Business - The Korea Times

Starbucks Korea expands 'Focus Zone' locations near university campuses

Starbucks Korea is expanding its designated “Focus Zone” concept across its locations near university campuses, catering to customers who use cafes as dedicated spaces for studying or remote work. The company said the Focus Zone is a dedicated area within select stores designed for solo or paired customers visiting for study or work purposes. While Starbucks Korea has long offered single-occupancy seats and power outlet seating, it began operating the Focus Zone as a formally separated section in August last year, distinguishing it from general seating areas. Six locations currently feature the concept: Sillim Nokdu-geori, Songpa Bangi, Ilsan Hugok, Gwanggyo Sanghyeon Station, Sejong University and Hanyang University ERICA. The two most recent additions — the Sejong University and Hanyang University ERICA locations, both opened this year — were designed with university commercial districts in mind. At each, roughly half of the total floor space is allocated to the Focus Zone, reflecting the high proportion of student customers visiting for coursework and exam preparation. The comp

Apr 9, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Starbucks Korea expands 'Focus Zone' locations near university campuses

Samsung Display's QD-OLED monitor panels surpass 5 mil. cumulative shipments

Samsung Display said Monday its QD-OLED panels for monitors surpassed 5 million cumulative units shipped in March, roughly four years after the technology entered mass production. The company said it achieved the first 1 million units shipped as of May 2024, making the subsequent 4 million units the fastest ramp up in the product line's history. Samsung Display said it recorded average annual growth of more than 320 percent from 2021 through 2025 in the self-emissive monitor display segment. QD-OLED, or Quantum Dot Organic Light-Emitting Diode, integrates nanometer-scale semiconductor particles known as quantum dots directly into the display panel. Unlike conventional large-area OLED displays that rely on separate color filters, QD-OLED converts blue OLED light into red and green wavelengths through a quantum dot emissive layer. The technology delivers high color accuracy, wide color volume and broad viewing angles, along with faster pixel response times compared to liquid crystal displays at equivalent refresh rates. According to market research firm Omdia, the share of self-emissive pa

Apr 9, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Samsung Display's QD-OLED monitor panels surpass 5 mil. cumulative shipments

Gov't designates 145 companies to lead S. Korea's food exports

The government has selected 145 prominent and emerging companies to spearhead South Korea's food exports, the agriculture ministry said Thursday, as global demand for Korean cuisine is rapidly growing in line with the popularity of Korean culture. The companies will participate in the Global Next K-food Project led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, which is designed to help boost K-food exports, according to ministry officials. The project seeks to encourage large businesses to form alliances with small and medium-sized firms to jointly develop and promote food products targeting overseas markets. The ministry says the project will especially seek to boost exports of traditional Korean liquor, halal-certified K-food products, street food, functional food and fruits, among others. The ministry has set an annual export target of $16 billion for the food and agriculture sector this year, which would mark a 17.5 percent on-year spike from an all-time high of $13.62 billion posted in 2025.

Apr 9, 2026By Yonhap

Gov't designates 145 companies to lead S. Korea's food exports

POSCO Holdings completes lithium brine acquisition in Argentina

POSCO Holdings' Argentine subsidiary has completed the acquisition of full ownership of the Hombre Muerto North brine project from Canada’s Lithium South Development for $65 million, the company said Thursday. The deal was finalized five months after the Korean steelmaker’s holding company announced its investment plan last November. With the acquisition of the brine estimated to contain 1.58 million tons of lithium, POSCO Holdings now controls a total of 15 million tons of lithium brine resources in Argentina. The reserves are large enough to produce at least 3 million tons of lithium and supply batteries for about 70 million electric vehicles. The company operates a lithium plant in Argentina with an annual capacity of 25,000 tons and plans to complete construction of another facility with the same capacity during the second half of this year. “We plan to further strengthen our responsiveness to the global market and bolster our supply chain competitiveness,” POSCO Holdings President Lee Ju-tae said. Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo vowed to support the Korean firm’s lit

Apr 9, 2026By Park Jae-hyuk

POSCO Holdings completes lithium brine acquisition in Argentina

LG Innotek seals labor-management pact on workplace safety

LG Innotek said Thursday it held a joint labor-management ceremony in Seoul the previous day to pledge cooperation in creating a safer and healthier workplace. About 10 officials attended the event, including CEO Moon Hyuk-soo and union leader Lee Joong-il. Through a joint declaration, labor and management pledged to strengthen open communication and mutual trust to jointly develop optimal solutions for workplace safety. They also promised to establish a care system that supports work-life balance and fosters a healthy corporate culture in which employees can fully demonstrate their capabilities based on physical and psychological stability. The company plans to launch a dedicated joint task force within this month to implement the agreement. The body will identify and promote practical initiatives that employees can experience directly at work, including the launch of a new joint safety and health brand and the introduction of new in-house safety and wellness programs. LG Innotek also said it will expand social contribution activities focused on safety and health for local communities a

Apr 9, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

LG Innotek seals labor-management pact on workplace safety

Samsung family completes inheritance tax payments with Hong Ra-hee share sale

Hong Ra-hee, the widow of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, has sold a stake in Samsung Electronics worth nearly 3.1 trillion won ($2.1 billion) to complete the payment of inheritance taxes on assets left by the late tycoon, industry sources said Thursday. Hong, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art and mother of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, sold 15 million shares in Samsung Electronics in a block deal before the market opened earlier in the day, according to the sources. Her shares were sold at 205,237 won per share, reducing Hong's stake to 1.24 percent from 1.49 percent. The sale marks the end of the family's effort to pay inheritance taxes, totaling about 12 trillion won, in installments over a five-year period that began in April 2021. Along with Hong, Lee Jae-yong and his two sisters — Lee Boo-jin, chief executive of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T — have financed the tax burden through share sales in group affiliates and other funding measures since 2021. The late chairman left assets estimated at around 26 trillion won, incl

Apr 9, 2026By Yonhap

Samsung family completes inheritance tax payments with Hong Ra-hee share sale

PHOTO Bhc's new fried chicken

Soy Garlic King Honey, left, and Soy Garlic King Original are displayed at a Bhc location in Seoul, Tuesday, as the fried chicken franchise under Dining Brands Group unveils its first new menu items of the year. The new items follow past hits, including Bburinkle in 2014, and Kwasak King and Matcho King in 2025. The brand now operates 2,230 stores in Korea, posting 513 billion won ($348 million) in sales in 2024, and has expanded to nine countries, including the United States and Canada. Courtesy of Dining Brands Group

Apr 8, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Petrochemical, shipping firms relieved at prospect of Strait of Hormuz reopening

The agreement among the United States, Israel and Iran for a two-week ceasefire, conditional on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, prompted cautious optimism Wednesday in Korea's petrochemical and shipping industries, which have suffered fallout from the war in the Middle East. Despite lingering uncertainty over the peace talks, expectations are growing that vessels stranded near the Persian Gulf may resume shipments of crude and naphtha, a liquid extracted from crude and used to produce raw materials for petrochemical products such as plastic bags, food packaging and cosmetic containers. "We see the ceasefire agreement itself as a positive signal," an official at one of Korea's major petrochemical firms said on condition of anonymity. With Korea relying on the Middle East for 45 percent of its naphtha supply, domestic petrochemical firms have reduced or suspended production since the war broke out, suffering a decline in revenue. The cutbacks have fueled concerns over shortages of petrochemical products across industries. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, a combin

Apr 8, 2026By Park Jae-hyuk

Petrochemical, shipping firms relieved at prospect of Strait of Hormuz reopening

S-Oil donates $323,000 to support Korean firefighters

S-Oil donated 475 million won ($323,000) to support firefighters and their families at a ceremony held Wednesday at the refiner’s headquarters in Seoul. The company made the donation jointly with the National Fire Agency and the Korea National Council on Social Welfare as part of its “Firefighting Heroes Guardian” program. The donation will be used this year to fund the medical expenses for firefighters injured on duty, scholarships for children of fallen firefighters and prize money for the program’s awards. At the same event, S-Oil presented its “119 Master Savers of the Year” awards to 40 paramedics recognized for helping prevent lasting injury through emergency first aid. The company launched “Firefighting Heroes Guardian” program in 2006. Since then, the refiner said it has provided roughly 11.2 billion won to support about 3,904 firefighters and their families through initiatives including annual awards, condolence payments to bereaved families of fallen firefighters, scholarships for their children, medical cost coverage for injured firefighters and recreational re

Apr 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

S-Oil donates $323,000 to support Korean firefighters

Korea’s in-flight battery rules set global standard

Korea’s new regulations for in-flight smartphone battery chargers have become the international standard, after the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted the Korean government’s latest guidelines. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday that the new regulation imposes two limits on passengers. First, no one is allowed to carry three or more portable chargers, also known as power banks, in the plane cabin. Second, each charger’s capacity must not exceed 160 watt-hours or 43,000 milliampere-hours. Previously, there was no limitation by global authorities on the number of power banks an individual passenger could carry on a flight. The Korean government previously introduced a ban limiting the number to five or fewer. Charging power banks inside while on a flight is also prohibited under the new regulations. Using a power bank to charge smartphones once aboard is also prohibited. The regulations adopted by the ICAO take effect on April 20. The ministry proposed the strengthened regulation to ICAO, which approved it as an official guideline f