Samsung’s top executives ink compliance pledge

Top executives of Samsung Electronics have vowed to abide by the law ahead of the launch of an in-house anti-corruption committee, officials said Monday. The firm’s three chief executives -- Kim Ki-nam, Kim Hyun-seok and Koh Dong-jin -- signed a compliance pledge at an event held in Samsung Digital City, Suwon. Other top executives also joined the pledge with their digital signature.They pledged to comply with local and foreign laws and company regulations, not to tolerate any violation of

IndustryJan. 13, 2020

KT&G Welfare sends 60 college volunteers to Cambodia, Myanmar

KT&G Welfare Foundation has sent a total of 60 college student volunteers to Cambodia and Myanmar to improve the educational environment in the countries, the tobacco company said Monday. KT&G said the volunteering activities will be done for nearly two weeks at Siem Reap, a town in northwestern Cambodia, and the suburbs of Yangon in Myanmar, which have poor educational environments. Since 2005, the foundation has dispatched 1,390 international volunteer groups to improve the educat

IndustryJan. 13, 2020

Starbucks Korea to hire handicapped baristas for regular employment in Q1

Starbucks Korea said Monday that it had begun its recruitment process for baristas with disabilities for the first quarter of this year.According to the coffee chain, it will accept applications starting from Monday until 5 p.m. on Jan. 23. The process includes document screening, interviews and field tests in the form of five weeks of training, before the final results are announced. Starbucks first began its hiring program for baristas with disabilities in 2007, and began running the program o

ConsumerJan. 13, 2020

Lawmaker picked for presidential panel on aging society

A ruling party lawmaker has been appointed as vice head of the presidential advisory group on polices related to falling birth rates and the aging society, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.President Moon Jae-in installed Rep. Seo Hyung-soo of the Democratic Party in the post at the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy. Shortly after taking office, Moon launched the committee to explore mid- to long-term polices to address the social problems.The president serves as the body's

PoliticsJan. 13, 2020

Seoul district to pay men on paternity leave

Seocho has become the first district in Seoul to pay men subsidies for taking paternity leave.Men who have lived in Seocho for over a year and taking paternity leave after Jan. 1 this year will be qualified to apply for a monthly stipend of 300,000 won ($259) for as long as a year, the district office said. The proposed budget is 243 million won for an estimated 135 beneficiaries for six months.Similar government subsidies for men on leave for child care kicked off last year in Nam-dong, a south

Social AffairsJan. 13, 2020

[Newsmaker] Court to decide on Seungri’s arrest

Former boyband Big Bang member Seungri appeared at court on Monday morning for a hearing on an arrest warrant filed by prosecutors.The 29-year-old arrived at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho, southern Seoul, at around 10:05 a.m. He did not respond to questions from reporters.On Dec. 8, prosecutors sought the arrest warrant for Seungri regarding several counts of pimping and gambling charges, among others.The court’s decision over the arrest warrant’s issuance is expec

Social AffairsJan. 13, 2020

Korean realty investments in Europe jump 122%

South Korean investments in European commercial real estate assets in 2019 jumped 122 percent on-year to 12.5 billion euros ($13.9 billion), on the back of Korean investors’ foreign exchange hedging against the euro and lower borrowing costs, data showed Monday.The acquisition binge also signals Korean investors’ need to digest the earlier deals in the region, according to global real estate consultancy Savills.By countries, France boasted the largest volume of Korean investments at

MarketJan. 13, 2020

Beauty firms, duty-free operators soar amid hopes for lifting of China sanctions

Major South Korean cosmetics and duty-free operators traded higher Monday amid hopes that China may lift its retaliatory economic measures under way for years against Seoul's decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system here. Amorepacific Corp., the country's top cosmetics maker, closed at 232,000 won($200), up 5.22 percent from the previous session's close, after touching as high as 236,000 won, the highest mark since April 24 last year. Shares in LG Household & Health Care, the second-lar

IndustryJan. 13, 2020

S. Korea urges N. Korea to refrain from harsh words for better inter-Korean relations

South Korea urged North Korea on Monday to respect each other and refrain from offensive language after a senior North Korean official derided Seoul's efforts to help stalled denuclearization talks move forward.On Saturday, former North Korean chief nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan hurled harsh invective against the South, ridiculing Seoul's efforts to mediate between Washington and Pyongyang as "presumptuous," and urging it to "behave prudently not to be reduced to a fool heading nowhe

North KoreaJan. 13, 2020

Cheong Wa Dae asks rights panel to review prosecution's probe into Cho Kuk case

Cheong Wa Dae said Monday it has requested a state human rights panel to look into whether prosecutors violated relevant rules in connection with their sweeping probe into suspicions involving former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his family.The move came in response to an online petition submitted to the presidential office amid lingering debates over the prosecution's way of investigating the allegations of crimes related to his children's schooling and a family investment in a private equity fu

PoliticsJan. 13, 2020

JTBC's 'Sky Castle' named best drama series at Asian TV Awards

South Korea's black comedy "Sky Castle" has received the best drama series prize at an Asian awards ceremony for television programs, the series' broadcasting network said Monday.At the 24th Asian Television Awards held in Manila on Saturday, JTBC's 20-episode weekend drama airing from November 2018 to February 2019 won the title, outclassing seven competitors including "Dr. Prisoner" of South Korea, "Stepmom and Daughter Blues" of Japan and "The Rise of Phoeni

TelevisionJan. 13, 2020

Hyundai Mobis to spend big for for future car technologies

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's biggest auto parts maker, will secure 9 trillion won ($7.8 billion) in the next three years for investment in future vehicle technologies, a company executive has said.  In a group interview with South Korean reporters on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, Hyundai Mobis Vice President Ko Young-suk briefed on how the company will secure the capital and where it will be spent, according to a company spokesperson.  "

IndustryJan. 13, 2020

'Parasite' picks up 2 titles at Critics' Choice Awards

Bong Joon-ho's black comedy thriller "Parasite" has clinched two titles at this year's Critics' Choice Awards, continuing its rally during the US awards season.At the ceremony held by the Broadcast Film Critics Association in Santa Monica, California, on Sunday (US time), director Bong tied with Sam Mendes of "1917," the top winner of this year's Golden Globe Awards, for best director, while his seventh feature film also won best foreign-language film.In the best direction se

FilmJan. 13, 2020

Korea's hydrogen economy drive going smoothly

South Korea's bold drive to promote the use of hydrogen for power generation, vehicles and other industires is witnessing progress as sales of hydrogen fuel cell cars increased sharply last year and more charging stations were installed, the industry ministry said Monday.Seoul unveiled its so-called hydrogen economy drive last year, seeking to utilize the resource as the main source of energy for power generation, vehicles and other daily uses, while reducing reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear

IndustryJan. 13, 2020

Trump warns Iran not to kill protesters, door still open to talks

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump warned Iran Sunday against killing protesters who have risen up over the regime's downing of a civilian airliner as his defense secretary left the door open to talks with Tehran without preconditions.Trump's salvo came as Iran's Islamic regime faced a challenge from angry street protests, having come to the brink of war with the US after a series of tit-for-tat confrontations."To the leaders of Iran -- DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS," Trump tw

World NewsJan. 13, 2020

[Newsmaker] Ex-Supreme Court judge found not guilty in judiciary power abuse case

A former top court judge indicted for his suspected role in a judiciary power abuse scandal during the conservative Park Geun-hye administration was found not guilty on Monday.The Seoul Central District Court found former Supreme Court senior judge Yoo Hae-yong not guilty of colluding in the power abuse scandal to help report the proceedings of a certain case to the presidential office.The ruling is the first to be handed down in relation to the judiciary power abuse scandal that saw a Supreme C

Social AffairsJan. 13, 2020

Korean drugmakers accelerate phase-3 clinical trials in China

Major South Korean pharmaceutical companies are ramping up the phase-three clinical trials of their key products in China as they seek to tap deeper into the world's second largest bio market.Samsung Bioepis Co. said it is awaiting approval from Chinese health authorities for the final stage of clinical development for its SB8, a biosimilar candidate referencing Avastin.Samsung Bioepis expects the China National Medical Products Administration to give it the green light this year, making SB8 the

IndustryJan. 13, 2020

Kia Motors, 2 others still haunted by labor disputes

Labor disputes are still posing a major hurdle for some of the country's carmakers as they have yet to finish wage deals for the year of 2019 amid a still murky outlook, industry sources said Monday.Of the country's five carmakers, Hyundai Motor Co. and SsangYong Motor Co. sealed their wage deals last year without strikes. But three carmakers -- Kia Motors Corp., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and GM Korea Co. -- have had difficulties in narrowing a gap over wages and working conditions with their

IndustryJan. 13, 2020

Korean American included in NASA's future Moon, Mars exploration program

LOS ANGELES -- A Korean American doctor has been included in the list of 11 new astronauts who will take part in the upcoming Moon and Mars exploration program, according to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration Sunday.Jonny Kim will be joining the Artemis project, which aims to send people to the Moon by 2024. The program will use the knowhow and experience learned to place astronauts on Mars by the mid-2020s to 2030, according to the agency. Born in Los Angeles, Kim is a highly

PeopleJan. 13, 2020

S. Korea, US make some progress in defense cost talks: Seoul's negotiator

South Korea and the United States have made progress "to some extent" in their negotiations for determining Seoul's share of the costs for stationing American troops here, Seoul's chief negotiator said Monday. Jeong Eun-bo made the remark as he was leaving for Washington to hold another round of talks with his US counterpart, James DeHart, set to run through Wednesday."We assess that progress has been made to some extent and that we have broadened our understanding through the ser

Foreign AffairsJan. 13, 2020