SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean lawmakers sharply criticized Coupang on Wednesday during a National Assembly hearing on the company’s massive personal data leak, condemning the absence of founder Bom Kim and accusing the e-commerce giant of showing contempt for Korean consumers and regulators. Members of both ruling and opposition parties denounced Kim, the [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Ford Motor Co. has canceled a 9.6 trillion-won (US$7.4 billion) battery supply contract with LG Energy Solution, a rare rupture in one of the world’s largest EV supply chains that is heightening alarm over the sector’s deepening slowdown. LG Energy Solution disclosed Wednesday that Ford had terminated the agreement, which [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — A long-running management dispute at Korea Zinc intensified this week as rival shareholder groups clashed over the company’s plan to build a massive smelter in Tennessee, a project estimated to be one of its largest overseas investments. On Wednesday, Youngpoong Group and private-equity firm MBK Partners—major shareholders aligned against [...]
BUSAN, Dec. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has begun real-world testing of a new solar-generating window film designed to turn high-rise buildings into power producers, marking a potential breakthrough for urban renewable energy. Korea Southern Power (KOSPO) said Tuesday it has launched a demonstration project with the Korea Institute of Materials Science to evaluate [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s national space agency said Tuesday it is exploring the use of SpaceX’s next-generation Starship rocket to launch the country’s first Mars payload as early as 2030, part of a broader strategy to accelerate its participation in international deep-space exploration. At a briefing in Seoul, the Korea Aerospace Administration [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Steel and POSCO are moving forward with plans to build a large-scale electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill in Louisiana, targeting commercial operation in 2029, as South Korean steelmakers expand production in the United States to meet automakers’ growing local supply needs. The companies announced on Tuesday that [...]
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Motor and Kia will install enhanced anti-theft devices on more than 4 million vehicles in the United States, agreeing to sweeping remedial measures after a multistate investigation found their cars were particularly vulnerable to theft. According to Reuters, the automakers reached a settlement with attorneys general from 35 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean companies’ earnings recorded a 20 percent on-year gain in 2024 on increased exports of semiconductors, government data showed Tuesday. The combined before-tax net profit of South Korean companies reached 181.9 trillion won (US$123.9 billion) last year, up 20.6 percent from 150.8 trillion won tallied in 2023, according [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea said Tuesday it will invest at least 4.5 trillion won (US$3.06 billion) to secure overseas logistics hubs as part of an effort to shore up exporters’ supply chains and reduce reliance on foreign-owned facilities. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries laid out the plan during a ministerial [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea and the United Kingdom signed an upgraded free trade agreement aimed at easing rules of origin for Korean exporters and expanding access to Britain’s high-speed rail and digital services markets, Seoul’s trade ministry said Tuesday. The deal, signed in London by Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and [...]