May 17, 2024

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EDITOR'S PICKS

• Companies 
  

  [KH Explains] Hyundai-backed Motional’s struggles deepen as Tesla eyes August robotaxi debut

  Motional, Hyundai Motor Group’s robotaxi service joint venture in the United States, has hit a rough patch recently, facing major investor pullouts, a delayed service launch and a drastic 40 percent workforce reduction. This turbulence comes as Elon Musk recently announced Tesla’s plans to launch its robotaxi service in August, which experts say has a simpler AI architecture that is less costly to train and run than rivals. Experts say they still expect industry-wide investments i

• Companies 
  

  Kepco to raise electricity prices as total debt soars past W200tr

  Despite self-rescue efforts, a hike in electricity prices is inevitable, the Korea Electric Power Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kim Dong-cheol said Thursday. Explaining how the company was able to reduce its snowballing debt through all-out efforts, including a massive personnel restructuring, Kim noted that Korea's electricity prices are far lower than other countries. "The cost of purchasing electricity surged from 2021, but we could not shift the burden into electricity prices, and th

• Companies 
  

  Starbucks Korea to speed up hiring process

  Starbucks Korea announced Thursday that the company has introduced a faster hiring process that will halve the time to recruit baristas and workers at its branches. “The existing hiring process takes around 50 days to recruit new employees, but the new hiring process will take roughly three weeks,” an official from Starbucks Korea said. According to Starbucks Korea, the new hiring process will be tested at 50 of its branches across the country. The company could extend the adoptio

• Companies 
  

  Hyundai, KAIST develop world’s 1st technology to extend lifespan of LFP battery

  Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have developed the world’s first technology to extend the lifespan of electric vehicle batteries by 10 to 20 percent, KAIST said Thursday. The study, which was supported by Hyundai Motor Group, came up with a triazole-motivated electrolyte additive that can significantly increase the duration of lithium-ion batteries. According to the researchers, the developed electrolyte additive succeeded in lithium iron phosphate,

• Companies 
  

  LX Pantos teams up with China's Sinotrans for US, Europe expansion

  South Korean logistics company LX Pantos said Thursday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Sinotrans, the Chinese logistics giant, as part of efforts to facilitate maritime and aerial transportation for deliveries to the US and Europe, as well as between the two Asian countries. The signing event was held Monday at Sinotrans’ headquarters in Beijing, with the attendance of LX Pantos CEO Lee Yong-ho, Sinotrans President Song Rong and other relevant officials. Under the agree

• Companies 
  

  Miracell showcases stem cell technology at Milan trade show

  South Korean stem cell research company Miracell said Thursday that it showcased its stem cell extraction system, Smart M-Cell, at the recent 21st ESSKA congress held in Milan. The biennial European Society for Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery, and Arthroscopy congress brings together worldwide orthopedic surgeons, clinicians and scientists to discuss the latest advancements in sports medicine, joint diseases and surgery. This year’s conference, held May 8-10, featured over 130 educatio

• Markets 
  

  KITA, FKI chiefs call for mutual benefit from US investment

  Heads of Korean business groups raised their voices for Korean companies making vast investments in the US to be treated as they deserve when facing challenges in dealing with trade and supply chain issues involving the US. Starting Monday, Korea International Trade Association Chairman Yoon Jin-sik visited the US for five days along with the Federation of Korean Industries Chairman Ryu Jin to set forth Korean businesses' opinions to ensure that the Korea-US partnership yields outcomes reciproc

• Markets 
  

  [Herald Interview] For US overnight stockbroker Blue Ocean, golden hour falls on Sunday 8 p.m.

  For Blue Ocean ATS, a broker platform that facilitates overnight trading for the US stock market, Sunday night is the peak trading hour as South Korean investors flock to execute orders before the US day trading begins. “Sunday night is our biggest night when it is Monday morning for the Asian investors and Korean investors. They start trading at 8 p.m. when traditional exchanges here in the US do not open until 9:30 a.m. on Monday,” Brian Hyndman, president and CEO at Blue Ocean Te

• Tech 
  

  LG Electronics strengthens medical robot services

  LG Electronics joined hands Hanllym University Sacred Heart Hospital as part of its effort to strengthen medical robot services with its “affectionate intelligence” robot, Cloi, the company said on Wednesday. In an agreement, LG and the hospital agreed to collaborate to discover various scenarios of when robots can be used in medical institutes, and establish demonstration cases within domestic and international medical institutions. "With LG's Cloi robot taking charge of rep

• Companies 
  

  Korean display makers show off next-gen OLED technologies at SID event

  Samsung Display and LG Display presented the next-generation organic light-emitting diodes and Quantum dot panel technologies at this year’s Display Week 2024 in the US. Samsung introduced the industry's first quantum dot light-emitting diode display, the next-generation self-luminous technology, at SID Display Week 2024. The event, hosted by the Society for Information Display, kicked off Tuesday in San Jose, California, and runs until Thursday. The new technology implements RGB pixels

• Companies 
  

  Is FTC's conglomerate listing a boon or bane for Hybe?

    Hybe, the K-pop giant housing BTS, has become the first Korean entertainment firm to be designated a conglomerate by the country’s antitrust regulator, as its assets swelled big enough to fulfill the same tougher obligations as other large business groups. The Fair Trade Commission included Hybe along with five other firms in the list of conglomerates Tuesday, thanks to the boy band's enormous popularity and profitability alongside the agency’s active mergers and acquisition

• Companies 
  

  Coupang's Kim Bom escapes chaebol chief designation again

  South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang's founder and CEO Kim Bom was excluded from the list of chaebol chiefs designated by the Korean antitrust regulator, marking the fourth time since 2021 when Coupang entered the realm of large conglomerate groups with assets exceeding 5 trillion won ($3.6 million). The Korea Fair Trade Commission announced Wednesday an updated list of 88 large conglomerates for this year, all subject to disclosure of activities, followed by rigorous monitoring and accountab

• Companies 
  

  HD Hyundai Electric gets MSCI nod; Kakao Pay misses out

  Energy solution provider HD Hyundai Electric will be added to the Morgan Stanley Capital International Korea Index, alongside two other domestic companies, according to the index operator Tuesday. The MSCI Index is an influential market benchmark published by the US investment bank Morgan Stanley. Tracked by the global investment industry, the index measures the performance of the stocks included in its listing. The shares of three Korean companies, including HD Hyundai Electric, biotechnology

• Companies 
  

  Hana Financial chairman promotes fight against plastic waste

  Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo joined the "Bye Bye Plastic Challenge" to increase awareness of the need to reduce plastic waste, according to the firm Wednesday. Appointed by Community Chest of Korea Chairman Kim Byong-joon, Ham joined the social media campaign, first initiated by the Ministry of Environment in August last year. Ham promoted the need to combat plastic pollution for the environment by holding discussions with Hana Financial employees at its office in cen

• Companies 
  

  Jente partners with specialized logistics firm to elevate luxury delivery standards

  Luxury online boutique platform Jente has teamed up with Valex, a specialized logistics company here, intending to elevate the overall luxury experience for its customers. Jente signed a premium delivery partnership agreement with Valex at its headquarters in Gangnam on Wednesday. The agreement aims at minimizing customer concerns and inconveniences while ensuring reliability and safety related to luxury purchases and deliveries. "We are committed to enriching Jente's luxury ecosystem fo

• Tech 
  

  [KH Explains] Naver’s Line dilemma: Lose global footing for cash?

  Regardless of the ongoing diplomatic brouhaha, many industry watchers expect Naver to divest its stake in the 50:50 joint venture with SoftBank that controls the Line messenger app and Yahoo Japan. The issue is how much cash it could secure from the stake sale and its business impact in the future. Naver and SoftBank own 50 percent each in A Holdings, which controls almost 65 percent shares in LY Corp., the merged entity of Line and Yahoo Japan in 2019. The market cap of LY Corp. is estimated