As daily confirmed coronavirus cases in South Korea exceeded 300 for the second consecutive day, large companies feared another bout of shutdowns similar to that during the first wave of the pandemic early this year. Over the past few days, Samsung, LG, SK and Hyundai Motor closed some of their office buildings after their employees were infected. On Wednesday, Samsung Electronics said one employee working at its mobile research center in Suwon was confirmed to have coronavirus. The firm clo

Industry Nov. 19, 2020

Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae said Wednesday that the merger of the nation’s two largest carriers, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, will not lead to price hikes or workforce restructuring. After attending the Korea-US Business Meeting at the Federation of Korean Industries in Seoul, Cho told reporters, “There may be concerns about such a (monopoly),” but “there will be no (lower) customer convenience or price hikes.” Regarding the restructuring of the workfor

Mobility Nov. 18, 2020

The number of companies joining the “Happiness Alliance,” a social contribution alliance led by SK Group to support children in the blind spots, has surpassed 100, the group said Wednesday. SK Group said it held “2020 Happy Alliance Day” in Seoul on Tuesday to share business results so far. Chairman Chey Tae-won said in the opening speech, “Among many social problems, I thought it was necessary to first solve the problem of children being placed in nutritional i

Industry Nov. 18, 2020

GM Korea’s labor union, which is in a tug-of-war with the management over wage and collective bargaining negotiations, is set to stage another four-day partial strike starting Tuesday, adding to the uncertainties facing the automaker as it struggles with weak performance. The GM Korea union said Monday that it had decided at a central dispute committee meeting to stage a four-hour partial strike from Tuesday to Friday. It will be the fourth partial strike in this year’s wage negotia

Mobility Nov. 17, 2020

South Korea signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is expected to benefit Korean companies, especially in steel, automobiles and electronics, through the elimination of tariffs across Asian countries. The pact will also help better protect Korean firms’ intellectual property rights in the region, experts said Monday. RCEP is made up of 10 Southeast Asian countries, South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The region covers nearly a third of the global economy

Industry Nov. 16, 2020

Hyundai Motor’s latest Kona model was launched in South Korea as the automaker’s first race-inspired sport utility vehicle. Since the compact SUV Kona was first launched in 2017, other models, such as the Kona Electric and Kona Hybrid, were released in 2017 and 2018, respectively. This year, Hyundai added another derivative, the N-Line. Last month, the Korea Herald had an opportunity to test-drive the newest Kona for about two hours in Gyeonggi Province. The Kona N-Line looks mo

Mobility Nov. 15, 2020

Amorepacific is planning to cut its headcount through offering voluntary retirement in the wake of the pandemic. According to news reports on Friday, the cosmetics giant announced through an internal notice that it would accept applicants for voluntary retirement from employees who have worked for the company for more than 15 years. “We posted an announcement this afternoon that the firm would accept applicants for voluntary retirement. We have not decided on the number of people yet,&

Industry Nov. 13, 2020

Korean Air is seeking to acquire Asiana Airlines with the support of the Korea Development Bank, according to the airline industry on Friday. Industry sources said Asiana Airlines’ creditor KDB is considering mergers and acquisitions of the two nation’s largest airlines in a way to support Hanjin Group, which owns Korean Air. The most likely option is that the KDB invests in Hanjin Kal, the holding company of Hanjin Group, through a paid-in capital increase method allocated to a th

Industry Nov. 13, 2020

A drone show, displaying the symbols of a hopeful Korea, illuminated the autumn night sky at Seoul Olympic Park on Friday from 6:30 p.m., officials said. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said a drone show on the themes of “Korean New Deal” and “Memory and Feeling of Victory” was held to deliver a message of gratitude to Korean citizens who are overcoming the COVID-19 crisis. The ministry said 315 drones brightened up the autumn sky, demonstrating Ko

Industry Nov. 13, 2020

Hyundai Motor is set to partner with Singapore’s largest charging company SP Group to lay the groundwork for a Southeast Asian electric vehicle battery subscription service, the firm said Thursday. On the same day, Hyundai Motor and SP Group signed a business agreement to discover new battery-use businesses in the city-state. The signing ceremony was attended by Chung Hong-beom, Hyundai Motor’s SF Innovation Center chief, and Chuah Kee Heng, CEO of SP Group’s eco-friendly ene

Mobility Nov. 12, 2020

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is set to hold the nation’s largest startup competition, Challenge! K-Startup to select and reward startups with promising business ideas, during the Come Up 2020 period, officials said Thursday. The startup competition is held as a special event of Come Up 2020, which is one of Korea’s biggest startup conferences and is scheduled to take place online and offline at Dongdaemun Design Plaza from Nov. 19 to 21. Final startup founders will be sel

Industry Nov. 12, 2020

  The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced the list of winners for its 7th annual photography contest held under the theme of “Workplace and life of workers” for this year on Thursday. Eighty-two works were awarded out of 5,500 pieces submitted by the public and photographers. The left photo shows grand prize winner Kim Seung-kwon’s “Breadwinner’s Most Beautiful Clothes.” Ha Sang-yoon won the best prize with his photo on the right, titled

Industry Nov. 12, 2020

A drone taxi flew over Yeouido, Seoul, for the first time Wednesday morning as part of South Korea’s road map to realize the commercialization of urban air mobility by 2025. The Seoul Metropolitan Government co-hosted an event with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to demonstrate the drone taxi as part of future mobility that could ease the city’s traffic congestion. For the demonstration, one two-seater drone aircraft -- with no one on board -- was used. The air

Mobility Nov. 11, 2020

Mercedes-Benz Korea official dealer Han Sung Motor plans to continue investment to meet customer expectations and to accelerate the digital customer journey in the post-COVID-19 era, the CEO said in an interview with The Korea Herald. “Korea is now the fifth-biggest market for Mercedes-Benz in the world,” said Han Sung Motor’s CEO Ulf Ausprung in its Seoul headquarters where luxury Cheongdam showroom is located. “There was an immense development in the Korean car marke

Mobility Nov. 11, 2020

The European Chamber of Commerce in Korea's Passenger Vehicle Committee has called on the South Korean government to take a more prudent approach to the nation’s low-emission vehicle supply target at a press conference hosted on Tuesday. The low-pollution vehicle supply target system, which was initiated by the Ministry of Environment last year, is a system that obliges car sellers to sell a certain minimum percentage of low-emission vehicles. The government is also considering imp

Industry Nov. 10, 2020