Domestic sales of eco-friendly vehicles increase 24.3% on-year in 2023

SEOUL -- South Korea's domestic sales of eco-friendly vehicles including electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, stood at 558,112 units in 2023, up 24.3 percent year-on-year. It was the first time the country saw annual sales of environmentally-friendly vehicles exceed 500,000 units. South Korea's transport ministry data shows that there are 25.94 million registered vehicles as of December 2023, 2.12 million vehicles are eco-friendly cars -- hy

February 1, 2024

Average of $235 required to prepare for Confucian rite during Lunar New Year holiday: market data

SEOUL -- South Koreans would have to spend an average of 380,000 won ($235) to prepare for "Charye," a Confucian ritual of preparing tables full of food dishes for deceased ancestors, during the Lunar New Year holiday. The cost of the ritual has consistently been increasing every year due to inflation. On Seollal, the traditional Korean holiday for Lunar New Year Day, and Chuseok, the traditional Korean autumn harvest thanksgiving holiday, non-Christian families traditio

January 31, 2024

[OPINION] Assessing the trajectory of China's Economy: Growth or decline

KARACHI -- In recent years, China's development has slowed down as with other economies in the world, a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, and other factors. Some Western scholars and research insti

January 31, 2024

POSCO International partners with UAE's state oil producer for blue hydrogen business

SEOUL -- POSCO International, a trading arm of South Korea's steel group POSCO, will work with an Abu Dhabi-based state oil company to push for blue hydrogen business. After creating a blue hydrogen infrastructure, POSCO International will supply the clean energy source to POSCO's steel plant in South Korea’s southern industrial city of Gwangyang starting in 2029. Blue hydrogen is favored by industries because of its reasonable production cost compared to green hydro

January 31, 2024

Samsung Electronics records operating profit of $2.1 bln in 4Q 2023, down 34.4% year-on-year

SEOUL -- Amid the sluggish global semiconductor market, Samsung Electronics saw its sales and operating profit decrease in the fourth quarter of 2023. The tech giant's operating profit of about 2.8 trillion won ($2.1 billion) in 4Q 2023, down 34.4 percent from the same period a year ago. The conglomerate announced its financial report on January 31 and said that Samsung recorded 67.78 trillion won in sales and an operating profit of 2.82 trillion won. The sales also indicate a

January 31, 2024

Number of S. Korean children aged less than 18 to go below 7 mln in 2024

SEOUL -- The pace of South Korea's depopulation driven by the low fertility rate is accelerating, with the number of children under the age of 18 expected to dip below seven million in 2024. The number of children has decreased by more than two million over the last decade. Recent data from South Korea's National Assembly Budget Office (NABO) reveals a projected 49.6 percent decrease in the population of young people aged 0 to 14 by 2040, dropping to approximately 3.18 mil

January 31, 2024

[INTERVIEW] Peruvian envoy aspires to upgrade bilateral relations with S. Korea through APEC events

SEOUL -- The bilateral relationship between South Korea and Peru, established in 1963, significantly advanced in 2011 when the two countries' Free Trade Agreement took effect. South Korea, which was Peru's 11th largest trade partner in 2010, climbed to the fifth position in 2021. Peru aims to expand cooperation with South Korea through Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, an economic forum currently chaired by Peru and slated for South Korea's leadership in 2024. Asia-Pa

January 31, 2024

Doosan Enerbility to establish carbon capture utilization and storage infrastructure in Thailand

SEOUL -- Doosan Enerbility, a key player in South Korea's power industry, has partnered with Thailand's state-run power producer to provide carbon capture utilization and storage technology for factories in the Southeast Asian country. The two sides will also carry out research projects related to low-carbon power generation technologies. Carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) uses special equipment to collect carbon dioxide created after burning fossil fuels or bio

January 30, 2024

S. Korean luxury goods ecommerce platform Balaan achieves profit in 4Q 2023

SEOUL -- South Korean luxury goods ecommerce platform operator Balaan has seen its first quarterly profit in the fourth quarter of 2023, about eight years after the online luxury product shopping service was launched in 2015. Buoyed by the robust performance in the domestic market, the ecommerce platform operator is poised to expand into the global market. The three years of the COVID-19 pandemic provided a wide range of opportunities in South Korea's online luxury goods mar

January 30, 2024

About 30% of children's daycare centers to be closed in 2028 due to low birth rate: data

SEOUL -- About 30 percent of children's daycare centers and kindergartens in South Korea will be closed in 2028, due to low birth rate, data released by a private child care and education institute showed. Recent data from South Korea's National Assembly Budget Office (NABO) reveals a projected 49.6 percent decrease in the population of young people aged 0 to 14 by 2040, dropping to approximately 3.18 million from 6.32 million in 2020. This projection assumes that the fert

January 30, 2024