LG Chem Ltd. was the world's biggest supplier of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in the first nine months of this year thanks to robust demand from global automakers, a market research firm said Friday.  South Korea's largest chemical company accounted for a 24.6 percent share of the global EV market in the January-September period, with 19.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery production capacity, according to SNE Research. China's CATL came next with a 23.7 percent share, and Japan's Pana

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Friday that it swung to a net loss in the third quarter from a year ago due to the stronger local currency. Net losses came to 77 billion won ($68.3 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 20.4 billion won a year earlier, Korea Shipbuilding said in an emailed statement. Sales fell 5 percent to 3.46 trillion won in the three-month period and operating profit rose 34 percent to 40.7 billion won. "The appreci

The South Korean men's Olympic football team will play at a friendly tournament in Egypt next month. The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced Friday that the national under-23 squad, coached by Kim Hak-bum, will face Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the tournament taking place in Cairo. South Korea will first take on Egypt at 1 a.m. on Nov. 14 (Seoul time) and then Saudi Arabia at 1 a.m. three days later. All three countries have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. These matches fall during the N

SEJONG -- Sales of cigarettes in South Korea rose 5.6 percent on-year in the first nine months of this year, data showed Friday, thanks to robust sales of traditional cigarettes. South Korean smokers purchased 2.75 billion 20-cigarette packs in the January-September period, compared with 2.6 billion packs in the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Still, the nine-month reading represented a 15.1 percent drop from the same period in 2014

South Korean bond market sentiment worsened slightly for November amid rising interest rates and concerns over a second wave of coronavirus infections, a poll showed Friday. The Korea Financial Investment Association said its bond market survey index (BMSI) inched down to 100.1 for the coming month from 104.1 in October. Yet the November figure is above par. A BMSI reading above 100 means more experts expect bond market conditions to take a turn for the better. The association's monthly survey

A South Korean baseball club manager has resigned after experiencing health scares amid a disappointing season. The SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Friday that Youm Kyoung-youb has decided to step down after two seasons on the bench. The 52-year-old had one more year left in his contract. Youm fell ill and briefly lost consciousness during a game on June 25. Doctors later pointed to excessive stress, lack of sleep and poor diet as causes for Youm's health problems. Be

A quarantine violator was given a suspended prison sentence by a Seoul court Friday after being convicted of illegally leaving his designated self-isolation accommodation several times before testing positive for the coronavirus. The Seoul Western District Court sentenced the violator, identified only as a 29-year-old, to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for breaching the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and ordered him to complete 120 hours of community service. In

The arms procurement agency plans to pick Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. as a preferred bidder for an indigenous Aegis-equipped destroyer development project despite a suspected leak of classified information by military officers to the company, officials said Friday. Several Navy officers now stand trial, as they allegedly allowed Hyundai officials in 2014 to secretly film confidential documents related to the Korea Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX) project to build a next-generation 6,000 ton-c

Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it has sold over 10,000 Nexo hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles in the domestic market since its launch in early 2018. Hyundai began to sell the Nexo hydrogen model in the local market in March 2018 as it aimed to take the leadership position in hydrogen mobility technology. In 2020, Hyundai is targeting selling 10,100 Nexos in Korea, mainly to public organizations and companies, more than doubling from the 4,194 units it sold last year. Separately, the coun

South Korea on Friday unveiled its master plan to further the electric vehicles (EV) and hydrogen fuel cell automobile sector by expanding the number of charging stations while making such cars more affordable for the people. Under the blueprint, the country will increase the number of accumulated sales of electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell automobiles to 1.13 million and 200,000, respectively, by 2025, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. As of September this year, the a

The government on Friday resumed a national discount coupon program aimed at resuscitating the domestic travel and dining industries that have suffered severely from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said the government will start releasing discount coupons for travel programs, restaurants and lodging facilities around the country, in stages at 2 p.m. Friday, as part of a 90.4 billion-won ($76.2 million) project to revitalize domestic spending.

US Ambassador Harry Harris has said that South Korea and the United States had fought together against "invasion from the north" during the Korean War, amid a controversy over Chinese President Xi Jinping's characterization of the conflict as the fight against US "imperialist invaders." Harris made the remarks at an anniversary event for the Korea Times on Thursday, as he stressed the two countries' fight for democracy under the alliance, which he said was "forged in bl

LG Electronics Inc. on Friday signed a partnership with a local food firm to expand the use of its artificial intelligence-powered services in kitchen appliances amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. The South Korean tech powerhouse joined hands with Dongwon F&B Co. so that more LG DIOS light wave oven owners can use the product's AI feature in cooking foods, especially easy-to-cook meals. When users scan a barcode of Dongwon F&B's home meal replacement (HMR) products via the L

SK Innovation Co., South Korea's largest refiner and major battery maker, said Friday it shifted to a net loss in the third quarter from a year earlier due to low demand for petrochemical products amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For the three months that ended in September, SK Innovation swung to a net loss of 16.13 billion won ($14 million) from a net profit of 174.26 billion won in the same period of last year, the company said in a statement. "The coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh

술에 취해 5m가량을 운전한 30대 남성이 재판에 넘겨져 벌금형을 선고받았다. 인천지법 형사15단독 임택준 판사는 도로교통법상 음주운전 혐의로 기소된 A(31)씨에게 벌금 600만원을 선고했다고 30일 밝혔다. A씨는 올해 4월 1일 오전 2시 35분께 인천시 중구 한 도로에서 술에 취해 승용차를 운전한 혐의로 기소됐다. 조사 결과 그는 5m가량 음주운전을 했으며 적발 당시 혈중알코올농도는 면허 취소 수치인 0.097%였다. 임 판사는 "피고인이 범행을 인정하며 반성하고 있다"며 "술에 취한 상태로 운전한 거리가 5m가량에 불과하고 과거에 음주운전으로 처벌받은 전력도 없다"고 판단했다. 그러나 "피고인의 혈중알코올농도가 낮지 않고 앞서 수사기관에서 조사받을 당시 범행 경위에 관한 진술을 번복하며 책임을 회피하려는 태도를 보였다"며 "교통 관련 범죄로 2차례 벌금형을 받은 전력이 있는 점 등도 고려했다"고

The prime minister on Friday called on state and local health authorities to maintain response readiness against potential COVID-19 cluster transmissions during the upcoming Halloween weekend.   "I ask that related agencies and local governments focus all their efforts on antivirus work so that the Halloween weekend does not end up becoming a source of a mass virus spread," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said during a government meeting.   The meeting of the Centra

An Army officer in the northeastern county of Inje has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday. The noncommissioned officer was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 late Thursday after coming in contact with his colleague who tested positive earlier this week after visiting a local bank that earlier reported a virus patient, according to the ministry. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 163. Curren

Unification Minister Lee In-young called Friday for North Korea to cooperate in efforts to turn the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two sides into "experimental space for coexistence." Lee made the remarks in an opening speech during an international forum held in the border town of Cherwon to discuss how to develop the world's most heavily fortified border into a peace zone. "The South and the North are a single community of life and security," Lee told the forum.

Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday launched a mobile application that allows users to easily locate their misplaced smart devices. SmartThings Find is now available on Samsung's Galaxy devices globally after the service was tested by 6 million users in South Korea, the United States and Britain for about two months, the company said. The South Korean tech giant will provide a new software update for the service on Galaxy smartphones and tablets running Android 8 or later, Galaxy Watch smartwat

Apple Inc. launched its new iPhone 12 in South Korea on Friday, joining the fierce competition for the local 5G phone market. The country's 5G phone market has so far been dominated by local tech giants, such as Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., but the newest iPhone models -- Apple's first smartphones to support the high-speed network -- are expected to heat up competition. South Korea commercialized the 5G network in April last year as the first in the world. Local telecom o