Samsung expects to post W200tr in sales

Samsung Electronics is expected to post up to 200 trillion won in annual sales based on a record-breaking year in 2012, the company said in a statement Tuesday.Last year, the company estimates that it recorded 201 trillion won of sales, while operating profit reached 29 trillion won. This was because in the fourth quarter, Samsung Electronics is seen to have posted sales of 56 trillion won and an operating profit of 8.8 trillion won. This indicates that sales rose by more than 7 percent compared

Jan. 8, 2013

POSCO launches new social enterprise

POSCO, the nation’s top steelmaker, launched a new social enterprise named POSCO HUMANS on Wednesday after merging POSWITH and Poseco Housing, both of which were social enterprises under the steel group, POSCO HUMANS said in a press release. “The merger deal came for synergy effect and management efficiency. The newly established social enterprise will focus on offering jobs for socially disadvantaged people, including disabled and multicultural family members,’’ the company said. POSWITH, estab

Jan. 8, 2013

Focus on core strengths key to survival of shipbuilder SPP

SACHEON, South Gyeongsang Province ― Contrary to concerns that idle shipyards in the nation’s southern coast are increasing due to lack of overseas orders since late 2008, the shipyard of SPP Shipbuilding in Sacheon is bustling. Each process required to build a vessel ― from steel sheet cutting to ship block manufacturing ― is in full swing. “We are lucky to have backlogs of orders that stretch to 2013,” SPP Shipbuilding CEO Kwak Han-jeong said in an interview with The Korea Herald.  SPP Shipbui

Nov. 13, 2012

Pioneer in wastewater treatment

Search for better solutions drives Boo-Kang Tech into a global playerThe Korea Herald, in collaboration with the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute, is presenting a series of articles introducing small but promising environmental tech firms. The following is the fourth installment. ― Ed. Every challenge is an opportunity for growth. Or so many CEOs have preached to their staff. Yet, this overused, hackneyed saying best captures the essence of what made Boo-Kang Tech Co., or BKT,

Sept. 27, 2012

Digital marketing key to staying ahead

The rise of online social networks such as Twitter and Facebook and social commerce services like Groupon are changing the way people do business. For companies, it’s a bewildering challenge that comes with disruptive changes everywhere. Traditional tools won’t work in the digital era, with people exchanging ideas and information about products and services at a frenetic speed. Companies are now scrambling to reconfigure their business models, infrastructure and whatever necessary to stay ahead,

Nov. 9, 2011

[Meet the CEO] Sungho CEO sees R&D as a core competence

Kosdaq-listed frontrunner in capacitor eyes future-oriented items for growthPark Hwan-woo, president and CEO of KOSDAQ-listed Sungho Electronics Co. (www.sungho.net) was quick to use a metaphor in explaining what the company’s core business is. And his metaphor of choice is a human heart. Not that Sungho is making an artificial heart. The company’s specialty is producing capacitors, a component used extensively for a variety of electronic devices. So instead of blood, Park said the capacitors pu

Nov. 3, 2011

Korean inventor claims Miller's beer bottle design infringes on his patent

A South Korean inventor claimed Thursday that the bottle design of U.S.-based Miller Brewing Company's Miller Lite beer infringes on his patent registered here, and said he would take legal action against the global alcoholic beverage firm.The inventor, who asked to be identified only by his surname

Aug. 4, 2011

[Meet the CEO] LG Chem targets 25% global market share

CEO Kim says company is developing ‘second generation’ electric car batteriesLG Chem CEO Kim Bahn-suk had much to say regarding the future of the car battery market and how the company plans to carve out a leading share of global markets. He also talked about LG Chem’s vision for its people, and how that vision helped turn the company around since he came to office in 2006, a time when LG Chem was

May 11, 2011

[Meet the CEO] Medipost hopes to fuel stem cell renaissance

CEO reveals push for partnership with multinational pharmaceutical firmsKorea’s stem cell research is slowly showing signs of a renaissance as many scientists strive to mend its reputation, marred by a case of scientific fraud six years ago.Although the 2005 incident involving Prof. Hwang Woo-suk, once hailed as a global cloning pioneer, led to a slump in human embryonic stem cell study here, othe

April 18, 2011

[Meet the CEO] ‘Flash sale’ site eyes local luxury fashion market

Online retailer Tryst boasts price competitiveness but has yet to overcome credibility issuesA fresh online luxury retail channel is eying a slice of the pie in the conglomerate-dominated local market with price competitiveness and quality service.The launch of flash sale site Tryst on Wednesday, the first of its kind here, may be intriguing news for savvy Korean shoppers. The website can be descr

April 13, 2011

[Meet the CEO] Groupon feels way around Korean market

Groupon Korea, the new kid on the Korean social networking commerce scene, brushes off the worries and sniping about its somewhat subdued entry. “All of our options are open, and we want to try new things and experiment to get the gist of what works and what doesn’t,” said Hwang Hee-seung, Groupon’s chief executive told The Korea Herald in an interview.And the experiments will go on, said the 27-y

April 3, 2011

Fleet expansion, push into generators may double Doosan orders

Doosan Engine Co., the world’s second-largest maker of ship engines, said orders may more than double this year as shipping lines resume fleet-enlargement plans and the company works to expand its non-marine businesses.Contracts may climb to 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) from 890 billion won last year, chief executive Lee Sung-hee said in an interview at the engine maker’s headquarters in Changw

March 2, 2011

[Meet the CEO] KORES spearheads Korea’s rare earth search

State-run mineral developer looks to Africa, South America to ensure stable supply of resourcesKorea Resources Corp. is at the forefront of Korea’s drive to secure stable supplies of natural resources including rare earths crucial to its high-tech economy.Global competition is growing to secure sources of 17 scarce metals used to make cutting-edge products such as mobile phones, electric cars, win

March 2, 2011

‘Korea, Japan research demands different’

Shin Eun-hee has a unique duty in her role as a top executive. She not only supervises Korean operations of the Nielsen Company, a global information and media firm, but also Japanese operations, assuming the role of managing director for the two crucial markets in East Asia simultaneously. What’s more unusual is that Shin does most of her business here in Seoul. The convention is that regional CE

Jan. 13, 2011

Samsung eyes mid-range smartphone market with Android, bada software

Building on the success in the market for premium smartphones last year, Samsung Electronics Co. hopes to make a splash in the mid-range smartphone segment, the president of its mobile business said Wednesday, as smartphones are expected to quickly become a mainstream device.   At the center of its push into the smartphone mass market will be the Android system and "bada," the company's 1-year-old

Jan. 5, 2011