YONGIN, Gyeonggi Province -- “The ultimate sports car, spearheading AMG family. I love to call it our street legal racing machine.” Mark Raine, vice president of product & marketing at Mercedes-Benz Korea, proudly presented a face-lifted model of the AMG GT 2-Door Coupe to press at the AMG Speedway, its racetrack located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on a sunny Friday in July. Five years have p...

South Korea’s top 500 companies by assets have cut more than 11,000 jobs as the new coronavirus has continued to spread, data showed Wednesday. Local corporate tracker CEOScore surveyed the number of national pension fund subscriptions among the nation’s 500 largest companies between February and June. The pension fund subscription -- which is mandatory for regular workers -- is often used as a ...

SK Group has solidified its market valuation -- just behind No. 1 South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group -- due to the initial public offering of its bio units, according market tracker FnGuide on Tuesday. As of Friday, its listed affiliates had a combined market cap of 120 trillion won ($100 billion), while Samsung Group had 480 trillion won. SK Biopharmaceuticals, which was listed on July 2,...

Hyundai Motor confirmed Tuesday it is seeking to acquire General Motors’ production facility in St. Petersburg, Russia. “We are discussing acquisition of the plant with GM,” a Hyundai official said. The South Korean carmaker has sought approval from the antitrust agency in Russia, an essential measure to take over the factory. The agency will decide on granting permission if it does not violate...

Fiat Chrysler Korea confirmed Monday that President Pablo Rosso has been suspended following allegations of sexual harassment, verbal abuse and assault. To ensure the integrity of the investigation is upheld, Pablo Rosso has been temporarily suspended from his duties as managing director of FCA Korea, the automaker said. "FCA does not tolerate any form of harassment, abuse or discrimination of ...

The International Vaccine Institute, a Seoul-based independent nonprofit agency, said Monday that LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo has personally donated 1 billion won ($836,120) to develop therapies for the new coronavirus. Koo hopes his donation would help speed up the development of vaccines to tackle the unprecedented pandemic, the organization said. The donation will be used to study methods...

Samsung Heavy Industries said Monday it has become the first shipbuilder to seek approval for its 3D model-based ships from American Bureau of Shipping. ABS sets standards for safety and excellence as one of the world‘s leading ship classification organizations. The South Korean shipbuilder said it began using the design techniques since 2016 but has taken an extra step for approval from ABS. ...

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Friday it has decided to impose a fine of 970 million won ($808,000) on Hyundai Heavy Industries for misappropriating technical data from a subcontractor. The Fair Trade Commission said HHI “forcibly obtained” the technical data of pistons for its diesel engine from a subcontractor. HHI had maintained a close partnership with the company for over two decades...

South Korean liquor company Golden Blue said Friday it has renewed its agreement with Scotland-based Heriot-Watt University and held a scholarship ceremony for students selected for a blender promotion project. Golden Blue has conducted the project since 2016 to discover and foster brewing and distillation experts for the advancement of the Korean liquor industry. Every year, two students are s...

Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor posted half of its operating profit in the second quarter from a year earlier. But the earnings still came above market expectations due to the launch of new models. Hyundai Motor’s operating profit fell 52 percent to 590 billion won ($493 million) and sales dropped 19 percent to 21.86 trillion won, according to the firm’s regulatory filings Thursday. Ne...

LG International said Wednesday it has been selected as a “decent company” by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support small and medium-sized companies advancing into global markets. The commodity trading and mining affiliate of LG Group signed an agreement with the Startups Ministry and the Korea International Trade Association in Seoul at a ceremony attended by CEO Yoon Chun-sung, Minister...

The National Pension Service was found to have expanded their investment in bio and pharmaceuticals in the first half of this year in the wake of the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Local corporate tracker CEOScore recently surveyed 302 listed companies that the NPS holds more than five percent stake in -- with the total value of their shares standing at 127 trillion won ($106 billion). The su...

Incheon International Airport was hit hard due to the prolonged outbreak of COVID-19, data showed Tuesday. The number of passengers at the airport from Jan. 1 to July 16 is about 10.89 million, according to the Incheon International Airport Corp. -- a sharp decline from 38.67 million in the same period last year. By Shin Ji-hye ( shinjh@heraldcorp.com )

LS Cable & System said Tuesday it has launched a local area network cable that can send data and power as far as 200 meters at the same time. The cable called SimpleWide is double the limits of current LAN cables in the market that can only transmit about 100 meters, the company said. LS C&S said SimpleWide is intended to be used mostly for connecting internet protocol cameras, phones, CCTVs an...

South Korea’s largest steelmaker Posco disclosed Tuesday that its sales declined by 15.9 percent on-year to 13.72 trillion won ($11.44 billion) with operating profit plunging 84.3 percent to 13.72 trillion won in the second quarter. “The sales volume of steel products and prices have fallen due to sluggish global demand and worsening market conditions caused by the coronavirus outbreak,” the com...