Hyundai Motor Group, the nation’s largest carmaker, invited more than 300 foreign students from 90 countries for trips to its manufacturing plants and design studio.As part of an annual event titled “2017 Global Friendship Tour,” students enrolled at seven Korean colleges toured Hyundai Motor’s Asan plant, Kia Motors’ Hwaseong plant and Hyundai Steel’s plant in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province. They also visited Hyundai Motor Studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, a venue set up to promote the

Mobility Nov. 9, 2017

South Korea’s financial regulator will require all listed companies here to disclose their governance structure to the investing public, as part of efforts to improve management transparency, its head said Thursday. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, also said that his organization plans to provide incentives to institutional investors who adopt a Korean-version of Stewardship Code, a set of principle aimed at improving their voting rights. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the

Industry Nov. 9, 2017

A group representing Korean businesses on Wednesday told close aides to US President Donald Trump about the firms’ investment plans worth some $17.3 billion for the US, highlighting that it will ease the trade imbalance between the two countries.At a meeting hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, around 10 executives from the top major companies in Korea met with senior staff of the White House including Dina Powell, deputy national security adviser for strategy, and Everett Eisse

Industry Nov. 8, 2017

With bilateral tension showing signs of easing between Seoul and Beijing, Kia Motors, a sister company to Hyundai Motor, has released an upgraded Forte subcompact in China, the company said Wednesday.A trilateral venture among Kia, Yueda and Dongfen has unveiled the New Forte at a Hyundai Motor Group R&D center in Yentai, China, on Tuesday with local dealers and officials attending. The 1.6-liter subcompact sedan is equipped with a six-speed automatic or manual transmission as well as a voice-re

Mobility Nov. 8, 2017

Hyundai Rotem, a train manufacturing unit of Hyundai Motor Group, has won a deal worth 177 billion won ($159 million) to provide unmanned subway cars to India, the company said Tuesday.Under the deal, the South Korean company plans to deliver a total of 96 subway cars to the Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, between April 2019 and July 2020. (Yonhap)The subway cars will be operated on the 20.7-kilometer route that connects the east and west regions of Ahmedaba province in the cou

Industry Nov. 7, 2017

A total of 56,084 vehicles by companies including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Toyota will be recalled to fix defective parts, officials at the Transport Ministry said Tuesday. Mercedes-Benz Korea, local importer and distributor of the German luxury car, has recalled 323 vehicles including GLC 22d compact SUVs sold here between 2016 and 2017. They will be subject for the replacement of front and rear window as the parts are loosely attached, the ministry said. (Yonhap)Four Volkswagen models including

Industry Nov. 7, 2017

The head of HanSung Motor, the largest dealer of Mercedes-Benz in South Korea, gave a special lecture on marketing and branding of luxury cars at Yonsei University’s Songdo Campus, the company said Tuesday.Dr. Ulf Ausprung who has led HanSung Motor since 2011 introduced data on Korea’s luxury car market in general and marketing strategies being targeted for the local market, they added. HanSung Motor CEO Dr. Ulf Ausprung gives a lecture at Yonsei University’s Songdo Campus on Monday. (HanSung Mo

Industry Nov. 7, 2017

Hyundai Motor has established a startup incubator in Israel to expand cooperation with budding enterprises in the Middle East nation that has shown strength in technology development in future mobility in recent years. The plan also includes “massive investment” in Israeli startups to be delivered in various formats, including making direct investments and seeking partnerships with venture capital firms, the carmaker said Thursday. The size of investment was not disclosed. Chi Young-cho, vice pr

Mobility Nov. 2, 2017

The head of the nation’s antitrust watchdog told the leaders of the five top conglomerates on Thursday that the nature of their nonprofit foundations would be tested as part of the new government’s chaebol reform. “We will check whether the foundations for public welfare under large businesses are operating the way they are supposed to, and seek ways to limit their voting rights,” said Kim Sang-jo, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, while meeting CEOs from Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor

Industry Nov. 2, 2017

Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun looks at an art installment displayed at Hyundai Motor Studio in Beijing, Wednesday. (Hyundai Motor)After suffering major losses from a Seoul-Beijing diplomatic spat, Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun while visiting Beijing said he expects improved ties between the two countries would bring a positive impact to the carmaker’s operation there, officials said Wednesday.“I expect to see a positive impact (from the improved ties). Taking this o

Mobility Nov. 1, 2017

Park Yong-maan, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Industry and Commerce urged businesses on Wednesday to seek growth strategies for the future first, rather than raising voices against the government to lift regulatory hurdles. KCCI Chairman Park Yong-maan speaks at a conference in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)At a meeting with heads of KCCI’s regional branches in Daejeon, Park also stressed that they should embrace the recent change in the job market driven by the Moon Jae-in government, calling

Industry Nov. 1, 2017

Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s assets could be subject to taxes if irregularities are found since he was investigated in 2008 for illegalities, the chief of the nation’s financial regulator said Monday.At a parliamentary audit session Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, told lawmakers that the regulator will review traces of 4.4 trillion won ($3.9 billion) in assets that had been kept under accounts registered with borrowed names. The authorities, in cooperation with the

Industry Oct. 30, 2017

A picture of President Moon Jae-in kneeling to pay his respect to the dead during the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement ceremony went viral online this year. It became a talked about issue not just because the ceremony was held a week after the presidential election, but because of a pair of the president’s old shoes that were exposed to cameras. The shoes that Moon has worn since 2012 were made by a small social enterprise set up by the blind and the hearing-impaired. But even with Cheong

Industry Oct. 29, 2017

For Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, it all started with one question. For years, the second-generation chaebol scion was seeking a way to inherit his father’s legacy of nurturing scientists and scholars for the nation’s future. Though SK was making social donations and running corporate responsibility programs under his lead, Chey wasn’t sure whether those outreach efforts -- worth billions of dollars a year -- were making any progress in society, where problems of unemployment and the incom

Industry Oct. 27, 2017

The diplomatic row between South Korea and China over Seoul’s decision to deploy a US anti-missile system has put SsangYong Motor’s much-awaited dream to build a manufacturing base overseas on hold. But China is not the carmaker’s priority and it has more options in terms of overseas expansion, including the United States, by around 2020, said the chief executive officer of Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian auto giant that owns the Korean SUV maker.“We certainly need to develop two or three good ma

Mobility Oct. 26, 2017