Elliott Management, a US activist hedge fund, said Wednesday that it views the restructuring plan announced by Samsung Electronics as the tech giant taking “a constructrive initial step,” but urged it to make more changes.　“We view the plan outlined by Samsung to be a constructive initial step,” Blake Capital and Potter Capital, two affiliates of Elliott Management, said in an emailed statement. “We anticipate more meaningful changes following the company’s corporate structure review. We look fo

Business Nov. 30, 2016

Seoul is seeking more mid-range priced accommodation to counter the glut of overpriced and low-cost rooms, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reported Monday.According to the government report, the 23,164 mid-range rooms located in Seoul -- priced between 60,000 won and 200,000 won -- failed to cover the 32,567 requests this year.  A photo of Shilla Stay in central Seoul (Yonhap)In contrast, an extra 3,017 rooms priced over 200,000 won were still available. Hotels cheaper than 60,000 wo

Industry Oct. 24, 2016

Reforms after the 1997 Asian financial crisis improved market regulations in South Korea, however experts insist there is still room for improvement. Government officials, regulators and academics gathered at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Asian Roundtable on corporate governance at a hotel in Seoul on Monday to discuss recent corporate governance developments in Korea.Jung Sun-seop, a professor at Seoul National University School of Law, said recent reforms in marke

Oct. 24, 2016

South Korean proxy advisory firm Sustinvest on Monday advised shareholders of Samsung Electronics to oppose the nomination of Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to the company’s board of directors.This is considered the first call of opposition to Lee’s nomination, which has been supported by a major shareholder of Samsung Electronics and other foreign proxy advisory companies. The shareholders’ meeting on Lee’s nomination is to be held Thursday. “Lee is not qualified to be an internal director because

Industry Oct. 24, 2016

A growing number of Korean consumers are opting for unlocked smartphones due to their low cost and hassle-free appeal, according to industry data Monday. An unlocked smartphone is a phone not tied to a specific telecom operator, meaning users are not bound by a contract -- commonly two or three years here -- with a carrier. The downsides are not being able to benefit from various subsidies offered by the carrier and possible limitations in the scope of after-sales service.According to local onli

Industry Oct. 24, 2016

Buoyed by seven songs topping an online K-pop chart over the weekend, JYP Entertainment’s stock price on the Kosdaq rose nearly 10 percent for the past one month, according to data from Korea Exchange.JYP, led by veteran musician Park Jin-young, is relatively small in terms of company size compared to its archrivals S.M. Entertainment and YG Entertainment, but it is definitely full of growth potential --especially next year, local securities analysts say.  (JYP Entertainment)Bigger players S.M.

Oct. 24, 2016

Shinsegae, South Korea’s largest retailer, said Monday that it is scheduled to sign a deal with Coex on Friday. The announcement came hours after local news reports suggested Shinsegae’s Coex deal was on the brink of collapse.The deal will be made between Shinsegae Property, the development unit of Shinsegae Group, and the Korean International Trade Association, the owner of Coex Mall and City Airport Logis & Travel Mall. The final agreement comes more than three months after the Shinsegae devel

Industry Oct. 24, 2016

Hyundai Heavy Industries won a contract to build two frigates for the Philippines Navy, the company said Monday. Chung Ki-sun, the executive vice president of HHI Corporate Planning Office, and Philippines’ Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana signed an agreement in Manila to build two 2,600-ton frigates worth 370 billion won ($325.7 million).  Hyundai Heavy Industries’ 2,600-ton frigate (HHI)The 107-meter long frigates with a width of 12 meters will be propelled with a combined diesel and diesel

Industry Oct. 24, 2016

Hyundai Motor’s Avante was the fourth best selling car in the world last year, industry data showed Monday. According to global automobile market researcher Best Selling Cars Blog, in 2015, Hyundai Motor sold 913,152 units of the Elantra, sold as Avante in Korea, making the model the fourth most sold vehicle among 1,382 models surveyed.Avante jumped two spots on the list from ranking sixth in 2014 with just above 800,000 deliveries.Toyota’s Corolla topped the list for the 11th consecutive year w

Industry Oct. 24, 2016

Samsung’s flagship Samsung Galaxy topped the list of the top 100 Korean brands in the third quarter of this year despite the ongoing global recall of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, a local brand research company said Monday. According to Brand Stock, Samsung Galaxy scored 912.1 points on its measurement called Brand Stock Top Index, followed by local retail store E-Mart and mobile messenger KakaoTalk with 908.5 points and 903.4 points respectively.Samsung‘s quick reaction to the battery issue wi

Business Oct. 3, 2016

Four in every 10 female workers in Korea are underpaid, and the proportion of underpaid female workers is the highest among the group of rich countries, data showed Sunday.In 2014, 37.8 percent of female laborers in Korea made less than two-thirds of median earnings, according to data by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This ratio topped the list among the 22 member countries of the OECD, and far outpaced No. 2 Ireland’s 31 percent. In most developed countries, less tha

Business Sept. 18, 2016

 Japan Tabaco International Korea, a branch of a Japan-based global tobacco maker, has launched ‘Logic Pro,’ a new electronic cigarette model that uses refill cartridges, the first of its kind to be sold in Korea, the firm said Tuesday. “Logic Pro will deliver a one of a kind experience to electronic cigarette smokers on capsules made with premium materials from Europe and an outstanding production line,” said an executive level official at JTI Korea. JTI Korea releases Logic Pro, electronic cig

Industry Sept. 6, 2016

What frustrated Celltrion founder Seo Jung-jin 16 years ago was the lack of ambition he saw in his younger coworkers at the now-defunct Daewoo Motors. A Chinese restaurant, they said, was the way to make a living after Daewoo went bankrupt. The former Daewoo executive recalled how miserable the plan was at a speech last month. Instead of a Chinese restaurant, Seo and his six junior staff members, with only 50 million ($44,400) won start-up capital, established Nexol, the predecessor to Celltrion

Business Aug. 29, 2016

Korea’s largest game maker Nexon is gearing up with marketing strategies tailored for locals to take on the international mobile game market, the company said Monday. According to the head of Nexon‘s domestic mobile business division Noh Jung-hwan, Nexon will take active measures to expand its presence overseas through “localized marketing,” in line with the release of its new games slated for the second half of this year. Chinese advertisement of Nexon‘s mobile action role-playing game Heroes o

Industry Aug. 29, 2016

This is the 20th in a series of articles analyzing major companies by market capitalization traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. – Ed  As devices evolve quickly and consume more and more memory, chipmakers are rushing to expand their production of 3-D NAND, the latest high-density memory chip that stacks layers of storage cells like a skyscraper. Eugene Technology, a 1.1 billion won ($978,000) local wafer process tool provider, stands to benefit from the trend. Established in 2000, Eugene Tec

Aug. 29, 2016