Regulator to complete review of Korean Air's Asiana takeover deal this year

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it plans to complete its review within this year of a deal by Korean Air Lines Co., the country's biggest carrier, to buy the debt-ridden Asiana Airlines Inc. In a report to the National Assembly, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it plans to speed up the review in consideration of the value that the deal has for the country's economy. In November 2020, Korean Air said it will acquire its smaller rival Asiana Airlines in a deal valued at

MobilityOct. 5, 2021

Samsung Electronics, union to have 1st wage talks

Samsung Electronics Co. and its union will have their first wage talks Tuesday as the tech giant is moving to create a healthy labor-management culture following its leader's commitment to scrap the conglomerate's "no labor union" policy. Representatives from Samsung's management and the union will hold the first round of wage talks at its plant in Yongin, 49 kilometers south of Seoul. It will be the first wage negotiations since Lee Jae-yong, the leader of Samsung Group, in May 2020 v

IndustryOct. 5, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on US stock losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, as investor sentiment was hurt by overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) slumped 29.05 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,990.13 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Seoul stocks got off to a weak start, falling below the 3,000-point level for the first time in about six months. The Korean stock market closed Monday due to an extended holiday tied to the Oct. 3 National Foundation Day. An impasse over th

MarketOct. 5, 2021

Top 4 take up bulk of major conglomerates' 2020 earnings

Earnings by South Korea's top four conglomerates accounted for more than 80 percent of the 30 leading business groups' total net profit in 2020 in a show of their dominance in Asia's fourth-largest economy, government data showed Tuesday. Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG groups posted a combined net income of 37.6 trillion won ($31.7 billion) last year, up 2.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data that the Fair Trade Commission presented for an annual parliamentary audition. T

EconomyOct. 5, 2021

Retailer confidence worsens for Q4 amid coronavirus resurgence

South Korean retailers' confidence fell below par for the fourth quarter of the year due to strict social distancing measures to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, a poll showed Tuesday. The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry said its retail business survey index (RBSI) came to 99 for the October-December period, down 7 points from three months earlier. It marks the first on-quarter drop in three quarters. The RBSI stood at 106 in the third quarter and 103 in the first quarter. The fig

EconomyOct. 5, 2021

IATA sees sharp fall in airline losses in 2022

Global airlines on Monday projected a sharp reduction in industry losses next year as a multispeed recovery from the coronavirus crisis gets under way, but revised up the financial toll inflicted by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The International Air Transport Association, the industry's main trade body, predicted that net losses at airlines would narrow to $11.6 billion in 2022 from $51.8 billion this year.The losses for 2021 were revised up from $47.7 billion estimated in April. IATA also r

MobilityOct. 4, 2021

[Feature] AI job interviews are booming, but doubts linger

Interviews are a crucial part of the job search process. But what if you were to be evaluated by a machine, rather than human interviewers? As digital transformation changes the way businesses get done, accelerated by the contactless trend of the pandemic era, artificial intelligence programs that screen or evaluate job candidates are booming in Korea, as well as elsewhere in the world. A typical AI-operated interview usually requires candidates to sit through a set of online games and video

TechnologyOct. 4, 2021

IPOs highlight imminent successions at Korean chaebol

South Korean business magnates are gearing up for initial public offerings of conglomerates’ affiliates, in an apparent bid to allow their siblings to cash in on their stock holdings from the proposed exit under the respective business succession plans. Market watchers perceive the moves as the chance to give cash-hungry siblings options to solidify legitimate control over the family-owned conglomerates here, which include buying shares in the group’s key affiliate that stands on t

MarketOct. 4, 2021

Convenience stores continue to see higher sales in pandemic

Sales at local convenience stores continued to increase despite economic setbacks from COVID-19, government data showed Monday. The convenience store sector was the only retail sector that continued to post growth during the first eight months of this year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy added. During the January-August period, sales at convenience stores increased by 6 percent on average from a year earlier. The trend was especially strong in March and April, when the respective

IndustryOct. 4, 2021

Top food delivery app Baemin is the least senior-friendly: report

The country‘s largest food delivery firm Baedal Minjok has been selected as the least accessible and friendly application for older people and those with disabilities, a local lawmaker said Monday. According to lawmaker Yang Jeong-suk, who quoted the Ministry of Science and ICT’s report, Baemin ranked at the bottom among the top 300 most-downloaded apps that the ministry reviewed. The 300 apps were evenly split -- with a half available for Apple and the other half for Android. The

TechnologyOct. 4, 2021

Starbucks workers plan rally over excessive workload

Baristas and employees of Starbucks Korea are fuming over excessive workload, after a recent marketing event drew customers lining up for hours. 　  Saying the company has no consideration for the working conditions of its already-overworked staff, the employees said they may stage their first-ever collection action this week.   A staffer at the US-based coffee chain, who requested anonymity, confirmed to The Korea Herald on Monday that workers are planning a rally this week. The

ConsumerOct. 4, 2021

Imported luxury bag sales surpass W174b despite pandemic

Sales of imported high-end bags in South Korea soared last year despite a slump in private consumption induced by COVID-19 pandemic woes, data showed Monday. The estimated total of imported luxury bag sales, calculated on the basis of special consumption taxes and surtaxes imposed on shoppers, came in at 174.1 billion won ($147.3 million) in 2020, said Rep. Suh Byung-soo of the main opposition People Power Party, quoting data compiled by the National Tax Service and Korea Customs Service. Last

EconomyOct. 4, 2021

Multitenant assets to improve Korean property investors’ resilience: analysis

South Korean investors’ focus could be on multitenant commercial properties as they have greater room for improvement than single-tenant properties under their traditional low-risk strategy amid prospects for post-pandemic uncertainties, a research paper showed Monday. Such assets can help Korean outbound investors seek extra income from investment and stay resilient from economic uncertainties that arise from a projected interest rate hike across the world in the wake of the pandemic re

MarketOct. 4, 2021

[Law Talk] Amendment of the E-Commerce Act in 20 years redresses unfair practices on online platforms

Users of delivery apps, online secondhand marketplaces and social network services have greatly increased due to the continued pandemic. The aggregate turnover of food delivery service providers in South Korea has increased by 78.6 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year, and monthly active users of Karrot -- an online secondhand marketplace -- increased threefold every year over the past three years. As such, the online market is rapidly growing and transactions are transforming to center

EconomyOct. 4, 2021

Apartment purchases by children surpass W100b in value

A growing number of young South Koreans under 10 years old have purchased apartments across the nation with financial support from their parents, a lawmaker said Monday, raising concerns over inheritance for real estate speculation.  The number of apartment purchases by the elementary-school kids and younger came in at 552 from September 2017 to last month, which amounted to 104.7 billion won ($88.2 million), according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport submitt

MarketOct. 4, 2021

Online-only lender Toss Bank commences operation

The country’s third internet-only lender Toss Bank is slated to begin operation Tuesday, heating up the competition in the fast-growing online banking market, according to industry sources Monday. The lender, controlled by Viva Republica, the operator of fintech app Toss, will start its banking services, including offering credit loans, savings and deposits, with a primary focus on expanding mid-range interest rate loans.  Earlier in June, when the online bank received a final appro

MarketOct. 4, 2021

Lee Soo-man named in leaked offshore data, S.M. Entertainment denies wrongdoing

South Korean entertainment mogul Lee Soo-man, who founded S.M. Entertainment, has been named in a major offshore financial data leak known as the “Pandora Papers.” Local media outlet Newstapa, which is part of a global investigation team into the files leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, reported Sunday that a “pile of evidence” has been found for paper companies set up in connection to Lee in Hong Kong. S.M. Entertainment, home to some

IndustryOct. 4, 2021

Hyundai Glovis to launch new brand for hydrogen and EV battery logistics business

Hyundai Glovis, the logistics arm of Hyundai Group, said Monday it will launch “Ecoh,” a new environmentally friendly business brand which will focus on hydrogen distribution and recycling of electric vehicle batteries. The company also said it would expand its hydrogen distribution and infrastructure operations to nine hydrogen shipping centers by 2030 and supply hydrogen to a total of more than 360 charging stations nationwide. The move comes as part of its plan to expand its eco

MobilityOct. 4, 2021

22 firms fined W10.4b for price fixing

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Monday it has decided to fine 22 companies a combined 10.4 billion won ($8.8 million) for colluding to fix prices over projects to set up firefighting equipment. Johnson Controls Korea and 22 firms colluded to fix their quotations between 2011 and 2017 for 304 rounds of bidding by 13 builders to select operators in charge of installing firefighting equipment, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). Setting up firefighting-related devices and

IndustryOct. 4, 2021

[From the Scene] At Expo Dubai, a journey through Korea’s present, future

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The Korea Pavilion at the pandemic-delayed Expo 2020 Dubai finally opened Friday, taking visitors on a journey of the present and future of Korea. The fifth-largest exhibition site at the fair, which was the world’s largest event since the global virus crisis, the Korea exhibit dazzled visitors with 1,597 colorful, rotating cubes mounted outside the building in what is meant to represent the dynamism of its culture and people. Inside, a plethora of advance

IndustryOct. 4, 2021