Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., South Korea's top shipping firm, is seeing its business performance improve sharply on the back of reduced costs and increased profit, its chief said Tuesday."Compared to last year, our performance is improving significantly, based on a virtuous cycle of reduced cos

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. has launched an all-new subcompact in China to help revive local sales hit hard by ongoing political tension between the two countries, the company said Tuesday.Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., a joint venture set up between Hyundai Motor and BAIC Motor Corp. in 2002, u

The number of foreigners other than Chinese visiting South Korea grew in the first seven months of this year following the government's efforts to diversify its tourist portfolio in the face of a sharp drop in the number of Chinese visitors, the country's tourism promotion agency said Tuesda

Air Seoul Inc., one of South Korea's six low-cost carriers, said Tuesday it will begin flights to Kalibo in December as part of its initial expansion strategy.The new route to the Philippines comes as Air Seoul, which started operations in October last year, expands its overseas operations. Havi

South Korea's smaller firms have lost nearly 86 percent of patent suits against large businesses this year due mainly to their lack of legal expertise and resources to protect their intellectual properties, a lawmaker said Tuesday.Citing data from the Korea Intellectual Property Office, Rep. Kim

South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Monday its artificial intelligence (AI) speaker was sold out on the first day of the preorder.Kakao, which also operates the country's No. 2 portal, said it sold all of the 3,000 units of the Kakao Mini allocated for preorders in 3

South Korea's airlines will impose fuel surcharges on international passengers next month to reflect an increase in jet fuel prices, industry sources said Monday.In the past five months through September, local airlines didn't impose fuel surcharges, as the average price of jet fuel remained

South Korea will investigate a nuclear reactor on the southwest coast to check its safety following the discovery of its faulty parts and conduct detailed inspections on all atomic energy plants to address safety issues, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it w

South Korea's major shipyards, led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., are projected to report weaker-than-expected earnings for the third quarter of the year, due to increased costs and the construction of low-priced ships amid decreased new orders, industry sources said Sunday.According to the da

Lotte Hotel & Resorts said Sunday it opened its second hotel in Russia last week as it seeks to tap deeper into the overseas market.The new hotel opened in Saint Petersburg on Friday. It launched its first Russian operation in Moscow in 2010. Lotte currently operates hotels in the United States, Vie

South Korean companies' investment in China declined 43.7 percent in the first seven months of this year amid a prolonged diplomatic dispute over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, central bank data showed Sunday.Their direct investment totaled US$1.75 billion in the January-July p

SK E&C, one of Korea's biggest conglomerates, is widely expanding its presence in the overseas markets. Thailand, Iran and Turkey are the countries where the company has received big-scale construction contracts this year.SK E&C signed a 200 billion won petrochemical plant construction contract

Hyundai Motor Co.'s luxury sub-brand Genesis unveiled its entry-level G70 sedan Friday to tap into the fast growing segment, which is currently led by premium European marques, such as BMW's 3 series and the Mercedes-Benz C-class.The G70 is the latest model in the luxury lineup and slots in

South Korea's energy sector is on the verge of a major transformation, as the government pushes to gradually phase out nuclear power in favor of renewable energy, but policymakers and experts say strong public support and a feasible supply plan are needed to achieve the ambitious goal.President

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No. 2 automaker, has hired Pierre Leclercq, a former BMW designer, to further differentiate the styling of its vehicles, the company said Thursday.Starting from the end of September, the Belgian-born Pierre Leclercq, 46, will be responsible for developing Kia'

Kumho Asiana Group said Thursday it will give up the management rights of its tire unit if the airline-to-construction conglomerate fails to restructure the financially troubled unit by March.The group said in a statement that it will also give up its right to buy back Kumho Tire Co. from a third pa

Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's tech giant, said Thursday that it will create a US$300 million fund to strengthen its autonomous driving and other auto-related startups and technologies.The Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund will focus on connected car and autonomous technologies, includi

Creditors of Kumho Tire Co. could not assess the latest self-rescue plan by the South Korean tiremaker due to lack of details, officials said Wednesday.The move came a day after the tire unit of Kumho Asiana Group submitted the self-rescue plan to its main creditor, the state-run Korea Development B

The average adjusted monthly wage for workers at South Korea's big businesses far exceeds those of their U.S. and Japanese counterparts, although South Korea's per capita GDP is much lower than the two advanced economies, a report showed Wednesday.The average South Korean employee at compani

SK hynix Inc. remained silent Wednesday over reports that Japan-based Toshiba Corp. is reconsidering South Korea's No. 2 tech giant as a potential buyer of its memory chip division.Earlier in the day, Japanese media reported Toshiba has signed a memorandum that includes SK hynix as part of its p