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  • Companies

    Genesis BBQ debuts in India's chicken dining scene

    Global fried chicken restaurant franchise company Genesis BBQ has debuted in India, opening two locations in the southern city of Bengaluru. The company said Thursday its HSR Layout and Koramangala branches opened on June 26 through its partnership with a local company under a master franchise deal. Genesis BBQ said it will expand its Indian market to other cities, including Hyderabad, Chennai and Vellore. Bengaluru, according to Genesis BBQ, is one of India’s hubs for IT and startups, along with young consumers. HSR Layout is in a premium commercial district and in the vicinity of IT business districts, including Electronic City, Sarjapur Road and Outer Ring Road. The company said the area also has a large population of those in their 20s to 40s with high incomes. Koramangala is nestled in the largest dining and commercial hub in Bengaluru, according to the Korean firm. A variety of global dining brands and trendy restaurants are concentrated in the area, which made it an ideal location for Genesis BBQ to promote itself to local consumers. Both stores will operate as quick-service rest

    2 MIN READBy Ko Dong-hwan
    Genesis BBQ debuts in India's chicken dining scene
  • Banking & Finance

    KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori face mounting headwinds despite solid profits

    2 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori face mounting headwinds despite solid profits
  • Tech & Science

    Consumer preference for flagship devices gives advantage for LG Display

    3 MIN READBy Nam Hyun-woo
    Consumer preference for flagship devices gives advantage for LG Display
  • Others

    AMCHAM launches AI Leadership Council to bolster Korea-US AI cooperation

    2 MIN READBy Lee Gyu-lee
    AMCHAM launches AI Leadership Council to bolster Korea-US AI cooperation
  • Companies

    SK bioscience, Gates Foundation to launch AI-driven vaccine platform

    1 MIN READBy Jhoo Dong-chan
    SK bioscience, Gates Foundation to launch AI-driven vaccine platform
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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

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Banking & Finance

Hana Financial rolls out housing pensions products for older adults

Hana Financial Group has launched a new housing pension product that allows owners of multiple high-value properties to qualify for enrollment, the lender announced Tuesday. Otherwise known as a reverse mortgage, this financial product allows homeowners to borrow against their home’s equity and receive monthly lifetime payouts. It helps older adults supplement their reduced income after retirement, but it results in a smaller inheritance for their children. The product was developed jointly by Hana Bank and Hana Life. It is available to people aged 55 and older. It is a nonrecourse product, meaning the heirs do not inherit debt even if the subscribers die and their home sells for lower than the loan balance. The lender bears the difference between the original price and the market price. If the home sells for higher than the loan balance, the heirs are able to inherit the difference. Hana said the product will be available at a fixed rate of 3.95 percent for long-term security. The lender said the product will offer many older customers better postretirement planning. “Korea’s second b

May 27, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Hana Financial rolls out housing pensions products for older adults
Companies

Renault Korea’s Arkana seen as ideal 1st car for young drivers

Renault Korea’s Arkana compact SUV is gaining attention as an ideal first car for young drivers, thanks to its impressive fuel efficiency, sleek coupe-like design and competitive pricing. The carmaker aims to boost sales of the upgraded 2026 Arkana by targeting consumers in their 20s and 30s. The Arkana is equipped with the French carmaker’s advanced safety systems, evidenced by its perfect score in the Korea New Car Assessment Program (KNCAP). These features make the vehicle more attractive to entry-level buyers. One of the standout features of the Arkana Hybrid E-Tech is its impressive fuel efficiency, delivering 17.4 kilometers per liter with 17-inch tires. According to real-world driving tests by some popular automotive YouTube channels, the figure was also seen approaching nearly 30 kilometers per liter under certain conditions. The gasoline-powered Arkana features a 1.6-liter engine that provides smooth, predictable acceleration by maintaining consistent engine revs in response to throttle input. Paired with a continuously variable transmission, the vehicle minimizes engine nois

May 27, 2025By Lee Min-hyung
Renault Korea’s Arkana seen as ideal 1st car for young drivers
Companies

Porsche ensures EV safety with strict battery testing at Weissach research center

WEISSACH, Germany — Porsche is dedicated to ensuring the safety of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, exposing them to various harsh climate conditions and use cases to develop the safest-ever luxury EVs. The Porsche Development Centre in Weissach is home to the carmaker’s innovation. For now, Porsche’s primary focus is on developing EVs with highly durable batteries under any conditions. The durability of Porsche’s EV batteries is designed for at least 15 years of life even in harsh climate conditions, which is the highest level in the industry. The figure differs from each carmaker, but a number of them go for 10 years, according to the German firm. “We plan that our batteries last for 15 years under all conditions that our customers put them into,” an engineer from the firm’s research center told reporters during a guided tour of the test facility. “It’s very important for us to give a high quality promise to our customers — that this is really high quality here, and it can be used in all use cases.” Porsche engineers expose the batteries to a number of extreme cond

May 27, 2025By Lee Min-hyung
Porsche ensures EV safety with strict battery testing at Weissach research center
Companies

POSCO Future M eyes lithium manganese-rich cathode biz as growth driver

POSCO Future M will scale up its lithium manganese-rich (LMR) cathode material business for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, in a view that the technology will be “a game changer” for the EV market, the battery materials producer said Tuesday. According to the company’s revised prospectus, POSCO Future M will secure mass-production technology for LMR cathode materials by the end of this year and will pursue large-scale orders. POSCO Future M submitted the prospectus for its planned rights issuing. In the prospectus, the company said it will pursue the LMR cathode material business to respond to the growing market share of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are widely used by Chinese manufacturers, noting that LMR cathode materials have advantages in efficiency and price competitiveness compared to LFP materials. LMR batteries significantly reduce the use of expensive materials like cobalt and nickel by using low-cost manganese. In addition, unlike LFP batteries, which are difficult to recycle, LMR batteries offer a higher lithium recovery rate, enhancing their overall e

May 27, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
POSCO Future M eyes lithium manganese-rich cathode biz as growth driver
Companies

KT’s partnership with Viettel to boost AI access in Vietnam

Korean telecommunications giant KT has partnered with Vietnam’s Viettel Group to integrate KT’s artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, aiming to boost Vietnam’s AI market and talent development, thereby strengthening Viettel’s influence across Southeast Asia. KT CEO Kim Young-shub met with Viettel Group Chairman and CEO Tao Duc Thang in Hanoi on Monday (local time), where they signed a strategic partnership to collaborate on AI transformation (AX). Viettel is a global telecommunications company operating Viettel Telecom, the largest telecom provider in Vietnam, serving 138 million customers across 11 countries in Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America. According to KT, Viettel posted $7.34 billion in sales last year and is now shifting its market position from a telecommunications company to a technology company. Under the partnership, the two companies agreed on six key goals, including KT providing systematic AX consulting to Viettel and jointly developing a long-term roadmap for the Vietnamese firm. KT will also develop an AI model, AI agent and counter-voice phishing

May 27, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
KT’s partnership with Viettel to boost AI access in Vietnam
Tech & Science

Experts discuss solutions for crisis-stricken domestic industries at Korea Forum

Facing challenges from China’s rapidly advancing technologies across industries and heightened U.S. trade restrictions, businesses in Korea are under mounting pressure to come up with proactive, forward-looking strategies. In light of this, The Korea Forum, co-hosted by The Korea Times and its sister paper the Hankook Ilbo, invited experts to discuss practical solutions to help Korea’s key industries — semiconductors, carmaking, steel and shipbuilding — navigate these crises. At the forum in central Seoul on Tuesday, Sungkyunkwan University professor Kwon Seok-joon highlighted how the local semiconductor sector must adapt to intensifying competition from countries like China and Taiwan. He stressed semiconductor memory companies should pivot toward customized and hybrid memory products to stay ahead of the curve and position themselves as irreplaceable players. The professor noted that with AI conversion across industries, the focus would shift from graphics processing units to neural processing units and tensor processing units. “Given that Korea still has capabilities and expe

May 27, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Experts discuss solutions for crisis-stricken domestic industries at Korea Forum
Banking & Finance

BOK head underscores private sector cooperation in central bank-led digital currency project

Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong is holding individual and group meetings with the heads of Korea’s six major commercial and state-run lenders. According to market watchers Tuesday, the move is unprecedented for the central bank and signals a push for greater participation in its key digital currency initiatives. Central to the meetings were Project Agora and Project Hangang. The former is a global central bank digital currency (CBDC) project spearheaded by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Participants include the central banks of the U.S., U.K., Japan, France, Switzerland and Mexico and the Institute of International Finance (IIF). It explores how cross-border settlements and payments can be faster, cheaper and more stable with the help of tokenized wholesale central bank funds and commercial bank deposits. The latter is a localized pilot version of the project whereby real-time CBDC-mediated transactions are being tested by 10,000 users. Unlike the global cross-border project, the participants are limited to Korean consumers. According to the central bank and the financ

May 27, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
BOK head underscores private sector cooperation in central bank-led digital currency project
Companies

Hyundai Steel impresses European buyers at World Rally Championship in Portugal

Korea’s leading steelmaker Hyundai Steel made a strong impression on its European clients at the World Rally Championship (WRC) in Portugal earlier this month, where vehicles built with its steel raced through challenging rally stages. Hyundai Steel invited its European clients to the WRC Service Park in Matosinhos, northern Portugal, to watch the rally together from May 16 to 18. The company spotlighted racing cars featuring its logo, emphasizing that they were built using Hyundai Steel products. As part of its Customers Day event, Hyundai Steel also hosted a conference where it showcased its globally recognized steel manufacturing capabilities to its European clients. The company provided insights into its production of automotive steel plates and shared updates on its ongoing electric arc furnace construction project in the United States. It also highlighted its dual production system that combines electric and blast furnaces, and emphasized the strong evaluations its low-carbon steel products have received. Hyundai Steel informed its clients that it has established a new operation

May 27, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
Hyundai Steel impresses European buyers at World Rally Championship in Portugal
Companies

Celltrion strives to boost stock price

Korean biotech firm Celltrion is striving to pump up its stock price through a series of stock buyback programs and other measures to improve shareholder value in an effort to dispel shareholder concerns over the company’s profitability and impacts from U.S. tariffs. Celltrion said Tuesday it has repurchased its own shares through six rounds of stock buyback programs so far this year, totaling 550 billion won ($402.75 million). The amount surpassed the 436 billion won of total buybacks it carried out last year. Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jung-jin, the group's holding company Celltrion Holdings and its affiliate Celltrion Skincure recently announced plans to purchase Celltrion shares worth 50 billion won, 100 billion won and 50 billion won, respectively. Alongside Seo, other executives are also purchasing company shares to help boost the stock price. On Monday, Celltrion CEO Seo Jin-seok, the chairman’s eldest son, reported the purchase of 2,610 shares worth 400 million won. Kee Woo-sung and Kim Hyoung-ki, both vice chairmen, also reported buying 2,604 shares each. Since January, th

May 27, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Celltrion strives to boost stock price
Companies

OCI Holdings signs energy storage agreement with CPS Energy, Vertech

OCI Holdings announced Tuesday that its U.S. subsidiary, OCI Energy, has signed a three-party memorandum of understanding with CPS Energy, a Texas-based energy provider, and Vertech, the U.S. subsidiary of LG Energy Solution, to collaborate on energy storage system (ESS) projects in North America. The signing ceremony took place Monday at OCI’s headquarters in Seoul. Under the agreement, OCI Energy will obtain ESS batteries from Vertech, store solar energy generated during the daytime and sell the stored electricity to CPS Energy. CPS Energy is the largest municipally owned electric and natural gas utility in the United States, serving about 1.28 million customers in Texas. The partnership will launch with the Alamo City ESS project, scheduled for completion by the end of 2026, and expand to cover OCI Energy’s pipeline of 13 ESS projects totaling around 3 gigawatts. The Alamo City ESS project is a solar power facility under development on a 35-acre site in southeastern Bexar County in Texas. It will combine a 120-megawatt solar photovoltaic system with a 480-megawatt-hour energy stor

May 27, 2025By Park Jae-hyuk
OCI Holdings signs energy storage agreement with CPS Energy, Vertech
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