More than 400 small businesses now use Sense Console

Chinese e-commerce platform Temu said Friday that a survey it conducted found that 91 percent of Korean sellers reported improvements in their businesses after joining the online marketplace, including increased sales and access to new customers. The company-run survey of more than 100 sellers, conducted in August, found that 58 percent reported higher sales volumes, while 47 percent said they had reached new customer groups. Temu entered Korea in July 2023 and fully introduced its Local Seller Program in May last year, allowing domestic merchants to sell to consumers nationwide. About 66 percent of the survey respondents had been selling on the platform for six months or less. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees accounted for 85 percent of the respondents, while 94 percent had already sold through other online channels before joining Temu. Meanwhile, 82 percent viewed Temu as a sales channel that complements their existing sales routes or as a major driver of sales growth. Another 39 percent said they had expanded their operations after joining Temu or planned to do so within 12 mon

Samsung Biologics' unionized workers staged another strike Friday, as wage and collective bargaining negotiations between labor and management have dragged on for more than six months. With global rivals moving quickly to expand their contract drug manufacturing capability, concerns are growing that the prolonged labor dispute could undermine Samsung Biologics' reputation as a reliable supplier capable of delivering the promised volumes of drugs on time. The Samsung Biologics labor union said it began its partial strike on Friday, without holding a separate rally. The strike is scheduled to continue for about three weeks, through Nov. 27. About 400 workers, or 10 percent of the union's roughly 4,000 members, are participating in the strike. They work in departments including quality control testing, quality assurance, logistics and production. Samsung Biologics’ labor and management declared a breakdown in their 2026 wage and collective bargaining negotiations in March, prompting the union to stage a partial strike in April, the first since the company was established in 2011. The union

Lotte Chemical Corp. on Friday reported its third-quarter net loss of 289.8 billion won ($213.6 million), remaining in the red compared with a year ago. The company, which makes advanced chemical products and battery materials, said in a regulatory filing that it continued to post an operating loss of 281.4 billion won for the July-September period, compared with a loss of 132.6 billion won a year earlier. Sales rose 12.7 percent to 5.39 trillion won.

Hanwha Engine on Friday reported its third-quarter net income of 11.6 billion won ($8.6 million), down 61.7 percent from a year earlier. The company, which is part of Korea's largest weapons producer Hanwha Group, said in a regulatory filing that its operating profit for the July-September period stood at 40.9 billion won, up 53.7 percent from a year ago. Sales also rose 39.1 percent to 413.6 billion won. The earnings failed to meet market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 41.6 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Introduced in 1986, LF's premium menswear brand Maestro is one of Korea's longest-running menswear labels, having spent four decades adapting its styles and sizing to better suit Korean men's physiques. Marking its 40th anniversary this year, LF said the brand will be more faithful to “Italian elegance” and seek broader global markets beyond Vietnam. LF announced last month that it will further strengthen Albero, Maestro's high-end line featuring Italian-made products, by expanding partnerships with leading Italian textile manufacturers, including Zegna, Loro Piana, Colombo and Piacenza. The company will also expand its made-to-measure (MTM) tailoring services, which account for 30 percent of the brand's sales, by dividing them into three categories: Su Misura, Alta Sartoria and Sartoria Italia. To cater to growing demand from couples preparing for their weddings and consumers in their 20s and 30s who increasingly reserve suits for special occasions, the brand will also expand its formalwear lineup. The Rome Suit, launched in September to celebrate the brand's 40th anniversary, is de

Hankook Tire & Technology on Friday reported its third-quarter net income of 157.9 billion won ($116.2 million), down a sharp 59.5 percent from a year earlier. The firm, one of the largest tire makers in the world, said in a regulatory filing that it posted 598.8 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 586 billion won a year ago. Revenue rose 1 percent to 5.46 trillion won. The earnings fell behind market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 298.1 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Kia Corp. said Friday it will invest 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion) through 2029 in the southwestern city of Gwangju to establish an ecosystem for purpose-built vehicles (PBVs). The Korean automaker signed a memorandum of understanding with Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City, Chonnam National University, and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) at its AutoLand plant in Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul. Under the agreement, the partners will cooperate in developing PBVs for demand-responsive transport services and testing autonomous PBV shuttles in the city. They will also demonstrate remote driving technology using the PV5 wheelchair-accessible vehicle and test Kia's Easy Swap technology, which allows vehicles to switch between passenger and cargo configurations. Kia said it expects the partnership to strengthen the region's PBV industry and create new growth opportunities by accelerating the development and adoption of advanced mobility services.

Korean food company Nongshim is running a Shin Ramyun food truck in northeastern India to build its brand in a market of 1.4 billion people, the company said Friday. The truck started its tour Oct. 30 and will continue until Nov. 22, making 20 stops in four cities: Guwahati in Assam, Shillong in Meghalaya, Aizawl in Mizoram and Agartala in Tripura. The stops include university campuses and major residential and shopping areas. Shin Ramyun is Nongshim’s flagship spicy instant noodle brand. “Ramyun” is the Korean word for instant noodles. Nongshim said Shin Ramyun suits Indian tastes because the monsoon climate has made warm soups and noodle dishes popular there. The company described the northeast, where the truck is touring, as a key region with a clear taste for spicy food, a strong noodle culture and a warm reception for Korean pop culture. The tour comes as Nongshim expands its distribution network in the region. At the truck, visitors can try the original Shin Ramyun and Shin Ramyun Toomba, a creamy, spicy variant that takes its cue from cream pasta. The noodles are cooked on-s

SK Biopharmaceuticals, a Korean firm focused on developing original prescription drugs, has built a massive artificial intelligence (AI) dataset of more than 7 million chemical entries to streamline candidate screening for new therapies. The project is part of the Ministry of Science and ICT’s program to develop AI foundation models for specific fields. A foundation model is a large AI model trained on vast amounts of data that can be adapted for many tasks. SK Biopharmaceuticals belongs to a medical and health care consortium led by medical AI firm Lunit, along with Trillion Labs, Kakao Healthcare and other companies, universities and hospitals. The consortium built a base model specialized in medical science. It then developed versions focused on three areas: drug development, covering chemical compounds and proteins; omics, the large-scale study of genes and other biological molecules; and clinical research. SK Biopharmaceuticals put together the drug discovery dataset based on what researchers actually need in the lab. The data covers 66 drug development tasks, including predictin

Doosan Corp., a major supplier of core materials for high-tech electronics, is expanding its manufacturing footprint in China to boost production of copper-clad laminates — essential components used in advanced microchips, artificial intelligence servers and smartphones. The company said Friday it signed an investment agreement with Changshu, a city in China's Jiangsu province, to build new copper-clad laminate (CCL) production lines near its existing factory. The agreement was signed Thursday at Suzhou City Hall, with Suzhou Mayor Wang Wei, Doosan President Yoo Seung-woo and Kim In-wook, head of the company's Electronics Business Group, among those in attendance. The project represents the Chinese portion of an investment plan worth approximately 970 billion won (about $670 million), announced by Doosan in September, including approximately 550 billion won earmarked for China. Doosan plans to develop a 185,000-square-meter site near its existing Changshu factory, with investment scheduled to be carried out in stages through 2028. The new production lines are expected to begin operating

U.S. private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) will acquire the remaining shares in Korea's leading car rental company, Lotte Rental, through a tender offer by early next month, the company said Friday. TPG's wholly owned special purpose vehicle (SPV), Lexicon Korea Holdco Inc., plans to purchase 14 million shares, or a 38.83 percent stake, in Lotte Rental at 59,000 won ($43.50) per share during the tender offer period from Friday through Dec. 3, according to a regulatory filing. The tender offer is valued at 831.7 billion won. "We have launched the tender offer to secure control of the target company, delist it from the Korean stock market and make it a wholly owned subsidiary," Lexicon Korea said in the filing. The bidder plans to settle the tender offer in cash on Dec. 7, paying for all shares, the filing outlined. KB Securities is advising on the deal. Last month, TPG acquired a combined 61.2 percent stake in Lotte Rental for 1.31 trillion won from Lotte Group affiliates Hotel Lotte and Lotte Hotel Busan. Lotte Group, the country's sixth-largest conglomerate by assets, has been sel

Lam Research said Friday it has appointed Kim Tae-won as the new regional vice president of Korea, succeeding Park Joon-hong, who has worked at the U.S. semiconductor equipment maker for nearly 25 years. Kim is a technology expert with more than 20 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, specializing in chemical vapor deposition and etching technologies. Since joining Lam Research in 2008, Kim has served in key positions in productivity solutions, product deployment and process development within the company's etch products group. Kim earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Seoul National University and a doctorate from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Lam Research Senior Vice President of Global Customer Operations Neil Fernandes said Kim's technical expertise, customer-focused leadership and track record of bringing teams together would help strengthen partnerships with Korean customers and drive further growth and innovation. Outgoing Regional Vice President Park previously held several senior positions at Lam Research, including head of the Surf