Korea Times K-Culture Reporter
Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Actress Lee Si-young poses with SsangYong Motor's new Rexton Sports pickup truck in this photo provided by the company, Monday. The SUV maker said it will hold an online showcase event Tuesday to introduce the redesigned Rexton Sports and its long-body version, the Rexton Sports Khan, which are sold as the Musso and the Musso Grand in the overseas market. Courtesy of SsangYong Motor
Hyundai Motor Group introduces its luxury G80 sedan and GV80 SUV during the Genesis Brand Night event held at the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal, Friday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group By Baek Byung-yeulHyundai Motor Group has decided to launch its Genesis luxury brand in the Chinese market, introducing the G80 sedan and GV80 SUV there, aiming to vie with prominent brands including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Lexus in the world's largest car market.On Friday, Genesis held a China launching event called “Genesis Brand Night” at the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal. Featuring executives of the automotive group and local Chinese media, Genesis also displayed the G80 and the GV80 models.“By targeting the younger generation, key customers in China's rapidly growing luxury car market, Genesis aims to strengthen its status as the first luxury car brand in Korea and to compete against the world's leading brands,” a Hyundai Motor Group official said.The offic
Solar panels are installed at parking lots of Samsung Electronics' branches in Suwon and Yongin. Courtesy of Samsung ElectronicsBy Baek Byung-yeulWith global companies working to tackle climate change, Samsung Electronics is also taking part by utilizing eco-friendly technologies.The tech giant posted a video on its YouTube channel, Thursday, showing how it is using solar panels at its four semiconductor-manufacturing plants in Yongin, Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek and Asan.Installing the solar panels is part of Samsung's plan to fully use renewable energy in its operations. In June 2018, Samsung announced its worksites in the United States, China and Europe would rely exclusively on electricity sourced from renewable sources by 2020.Thanks to the efforts, 92 percent of the energy used in these workplaces was generated by renewable energy in 2019 and the company achieved its goal of 100 percent renewable energy as scheduled last year.As part of its plan to use renewable energy at its worksites around the world, Samsung said it is generating electricity through solar panels at its Korean workp
Samsung Electronics' office in Seoul / YonhapBy Baek Byung-yeulSamsung Electronics is scheduled to announce its preliminary earnings for the first quarter on April 7, and all eyes are on whether the tech giant will be able to log a better-than-expected performance, despite a series of difficulties such as the shutdown of its U.S. chip plant and a drop in the won-dollar exchange rate.Market consensus for Samsung's January-March performance is expected at 60.27 trillion won ($53.32 billion) in sales and 8.64 trillion won in operating profit, according to data by market researcher FnGuide, improving markedly from a year ago, when sales totaled 55.35 trillion won and operating profit reached 6.44 trillion won.Before entering the first quarter, Samsung's semiconductor business was expected to enjoy soaring chip demand, but the business was forecast to post a modest performance due to power outages at its chip-making plant in Austin, Texas, and the impact of the exchange rate.In February, Samsung had to shut down its contract-based chip-making factory in Austin due to power outages after a
LG Electronics' Yeouido headquarter building displays “G6” in lit-up windows to celebrate the release of the company's G6 smartphone in this March 31, 2017 photo. Courtesy of LG ElectronicsBy Baek Byung-yeulLG Electronics appears to have decided to pull out of its money-losing smartphone business and entered into a transition process to relocate its mobile communications employees to other business units.After suffering operating losses since 2015, LG attempted recently to sell its mobile communications unit, which oversees the smartphone business. The company has reportedly been in negotiations with various interested buyers, including Vietnam's Vingroup, but failed to reach an agreement with any of them. LG Electronics has considered selling parts of its operations or pulling out of the smartphone business altogether. But it decided recently to pull out of the smartphone business altogether.“LG has considered various options such as a sale, split sales or pulling out of the smartphone business, but decided recently to pull out of the business,” according to
By Baek Byung-yeulSK Group's headquarters in Seoul / Korea Times fileSK Inc. has acquired French drug manufacturer Yposkesi to expand into the rapidly growing contract manufacturing organization (CMO) business, the newly renamed holding company of SK Group said Wednesday.The company said it acquired a 70 percent stake including management rights in Yposkesi, a gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), and held a deal-closing ceremony that day.The acquisition deal came four months after SK revealed it was in negotiations to buy the French firm. SK Inc. hasn't disclosed the specific amount of the deal. Yposkesi will be operated by SK Pharmteco, a wholly owned CMO subsidiary of SK Inc.“We are glad to advance into the gene therapy CMO business by investing in Yposkesi which has great capability and potential,” SK Inc. CEO Jang Dong-hyun said. “We will spare no efforts to help Yposkesi grow fast in the global market.”Established in 2016, Yposkesi was French biotech company Genethon. “With SK Inc. joining us, Yposkesi is exp
Cho Hyun-sik, vice chairman of Hankook & Company, left, and his younger brother Cho Hyun-bum, president of Hankook & Company / Courtesy of Hankook Tire & TechnologyBy Baek Byung-yeulThe sibling war in Korea's largest tire giant Hankook & Company between Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sik and his younger brother and President Cho Hyun-bum has become more complicated, as each one took their own victory in shareholders' meetings, Tuesday.Formerly called Hankook Tire & Technology Group, Hankook & Company is the holding company of the tire giant supervising the group's flagship unit Hankook Tire & Technology and other affiliates.The sibling war in Korea's largest tiremaker come as the brothers have been battling over management control of the group.Currently, Cho Hyun-bum, which also serves as CEO of Hankook Tire & Technology, holds a 42.9 percent stake in Hankook & Company, while his older brother holds a 19.32 percent and their two sisters Hee-won and Hee-kyung have 10.82 percent and 0.83 percent stakes, respectively. The National Pension Service has a 5.21 p
Hyundai E&C's Hillstate Dalseong Park Station in Daegu / Courtesy of Hyundai E&CBy Baek Byung-yeulHyundai Engineering and Construction (E&C) has begun sales of residential and office units at Hillstate Dalseong Park Station apartment complex in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the construction company said Tuesday.Located close to Daegu Station, the newly built apartments are comprised of three 49-story buildings housing a total of 392 units ― two residential buildings and one building for offices. The size of each apartment is 84 square meters.“Customers can apply for both residential and office units at the same time. We expect there will be a lot of attention to the office units as anyone aged 19 and over can apply for it,” a company official said.The Taepyeongno area, where Hillstate Dalseong Park Station is located, has emerged as a new residential section in Daegu as high-rise residential and office buildings have been built one after another. It is expected around 17,000 households will live in the area, the company said.One of the biggest adva
SK Innovation's battery plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province / Courtesy of SK InnovationBy Baek Byung-yeulSK Innovation's electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling technology has been recognized by U.S.-based research center Argonne National Laboratory for its superiority in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the company said, Monday.The Argonne National Laboratory, a research center under the U.S. Department of Energy, verified SK Innovation's technology was eco-friendly through its life cycle assessment test. SK Innovation developed the technology for the first time in the industry.The technology is used to extract raw materials needed for making EV batteries and the U.S. research center added it could greatly contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to SK Innovation.With more EVs being sold, calls have grown for better recycling of used EV batteries. Battery recycling firms employ a wet process to extract key substances such as nickel, cobalt and manganese from used batteries before extracting lithium, but this results in low rates of recovery and purity. Bu
Yoon Soo-hee, senior vice president and head of the Specialty Care Division at LG Chem, speaks during The Korea Times' Bio Webinar, March 26. Captured during the eventBy Baek Byung-yeulLogo for LG ChemLG Chem, the chemical, battery-making and biotech affiliate of LG Group, is improving research and development in new drug development to find new growth engines.During The Korea Times' Bio Webinar, on March 26, Yoon Soo-hee, senior vice president and head of the Specialty Care Division at LG Chem, said the company focused on developing drugs for diabetes, metabolic disorders, cancer and immune disorders as its main R&D areas in 2017.As part of that plan, LG Chem has been conducting over 40 new drug development pipelines, investing 600 billion won ($532 million) over the past four years.The webinar was sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The executives of the country's prominent biotech firms ― LG Chem, Samsung Biologics, SK Bioscience and Celltrion ― discussed the current state of the local biotech industry and what types of support the government needs to offe