Park Sam-koo out to rebuild Kumho Asiana Group

[THE INVESTOR] Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Sam-koo is seeking to buy back Kumho Buslines that was sold to a private equity fund in 2015 in a move to rebuild the company. Park is also said to be pushing to buy back Kumho Tire, another Kumho affiliate that is crucial for him to reclaim control of the group. He is expected to create a 1 trillion won consortium when the creditors put the company’s 42 percent stake up for sale in September. Kumho Industrial, Kumho Tire and Asiana Airlines repres

July 25, 2016

Chaebols contribute less on job growth: report

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s top five conglomerates have grown even bigger in terms of assets they hold and revenue they produce in the past three years, but their contribution to creating new jobs is lagging, a report showed Sunday.According to conglomerate tracking research firm Chaebul.com, the combined assets of the top five largest companies -- Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG and Lotte -- recorded about 930 trillion won ($817 billion) last year, a 15.5 percent rise from 2012. This accounted

July 24, 2016

Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee mired in sex scandal

[THE INVESTOR] Korean news outlet NewsTapa reported on July 21 that Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee has been paying for sex for years.NewsTapa aired video clips showing a group of women enter a house in southern Seoul where the chairman is waiting. The dialogue between Lee and the women indicates that illegal sexual services were provided. The women are also shown accepting envelopes from Lee that allegedly contained 5 million won (US$4,400) each. Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee (center).F

July 22, 2016