Shinhan Bank offers AI interpretation service for foreigners

Shinhan Bank, one of South Korea's five major commercial banks, is enhancing services for foreign customers with the introduction of a new speech-to-text interpretation service at its brick-and-mortar branches. On Wednesday, the bank announced the launch of its "Banking for Everyone" service, designed to assist foreign customers facing communication challenges due to language barriers or disabilities. The service converts spoken language into text for both bankers and customers vi

Aug. 28, 2024

Why Korea suffers record travel deficit despite K-culture boom

A growing number of foreign travelers are visiting Korea amid the global popularity of K-culture. But many more Korean nationals are traveling abroad, leading the nation’s travel deficit to a six-year record in the first six months of this year. According to a recent joint report by the Bank of Korea and the Korea Tourism Organization, the country recorded a travel deficit of $6.48 billion in the first half. The figure represents the largest deficit since the $8.74 billion recorded in 20

Aug. 27, 2024

Westinghouse interrupts Korea's Czech nuclear deal

Korea’s multibillion-dollar deal to build nuclear plants in the Czech Republic has been put at risk with US-based Westinghouse Electric Co. filing an appeal with the Czech's antimonopoly watchdog Tuesday, challenging Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's position as the preferred bidder. "KHNP’s APR1000 and APR1400 plant designs utilize Westinghouse-licensed Generation II System 80 technology," Westinghouse said in its press release. "KHNP neither owns the underlying

Aug. 27, 2024

SK Innovation, E&S to merge into W100tr energy giant

SK Innovation and SK E&S, two major energy affiliates of the country's second-largest conglomerate SK Group, received shareholders’ approval for their merger on Monday, paving the way for the launch of an integrated entity with assets over 100 trillion won ($75 billion). Some 85.76 percent of the attendees at SK Innovation's extraordinary general shareholders meeting voted in favor of the merger. The merger was approved by SK E&S shareholders, too. SK Inc., the group&rsqu

Aug. 27, 2024

Fubon Hyundai Life solidifies foothold in Korea

Fubon Hyundai Life Insurance, the Korean unit of Taiwan's Fubon Financial Group, is making steady progress in solidifying its foothold in South Korea under the robust leadership of CEO Lee Jae-won. Establishing a presence in Korea is no easy task for a minor foreign insurer, yet Fubon Hyundai Life has been on an upward growth trajectory as it approaches its sixth anniversary next month. Notably, the company has effectively shifted from a sole focus on retirement pensions to offering more di

Aug. 27, 2024

JB Financial Group's Kwangju Bank, Toss Bank launch joint loan product

Kwangu Bank, a South Korean bank affiliated with JB Financial Group, announced Tuesday the company has teamed up with Toss Bank, the internet-only lender, to launch the nation's first joint loan product. Kwangju Bank expects synergy by combining its know-how about private loans with Toss Bank’s extensive mobile platform. The new loan product, called Together Loan, also earned recognition as an innovative financial service from the Financial Services Commission in June. Customers can a

Aug. 27, 2024

LG CNS to nurture DX talent in partnership with SNU

Korean IT service provider LG CNS said Tuesday the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Seoul National University to nurture tech talents specialized in digital transformation or DX. Under the partnership, LG CNS will set up new talent training programs for SNU's master course in industrial engineering. The areas of study include mathematical optimization, artificial intelligence, big data and business consulting. The company will select top performers in the course next ye

Aug. 27, 2024

[Photo News] Supporting Paralympians

From left: Boccia players from South Korea Kang Sun-hee and Jeong So-yeong, Kurt Busk, a wheelchair rugby player from Denmark, International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons and Jordan Luce, a wheelchair basketball player from France, pose for a photo at Samsung Electronics' pop-up zone at the Olympic and Paralympic Village in Paris ahead of the 2024 Paralympic Games that kick off Wednesday in the French capital. Samsung has been the official Olympic partner for 18 years. The t

Aug. 27, 2024

[Photo News] Hana global workshop

Hana Financial Group hosted a two-day workshop starting Monday at the Hana Global Campus in Incheon, focusing on global strategies and corporate culture to enhance employee capabilities and reinforce the company's commitment to customer-centric service. The seminar was attended by 29 employees from 19 countries. The picture shows Hana Financial Group Vice President Lee Eun-hyung (center) with the global participants. (Hana Financial Group)

Aug. 27, 2024

Hanwha Ocean’s H1 orders soar on high-value LNG vessels

Korean shipbuilding and offshore company Hanwha Ocean said Tuesday that it has secured some $5.07 billion in orders in the first half of this year with a strategic focus on high-value vessels such as LNG carriers. Under the contracts, Hanwha will build 26 high value-added ships – 16 LNG ships, two very large ammonia carriers (VLAC), one very large gas carrier (VLGC) and 7 very large crude oil carriers (VLCC) – scoring the highest contract amount in the merchant ship sector among dome

Aug. 27, 2024

[Photo News] Samsung fosters tech talent

A student makes device components as part of a polymechanics task in the 59th National Skills Competition at Kumoh Technical High School in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Monday. Samsung Group has been providing 250 million won ($188,000) every year since 2007 to sponsor the annual event aimed at fostering young talent. The conglomerate has so far hired 1,600 high school graduates who showed excellent performance at the competition in affiliates including Samsung Electronics and Samsung Displa

Aug. 26, 2024

Kioxia's IPO expected to bring windfall for SK hynix: analysts

Japan’s Kioxia Holdings, the world’s third-largest NAND flash memory company, applied to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, making it the largest stock debut since SoftBank in 2018. Now keen attention is being paid to SK hynix, the world's No. 2 maker of memory chips, which has invested 4 trillion won ($3 billion) in the Japanese rival. With the aim for an October initial public offering, Kioxia is expected to achieve a market capitalization of over 1.5 trillion yen ($1

Aug. 26, 2024

Mastern eyes in US tech hubs for opportunities

Mastern America, the US arm of Mastern Investment Management, said Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with US real estate investor Woods Capital to attract investment for tech hub projects across the US. In October 2023, the US Economic Development Administration designated 31 regional technology and innovation hubs, which are regional coalitions dedicated to core technologies such as quantum computing, precision medicine, autonomous systems, clean energy and critical mineral sup

Aug. 26, 2024

[Photo News] LG Tech Fair

LG Electronics Science Park President Park Il-pyung speaks during the opening of Spark 2024, LG's festival combining culture and tech, at LG Science Park in Seoul on Monday. The company kicked off the three-week event with its first LG Tech Fair, bringing together tech experts from eight LG affiliates including LG Electronics, LG Chem and LG Energy Solution, and others to discuss future technologies and share insights. (LG Corp.)

Aug. 26, 2024

Coupang hosts global hackathon to seek innovative solutions

E-commerce giant Coupang announced Monday the company became the first domestic distributor to co-host a global hackathon event. Dubbed as "Hackseoul," the event, held on Saturday and Sunday, brought together some 200 software developers from 10 countries, including the US, Canada, Uzbekistan and India, at the company's headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul. AngelHack, a US-based company that has organized numerous hackathon events since 2011, designed the overall contest. The event wa

Aug. 26, 2024

Tajikistan holds cultural day to share heritage with Korea

The Embassy of Tajikistan in South Korea announced Monday that it hosted a special event dedicated to celebrating Tajikistan Cultural Day, while strengthening cultural exchanges between the two nations. The event also marked the publication of the Korean edition of "Tajiks in the Mirror of History: From Aryans to Samanids," a book authored by Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon. Rahmon’s book reportedly offers an in-depth exploration of the history and cultural development of the

Aug. 26, 2024

Delayed payments of Tmon, WeMakePrice spike to W1.3tr

Overdue settlements for vendors on ecommerce platforms Tmon and WeMakePrice have surged to 1.3 trillion won ($978 million) in total, impacting over 48,000 businesses, according to data released by the government on Sunday. The final figures showed the two struggling online marketplaces owned by Singapore-based Qoo10 owe a total of 1.3 trillion won to their vendors, surpassing the government’s initial forecast of 1 trillion won. The figure also marks a jump of over 400 billion won from the

Aug. 25, 2024

Dongsuh enhances marketing strategy for instant coffee leadership

Korean food and beverage manufacturer Dongsuh Foods said Sunday it is ramping up marketing efforts to retain its unrivaled leadership in the nation’s instant coffee market. The company has topped instant coffee sales over the last three decades with its flagship Maxim Mocha brand. More recently, it has been diversifying its marketing strategy to appeal to a wide range of consumer groups and further boost sales of its best-selling products. Dongsuh has operated its flagship store, called Ma

Aug. 25, 2024

Chaebol leaders to join Yoon in Czech Republic

South Korea’s top chaebol leaders are set to join President Yoon Suk Yeol on his state visit to the Czech Republic next month, according to industry sources Sunday. Yoon’s Czech visit comes after a Korean consortium, led by Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, was recently named a preferred bidder for a major nuclear plant project in the European country. The project size is estimated at around 24 trillion won ($17.3 billion). Along with the mega project, the summit is expected to cover to

Aug. 25, 2024

Hyundai Steel's low-emission plate push gains momentum

Hyundai Steel, Korea’s second-largest steelmaker, is moving to target the global low-emission steel market amid increasing demand from carmakers moving toward net zero emissions. Hyundai Steel recently signed a memorandum of understanding to supply low-emission steel plates to Tawesco, a leading Czech auto parts manufacturer, and Eusider, an Italian firm specializing in automotive steel plate processing. Both companies supply major European automakers, such as Volkswagen and Stellantis, an

Aug. 25, 2024