Taihan Cable's high-voltage direct current transmission cable receives international certification

SEOUL -- A 525-kilovolt-class high-voltage direct current transmission cable developed by Taihan Cable & Solution, a power cable and grid infrastructure company in South Korea, has obtained an international certification from a Dutch testing center. The 525-kilovolt-class is currently the highest voltage among commercialized cables. High-voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) converts alternating current (AC) into high-voltage DC and can send large amounts of current far aw

August 2, 2023

[OPINION] Australia's Increasing Strategic Importance

KENOSHA -- The visit to Australia by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in late July is important and deserves more attention than so far rec

August 2, 2023

S. Korea's GDP per capita drops 8.2 percent year-on-year to $32,142 in 2022

SEOUL -- South Korea's gross domestic product per capita was $32,142 in 2022, down 8.2 percent from a year ago. This is the third-largest decline among 47 major economies in the world. Data released by Representative Jin Sun-mee of the main opposition Democratic Party on August 2 showed that South Korea ranked 23rd among the 47 countries with a GDP per capita of $32,142. The list included the member countries of the OECD and the top 30 economies. Japan experienced the largest d

August 2, 2023

Convenience store chain CU starts drone delivery service for water parks

SEOUL -- The operator of South Korea's largest convenience store chain CU is currently delivering various food and medical items using a drone to two water parks in Seongnam, a southeastern satellite city of Seoul. BGF Retail, the operator of CU, said in a statement on August 1 that the company started a drone delivery service in the Tancheon water parks. Anyone can receive products such as snacks and quasi-drugs using a QR code. The service is part of Seongnam City's project

August 1, 2023

[INTERVIEW] 'Hydrogen will become mainstream fuel for heavy-duty vehicles and airplanes in future'

SEOUL -- In 2019, former South Korean President Moon Jae-in unveiled a new energy roadmap for the country's "hydrogen economy," which was designed to support South Korean companies secure their firm leadership in the global hydrogen fuel cell industry. The roadmap was also part of South Korea's big plan to gradually reduce its dependency on fossil fuels and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The country had aimed to operate more than 28 hydrogen charging stations fo

August 1, 2023

Number of S. Korean overseas travelers surpasses six mln in July

SEOUL -- The number of South Korean overseas travelers exceeded six million in July, recording the highest number of overseas flyers after the COVID-19 pandemic. Among some 6.4 million outbound travelers, about 1.7 million South Koreans visited Japan. The operator of South Korea's main gateway Incheon International Airport estimated that about 5,202,500 people traveled to foreign countries through its airport. An estimated number of about 1,205,440 went abroad to other seven airpor

August 1, 2023

Upstage's generative AI model receives highest score on global AI language model scoreboard

SEOUL -- A generative artificial intelligence service created by South Korea's AI startup Upstage has received the highest score on an international large language model scoreboard run by Hugging Face, a New York City-based AI company. The AI model that can understand, summarize, generate, and predict new content has competed with some 500 models including GPT-3, a Chat GPT-based service. ChatGPT, made by Open AI, is one of the most widely used large language model (LLM)-based chat

August 1, 2023

Hanwha Ocean wins $259.9 mln LNG tanker contract from Asian client

SEOUL -- South Korean major shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, has won its first LNG tanker contract worth 332.2 billion won ($259.9 million) after the company went through a rebranding in April 2023. In April 2023, South Korea's Hanwha Group, one of the country's largest defense contractors, received the green light from the country's Fair Trade Commission to proceed with the acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Ma

August 1, 2023

BLACKPINK's 'DDU-DU DDU-DU' surpasses 2.1 bln views on YouTube

SEOUL -- The music video for BLACKPINK's dance song DDU-DU DDU-DU has garnered more than 2.1 billion views on YouTube about five years and a month after its release. The song features a catchy chorus and a unique choreography of shooting handguns. The music video exceeded 2.1 billion views at 4:27 p.m. (0727 GMT) on July 30, the band's agency said. The dance song released in June 2018 set a record for the most-viewed K-pop music video in less than 24 hours, gaining some 36 mill

July 31, 2023

CJ Cheiljedang sells Chinese food production wing Jixiangju for $235 mln

SEOUL -- CJ Cheiljedang, a key subsidiary of South Korea's food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, has sold Jixiangju, a food production subsidiary known for a Chinese pickle called "zhacai" and Chinese-style fermented food items. Without disclosing the buyers, the South Korean company said all of its shares were sold for 300 billion won ($235 million). Before the sell-off, CheilJedang owned 60 percent of Jixiangju's shares. The Chinese company was acquired

July 31, 2023