Korean Air and Delta Air Lines on Saturday finalized an agreement to set up a joint venture for Pacific routes, according to Korean Air.The joint venture will not take the form of a separate corporation, but the two carriers will operate Pacific routes together, sharing both costs and profits.Korean Air and Delta will rearrange their route schedules in the Pacific to allow for a more organic network between 290 cities in the Americas and 80 cities in Asia.Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, Korea

The elder daughter of SK Chairman Chey Tae-won has begun working as a manager at the group’s biopharmaceutical affiliate, according to SK Group.Twenty-eight-year-old Chey Yun-jeong joined SK Biopharmaceuticals’ strategy division, which sets up growth strategies and manages the development of new drugs. SK Group is currently investing heavily in its biopharmaceutical business as a future driver of growth.Chey Yun-jeong studied biology at the University of Chicago in the US, and has spent time int

Low-cost carrier Air Seoul expects to start making profits from next year, according to the airline’s CEO on Thursday.“We have completed putting in place the basic infrastructure for operations, so the cost of adding new routes will go down,” said Air Seoul’s President and CEO Ryu Kwang-hee at a press conference aboard an Air Seoul airplane at the Asiana Airlines hangar at Incheon Airport.“We began operations eight years later than other low-cost carriers, and the airline industry has changed si

SK Planet is rumored to be pursuing a split of its online open market platform 11st to create a new joint company with one of Korea’s major retailers as profits continue to fall, according to industry sources Wednesday.The rumors come as the e-commerce market in general struggles to keep up with intensifying competition. Despite growing transactions online, e-commerce players are finding it difficult to stay profitable as they battle for advantages in delivery services and price competitiveness.

Incheon Airport’s second terminal, which was originally slated to open this year, may push back its opening to after the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next February.According to a spokesperson at the airport corporation Wednesday, the airport is weighing the pros and cons of opening the terminal within the year or after the PyeongChang Games. A mockup of Incheon International Airport's second terminal currently under construction (Incheon International Airport)“It is technically possible to operat

A sharp increase in cigarette excise taxes that went into effect during the previous administration is expected to bring in over 57.2 trillion won ($50 billion) in taxes during the Moon Jae-in administration, according to data from a non-governmental organization Wednesday. The Korea Taxpayers’ Association said that based on cigarette sales data through to April, it estimated that 3.52 billion packs of cigarettes would be sold this year in Korea, with taxes applicable to 3.45 billion packs to

Global fashion brand MCM said Tuesday that it offered made-to-order designs of its most popular products for the first time at its pop-up store in Tokyo. (MCM)The store, located in the luxury Isetan Shinjuku department store in Tokyo, Japan, allowed customers to pick up customized items they had designed through the brand‘s mobile app. Customizations included being able to change the color of the leather, handle or studs on MCM’s most popular products, as well as monogramming.Starting in July, t

The travel industry is heading toward a mobile future, as more travelers are choosing to plan their trips on their smartphones, according to an executive at hotel booking site Hotels.com.“We’ve done some studies with millennials and what they’ve told us is that they like the apps for the sake of convenience in particular, but also some of the features, like the filters and being able to book on the app straightaway with a stored credit card,” said Abhiram Chowdhry, who heads the Asia-Pacific and

PEDROGAO GRANDE, Portugal-- More than 2,000 firefighters in Portugal battled Monday to contain major wildfires in the central region of the country, where one blaze killed 62 people, while authorities came under mounting criticism for not doing more to prevent the tragedy. Reinforcements, including more water-dropping planes from Spain, France and Italy, were due to arrive as part of a European Union cooperation program, officials said.However, giant clouds of smoke were preventing the deploymen

LUXEMBOURG -- The European Union on Monday blasted US President Donald Trump for pulling out of the Paris climate change pact and said Brussels would continue to lead efforts to prevent global warming.Trump caused outrage when he withdrew the United States -- one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases -- from the 2015 accord which is meant to curb rising temperatures driven by human activity."The Council (of EU member states) deeply regrets the unilateral decision by the US administ

Naver Corp., South Korea's top Internet portal operator, said Monday that it will work with global chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. to further develop its artificial intelligence platform, Clova.Under an agreement with Qualcomm's subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Naver will provide Clova for use with the global giant's Internet of Things chip processors, the company said.Various IoT products such as a smart speaker equipped with Qualcomm's IoT chips will also utilize Clova, Naver said.The basic idea of

Photos thought to be of the upcoming heated-tobacco device from cigarette maker KT&G have been leaked, a local news outlet reported Monday.Consisting of a pocket charger and a tobacco stick holder, the device is similar to the IQOS device released by Marlboro maker Philip Morris this month in Korea, according to Electronics Times.A leaked photo of a heated tobacco device, thought to be developed by KT&GWith both Philip Morris and British American Tobacco holding extensive patents on the methods

SK Biotek, a subsidiary of SK Holdings, said Monday that it will be acquiring a manufacturing facility in Ireland from global biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, paving the way for the company’s entry into the European market.The facility, which manufactures small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients, is located in Swords, Ireland. It has an 81,000-liter capacity and currently manufactures ingredients for medications including the prescription blood thinner Eliquis produced by

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Province -- Korean construction and engineering companies showcased their past infrastructure works at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s annual meeting of its board of governors Saturday.At a session titled “Presentation on Korea’s Technology and Capacities in Infrastructure Development,” companies presented their past work in developing infrastructure in Asia and spoke about the future.“In the global construction market, Korean contractors have earned favorable reputatio

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- Hyperconnectivity between people, devices and networks holds the key to the development of safe, cost-effective infrastructure in a future dominated by the “fourth industrial revolution,” experts said at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s annual meeting Friday.In a seminar titled “The Era of 4th Industrial Revolution and Infrastructure” at ICC Jeju for the AIIB’s second annual meeting of the board of governors, business leaders and researchers presented their vis

A friendly face and incentives go a long way. That is what has captured the attention of larger cosmetic manufacturers in South Korea as an increasing number of beauty bloggers are invited to join the competitive line of sales.“I was always so disappointed that online-only products were excluded from discounts. Now, as a social seller I can offer my followers and friends online-only products at a special price!” one of the advertisement postings by a blogger reads, packed with carefully crafted

Korean Air’s President Cho Won-tae plans to resign from his executive positions at all other affiliates within the Hanjin Group, according to the group Thursday.In addition to Hanjin Group’s air carrier, Cho, the son of Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, is also president of five affiliates including Hanjin Kal, Jin Air, Uniconverse, Hanjin Information Systems & Telecommunication and Korea Airport Service. Korean Air President Cho Won-tae (Korean Air)The group said in a statement that the decisi

Korean agencies and companies are displaying their latest infrastructure technology at the annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank held in Jeju starting Friday.The Infrastructure Exhibition is being held in the third-floor lobby of the International Convention Center Jeju from Friday to Saturday. It includes presentations from 30 agencies and corporations from seven countries including Korea. The technology displayed focuses on cutting-edge advancements relevant to infrastruct

Shinsegae has sold its stake in Shinsegae Property to E-mart, giving complete control of the group‘s business of shopping malls to the discount chain, according to the group Wednesday.According to Shinsegae Group, Shinsegae sold its 1.7 million shares in Shinsegae Property, a 10 percent stake, to E-mart through a vote of the executive board Tuesday. The shares were sold for 97.8 billion won ($86.9 million), with the transaction to go through on June 29.Via the transaction, the supermarket chain

Korea Airports Corp. officially opened its Aviation Training Center at Gimpo International Airport on Tuesday, in preparation to begin its first Jet Transition Course program Monday.The newly opened 4,000-square-meter center includes training jets, six full-flight simulators, as well as classrooms and briefing rooms.The center will allow pilots at Korean airlines to receive their licensing training in Korea, rather than having to travel abroad to be certified. The Jet Transition Course is an adv