories of Sinopec-SK Petrochemical (SK Innovation)SK Global Chemical, an affiliate of SK Innovation, held a board meeting and decided to acquire Chinese oil refinery Wuhan Refinery. The company will invest 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) in cash for the a

South Korea’s largest cruise terminal opened Friday in Songdo, an international business district within Incheon, west of Seoul, port authorities said Sunday. Since 2013, the Incheon Port Authority had spent 28 billion won ($24 million) to build the two-story terminal with 7,364 square meters of floor space. Passengers can be seen in the new cruise terminal in Incheon on Friday. (Incheon Port Authority)“With the opening of the terminal exclusive for cruises, the port of Incheon has taken a leap

Korea Gas Corp. is to set aside 4.7 trillion won ($4.06 billion) to build hydrogen infrastructure and develop related technologies by 2030 as part of the nation’s push toward next-generation energy, according to the state-run natural gas company on Sunday. Kogas’ hydrogen plan comes as a follow-up to the Moon Jae-in administration’s hydrogen road map unveiled in January, which aimed to produce 6.2 million hydrogen-powered cars and distribute 15-gigawatt fuel cells for power generation by 2040. K

South Korean oil refiner SK Innovation returned to profit in the first quarter of this year, driven by its chemical business and non-oil refining areas, such as batteries and materials. 　SK Innovation posted 12.4 trillion won ($10.6 billion) in sales and 331.1 billion won in operating profit in the January-March period, according to its regulatory filing Thursday. Sales dropped 11.1 percent on-year but rose 1.9 percent from the previous quarter. Operating profit dropped 53.5 percent on-year but

Korea Electric Power Corporation CEO Kim Jong-kap on Wednesday apologized to residents of Gangwon Province who lost their homes in the recent wildfires and said the firm would accept civil liability for the damage. “We truly apologize to the victims as the fire started from facilities managed by Kepco,” Kim told local residents at a town office in Goseong, Gangwon Province.  CEO Kim Jong-kap bows to local residents in a show of remorse for the recent wildfires that destroyed many of their homes.

As the US is set to end sanction exemptions for countries buying oil from Iran, South Korean petrochemical companies are anticipated to struggle in having to reduce their Iranian oil supplies. From May 2, eight nations, including Korea, Japan, China and India, will be banned from buying oil from Iran as the US government’s 180-day waiver ends. Iran is the fifth-largest exporter of crude oil to Korea, following Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the US and Iraq. Imports of crude oil from Iran to Korea account

Hanwha Chemical has established a research center together with Yonsei University to develop innovative eco-friendly technologies, the chemical firm said Monday. The research center, which will run for five years, will focus on five projects involving eco-friendly technologies as part of the firm’s efforts to adapt to climate change. Hanwha chemical websiteOne of the projects will involve using electrolysis to split water molecules to produce hydrogen, a promising alternative to the use of crude