April 18, 2024

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EDITOR'S PICKS

• Markets 
  

  Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen

  The top finance policymakers of South Korea, the US and Japan shared their concern on the recent devaluation of the Korean won and the Japanese yen during their first trilateral talks Wednesday. Korea's Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki held three-way talks on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and Group of 20 finance leaders' meetings in Washington. They were the first trilateral talks to be held by Ch

• Companies 
  

  Samsung C&T president makes her first business trip to Milan

  Samsung C&T President Lee Seo-hyun, the younger sister of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, visited Italy on her first business trip after her recent comeback to a management role in the company, according to industry sources, Thursday. Lee reportedly visited Milan to attend Milan Design Week (MDW) 2024, the world's largest design and furniture fair, which attracts more than 2,300 exhibitors and 370,000 visitors from more than 180 countries. Samsung Electronics also participated i

• Markets 
  

  Seoul Business Agency CEO says SNS marketing essential for SME

  Small business owners are now required to wear a second hat as an online content creator to increase engagement with young consumers, the head of Seoul Business Agency, a business support institution run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said at the Global Biz Forum held in Seoul, Wednesday. The GBF, organized by The Korea Herald, is an association of experts from various fields such as business leaders, scholars, diplomats and celebrities, who come together to provide comprehensive views

• Companies 
  

  CJ Olive Young offers real-time translators for foreign visitors

  CJ Olive Young said Thursday it has introduced portable translators supporting 16 languages in its outlets nationwide to enhance the shopping experience for foreign visitors and the work efficiency of its employees. The handheld device supports 16 languages for real-time translation, including English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Russian and Mongolian. In addition, they offer sight translation through an attached camera, allowing users to take a picture and see the translated text on the s

• Companies 
  

  Hyundai Motor, Toray join hands for material innovation in mobility

  Hyundai Motor Group has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Japanese material manufacturer Toray Industries to enhance materials technology for vehicles, officials announced Thursday. Under the partnership, the two sides will work together to develop lightweight and high-strength materials to advance the performance and safety of the Korean automaker’s vehicles. According to Hyundai Motor, the joint research and development will include carbon fiber-reinforced polymer parts th

• Companies 
  

  Paris Baguette debuts in the Philippines

  SPC Group said Thursday its bakery chain Paris Baguette had launched its first store in the Philippines. The new Paris Baguette branch in Manila features wooden interiors, designed to create a premium European bakery ambiance, and is located on the first floor of the SM Mall of Asia, the largest shopping center in the Philippines, with a total of 90 seats available. SPG Group signed a franchise agreement with a local retailer Berjaya Food Berhad in August. This deal falls under the so-called

• Tech 
  

  Samsung develops fastest DRAM chip optimzied for ondevice AI

  Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chip maker by revenue, has developed the industry's fastest LPDDR5X memory chip optimized for on-device artificial intelligence applications, the company said Wednesday. The new Low Power Double Data Rate 5X manifests the highest performance of up to 10.7 gigabits-per-second and is the smallest in size among existing products leveraging the 12-nanometer-class process technology, the company said. The speed is equal to sending about 20 4-gigabyte full

• Companies 
  

  Amazon fuels e-commerce rivalry with free shipping campaign

  US e-commerce giant Amazon introduced free shipping benefits for Korean consumers as the firm strategically eyes the country's overseas direct purchase market amid the increasing competition in the e-commerce industry here. Starting Wednesday, Amazon has implemented a policy offering complimentary shipping for orders exceeding $49 worth of eligible items for delivery to South Korea, with the shipping address set within South Korea on its website. Eligible items include not only small essentia

• Companies 
  

  [KH Explains] Hyundai's full hybrid edge to pay off in slow EV transition

  Traditionally dominated by Japanese manufacturers like Toyota and Honda, the hybrid vehicle sector is now seeing renewed interest from global automakers looking to improve profitability among slowing electric sales. Among them, Hyundai Motor Group stands out as one of the few key competitors with robust full hybrid electric vehicle technology. This positions Hyundai uniquely as one of the few automakers to profit from increasing hybrid sales as it navigates the transitional period towards more

• Companies 
  

  LS Eco Energy wins $30.51m supply deal to supply Denmark's Energinet

  LS Eco Energy, a subsidiary of LS Cable & System, announced Wednesday that it is supplying extra high voltage cables to Energinet, a Danish state-owned transmission system operator of electricity and natural gas, over the next three years in a deal worth $30.51 million deal. The contract follows another Danish deal worth $13 billion signed earlier this month. The demand for EHV cables has been growing substantially in Denmark thanks to the nation’s growing infrastructure projects --

• Tech 
  

  Samsung CEO bets big on connectivity to take on Apple

  Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and co-CEO Han Jong-hee said its home appliance division, backed by enhanced connectivity with mobile devices, will enjoy its heyday in the second half of this year, showing confidence in the competition with its powerful rival Apple. “We may not yet be the No. 1 player in the home appliance sector. But if we can offer more enhanced connectivity, based on our leadership in TVs and smartphones, consumers will respond positively,” Han said at a press

• Markets 
  

  HD Hyundai signs W641b warship deal with Peru

  HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has bagged an order worth 640.6 billion won ($462 million) to build four warships for Peru’s state-owned shipyard SIMA, marking Korea’s largest-ever defense export deal to Latin America. According to HD Hyundai on Wednesday, Peru's President Dina Boluarte and Defense Minister Walter Astudillo Chavez, as well as Joo Won-ho, head of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' special ship business unit, attended a signing ceremony held at the Naval Center San Borja, in Li

• Tech 
  

  LG sets W1tr sales goal for built-in appliances by 2027

  LG Electronics unveiled the ambitious target of 1 trillion won ($722 million) in sales solely from built-in appliances by 2027 at this year’s Milan Design Week, one of the largest international design and furniture exhibitions. “Within three years, we will be able to make our built-in (appliance) business worth trillions and turn it into another growth engine,” Lyu Jae-cheol, head of LG Electronics' home appliance and air solutions division, told a group of local reporters in

• Companies 
  

  LS Materials breaks ground on EV parts plant

  LS Materials’ subsidiary HAIMK began construction of an aluminum parts plant for electric vehicles in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday. According to LS Materials, the plant will begin the mass production of battery cases with an annual capacity that can be used for 300,000 EVs in the first quarter of next year. The product is a high-strength aluminum component that protects the battery from outside impact without supplementary steel material. “Our products will be the

• Markets 
  

  Beer imports from Japan more than double in Q1

  South Korea's imports of Japanese beer products more than doubled on-year in the first quarter this year, despite a 20 percent drop in the country's overall beer imports during the same period, government data showed Wednesday. According to the Korea Customs Service, the combined value of Korea's beer imports in the January-March period decreased by 19.8 percent on-year to reach $45.2 million. In terms of volume, the country' beer imports went down by 24.1 percent to 48,322 tons. Beer imports

• Companies 
  

  Mirae Asset Global X set for growth under new chief

  Mirae Asset Global Investments announced Wednesday that Global X, its US-based exchange-traded fund subsidiary, would seek increased competitiveness under new CEO Ryan O'Connor, the former global head of ETF products at Goldman Sachs. O'Connor, who has an over 17-year career in the US ETF industry, having worked at Goldman Sachs and State Street Global Advisors, took office as the chief of fund issuer Global X on April 8. Through a recent leadership reshuffle carried out earlier this month, E