McDonald’s McCafe launches decaf coffee drinks

McDonald’s said Thursday that its coffee brand McCafe has newly launched decaffeinated coffee drinks with the aim of attracting local customers who are sensitive to caffeine and heavy coffee drinkers.According to the company, McCafe will present four decaffeinated coffees -- Americano, McCafe Latte, Cappuccino and Espresso -- to offer a variety of choices for customers seeking to control their daily caffeine intake.The drinks in medium-sized cups cost between 1,000 won ($0.86) and 2,000 wo

ConsumerJan. 2, 2020

LG to face watchdog probe over clothes dryers

LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's major home appliances maker, is set to face a probe from the country's antitrust watchdog, industry insiders said Thursday, as local consumers plan to submit a collective complaint against the company over its clothes dryers.A Seoul-based law firm representing 560 local consumers said it will request that the Fair Trade Commission investigate LG's misleading advertisement for its clothes dryers' automatic condenser cleaning system. LG last month announced a vol

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Fishery exports jump to record high in 2019

South Korea's exports of fishery products climbed to a new high last year, the maritime ministry said Thursday, despite a large drop in the country's overall exports.Outbound shipments of fishery products came to $2.51 billion in 2019, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.It marks the first time the country's exports of fishery products breached the $2.5-billion mark. "The country reached record highs in fishery exports for a second consecuti

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Entrepreneurs stress future business, customer-centered, innovation in 2020

Although Korean conglomerates faced a rough time in 2019 amid growing geopolitical uncertainties and trade tensions topped by Japan’s export controls, the US-China trade war, rising protectionism and a global economic slowdown, most of the top business chiefs here hope for better prospects this year. Leaders from large corporate groups -- including Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motor, Posco, KT, CJ, Hanwha and Shinsegae -- have stressed the need to prepare for future business, customer-centered man

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

NPS chief offers to resign, hopes to run in general elections

National Pension Service Chairman Kim Sung-joo has offered to resign so that he can run in the general elections in April, according to news reports citing political sources Thursday.Kim has reportedly tendered his resignation to President Moon Jae-in, who appointed him as head of the state-run pension fund two years ago. He has a year left in his three-year term as chairman. Before assuming his current post in 2017, the former lawmaker served as a member of a National Assembly health and welfar

MarketJan. 2, 2020

Samsung heir discusses world’s first 3-nm process for foundry

Samsung Electronics’ de facto leader Lee Jae-yong on Thursday discussed the tech giant’s strategy to utilize the world’s first 3-nanometer process technology for manufacturing chips. Lee visited the company’s semiconductor research and development center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, as his first official gesture of on-site management in 2020. The Samsung heir discussed the company’s plans to commercialize cutting-edge chips ordered from global customers on the la

TechnologyJan. 2, 2020

[News Focus] Korea in FTA talks with Asian, South American powerhouses

SEJONG -- South Korea has secured 16 free trade partners -- 12 countries and four trade blocs -- around the globe since it started pursuing bilateral free trade agreements two decades ago.The 12 countries include the US (the world’s largest economy), China (the second-largest) and India (the seventh-largest). The four trade blocs are the 28-member European Union, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the four-member European Free Trade Association and a five-member Central

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

National Theater of Korea brings British theater to big screen

The National Theater of Korea is to bring three highly regarded British plays to the big screen in February. The three pieces are “One Man, Two Guvnors,” “The Lehman Trilogy” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” The works were filmed live and will be shown at the Daloreum Theater Feb. 6-16. Their arrival in South Korea is part of National Theatre Live, organized by the Royal National Theatre in Britain to bring the best of British thea

PerformanceJan. 2, 2020

Ministry to spread Korean culture to teens from 29 countries at 2020 Dream Program

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Thursday that it will hold the 2020 Dream Program with the PyeongChang 2018 Legacy Foundation from Monday to Jan. 18.This year, 123 teenagers from 29 countries will take part in the program held mainly in Gangwon Province. “We will spread the Olympic values of fair competition and hard physical training through the 2020 Dream Program. Moreover, we plan to further strengthen cultural and physical exchanges to uphold the legacy of the Pye

Olympic GamesJan. 2, 2020

Carmakers to launch new models in first half of 2020 to recover sales

Carmakers are rushing to launch new models in the first half of the year -- mainly market-dominating sport utility vehicles -- seeking opportunities to recover sales, according to industry sources.Hyundai Motor’s first-ever Genesis SUV GV80 opens up this year’s new vehicle lineup. The automaker released images of the luxury SUV GV80 on New Year’s Day, raising market expectations for the model set to debut in mid-January.  The three-row SUV from Hyundai Motor’s l

MobilityJan. 2, 2020

Brokerages looking ahead to new growth engines, global markets

Amid a sluggish market and harsher business conditions in 2020, South Korea’s brokerages on Thursday stressed the need to seek new growth engines and market opportunities overseas.Choi Hyun-man, executive vice chairman and CEO of Mirae Asset Daewoo, urged the company’s staff to focus on strengthening global networks, saying globalization was not just about the physical expansion of portfolios but also about striking a solid balance in asset management.“Clients can manage their

MarketJan. 2, 2020

GS’ new chairman stresses corporate agility in 2020

An agile corporate culture and digital capability are key to overcoming economic uncertainties and adapting to new challenges, said Huh Tae-soo, the new chairman of GS Group, in his New Year’s address in Seoul on Thursday. Huh, who replaced his older brother Huh Chang-soo last month, was addressing 150 employees who gathered at his first face-to-face meeting.  In an ever-changing era of trade tensions and digitalization, Heo said that GS Group will focus on consumer needs, foster an a

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Korea's exports tipped to turn around in Feb.: analysts

South Korea's exports will likely rebound as early as February, analysts here said Thursday, citing a much-coveted global economic recovery and improving conditions in China.The country's outbound shipments have shown a turnaround since the fourth quarter of 2019, with the pace of decline slowing to 16 percent, 12.4 percent and 1.4 percent in October, November and December, respectively, according to data from the trade ministry.Overall, exports by Asia's fourth-largest economy fell 10.3 percent

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

[Michael R. Strain] Wages are based more on productivity, less on exploitation

“Workers are delivering more, and they’re getting a lot less,” argued former Vice President Joe Biden in a speech at the Brookings Institution this summer. “There’s no correlation now between productivity and wages.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential rival, agrees. Her campaign website states that “wages have largely stagnated,” even though “worker productivity has risen steadily.” The claim that productivity no longer dr

ViewpointsJan. 2, 2020

[Tyler Cowen] What Trump and Thunberg have in common

In all the “Best of the Decade” lists I’ve been seeing, one topic has been neglected: orators. I’d like to remedy that, noting that I am not necessarily endorsing anything anyone says. “Best” in this context means the most powerful and influential public speaker, not having the most salutary effect on the world.My choice for second place is Greta Thunberg. In little more than a year, Thunberg has moved from being an unheard-of 16-year-old Swedish girl to Time&

ViewpointsJan. 2, 2020

Australia orders evacuation of fire-ravaged towns before heatwave

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australia authorised the forced evacuation of residents Thursday amid a mass exodus of tourists from fire-ravaged coastal communities, as the country braces for a weekend heatwave expected to fan deadly bushfires.Catastrophic blazes ripped through the country's south-east on New Year's Eve, killing at least eight people and stranding holidaymakers.New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a seven-day state of emergency that allows for forced evacuations beginning Friday

World NewsJan. 2, 2020

Moon’s prosecution reform drive gains traction with new justice minister

President Moon Jae-in’s drive for prosecution reform is expected to gain traction with his appointment of the new justice minister and the passage of a bill designed to ease power concentrated in the state prosecution. Buoyed by these major steps that will help his key election pledge for reformation to materialize, Moon vowed to make “clear change” this year, saying revamping powerful institutions and pursuing a fair society are the beginning of the process.“No powerful

PoliticsJan. 2, 2020

Samsung pledges to beef up compliance across group

Samsung Electronics on Thursday vowed to strengthen its compliance to related laws and regulations by forming a committee that will supervise its internal structure across subsidiaries.Former Supreme Court Justice Kim Ji-hyung -- who previously chaired a committee to settle a long-standing dispute over work environment and employee issues at the firm -- will lead the in-house committee. While Samsung has been operating an internal compliance system, it decided to reinforce its functions followin

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

28 lawmakers indicted over parliament brawl

The prosecution on Thursday filed charges against 28 lawmakers from rival parties and main opposition Liberty Korea Party chief Hwang Kyo-ahn, in connection with a mass brawl that broke out inside the National Assembly in April 2019 over a set of reform bills. The Seoul Nambu District Prosecutors’ Office indicted, without physical detention, Hwang and 23 lawmakers from the Liberty Korea Party and five from the ruling Democratic Party for obstructing justice, breaching parliamentary law and

PoliticsJan. 2, 2020