Lotte Group said Sunday that it has sealed a deal to buy the New York Palace Hotel in Manhattan for $805 million from U.S. real estate management firm Northwood Investors.Hotel Lotte, one of the group’s core business units, plans to set up a new company in the United States to operate the hotel and complete the takeover by August. The deal, signed on Friday, marks the first time for Lotte to run a hotel in the heart of New York City.The New York Palace Hotel is a luxury hotel located in Midtown

In South Korea ― one of the strongest IT powerhouses in the world ― information and communication technology is increasingly taking on a bigger role in drawing the local energy and resource sectors closer to users.The Korean government is actively cooperating with tech firms to make electricity monitoring and payments more convenient while also working to build new ICT-based infrastructure to provide households with real-time information regarding water use.The state-run Korea Electric Power Cor

The CEO of SK Innovation, South Korea’s top oil refiner, on Thursday vowed to overcome difficulties facing the oil industry by overhauling its business structure. “Through reforming our business structure and profit routes, SK Innovation will turn the current industry crisis into an opportunity for growth. We will not waste a good crisis,” said company CEO Chung Chul-khil at a press conference in Seoul.Korean refiners ― which rely mainly on exports of its oil products for profit ― have been faci

Jejudo Island and LG Group have joined hands to make the province carbon-free by the year 2030. The two signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday to initiate the “Global Eco Platform Jeju” project ― a 6 trillion won ($5.4 billion) investment project that aims to ensure that the island is powered solely by renewable energy by the 2030 deadline.The project’s agenda includes expanding the island’s wind turbines to reach a capacity of 2.35GW before 2030 ― up by more than 15 times from their cu

SK Lubricants, the lubricant oil production unit of South Korea’s top oil refiner SK Innovation, will begin exporting its own lubricant oil brand ZIC to Saudi Arabia.The company announced Monday that it has signed a licensing deal with Rabigh First Lubricants Co.― a subsidiary of Saudi-based pipe coating company Globetech ― to supply ZIC products.Until the agreement expires in 2020, Rabigh First Lubricants will pay a brand royalty for all profits related to ZIC sales. The Korean lubricant firm w

South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates handed out more than 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in severance pay last year, as they undertook restructuring measures and cut their payrolls, market data showed Monday.A total of 97 subsidiaries established under the 10 conglomerates paid out an aggregate of 2.09 trillion won in severance pay in 2014, up 33.3 percent from the previous year, according to data released by Chaebul.com.Hanwha Group ― which owns seven subsidiaries ― saw the greatest on-year increa

Behind every successful global firm is the fusion of excellent design and well-fitting marketing strategies, according to the CEO of Han Sung Motor ― the largest Mercedes-Benz dealer in South Korea.“What almost all successful global companies have (in common) is that they have great design and great marketing,” said Ulf Ausprung during a lecture delivered Thursday to students studying marketing communication at Yonsei University.“The key message is that design creates great products, and with go

Hanocal Holdings, a Dutch subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi-based International Petroleum Investment Company, has filed a lawsuit against the South Korean government through the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.This is the second time that Korea is facing international arbitration under the “investor-state dispute settlement” process. Korea is one of the few countries subject to ISDS requests filed by foreign investors in the wake of stipulations in the Korea-U.S

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stepped up efforts to attract new Chinese investors to the country by inviting more than 60 Chinese firms to Seoul on Thursday to discuss new business opportunities.Aiming to attract more than $5 billion (5.47 trillion won) in Chinese investment this year, the ministry offered one-on-one consultations linking Chinese companies to Korean firms in diverse industries as part of “China Week,” held this week from Monday to Friday.A total of 61 Chin

A high court will issue its verdict on Cho Hyun-ah, former executive vice president of Korean Air at the center of the so-called “nut rage” incident, on Friday.Cho received a one-year jail term in February for disrupting a flight and breaking aviation safety laws over her dissatisfaction with the cabin service. Shortly after, the attorney for the former Korean Air executive appealed the case to reduce her initial sentence, pleading that she was “deeply regretful about her actions.”Former Korean

The chief technology officer of U.S. electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors forecast significant strides in the development of lithium-ion batteries over the next five to 10 years, as he eyed increased demand for electric batteries tailored for cars.“When we look forward to 2020, we think we will have around 1 million electric cars in total on the road that will amass about 70 gigawatt hours of total energy storage,” said JB Straubel, the CTO and cofounder of Tesla, during the 2015 Seoul Digital

BEIJING -- For U.S.-based global direct sales giant Amway, East Asia stands as a critical region housing the company’s top three markets -- China, South Korea and Japan.Though the popular perception is that China, backed by a massive consumer base, is Amway’s most important market, Korea in fact stands as the company’s top-valued market, according to Amway executive Sam Rehnborg, president of the Nutrilite Health Institute.Nutrilite Health Institute president Sam Rehnborg (Amway Korea)“Our No. 1

More than 100 tech-savvy Korean venture firms gathered last week at the Seoul-based start-up conference beGLOBAL SEOUL 2015, as an outlet for fostering new business, market expansion and sharing industry insights.Beijing-based startup accelerator TriBeluga, in its move to attract prospective Korean start-ups to China, joined hands with Chinese government officials for the introduction of Zhongguancun ― a tech district in Beijing, which the government hopes to foster as the Asian version of the C

More than 1,000 vehicles, produced by Italian automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and French manufacturer Peugeot Citroen Automobiles, are being recalled in South Korea due to defects, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Friday.Fiat Chrysler is recalling more than 231 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs, produced between March 27, 2013 and Jan. 13, 2014, over a flaw in the air bag control system, which could prevent the safety device from normally deploying in a crash.Hanbul Motors, the

SK Innovation, South Korea’s top oil refiner, has announced a voluntary retirement scheme for its employees for the first time in 18 years since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.The company made the announcement Wednesday via its intranet, saying that the company is receiving applications for those who want to voluntarily leave the company. Any employee aged over 44 who has worked for more than five years, or aged under 44 who has worked more than 10 years, can apply. The VRS employees will recei

Inside the new Lotte World Mall in southeastern Seoul on Sunday afternoon, the atmosphere at last felt like what a mall of its scale should look like on a weekend ― crowded and bustling with people.For the first time in months, most of the mall’s store clerks were busy attending to a rare influx of customers while many restaurants saw its tables fill to capacity.After Lotte finally gained permission from the Seoul Metropolitan Government to reopen the aquarium and the cinema complex on Tuesday f

A South Korean consortium sealed a landmark deal on Wednesday to secure a 3 percent stake in the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, which operates the biggest onshore oil fields in the United Arab Emirates.The new deal grants the South Korean consortium ― comprised of GS Energy and the Korea National Oil Corp. ― developing rights to ADCO’s oil fields for 40 years, alongside other foreign companies including France's Total and Japan's Inpex.Over the 40 year period, Korea is expected to

South Korea, Japan and China began the seventh round of negotiations for the Korea-China-Japan joint FTA in Seoul on Tuesday, as the chief negotiators from each country vowed to make progress on the trilateral trade pact, emphasizing its benefits.The high-level discussion, which will continue until Wednesday, marks the first time that the head negotiators from the three states have come together to discuss the terms of the FTA. They will continue to expand upon a series of working-level discussi

South Korea will host the third and fourth rounds of the Audi R8 Le Mans Series 2015 this weekend at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province, according to Audi Korea Monday.The Audi R8 LMS Cup is an international sports car race based in Asia, in which drivers can only use cars from Audi’s R8 LMS lineup ― specially designed GT3 racing cars based on Audi’s high performance sports car the R8.Team Audi Korea You Kyoung-ouk’s vehicle. (Audi Korea)This year’s edition of Audi

Whether it is groceries, clothing, furniture, jewelry or electronics, shopping has never been easier than in South Korea, where it is possible to buy just about anything from the comforts of one’s home using a smartphone or computer. Regardless of the convenience, thousands of Koreans today continue to head to city centers to visit shopping malls, which have evolved from singular department stores into mega “multiplex malls” ― urban hotspots offering not only shopping opportunities, but also a w