Business - The Korea Times

Budget airlines cut flights on high fuel costs amid Middle East tensions

Korea's low-cost carriers (LCCs) are cutting international flights to mitigate the impact of surging fuel costs amid prolonged tensions in the Middle East, industry sources said Thursday. Air Premia plans to suspend 10 flights on its Incheon-San Francisco and Incheon-New York routes in May, following an earlier decision to cancel 26 flights on the Incheon-Los Angeles route and six on the Incheon-Honolulu route between April 20 and May 31, the sources said. Eastar Jet plans to suspend 50 flights on the Incheon-Phu Quoc route from May 5 to May 31, citing limited local refueling conditions in Vietnam. Air Busan and Aero K Airlines have already reduced flights on some international routes starting in April. The country's three largest LCCs — Jeju Air, T'way Air and Jin Air — are also considering cutting services on select Southeast Asian routes, according to industry watchers. Jet fuel prices in Asia and Oceania rose 16.6 percent to $204.95 per barrel in the week of March 13-20, compared with the previous week, and were sharply higher than the prior month's average, according to the Inter

Mar 26, 2026By Yonhap

Budget airlines cut flights on high fuel costs amid Middle East tensions

Korean Air speeds up development of unmanned AI target drones

Korean Air is accelerating the development of its next-generation high-speed unmanned target drones — equipped with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) — to enhance swarm control and mission autonomy, the company said Thursday. The airline said it successfully completed a system requirement review for the subsonic unmanned target system by partnering with officials from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the Navy and the Air Force. The latest achievement is a key milestone that came four months after Korean Air won the government-led project in November. Under the program, Korea aims to localize key components of the system, such as the airframe, control equipment and launchers, and replace imported target drones to strengthen defense self-reliance. Korean Air’s high-speed target drone under development is designed to reach speeds of up to Mach 0.6, or about 735 kilometers per hour, the fastest level in its class here. The firm will roll out a prototype and conduct its maiden flight by the end of 2027. The drone will incorporate advanced AI capabilities to maximize c

Mar 26, 2026By Lee Min-hyung

Korean Air speeds up development of unmanned AI target drones

HMM board reshuffle fuels Busan relocation tensions

Tensions are escalating between HMM’s labor union and management after the shipping company succeeded Thursday in reshuffling its board, a move seen as a preliminary step to relocate its headquarters from Seoul to Busan. At a regular general shareholders’ meeting, HMM secured approval to appoint Ahn Yang-soo, former CEO of KDB Life Insurance, and Park Hee-jin, a professor at Pusan National University, as new outside directors. With the approval, HMM’s board now consists of two executive directors and three nonexecutive directors, reducing the total number of members from six to five. One shareholder at the meeting raised concerns about Ahn’s past role as a senior executive at the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Park’s ties to the southeastern port city. “KDB, once a creditor of HMM, is now its largest shareholder, so the new board member from the bank will likely act as a rubber stamp,” the shareholder said. “Given Park’s background as a scholar based in that region, it will be hard for her to stay neutral on the relocation issue.” Speaking at the meeting as

Mar 26, 2026By Park Jae-hyuk

HMM board reshuffle fuels Busan relocation tensions

POSCO ramps up push into industrial gas sector

POSCO is accelerating its push into the industrial gas sector, with a high-purity rare gas plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, set to come online next month, a move the company says will help reduce the nation's reliance on imported gases critical to semiconductor manufacturing. The facility is operated by POSCO Zhongtai Air Solution, a joint venture in which POSCO and Zhongtai Cryogenic Technology hold 75.1 percent and 24.9 percent of shares, respectively. Zhongtai, a Chinese cryogenic equipment company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, specializes in gas-related facilities. The plant is designed to have an annual production capacity of 130,000 normal cubic meters, enough to supply around 52 percent of domestic semiconductor market demand. Target clients include Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Intel, the nation’s largest steelmaker added. POSCO is reportedly the only Korean company producing "crude" rare gases through oxygen plants at its steel mills. The Gwangyang facility will refine those crude gases — neon, xenon and krypton — into high-purity products used in c

Mar 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

POSCO ramps up push into industrial gas sector

Hyundai Motor's annual capacity to widen by 1.2 mil. vehicles by 2030: CEO

Hyundai Motor will expand its annual production capacity by 1.2 million vehicles by 2030 by accelerating its localization strategy tailored for each region, the firm’s CEO Jose Munoz told investors during its regular shareholders’ meeting Thursday. The renewed vision comes as the global auto industry undergoes a major paradigm shift into electrification. The global trade uncertainty — triggered mostly by the imposition of auto tariffs from the United States — also comes as a lingering risk factor to the Korean carmaker. However, Hyundai Motor said it identifies the industrial transition and trade risk as major opportunities to widen its global sales. “With Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America ramping to full capacity, hybrid production being added to our U.S. manufacturing footprint, and new production bases planned in India, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, we will produce more vehicles closer to where our customers live,” Munoz said. “We will expand our global annual production capacity by 1.2 million units by 2030, and this is how we turn trade challenges into structural advan

Mar 26, 2026By Lee Min-hyung

Hyundai Motor's annual capacity to widen by 1.2 mil. vehicles by 2030: CEO

HD Hyundai chairman inspects operations in Vietnam

HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun of the shipbuilding group visited Vietnam this week to inspect the company's operations in the Southeast Asian country and meet with employees there, the company said Thursday. According to the company, Chung on Tuesday reviewed the construction of a product carrier designed to transport refined petroleum products at HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding in Khanh Hoa Province, a joint venture between the Korean firm and the Vietnamese government. On Wednesday, the chairman visited HD Hyundai Eco Vina in Quang Ngai Province, formerly Doosan Enerbility’s Vietnamese subsidiary. It marked Chung’s first visit since HD Hyundai acquired the producer of eco-friendly independent tanks and port cranes for Asian customers last December. HD Hyundai said Chung examined the construction of a new tank factory and facilities for producing port cranes and liquefied natural gas plant modules. The shipbuilding group added that he emphasized workplace safety to employees at both operations. “The foundation of business management lies in the field, and I believe that is where

Mar 26, 2026By Park Jae-hyuk

HD Hyundai chairman inspects operations in Vietnam

Grand Korea Leisure carries out safety inspection on HQ building

Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) said Wednesday it has carried out a safety inspection on its headquarters building in Seoul. The inspection included a safety examination on the building’s structure, gas, elevator and emergency equipment as well as sprinkler and fire prevention system. “Safety of our workers and customers is the company’s first priority,” said GKL President Yoon Doo-hyun. “We will do whatever it takes to ensure the safety.” According to the state-run operator of Seven Luck Casino, it received a "B" grade in the Ministry of Employment and Labor's 2025 Public Agency Safety Activity Level Evaluation, maintaining its standing from the previous year in recognition of its efforts to ensure worker and customer safety and improve overall institutional safety standards.

Mar 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Grand Korea Leisure carries out safety inspection on HQ building

Samsung to join government's energy-saving drive, employ 10-day vehicle rotation system

Samsung Group said Wednesday it will join government-led energy-saving efforts, voluntarily introducing a 10-day vehicle rotation system, as the country braces for a potential energy shortage amid prolonged tensions in the Middle East. The 10-day rotation system will be implemented across all of its domestic operations staring Thursday, Samsung Group said in a statement. The plan restricts a vehicle from operating one day out of every 10, based on the last digit of the license plate number. Electric and hydrogen vehicles, as well as cars used by people with disabilities, pregnant women and those with children, are exempt. Idle parking lots will be closed on holidays, apparently to discourage employees from operating their vehicles on such days, while 50 percent of outdoor lighting and interior illumination in non-business areas will be turned off. The company said it will encourage employees to participate in the campaign at workplaces, which will include turning off computers after work. "We will join the government's efforts to overcome difficulties stemming from rising oil prices," Sams

Mar 25, 2026By Yonhap

Samsung to join government's energy-saving drive, employ 10-day vehicle rotation system

Hormuz disruption presents hardship rather than benefit for shipping firms

Korean shipping companies say they are suffering heavy losses from rising costs following disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, rather than seeing gains from increased freight rates. Struggling to pass the added costs on to customers, the companies are urging the government to provide financial support and effective policy measures. “Because shipping firms sign contracts before launching voyages, it takes time to reflect higher fuel prices and insurance premiums,” an official from the Korea Shipowners’ Association said Wednesday. “Although they can ask customers to pay surcharges after shipment, small and medium-sized shipping firms find it difficult to make such requests while under the government’s close scrutiny on exporters’ situations.” In earlier stages of the conflict in Iran, the shipping industry was initially regarded as a potential beneficiary from the crisis, as disruptions to sea routes typically drive up freight rates. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index for the Middle East indeed soared to 3,324 as of Friday, marking a 150.5 percent increase from Feb. 27,

Mar 25, 2026By Park Jae-hyuk

Hormuz disruption presents hardship rather than benefit for shipping firms

CJ CheilJedang rolls out fully automated gimbap production

Major food producer CJ CheilJedang has launched a fully automated production pipeline for frozen gimbap, marking what it described as an industry-first innovation in Korea, the company said Wednesday. The mass production of gimbap, or Korean rice roll, has traditionally relied at least partly on manual labor. The new system, now operating at the company’s CJ Blossom Campus in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, enables a fully automated process — from placing ingredients on a rice base layered with dried seaweed to rolling, cutting and packaging. Developed and tested for over one and a half years, the pipeline incorporates the company’s rice-cooking expertise tailored for frozen foods, along with differentiated temperature control for individual ingredients. A rapid freezing process is also applied to maintain product quality throughout distribution and storage. The automation is expected to significantly boost CJ CheilJedang’s production capacity to meet growing global demand, while ensuring consistent quality and food safety standards. The move comes amid strong sales growth

Mar 25, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

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