Hanwha Aerospace, the space business arm of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha, has been tapped as the company to lead the project of upgrading the homegrown Nuri rocket and launching it four more times through 2027, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said Friday. According to Hanwha Aerospace’s regulatory filing, the company on Thursday signed a contract worth approximately 286 billion won ($220 million) with the state-run institute. The official selection came about two months after th

Technology Dec. 2, 2022

Hyundai Glovis, a logistics affiliate under South Korean automobile giant Hyundai Motor Group, has tapped Lee Kyoo-bok, an executive with the carmaker, as the company’s next CEO, officials announced Wednesday. Lee, who was also promoted to the group’s executive vice president with the CEO appointment, has served as the head of the carmaker’s sales office in Europe and chief financial officer of the US manufacturing corporation. As an expert in strategic planning for overseas sa

Mobility Nov. 30, 2022

Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai Motor Group’s executive vice president and chief creative officer, has been promoted to the group’s president, the South Korean auto giant announced Wednesday. Donckerwolke, a Belgian native, has led the growth of the carmaker’s brand identity in the global market since he joined the company in 2016. Hyundai Motor said Donckerwolke has initiated the direction for the company’s various creative projects, including the establishment of Genesis Hous

Mobility Nov. 30, 2022

  Korean Air, South Korea’s largest air carrier, will begin offering lie-flat seats in smaller aircraft -- its recently received Airbus 321neo -- in December, the company said Wednesday. With the introduction of the A321neo, Korean Air will become the country’s first air carrier to have lie-flat seats in a narrow-body aircraft. The A321neo, a single-aisle airplane with 182 seats, will operate on short-haul routes to China, Japan and Southeast Asia, according to Korean Air. Short

Mobility Nov. 30, 2022

Hyundai Motor Group and SK On have teamed up to beef up production of electric vehicle batteries in the US, a fast-growing market that offers hefty incentives to only locally produced electric vehicles and batteries. The new partnership comes after the South Korean auto giant suffered subsidy cuts to its popular electric vehicles, including the Ioniq 5, in the all-important US market following the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act that took effect in August. The "US-first

Industry Nov. 29, 2022

BUSAN -- Korean game developers should begin creating accessibility for people with disabilities as it can be easily done with some of the existing guidelines, says a longtime activist who has led the US movement for gamers with disabilities. “You can start making real change tomorrow with the resources out there,” said Mark Barlet, founder and executive director of the AbleGamers Charity, in an interview with The Korea Herald at South Korea’s game exhibition, G-Star, in Busan

Technology Nov. 20, 2022

BUSAN -- South Korea is poised to succeed in the global console game market despite having a relatively shorter resume in that particular area of gaming, according to an expert specialized in creating successful console games. “Many years ago, I first found out how excited Korean players were for video games when StarCraft became a global sensation. It was very fascinating to see that Korea was so excited about that,” said Steve Papoutsis, chief development officer at Striking Distan

Technology Nov. 20, 2022

BUSAN -- Game developer Neowiz is hoping to take the lead and set an exemplary case for Korean console games on the global stage with its awards-winning title Lies of P. “(For Lies of P) we really received good feedback at Gamescom including good graphics, high level of completion, no bugs, smooth play and great optimization of the frame,” said Choi Ji-won, the chief producing director of Lies of P in a press conference held Thursday on the sidelines of G-Star, South Korea’s bi

Technology Nov. 20, 2022

BUSAN -- For Ji Young-hoon, a 22-year-old South Korean who had just finished his mandatory military service duty in September, this year’s G-Star -- the country’s largest annual gaming exhibition felt like seeing an old friend after a long time. “I was here three years ago right after I took Suneung (Korea’s national college entrance exam). I have been looking forward to this year’s G-Star because the last two years’ events were not enjoyable,” Ji told T

Technology Nov. 19, 2022

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday met with chiefs of SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, and NCSoft, the country’s game giant, to discuss future cooperation. According to industry sources familiar with the matter, Nadella sat down with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK Square CEO Park Jung-ho and NCSoft CEO Kim Taek-jin in Seoul. The Microsoft chief’s meeting with SK leaders was a sign of the continued partnership between the two sides. In 2019, Park, who

Technology Nov. 15, 2022

ASML, the world-leading Dutch equipment supplier for semiconductor manufacturers, will expand its foothold in South Korea with the planned construction of new facilities and add more capacity with the global chip industry’s growth forecast, the company’s CEO Peter Wennink said Tuesday. Acknowledging that the global chip industry may struggle in the short term due to worldwide inflation and geopolitical issues, Wennink underlined that more semiconductors are going to be needed to mee

Technology Nov. 15, 2022

Saudi Arabia Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman expected to visit South Korea later this week, with potential to meet again Korea’s top business leaders as well as sit down with President Yoon Suk-yeol. The crown prince, also referred to as MBS, is scheduled to arrive this Thursday for a two-day stay after he attends the G-20 Heads of State and Government Summit in Bali, Indonesia, according to Korean diplomatic sources Monday. The visit will mark the crown prince’s

Industry Nov. 14, 2022

South Korean researchers have developed a portable virus killer that uses ultraviolet rays to take out COVID-19 in a second, the Korea Railroad Research Institute said Monday. According to the KRRI, the newly developed anti-virus equipment weighs 1.8 kilograms, making it easy for workers to carry it around public transportation such as subways and trains. As the UV ray-using virus killer does not have a risk of fire or leave residue, the KRRI said it can be used for disinfection work in places w

Technology Nov. 14, 2022

Twitter Korea Ltd., the US social media giant’s Korean office, is highly likely to lose a potential legal battle against its abruptly laid-off employees under the local labor law if they decide to file a class action lawsuit against their employer, according to labor experts here. “Regardless of whether (Twitter Korea) had urgent managerial reasons behind the layoffs, there seems to have been no efforts to overcome them. The employer should have talked to a representative of laborers

Technology Nov. 10, 2022

South Korea’s largest gaming convention G-Star is coming back at full strength for the first time in three years as the country’s major game developers are gearing up to showcase their new titles at the event next week. Taking place at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, commonly known as BEXCO, from Nov. 17 to 20, this year’s event is expected to draw over 250,000 game-lovers -- the largest attendance in the 17-year history of the gaming convention -- to the southern p

Technology Nov. 8, 2022