The number of South Korean business groups' affiliates under tight restrictions on mutual investment and loan guarantees rose slightly in June from a month earlier, the corporate watchdog said Monday.The Fair Trade Commission said 1,268 firms were on its monthly watch list as of end-June, up five from the previous month. They are owned by the country's 31 largest business groups, including Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group, with assets of 10 trillion won ($8.5 billion) or more.Ten groups, li

Economy July 3, 2017

LG Electronics said Monday it released a new tablet PC with improved portability, which supports the long-term evolution network connectivity.The South Korean tech giant said the 290-gram G Pad IV 8.0 FHD LTE can be considered "as light as a can of soda," making the device especially suitable for women and teenagers. The company said the 8-inch display also makes it easier for users to carry the product in hand bags and pockets. A model poses with LG Electronics Inc.'s new tablet PC, the LG Pad

Industry July 3, 2017

South Korean women employees are paid less than their male counterparts among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member economies, due to wage discrimination, data showed Monday.The proportion of female low-salaried workers who are paid less than two-thirds of the median wage stood at 37.6 percent in 2015, down from 37.8 percent the previous year, according to the statistics by the OECD. The figure is the highest among 16 OECD member countries that have proveided comparab

Economy July 3, 2017

LG Electronics said Monday it has simplified titles among its workers to break the previous hierarchical structure and to induce employees to become more creative.The South Korean tech giant said it has streamlined the five-level ranking system to three in a bid to help workers better communicate with each other. Starting Monday, the workers were given one of three titles, namely professional, specialist and associate. Complicated ranking systems closely linked to deep-rooted hierarchical cultur

Market July 3, 2017

South Korean stocks opened slightly high Monday, as investors scooped up chemicals amid a rebound in oil prices.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 3.17 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,394.96 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics remained unchanged, and SK hynix was 1.93 percent down.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, surrendered 0.31 percent, while AmorePacific, the country's top cosmetics maker, rose 1.32 percent.LG Chem, the country's top

Market July 3, 2017

South Korean shipbuilders, led by Hyundai Heavy Industries, have clinched the most new shipbuilding orders in the first half of the year, with their combined tally more than doubling from a year earlier, industry data showed Monday.Hyundai Heavy and other local shipyards have bagged orders worth a combined 2.56 million compensated gross tons in the January-June period, accounting for 34 percent of the total orders placed around the globe, according to the data compiled by industry tracker Clarks

Industry July 3, 2017

Global smartphone makers are expected to fiercely compete with each other to win over consumers in the second half by launching new flagship devices, industry watchers said Monday, with Samsung Electronics poised to release a new phablet to overcome its tainted brand image sparked by the suspended Galaxy Note 7 last year.Market observers said Samsung, along with Apple and LG Electronics, plan to release new smartphones in the coming months, with the companies focusing on showcasing nearly bezel-

Industry July 3, 2017

“Anarchist from Colony,” the latest box office hit directed by Lee Joon-ik and starring Lee Je-hoon, is now screening with English subtitles in select theaters in Korea and will have limited screenings in the US.English subtitled screenings of the movie were released Friday at MegaBox’s Songdo location in Incheon. This photo provided by Megabox Plus M shows actor Lee Je-hoon (C) as Park Yeol in the new Korean historical film "Anarchist from Colony." (Yonhap)As “Anarchist from Colony” had a succe

Film June 30, 2017

The South Korean police on Friday nabbed a suspect behind a murder that occurred in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.The victim, a woman in her 20s, was found in the veranda behind a church parking lot Thursday night. Local police revealed that the body had been hidden there for about three days.(Yonhap)The police said that the suspect was the victim’s boyfriend, 21, who she had been living with for the past two months.After murdering the woman on Monday night, the suspect relocated the body

Social Affairs June 30, 2017

GS Engineering & Construction Co. said Friday it has won a 1 trillion-won ($865 million) order to repair a refinery plant in the United Arab Emirates that suffered a fire by early 2019.UAE Takreer, which is wholly owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., placed the order with GS E&C to restore burnt parts of its oil-processing plant in Ruwais, 250 kilometers west of UAE's capital city of Abu Dhabi, the company said in a statement. UAE Takreer's refinery plant built by GS E&C in Ruwais (Photo courtes

Industry June 30, 2017

LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it is promoting the film "Okja" that has received acclaim at home and abroad, with its latest organic light-emitting diode TV.LG Electronics said the LG Signature OLED TV W will provide the most optimized environment for audiences of the film. (Yonhap)The South Korean tech giant said its cutting-edge TV sets support both Dolby Vision display and Dolby Atmos sound systems, providing viewers with theatre-like experiences.The sci-fi film was co-produced by three Holl

Industry June 30, 2017

Korea will start the construction of a new 3,000-ton submarine for the Navy, the state arms procurement agency said Friday.The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said a steel-cutting ceremony for the third submarine in the Jangbogo-III project will be held at the shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, some 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul, later in the day. An image of a submarine to be built in the Jangbogo-III Batch-I program in a photo provided by the Defense Acquisition Prog

Industry June 30, 2017

Samsung Electronics Co. showcased new solutions in the entertainment and signage business helped by its takeover of US automotive electronics firm Harman International Industries Inc., business sources said Friday.New solutions introduced through the collaboration between the South Korean tech giant and Harman also include a hotel system, which adopted Samsung's motion sensor, along with Harman's voice recognition system, allowing clients to control curtains and other facilities in their rooms. 

Industry June 30, 2017

South Korea's main stock index retreated from an all-time high Friday, tracking declines on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 12.5 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,383.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 1.67 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor remained flat, and top steelmaker POSCO slipped 0.53 percent.The local currency was trading at 1,146.75 won against the U.S. 

Market June 30, 2017

South Korea's industrial output gained ground in May from a month earlier on a turnaround in production of semiconductors, government data showed Friday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries edged up 0.2 percent on-month last month, rebounding from a 2.2 percent on-month drop in April, according to the data by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)From a year earlier, the figure also climbed 0.1 percent last month as a gain in machinery and electronic parts was offset by a

Industry June 30, 2017