South Korea’s leading tobacco manufacturer KT&G on Thursday reported a surge in its earnings in the second quarter of this year, largely driven by the upbeat performance of its overseas business. The company posted 321.5 billion won ($233 million) in operating profits in the April-June period, a 30.6 percent jump from a year ago. Sales also increased 6.6 percent to 1.424 trillion won on-year. Its overseas business, in particular, drove up its earnings overall, the company said. Oversea

Industry Aug. 8, 2024

The Asiana Airlines' Pilots Union has requested that the European Commission investigate the suitability of Air Incheon as a potential buyer of Asiana Airlines' cargo business, the union announced Tuesday. The move follows Korean Air's selection of Air Incheon as the preferred bidder for the sale of Asiana Airlines' global cargo freighter business on June 17, as part of its yearslong quest to formally acquire Asiana Airlines. The union said Tuesday that it had asked the EU�

Industry Aug. 6, 2024

Korean luxury fashion platform Balaan is getting fresh attention from investors, bucking the trend among global rivals reeling from sluggish sales and lukewarm investor appetite. According to industry sources on Wednesday, Balaan has been in talks with multiple investors in its Series D funding round. Among the investors are Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group and fashion platform operators, including China’s Poison and Japan’s Zozotown. They are said to be eyeing investments in the Kor

Industry July 31, 2024

Leading global contract development and manufacturing organization Samsung Biologics announced Wednesday that its earnings for the first half of this year reached an all-time high, surpassing 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion). According to its financial results for the first half of this year, the company reported consolidated revenue of 2.1 trillion won and an operating profit of 655.8 billion won, reflecting on-year increases of 33 percent and 47 percent, respectively. In the second quarter, conso

Industry July 24, 2024

Celltrion has begun the final validation process for its third plant in Songdo, Incheon, before commencing commercial production, the South Korean biosimilar giant announced Tuesday. The validation process is a critical step before the commercial production of drugs, which involves objectively verifying and documenting that products are manufactured to meet predefined standards from drug development to production. Celltrion invested some 270 billion won ($194 million) for the third plant's

Industry July 23, 2024

Korean Air is to purchase up to 50 new widebody aircraft from Boeing in its push to enhance fleet quality and meet sustainability goals. The deal price is estimated to reach some 30 trillion won ($23 billion), according to industry sources. The company declined to confirm. The national flag carrier signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing on Monday on the sidelines of the Farnborough International Airshow 2024, a premier aerospace trade show currently being held in the UK. Korean Air sai

Industry July 22, 2024

A slew of top-shelf whiskey labels are rushing to make their Korean debuts recently, fueling the growth momentum of the nation’s premium whiskey market in the coming years, according to Nick Ahn, the country manager of top spirit and wine producer Bacardi. "Just 10 years ago in Korea, soju and beer dominated social gatherings and work dinners, leaving little room for other options. But things have changed drastically," Ahn told The Korea Herald in an interview held in Seoul on Fr

Industry July 22, 2024

Earlier this month, Cho Hyun-moon, the second son of late Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Suck-rai, held a surprise press conference to announce his intention to donate his entire inheritance, worth about 100 billion won ($72 million), to a public foundation. Cho, a former Hyosung executive, has remained estranged from the founding family since he was engaged in a high-profile succession battle with his brothers – Cho Hyun-joon, the eldest, and Cho Hyun-sang, the youngest, in 2014. Currently, t

Industry July 21, 2024

South Korean franchise Mom's Touch announced on Wednesday a series of collaborative marketing initiatives at its recently opened store in Tokyo, partnering with various industries, from Samsung’s Galaxy brand to Samyang’s Buldak ramyeon. Since its opening in April, the Shibuya store in Tokyo has attracted 100,000 cumulative customers and generated 100 million yen ($0.7 million) in sales within 40 days. As part of the move to further boost sales, the store offers free burger-to

Industry July 17, 2024

South Korean airline-to-logistics conglomerate Hanjin Group's logistics arm Hanjin Logistics Corp. said Tuesday that it has expanded operations by expanding the size of the Los Angeles fulfillment center by 50 percent. Upon the expansion, Hanjin Logistics President and CEO Noh Sam-sug and President and Chief Marketing Officer Emily Cho conducted an on-site inspection during a five-day visit to the US earlier this month. The aim is to provide a one-stop logistics solution so Korean companies

Industry July 16, 2024

South Korea's leading cosmetics original design manufacturer Kolmar Korea appointed Hur Yong-chul, the former China business chief, as the CEO of Kolmar Laboratories and Kolmar USA, marking its full-scale entry into the North American market. With the appointment announced Tuesday, the company aims to maximize the use of its North American production facilities, including the first plant in the US and the second plant currently under construction. Hur previously served as the head of Kolmar

Industry July 16, 2024

진행자: 김혜연, Kevin Lee Selzer Future of fear shown in BIFAN Choice section 기사 요약: 한국 최대 장르영화제로 손꼽히는 부천국제판타스틱영화제, 올해 AI, 좀비물 등 다양한 실험적 영화로 행사 성료 [1] Under the banner “Stay Strange,” Korea’s largest genre film festival, the 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, or BIFAN, kicked off on July 4 and ran through Sunday. This year the film fest has brought a display of 253 films from 49 countries to the small Gyeonggi Province city just west of Seoul. Never the festival t

Podcast July 15, 2024

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong inspected Indian operations in Mumbai over the weekend, following his attendance at the wedding of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, according to the Korean tech giant Sunday. “Let’s make history with a fierce competitive spirit and urgency,” Lee was quoted as saying during his meeting with local employees. His four-day visit to India comes as Samsung is pouring resources into the market to se

Industry July 14, 2024

Unionized workers of Asiana Airlines reiterated Thursday their opposition to a merger with the nation’s largest air carrier Korean Air, expressing their intention to block further procedures by all means. Asiana Airlines' labor unions urged the air carrier's main creditor Korea Development Bank and the European Commission, the EU's antitrust regulator which gave conditional approval on the merger, to review the deal from the ground up. The possible future actions that Asiana

Industry July 11, 2024

Samsung C&T and its biotech subsidiaries Samsung Biologics and Samsung Bioepis, announced Thursday they would invest 72 billion won ($52 million) in a US fund focused on startups using AI-based new power drug development platform technologies. The investment will be made through the Samsung Life Science fund, created by the Samsung affiliates and managed by Samsung Venture Investment. The money will be invested in venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering's eighth fund, which has so far

Industry July 11, 2024