Coupang began procedures for the construction of a large-scale high-tech logistics base in Gwangju in partnership with the regional government, the firm said Friday. Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop and Coupang’s new business division head Park Dae-joon met Friday and signed a business agreement. Under the deal, the firm and Gwangju agreed to establish a mega-sized high-tech logistics center in the region and cooperate to boost the local economy and create jobs. The nation’s leading

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Friday it appointed Thomas Klein, the current president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Middle East, as the new president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea, effective Jan. 1, 2021. Klein began his career with Daimler AG at the University of Cooperative Education program of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Germany in 1999. In 2014, Klein was appointed managing director of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in South Africa, before he assumed responsibility for sales at Daimler AG in Germany

Hyundai Motor participated in the IFA 2020 exhibition in Berlin, Germany, for the first time, demonstrating its brand vision based on eco-friendly vehicle technology, the firm said Friday. The automaker, which is pushing to shift from a traditional car manufacturer to a smart mobility company, aims to strengthen its leadership in eco-friendly mobility technology in the European market. In Europe, demand for eco-friendly cars such as hydrogen and electric vehicles is rapidly increasing due to s

Kakao Games set new records this week in South Korea’s initial public offering market, with the highest competition rate and the largest subscription deposits. The competition rate for Kakao Games’ IPO subscription surpassed 1,500:1, hitting record highs in Korea’s IPO market. The estimated subscription deposits were 58.5 trillion won ($49.3 billion) as of Wednesday, surpassing the record of 30.8 trillion won recently set by SK Biopharm in June. By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@her

Asiana Airlines will operate chartered flights to Chongqing, China, starting Friday in cooperation with the Korea International Trade Association to support small and medium-sized enterprises’ export activities, KITA said Thursday. KITA and Asiana Airlines signed an agreement on the day to operate chartered flights once a week through October. The plane will head to Chongqing, a megacity in southwest China. The first charter flight will depart for Chongqing on Friday with 120 Korean bus

Hyundai Glovis said Thursday it has partnered with Norwegian-based shipping group Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA to proactively respond to changes in the future shipping industry. The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding on coping with changes in gas carriers and the shipping environment. The Korean logistics firm said synergy is expected in future shipping businesses, such as entering the gas marine transportation industry and operating hydrogen ships. Under the agreement, the two

Woojung Education & Culture Foundation established by Booyoung Group is set to provide scholarships for international students for the second semester of this year, the group said Wednesday. The foundation decided to grant about 380 million won ($320,215) in scholarships to 96 foreign students studying in Korea. They are from 38 countries, including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Cambodia. The scholarships will be provided without holding any ceremonies to prevent the spread of coro

Daesung Group Chairman Younghoon David Kim received an honorary doctorate in science and technology from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, the firm said Tuesday. Kim received the honorary doctorate at the 2020 online graduation ceremony held at KAIST in Daejeon on Friday in recognition of his contributions to the development of the nation‘s economy through corporate management over the past two decades. Kim has been taking part in diverse international activities

Samsung Heavy Industries said Tuesday it obtained a detailed design approval from the US ship classification organization American Bureau of Shipping for its natural gas liquefaction cycle technology, the first in the shipbuilding industry. The shipbuilder said, upon the approval, it can save costs for the payment of technology fees and the restrictions on selecting equipment by breaking away from the dependence of overseas engineering companies that have original technologies. Natural gas

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Monday that an increasing number of companies occupy a regulatory blind spot that shields the owner families. Owners increased their shares through indirect investment from public corporations and overseas affiliates this year, it said. The Fair Trade Commission said it analyzed the stock ownership of the 64 largest groups and their 2,292 affiliates. Among the groups, the equity held by owner families amounted to 3.6 percent, down 0.3 percentage p

Hyundai Motor said Monday it will introduce brand song of its new electric vehicle Ioniq with boy band BTS. The brand song “Ioniq: I’m on it” will be distributed on the automaker’s global website at 7 p.m. on Monday. Hyundai Motor and BTS have been working together on various marketing activities for three years since the band was chosen as Palisade’s global PR ambassador in 2018. The automaker said the latest project aims to convey a vision of the infinite po

CSOT, a panel unit of Chinese home appliance maker TCL, acquired Samsung Display’s Suzhou LCD plant for $1.08 billion, making China the producer of half the world’s large LCDs, industry sources said Sunday. According to the sources, CSOT signed a deal with Samsung Display to acquire 60 percent of the Suzhou plant for $1.08 billion. The remaining 10 percent will be owned by the parent company, TCL, and 30 percent by the Suzhou city government. The Suzhou plant was responsible for

Shoppers look at luxury goods at Lotte Department Store in Jamsil, Seoul, in July. Department store sales of luxury brands jumped more than 30 percent last month, although overall sales declined due to the pandemic and the rainy season, government data showed Sunday. Analysts say people spent more of their savings on luxury goods because they were not allowed to travel abroad during the holiday season. (Photo: Yonhap)

Low-cost carrier Eastar Jet is speeding up a new acquisition deal after talks with Jeju Air were scrapped last month. The airline said Sunday its financial advisers Deloitte Korea, Yulchon and Heungkuk Finance Group would send letters of intent to takeover candidates this week. Three to four large funds and companies are reported to have already expressed their intention to invest. An Eastar Jet official said, “There were some companies that can be known by their names, and some of

Samsung Electronics began operating its second production line in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, the world’s largest chip plant, to mass-produce the most advanced mobile DRAM modules, the firm said Sunday. The assembly line has produced the industry’s first advanced third-generation 10-nano level (1z) LPDDR5 mobile DRAM using the extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, process technology for the first time, according to the tech giant. Samsung said the 16-gigabyte mobile DRAM has the hi

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has decided to impose a fine of 32 billion won ($27 million) on Kumho Asiana Group for unfair internal transactions that aimed at tightening family control over the conglomerate, officials said Thursday. The Fair Trade Commission also reported Chairman Park Sam-koo and two other executives to prosecutors. The FTC said Kumho Asiana Group used the in-flight meal business rights of its flagship affiliate Asiana Airlines to illegally fund struggling Kumho

New startups, particularly those in real estate, surged in the first half of this year despite the impact of the pandemic, data showed Thursday. According to the data released by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the number of new startups in the January-June period was 809,599, up 26 percent from the same period last year. The surge was attributed to new real estate businesses, which stood at 292,810 during the period, up 131.6 percent year-on-year. The real estate sector accounted for 36.

Posco International said Wednesday its CEO Joo Si-bo and employees have joined the Thank You Challenge campaign to express gratitude to medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. The public campaign was launched by the Central Disaster Safety and Countermeasure Headquarters with the aim of encouraging medical workers struggling to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Anyone can participate in the campaign by posting a picture of sign language with gratitude on social media and naming the next p

South Korea’s major tire makers -- Hankook Tire, Kumho Tire and Nexen Tire -- have been smacked with a triple whammy. Local automakers are increasingly adopting imported brand tires, while the US antidumping probe on Korean tires is raising uncertainty in the global market. Internally, they face family feuds and labor-management conflicts. In the second quarter, the three tire makers posted dismal earnings amid the economic slowdown due to the pandemic. Hankook Tire’s sales

Singapore’s antitrust watchdog has approved the merger of the world’s two largest shipbuilders, Hyundai Heavy Industries confirmed Tuesday. The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore concluded the screening process by saying in a notice that “there is no disagreement about the approval of a tie-up between Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.” KSOE is a subholding company of HHI group’s shipbui