Ex-Samsung C&T CEO questioned as part of probe into 2015 merger

Prosecutors questioned a former CEO of Samsung C&T Corp. on Wednesday as part of a probe into suspicions surrounding the company‘s controversial merger with another Samsung unit, Cheil Industries Inc., in 2015.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office summoned Kim Shin, who served from 2010-2018 as CEO of the construction and trading arm of Samsung Group. He was called in last Tuesday but returned home without questioning due to an issue related to the designation of his legal repr

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2020

IKEA recalls India-made travel mugs over chemical concerns

Global furniture giant IKEA said Wednesday that it is recalling India-made Troligtvis travel mugs due to health concerns related to chemicals in the products.The decision came amid worries that the mugs that have been sold since last year may migrate levels of dibutyl phthalate exceeding the recommended limits.  IKEA‘s Korea unit said that all customers who have bought the cups can get full refunds regardless of whether they have receipts.“We took the global recall measure so as

ConsumerJan. 15, 2020

Mahindra may seek support from KDB for SsangYong Motor: sources

An executive from Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. will come to South Korea this week to discuss and seek financial support from the main creditor bank of its local unit, SsangYong Motor Co., industry sources said Wednesday.SsangYong Motor confirmed Mahindra & Mahindra Managing Director Pawan Goenka will visit Seoul on Thursday but didn‘t provide any details about his schedule here. His visit comes ahead of the sport utility vehicle-focused carmaker’s planned board me

MobilityJan. 15, 2020

2 ships with S. Korean crew members held in Indonesia for violating territorial waters

SEOUL/JAKARTA -- Two ships with South Korean crew members have been held in Indonesia, one for more than three months, for violating territorial waters, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. On Oct. 9, Indonesia‘s Navy seized a Panama-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier, which was en route to Singapore.Aboard were a South Korean captain and eight South Korean and eight Indonesian sailors.  Last Thursday, Indonesian authorities also impounded a South Korean cargo ship at the s

Foreign AffairsJan. 15, 2020

[Graphic News] Imported car sales dip 6.1% as Japanese brands struggle

　Imported car sales in South Korea fell 6.1 percent in 2019 from a year earlier as Japanese brands were affected by a boycott amid trade tensions between Seoul and Tokyo, an industry association said.  　The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 244,780 last year from the previous year’s 260,705, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association.  　Japanese carmakers such as Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor saw their sales plunge 19

BusinessJan. 15, 2020

Woori mulls appointment of new bank chief over possible FSS sanctions

Woori Financial Group is taking a cautious approach in naming the new chief of its flagship banking business due largely to the recent debacle involving the sale of high-risk private funds, according to industry sources Wednesday. The group initially planned to complete the appointment of an Woori Bank CEO before the Lunar New Year holidays, which fall Jan. 24-27. The Financial Supervisory Service is scheduled to convene a meeting Thursday to decide the punishments for the heads of two local com

MarketJan. 15, 2020

US investor Capital Group sells W660b stake in Hyundai Motor

US investment firm Capital Group Companies has offloaded a 2.56 percent stake in South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor for 660.8 billion won ($570.9 million), according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday.  With the stock sale, Capital Group, through its 32 specially related parties including funds and subsidiaries, now owns 4.54 percent voting rights in Hyundai Motor, which controls car brands Hyundai, Genesis and Kia. This comes as a result of over 300 transactions by th

MarketJan. 15, 2020

SKT eyes cooperation with Microsoft on Xbox game development

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top mobile carrier, said Wednesday it aims to expand cooperation with Microsoft Corp. on console games.SKT said it plans to support the development of games for Xbox, a home video game console manufactured by Microsoft, by boosting investment and marketing activities.  To initiate the move, SKT said it participated in Microsoft's first Xbox Discovery Day event in Seoul. The event is a seminar organized by Microsoft for game developers and officials in the gamin

IndustryJan. 15, 2020

Baedal Minjok labor union fights to work longer

Woowa Youngmen, the operator of Baemin Riders -- a platform connecting restaurants and delivery drivers -- is facing opposition against its announcement to limit the weekly working hours of its delivery workers.Woowa Youngmens is a subsidiary of Woowa Brothers, the operator of Korea’s No. 1 food delivery application by market share. On Friday, it released a new work guideline, “2060 policy to prevent overworking,” to limit the workhours of drivers for Baemin Riders to 60 hours

IndustryJan. 15, 2020

Reinsurance firm Korean Re launches second branch in China

The Korean Reinsurance Co. (Korean Re), a leading domestic reinsurance firm here, announced the launch of its Shanghai office on Wednesday. The opening came after it received approval from China’s banking and insurance authorities in December. The new office is the second Chinese location for the Korean firm, which has run its business in Beijing since 1997. The new branch will be in charge of sales while the Beijing office will continue to lead the management and market research.The

MarketJan. 15, 2020

World DJ Festival is coming back bigger, louder

The World DJ Festival, is returning to Seoul this summer, bigger than ever.The organizers of World DJ Festival 2020 -- its 14th edition -- said Seoul will see three separate shows, starting with a prefestival concert at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium in the southern Seoul on April 30. The event will take place as part of the Formula-E Championship, an electric vehicle racing championship being held in Seoul for the first time. The World DJ Festival will resume May 30-31 and again on April 6-7, at th

PerformanceJan. 15, 2020

Eased data protection rules to benefit fintech giants and startups: analysts

The recent passage of bills on personal data and credit information of individuals by the National Assembly will likely give a boost to fintech giants and startups in South Korea, according to analysts.The three revised bills regarding the protection of private information, information and communications networks, and the use and protection of credit information will allow companies as well as government agencies to utilize personal information for various research and business purposes without

MarketJan. 15, 2020

Popularity of Korean music to go beyond K-pop in next decade: columnist, jazz musician

US-based K-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin and renowned jazz vocalist Nah Youn-sun, the two winners of the Korea Image Awards given by the Corea Image Communication Institute, said Tuesday that global attention to Korean music is expanding beyond K-pop as the country boasts the world’s sixth-largest music industry.“It is really special to think how much Korean music has grown for the 10 years,” said Benjamin during a press event at InterContinental Seoul Coex on the sidelines of CI

PeopleJan. 15, 2020

S. Korea, US seek dialogue with NK within sanctions framework: envoy

South Korea’s top nuclear envoy said Wednesday that Seoul and Washington are looking for ways to promote dialogue with Pyongyang under the current sanctions framework.“Promoting dialogue within the sanctions framework is the issue of mutual interest (of South Korea and the US),” Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, told reporters before heading to Washington on Wednesday for talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun.&

North KoreaJan. 15, 2020

[Kim Myong-sik] Sadly reading Moon’s inaugural address again

The bumpy political path of our republic in the 21st century has had two major upheavals involving former presidents: the suicide of Roh Moo-hyun and the impeachment of Park Geun-hye. They resulted from aggravated power contests. Political power has alternated between the right and left, like seasonal winds blowing on this peninsula, northwesterly in winter and southeasterly in summer. Ideological polarization has developed, along with a vicious circle of political vendetta, as rivals fail to ma

ViewpointsJan. 15, 2020

[Elizabeth Drew ] Trump’s near miss with Iran

The recent tense, dangerous exchanges between the United States and Iran have revealed a great deal about US President Donald Trump’s management of his foreign policy. The main conclusion is that he doesn’t have one. Weighty decisions are made on the basis of gut reactions and often-contradictory impulses -- for example, simultaneously seeking agreement and threatening the use of force. If there is any overarching vision or philosophy, it is that he wants to avoid another long, costl

ViewpointsJan. 15, 2020

[Newsmaker] Of kids bullied at school, 1 in 3 targeted ‘as a joke’: survey

One in 3 victims of school violence in South Korea has been bullied “as a joke,” a report from the Education Ministry showed Wednesday. 　　Some 0.6 percent of students enrolled at Korea’s elementary, middle and high schools admitted that they had bullied fellow students, according to a survey conducted in September involving some 130,000 students.　The most common reason behind the bullying was “just as a joke” (29.4 percent). Some 19.2 percent of the bullying took pl

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2020

Why going small is going big for Samsung Biologics

SAN FRANCISCO -- It may not be music to the ears of small and medium-sized contract manufacturing organizations, but Samsung Biologics said Tuesday it plans to expand its current business to cover smaller volumes. “We decided to add sCMO to our service for client satisfaction, to keep providing support to our contract development clients who need small batches of drug substance for their subsequent clinical phase one trials,” said Regina Choi-Rivera, head of the sCMO business unit at

IndustryJan. 15, 2020

S. Korea’s employment indexes hit record high, contradict job market reality

South Korea saw its employment rate hit a 22-year high last year, boosted by a stronger-than-expected job growth in December, government data showed Wednesday.Asia’s fourth-largest economy, however, continues to face structural problems as the latest result was mostly attributable to the government’s policy efforts and also focused heavily on specific age groups.The country recorded 27.15 million workers employed in December -- up 516,000 from a year earlier -- marking the large

EconomyJan. 15, 2020