LS Group said Sunday that its board members have picked LS Cable & System chairman Koo Cha-yol as the next chairman of the business group.The incumbent LS Cable chairman will replace the outgoing chairman John Koo, who is scheduled to step down from his post on Dec. 31. The two figures are cousins.John Koo will be in charge of supportive activities for the conglomerate in terms of fostering talented employees, overhauling corporate culture, upgrading brand image and enhancing social contribution

IndustryNov. 11, 2012

Hyundai Motor has completed its establishment of vehicle assembly lines on four continents ― Asia, Europe, North America and South America ― by recently launching a factory in Brazil.The company has been rolling out 1 million vehicles per year in China, 600,000 units in India, 300,000 units in the United States, 300,000 units in the Czech Republic, 200,000 units in Russia and 100,000 units in Turkey.At a ceremony to celebrate opening of the Brazilian plant in Sao Paulo over the weekend, chairman

IndustryNov. 11, 2012

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG widened its lead in luxury-car sales last month as demand for the 1- Series and X1 compact models helped it outpace gains by German rivals Audi AG and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz. BMW-brand deliveries increased 15 percent to 132,823 cars and sport-utility vehicles in October, the Munich-based manufacturer said in a statement. That compares with growth of 14 percent to 123,600 deliveries at Audi and 6 percent to 109,632 vehicles at Mercedes. Even with the debt crisis de

MobilityNov. 11, 2012

GM Korea, the Korean unit of U.S.-based General Motors, has the largest number of female executives at 17 among carmakers operating here. The figure compares to none for Hyundai Motor and one for its affiliate Kia Motors ― the two companies that claim almost 80 percent of the nation’s car market. “Investing in women is the right thing to do,” said GM Korea CEO Sergio Rocha. “We promote them not because they wear skirts, but because of their skills and capabilities.”Over the past 10 years in Kore

MobilityNov. 11, 2012

People are happier when a self-benefiting option is imposed upon them because it frees them from having to take responsibility for the outcome, U.S. psychologists have found. Jonathan Bermand and Debrah Small of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania speculated that removing an individuals’ sense of agency would remove their feeling of responsibility for an outcome, leaving them free to enjoy their own interests without feeling selfish.The two scientists conducted a laboratory stud

TechnologyNov. 11, 2012

Executives at Walmart say the shoe dropped for a group of employees seen on video throwing and intentionally dropping new iPads at a Kentucky store.An unspecified number of nightshift workers at the Pikeville store were shown the door after a video showing their antics hit the Internet.“As anyone can imagine, it made us wince,” a Walmart representative told NBC News. “We are also embarrassed.”On the bright side, the rep said the store had not recorded anyone returning damaged iPads they had purc

TechnologyNov. 11, 2012

Lee Jung-woong, founder of mobile game developer Sundaytoz and creator of “Anipang the Quiz,” plans to plant itself firmly in the global mobile game industry. Originally, “Anipang” was a game on social network platform Cyworld. As Sundaytoz formed a partnership with mobile SNS developer Kakaotalk, it launched the mobile version of “Anipang” on July 30. “When I went to the United States lately to check out how people play games there, I found out that only half of the American players would play

TechnologyNov. 9, 2012

Online shopping mall 11 Street opened its English domain to attract a larger number of foreign shoppers, the nation’s third largest e-shopping portal said Friday.The new domain displays product information, the payment process and other services in English. Expats can sign up for 11 Street using their email addresses. “We look forward to introducing excellent Korean products to our customers at home and abroad,” said an 11 Street official. “The English domain will help Korean small and medium-si

IndustryNov. 9, 2012

Kim Young-hoon, the chairman of Daesung Group, has been elected to co-lead the World Energy Council.The decision was made at the council’s Executive Assembly in Monaco on Thursday, industry sources said Friday. After serving as co-chair for three years, Kim will move on to become the chairman starting in 2016, in accordance with WEC regulations. Kim became another Korean to serve on an international organization, following in the footsteps of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Kim Yong, pres

IndustryNov. 9, 2012

Hyundai Motor is stepping up efforts to aggressively expand its presence in Brazil ― the only BRIC nation where, Korea’s largest carmaker admits, it has yet to be successful. With the recent completion of its first Latin American plant in the region, Hyundai now aims to sell 200,000 vehicles next year, becoming one of the top five carmakers in Brazil.“We have completed preparations for a new leap in Brazil. We will ramp up efforts to continue our success stories in India, China and Russia,” said

IndustryNov. 9, 2012