Rising costs push food, beverage companies to raise prices

SEOUL, January 20 (AJP) - Food and beverage companies are responding to soaring raw material costs with a wave of price increases across popular products, creating fresh challenges for consumers already grappling with rising inflation. Paul Bassett, a premium coffee chain, announced a 3.4 percent price hike on 28 menu items, effective Jan. 23. Dong-A Pharmaceutical plans to raise the price of its Bacchus energy drinks by as much as 11.1 percent in March. Similarly, Dongah Otsuk

January 20, 2025

Opinion: Era of high-performance computing – how are data centers evolving?

SEOUL, January 20 (AJP) - The data center sector remains in strong growth mode with robust cloud demand and the rise of AI. Cloud growth characterized the spike of data center growth in recent years, however moving later into the decade, it is forecast AI revenue to grow exponentially alongside cloud to drive the sector forward. The rise of generative AI has had a major impact on the sector, resulting in several data center players reevaluating their data center developm

January 20, 2025

South Korea braces for Trump's 2nd term amid tariff threats, political chaos, weakening won

SEOUL, January 20 (AJP) - As Donald Trump begins his second term as U.S. president on Monday, South Korea braces for a wave of economic uncertainty, compounded by an ongoing domestic leadership vacuum. Trump has vowed sweeping protectionist measures, including the establishment of an "External Revenue Service" to impose universal tariffs of 10 to 20 percent on imports and punitive tariffs of up to 60 percent on Chinese goods. These actions threaten to disrupt South Korea&r

January 20, 2025

HD Hyundai Construction Equipment wins excavator order from Philippines

SEOUL, January 19 (AJP) - South Korea's HD Hyundai Construction Equipment announced Sunday that it has won a bid to supply medium-sized excavators for flood prevention work in the Philippines. The equipment will be used in flood control efforts on the Labangan River on Mindoro, an island in the central Philippines. The island frequently faces flooding and river overflow issues due to heavy rainfall. It is scheduled to be delivered to the Philippines Department of Public Works a

January 19, 2025

Ediya Coffee expands into Southeast Asia

SEOUL, January 18 (AJP) -- South Korea's Ediya Coffee has partnered with Laos' largest private company, Kolao Group, to expand into Southeast Asian markets. The coffee chain signed a master franchise agreement Thursday with Grandview Property, a Kolao affiliate, to enter Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Ediya Chairman Moon Chang-ki and Kolao Chairman Oh Se-young attended the signing at Kolao's headquarters in Vientiane. The company plans to open its first Laos store by

January 18, 2025

Samsung teases Galaxy S25 with dazzling London hologram

SEOUL, January 17 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics has unveiled a striking holographic advertisement 30 meters above London’s Shoreditch neighborhood, offering a tantalizing preview of its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event on Jan. 22. The outdoor display features a futuristic smartphone interacting with users’ memories by retrieving relevant videos. In one sequence, the device conjures swimming whales in response to the phrase, “I’ll never forget the moment I saw t

January 17, 2025

KAI nears $681 million fighter jets deal with Philippines

SEOUL, January 17 (AJP) - Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is in the final stages of negotiations with the Philippines for a contract to supply 12 FA-50 light combat aircraft, a deal valued at approximately 40 billion pesos ($681 million), industry sources said Friday. If completed, the agreement would double the Philippine Air Force’s fleet of FA-50 fighters, building on its initial purchase of 12 units in 2014. The aircraft, widely regarded for their versatility and cost-

January 17, 2025

KB Kookmin unionists vote to strike, demanding bonuses

SEOUL, January 17 (AJP) - The labor union of KB Kookmin Bank has overwhelmingly voted to strike, with 96 percent of its 9,274 members approving the decision. If it proceeds, this would mark the first walkout at the bank in six years, as workers press for performance bonuses of about 20 million won, or roughly $15,000, per employee. The union’s demands come despite KB Kookmin Bank employees earning the highest average salary among South Korea’s top five banks, at 118

January 17, 2025

Lotte Bio to launch new cancer therapy platform

SEOUL, January 17 (AJP) - Lotte Biologics has announced plans to launch its advanced "Soluflex Link" technology, a next-generation platform for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on Thursday. ADCs are innovative cancer treatments that combine antibodies, which target cancer cells, with powerful drugs designed to kill them. "Soluflex Link addresses stability issues commonly seen in ADC therapies and is compatible with vario

January 17, 2025

Will KOSPI surge under Trump as it did in his first term?

SEOUL, January 17 (AJP) - South Korea’s stock market is entering a phase of renewed uncertainty as the prospect of a second Donald Trump administration raises concerns among investors, despite a history of gains during his first term. The benchmark KOSPI index surged more than 50 percent during Trump’s presidency from 2017 to 2021, climbing from 2,072.79 to 3,114.55, according to the Korea Exchange. However, the period was not without volatility - most notably a 17.28 pe

January 17, 2025