Korean Air to showcase stealth unmanned aerial vehicle at aerospace and defense exhibition

SEOUL -- Korean Air, South Korea's flag carrier, will showcase its stealth unmanned aerial vehicle at "ADEX," an aerospace and defense exhibition in Seoul's satellite city of Seongnam. The company has carried out a military project to develop a low-observable unmanned aerial vehicle squadron since August 2022. In August 2022, the flag carrier was selected as the preferred bidder for the development of a squadron that involves one manned aircraft and three to four steal

October 16, 2023

SKC to sell polyurethane material division to focus on eco-friendly material businesses

SEOUL -- SKC, one of South Korea's top chemical product makers, will sell its polyurethane raw material business, in a bid to accelerate the company's businesses focused on secondary batteries, semiconductors, and eco-friendly materials. SKC said in a statement that through a board meeting held on October 12, the chemical company's board of executives decided to sell a 100 percent stake in SK pucore, the polymer material-making wing of SKC, for 410.3 billion won ($303.9 mil

October 13, 2023

Fried chicken brand BBQ opens first store in Costa Rica

SEOUL -- BBQ, a popular South Korean fried chicken franchise, has opened its first store in Costa Rica. Along with fried chicken, BBQ will provide Korean dishes including Tteokbokki, finger-sized rice cakes simmered in fiery-red spicy chili sauce, and stir-fried rice with kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented vegetable dish. The fried chicken brand, run by Genesis BBQ, is an iconic franchise in South Korea. Most BBQ chicken is less oily compared to chicken made by North American b

October 12, 2023

​POSCO International partners with oil refiner GS Caltex to build edible oil refinery plant in Indonesia

SEOUL -- POSCO International, a trading arm of South Korea's steel group POSCO, will work with GS Caltex, a major domestic oil refiner, to build a refinery plant for palm oil in Indonesia by the second quarter of 2025. The facility, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons of refined oil, will be constructed in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo Island. Palm oil can be used to produce biofuel. GS Caltex has earlier partnered with POSCO and HMM, the world's eighth-l

October 12, 2023

Half-price small parcel service gains popularity among secondhand item traders: market data

SEOUL -- Half-price small parcel delivery services operated by convenience store franchises are gaining popularity among secondhand item traders, market data showed. South Korea has various logistics services mainly operated by major conglomerates such as CJ Group and Hanjin. Such services offer small parcel delivery services for about 5,000 won ($3.7) per box. Packages normally arrive at their destinations in two days. Larger parcels are more expensive but they also arrive at custom

October 12, 2023

LG Energy Solution records operating profit of $545.7 mln, up 40.1% year-on-year

SEOUL -- LG Energy Solution, the battery-making wing of South Korea's LG Group, estimated that its operating profit in the third quarter of 2023 was 731.2 billion won ($545.7 million), up 40.1 percent from a year ago. This is the highest record in the third quarter for the battery maker, which has strived to build supply chains in North America. LG Energy Solution (LGES) said on October 11 that its operating profit reached 731.2 billion won and sales increased to some 8.2 trillion

October 12, 2023

Prices of sugar and salt skyrocket by about 17% on-year in September 2023

SEOUL -- Prices of sugar and salt, the essential ingredients of food, have increased by about 17 percent on-year in September, showing the sharpest increase rate in 2023. The increase in the prices of sugar and salt could lead to increased prices of other products such as processed foods, drinks, and restaurant food menus. The price hike was caused by the increased import prices of raw sugar from countries such as Brazil, and Colombia and sudden. South Korea produces white and brown

October 11, 2023

Imports of alcoholic drinks increase by 54% in 4 yrs while exports increase by 2%: data

SEOUL -- Backed by the skyrocketing popularity of foreign alcoholic drinks among young consumers in their 20s and 30s, imports of liquors and alcoholic beverages have increased by 54 percent since 2018. Meanwhile, exports of South Korean products only increased by two percent in the same period. The consumption of whisky and other foreign-made alcoholic drinks has gained popularity among young consumers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2019. The culture of "so

October 10, 2023

​CJ Freshway to showcase smart restaurant with robot chef at food solution fair

SEOUL -- At a food solution fair in Seoul, the food material distribution wing of South Korea's conglomerate CJ Group will showcase a smart restaurant where visitors can enjoy fried chicken cooked by a robot chef. After the robot completes cooking, its human coworker will arrange and decorate the dish. A serving robot will deliver the completed dish to customers. The adoption of robot chefs is gradually gaining momentum in South Korea. In August 2021, domestic chicken franchis

October 10, 2023

Hyundai and Kia to adopt Tesla's EV-charging standard in US starting 4Q 2024

SEOUL -- Starting in the fourth quarter of 2024, all Hyundai and Kia electric vehicles released in the United States will be equipped with charger ports that match the North American Charging Standard, also known as the Tesla Charging standard. EVs made by Hyundai Motor Group companies -- Hyundai Motor and Kia -- use Combined Charger System (CCS) charger ports and they are not compatible with Superchargers, EV chargers operated by American EV maker Tesla. Tesla is America's favor

October 6, 2023