South Korea’s exports are forecast to rise by 3 percent in 2020 to exceed $550 billion, led by key industries including chips, automobiles and biomedicines, according to a state-run trade agency on Wednesday. This year’s exports are expected to total $540 billion, down 10.7 percent from last year, the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency said. This is a bit lower than the Korea International Trade Association’s prediction of $543 billion, which represented a 10.2 percent on-

LS Cable & System said Tuesday it is pushing ahead with the initial public offering of its electric vehicle parts unit LS EV Korea, with the aim of achieving sales of 1 trillion won ($858 million) in 2030 in the global market.The Korean cable firm plans to file for preliminary screening of the EV unit at the nation’s tech-heavy secondary Kosdaq bourse. LS EV Korea was established in November 2017 after LS Cable & System spun off its electric vehicle parts business to nurture i

The world’s biggest oil company Saudi Aramco has become the second-largest shareholder of Hyundai Oilbank by paying its parent group Hyundai Heavy Industries Group 1.37 trillion won ($1.1 billion) for a 17 percent stake, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.This is in line with the investment agreement signed between HHI Group and Aramco on Jan. 28. HHI Group said it plans to use the proceeds to pay off borrowings to improve its financial structure and to invest in new business

In a major push to target the world’s largest power market, Hyosung Heavy Industries said Monday it has acquired Mitsubishi’s American electric power product plant in Tennessee for $46 million. The Japanese company’s Tennessee plant produces core-type ultrahigh voltage transformers used for the power generation industry. The transformers account for 95 percent of the total demand in the global transformer market, including North America, according to the company. Hyosung Heavy

Posco has saved 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) so far in the process of achieving 100 reform tasks highlighted by the firm’s chairman in November last year, the steelmaker said Sunday. The reform tasks included reinforcing premium steel product sales, enhancing cost competitiveness, establishing a growth foundation for energy materials and building a shared growth ecosystem based on fairness, transparency and ethics. The project was shared publicly in time for the 100-day anniversary o

South Korea’s business world, government and the families over the weekend mourned the death of LG Group Honorary Chairman Koo Cha-kyung, who as the second-generation leader of the conglomerate, had led the rise of the group’s global expansion. Koo was 94 when he passed away from an illness on Saturday.At a funeral altar set up at an undisclosed hospital in Seoul, Koo’s second son Bon-neung, the chairman of Heesung Group, greeted mourners. The deceased’s fourth son, grand

The Industry Ministry said Wednesday it has set aside around 9.4 trillion won ($7.8 billion) in its budget for 2020, up 23 percent from this year, to focus on technology independence from Japan and the expansion of renewable energy. The budget plan for the ministry was finalized through a resolution of the National Assembly on Tuesday. “In response to Japan’s export controls, the budget for supporting the materials and parts equipment has increased significantly from 669 billion won

Samsung Display faces new opportunities for sales growth as the growing demand for fifth-generation smartphones is expected to drive up sales of the firm’s small and medium-sized OLED panels, industry watchers said Sunday.OLED panels, a key component of large-screen smartphones, are seeing increased demand with the rise in consumption of high-definition video and game content among handset users. Global handset makers, Samsung Electronics, Apple, Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, began to adopt

South Korea’s efforts to tackle environmental issues related to power generation using conventional technologies are no longer sustainable, and the only way forward -- apart from expanding renewable energy -- is to allow private operators in the sector which is now controlled by state firms, according to Korea Energy Economics Institute President Cho Yong-sung.“Korea should now ponder whether its energy market needs to embrace a free market mechanism in a new era driven by renewable

Korea Aerospace Industries has successfully performed the first flight test of its light civil helicopter, the firm said Thursday. The helicopter delivered its first flight performances for about 20 minutes after take-off, KAI said.The light civil helicopter, which began development in June 2015, is now applied with advanced technologies for the main gearbox, cockpit and canopy, KAI explained. It is also equipped with a main rotor and tail rotor with low vibration and noise.The copter can be dep

The Seoul High Court ruled on Wednesday in favor of the nation’s antitrust watchdog in a legal battle with US chipmaker Qualcomm over a record penalty of 1 trillion won ($837 million). “The court dismissed Qualcomm’s requests and partially sided with the Fair Trade Commission,” said the FTC in a statement on the day. The “partial” decision is due to the court deeming that some corrective actions taken against Qualcomm were illegal, although the imposition

Three South Korean financial institutions -- DB Insurance, Korean Teachers’ Credit Union and Public Officials Benefit Association -- said Tuesday they had decided to stop coal project financing in order to support the global efforts to tackle climate change. The move by the financial institutions, who have a combined $73 billion of assets under management, comes after two local public pension funds -- Korea’s Teachers’ Pension and Government Employees Pension Service, with $22

ULSAN -- SK Energy, an affiliate of SK Innovation, is set to complete the construction of its vacuum residue desulfurization facility in January, in time for the implementation of tighter environmental regulations. In response to heightening environmental concerns and growing harmful emissions from ships, the International Maritime Organization has ruled that from January ships will have to use fuel with a maximum of 0.5 percent sulfur content, down from the current 3.5 percent.In line with the

S-Oil, headquartered in Seoul and wholly owned by Saudi Aramco, is unlikely to be affected by concerns about lower fuel prices and stricter environmental rules, according to analysts.The new International Maritime Organization rules -- IMO 2020 -- lowering the limit of sulfuric content in bunker fuel to 0.5 percent from 3.5 percent will come into force in January. Refiners have been very worried, with the benchmark Singapore complex gross refining margin -- reflecting Asian refiners’ avera

The European business community in Korea on Friday called for efforts to create a business-friendly climate for both Korean and foreign companies here, citing a growing number of criminal charges and regulations that hinder foreign investment.“Korean laws are very tough,” said Michael Reiterer, ambassador of the European Union to Korea, at an event held by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea, claiming that stricter regulatory measures were being imposed on foreign companies. &l

South Korea’s exports are expected to rise 3.3 percent next year on the back of global economic recovery and rising memory chip prices, a local trade association said Thursday. The Korea International Trade Association said exports are forecast to stand at $561 billion in 2020 with imports of $522 billion, growing 3.3 percent and 3.2 percent on-year, respectively. This year’s exports are expected reach $543 billion while imports are estimated at $506 billion, down 10.2 percent and 5.

BUSAN -- Leaders of South Korea and ASEAN countries have joined hands to foster the growth of startups at an event held Tuesday on the sidelines of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit. Hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the ASEAN-ROK Startup Summit took place in Busan to enhance cooperation among startups of Korea and ASEAN. The event was attended by representatives from 40 ASEAN startups participating in a Korean incubation program.President Moon Jae-in said in a speech, “Korea w

BUSAN -- South Korea’s popular business card app provider Drama & Company is seeking to make its mobile platform an “Asian version of LinkedIn” by deploying localized knowledge and sentiments. “Relatively, LinkedIn does not work as well in Asia as in the West. Asians are more reluctant to post their resumes in an open space,” said Drama & Company CEO Choi Jae-ho in a brief interview with The Korea Herald at the ASEAN-ROK Startup Summit held in Busan on Tuesd

SK 텔레콤의 박정호 사장은 25일 동남아의 문화 콘텐츠 투자 사업 중 하나로 타이 버전의 대장금을 구상 중 이라고 말했다. 대장금은 2003년과 2004년에 방영된 후 아시아 대륙을 휩쓴 한류 드라마다.금주 부산에서 개최되고 있는 한아세안특별정상회담 기간 문재인 대통령이 주최한 저녁 만찬 중 동남아 투자 사업의 확장에 대한 질문에 박정호 CEO는 “동남아에서 새로운 미디어, 콘텐츠, 게임과 같은 새로운 산업을 시작하는 것을 긍정적으로 생각한다”고 답했다.그는 특히 한류 드라마의 태국 현지화 가능성을 강조했다.그는 코리아 헤럴드에 “태국에는 훌륭한 음식이 많기 때문에 태국 버전의 ‘대장금’은 재미있고 의미 있을 것”이라고 답했다.만찬에 앞서 박정호 사장은 이날 한-아세안 문화혁신 회담에서 연설했다.이번 포럼에서 그는 투자와 기술 협력을 확대하고 프로덕션의 가능성을 키우며 서로의 재능을 키울 수 있는 아시아 콘텐츠 스튜디

BUSAN -- SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho said Monday he envisioned a Thai version of “Dae Jang Geum,” also known as “Jewel in the Palace,” a hit Korean drama that drew fans across Asia, as one idea for cultural content investment in Southeast Asia. When asked whether SKT planned to expand investment in Southeast Asia at a gala dinner hosted by President Moon Jae-in for ASEAN leaders on Monday evening, CEO Park said, “I think it would be entertaining to make new bus