South Korea’s business lobby groups on Thursday welcomed Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative opposition leader who has pledged to pursue a small government and ease regulations, as the nation’s next president. The 61-year-old former prosecutor won an extremely tight race earlier in the day, bringing conservatives back to power in five years. He will replace President Moon Jae-in, a progressive leader whose single five-year term ends in May. The Korea Chamber of Commerce, the nation&rsq

Industry March 10, 2022

Russia on Tuesday threatened to pile pressure on Korean businesses by introducing new bond rules to allow Russian companies to pay their foreign creditors in the Russian ruble, even for securities denominated in other currencies. Companies here that prefer to get paid in the US dollar immediately started reviewing the impact, raising concerns that the new measure could eventually lead to a default. Russia may not be a major market for many Korean firms, but big names like Samsung Electronics

Industry March 8, 2022

South Korea’s gender pay gap persists at major companies, with a recent research suggesting women still earn almost 40 percent less than men. Data from market tracker Korea CXO Research Institute released Monday showed the average annual pay for female workers was 54.2 million won ($44,151) at the nation’s top 150 companies as of 2020, about 38 percent less than the male average of 79.7 million won. Across industries, IT companies such as Kakao and Naver had the highest salaries f

Industry March 7, 2022

KT Corp. said Monday it has debuted a new artificial intelligence-based coaching app for K-pop dance, called KT Real Dance, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that kicked off Monday. When users dance in front of a smartphone camera along with a virtual instructor, the app records a synchronized video, analyzes dance moves, and offers tips on how to improve one‘s dancing skills. The app also counts calories burned during the dance classes as well. At its MWC exhibition booth, K

Technology Feb. 28, 2022

BARCELONA/SEOUL -- Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile tech show, kicked off its four-day run in Barcelona on Monday, with big name exhibitors, including Samsung Electronics and Google, returning to flaunt their latest technologies and products. The annual convention was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2021, it was a hybrid event, with most of the product launches held online. This year’s MWC, themed “Connectivity Unleashed,” is ba

Technology Feb. 28, 2022

From eBay Korea to a pro baseball team and vineyards, Shinsegae Group has been on a shopping spree recently, and its latest target is IFC Seoul, a landmark complex in Yeouido, western Seoul. According to industry sources, Shinsegae Property, a developer affiliated with the retail giant, has joined a heated race to acquire the IFC complex worth an estimated 4 trillion won ($3.34 billion) as part of a consortium with IGIS Asset Management. Other suitors shortlisted in a recent second bid inclu

Industry Feb. 23, 2022

LG Electronics said Wednesday it is exiting its solar panel business, citing unfavorable market conditions such as rising costs and price competition as the key factors. The Korean tech giant, following a board meeting on Tuesday, said it would stop producing solar panels and modules by June 30, with some 900 employees being relocated to other business divisions, including those of other LG companies. LG started its solar panel business back in 2010 with an emphasis on higher-efficiency prem

Technology Feb. 23, 2022

SK Group said Monday Chairman Chey Tae-won will assume the chairman title of its telecom unit SK Telecom to boost the group’s burgeoning artificial intelligence business. SK said the chairman will play a supporting role as he serves as an unregistered director on the board rather than participating in the daily operations directly. Chey has served as the chairman of SK Inc., the holding unit, as a board member, while taking the chairman post of SK Innovation, the chemicals and energy u

Technology Feb. 21, 2022

Samsung Electronics America said Wednesday it has hired former US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert as its public relations chief, in an apparent move to better respond to uncertainties surrounding policy changes in the US, especially on chips. The former envoy will lead the company’s Washington office as executive vice president and head of North American public affairs from March 1. Samsung said Lippert’s insight into policy changes and regulations in the US will play a key

Technology Feb. 17, 2022

South Korean IT solutions provider Samsung SDS said Thursday it has signed a new partnership with cloud giant Amazon Web Services to bolster bilateral ties and strengthen their corporate cloud business. Under the renewed partnership, Samsung SDS is also joining AWS’ “exclusive” global business network, along with other global partners like Verizon and NEC. The two firms have already carried out diverse corporate projects since January last year, in which they support business

Technology Feb. 17, 2022

Corporate donations made for Korean athletes competing at the Beijing Winter Olympics have exceeded 40 billion won ($33.4 million) over the past four years, according to industry data collected by the Federation of Korean Industries Wednesday. A total of 91 companies have donated cash and goods worth 41.75 billion won between 2018 and 2021 to support Korean national athletes preparing for this year’s Olympics, the data found. Donations were made mostly through related sports associatio

Industry Feb. 16, 2022

Japan has long remained an untapped market for Korean firms, where even the likes of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor have almost no presence. Currently, Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, has a tiny 5 percent market share there. Not to mention the soured relationship between Seoul and Tokyo over wartime history and trade disputes in recent years. Japanese consumers have remained loyal to local brands such as Sony and Toyota that compete head-on with their Korean rivals

Industry Feb. 13, 2022

Samsung Electronics said Friday its subsidiary Harman, the US automotive solutions maker, has acquired German auto tech startup Apostera to bolster its leadership in the burgeoning connected car technology market. With the latest deal, Harman aims to further diversity its automotive product offerings using Apostera’s specialty in augmented reality and mixed reality software solutions. Established in 2017, the Munich-based Apostera supplies AR solutions for automotive head-up displays a

Technology Feb. 11, 2022

Samsung Electronics has come under heightened pressure to offer hefty pay increases amid strike threats from its minority labor unions over stalled wage talks, according to industry sources Wednesday. As the Korean tech giant has no majority labor union, an in-house management-labor council has held wage talks since October last year. But the two sides have failed to narrow their differences until recently. Sources say the council’s employee representatives this week lodged new demands

Technology Feb. 9, 2022

NextRise 2022, Seoul, a global startup conference co-hosted by the Korea International Trade Association and Korea Development Bank, is set to be held in Seoul on June 16 and 17, with aims to connect startups and their potential business partners and spur innovation among them. Launched in 2019, the conference has become Asia’s largest startup fair in terms of the size. Last year’s event attracted some 12,000 visitors from around the world despite the coronavirus pandemic. This y

Technology Feb. 7, 2022