LG Innotek unveils faster wireless charger

Smartphone accessory manufacturer LG Innotek has unveiled a 15-watt wireless charging pad for commercial use, the company said Wednesday. The 15-watt wireless charging transmitter pad can charge a completely depleted battery to the level of 50 percent within 30 minutes, as fast as a wired one, according to the company. It is also three times faster than most wireless charging modules in the market with 5-watt charging capability. An employee of LG Innotek displays the firm’s 15-watt wireless cha

Oct. 12, 2016

Samsung BioLogics wins approval for IPO

Samsung BioLogics Co., a medicine-producing subsidiary of South Korea's Samsung Group, on Thursday won preliminary approval from the nation's bourse for its listing plan.It allows the firm to start the formal process for the initial public offering estimated to value at around 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion). Wrapping up more than a month-long review, a related committee of the Korea Exchange concluded that the company is qualified to be listed on the KOSPI market.The exchange plans to make its fi

Sept. 29, 2016

[Super Rich] Superrich doctors take scalpel to old management

“The reluctant executive” was how Forbes magazine described Shin Chang-jae, the chairman of Kyobo Life Insurance, in a cover story in 2010. Despite being the firstborn son of Kyobo Life founder Shin Yong-ho, he never wanted to be a businessman. He chose to be a doctor, until one day, his father called. This week, The Super Rich team introduces the life and success stories of three doctor-turned-entrepreneurs from the medical school of the nation’s top Seoul National University. We start with Shi

Sept. 29, 2016

[DECODED] SK runs on harmonious kinship, so far

At key SK companies, men surnamed Choi or Chey hold prominent management positions. Most of them are the offspring of the late SK Group founder Choi Jong-kun and relatives of current Chairman Chey Tae-won. Choi and Chey are the same Korean surname written differently in English, a deviation that stems from Choi’s US-educated brother Chey Jong-hyun choosing to spell his family name differently. Jong-hyun later inherited the group and became the second SK chairman. The oldest of the SK kin partici

Sept. 27, 2016

[DECODED] Chey's control tightens at SK

The way SK Group reorganized its whopping 88 affiliates and subsidiaries into a holding company structure -- billed as an advanced model of multi-company governance -- is a subject of fervent study by Korea’s other family-run conglomerates often criticized for opaque governance. Through a series of carefully devised steps spanning well over a decade, Chairman Chey Tae-won simplified the group’s tangled ownership and eliminated highly controversial cross-shareholdings. He also secured greater con

Sept. 27, 2016

[DECODED] Chey leads SK’s global search for growth

The chief executives of key SK companies have been busy doing homework lately. In front of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and his fellow CEOs, they have to make a presentation next month on ways to fundamentally challenge the way they make money, work and use assets. The task is an assignment given by Chairman Chey after his TED-style lecture-cum-speech in July on the changing business environment and SK’s future. “Companies that do not change in a changing environment don’t just risk perishing

Sept. 26, 2016

[DECODED] Who is Chey Tae-won?

If the life story of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is ever to be made into a film or TV drama, it would be a mash-up of genres -- romance, corporate and even courtroom drama. A 20-something Chey has a campus romance with the president’s daughter and marries her at the Blue House. At 38 years of age, he is crowned successor of Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate owning the country’s biggest firms in oil refining and telecommunications. In his 40s, he scores a dramatic victory against a hostile ta

Sept. 26, 2016

[Super Rich] Chaebol modelling for own business

Instead of hiring glamorous TV stars, some Korean superrich have opted to model for their own business in print or on TV. Commercials featuring big bosses tend to give audience a sense of trustworthiness, not to mention the cost saved. This week, The Superrich Team introduces business chiefs who were featured on the advertisement of their own company.Tam Chul-kon, Orion Group Confectionary-focused Orion Group’s chairman Tam Chul-kon is one of the first business tycoons to appear in company comme

Sept. 22, 2016

[Super Rich] Hur Young-in, Korea’s undisputed bread king

A mega hit Korean television drama “Bread, Love and Dreams” in 2010 features a Korean bakery chaebol’s illegitimate child overcoming all varieties of hardships with passion to make quality bread. Although the main character Kim Tak-gu’s complicated family background is fictitious, his unyielding passion for bread and pastry originates from the real life story of Hur Young-in, chairman of SPC, the country’s largest confectionary group. Hur is undisputed “bread king” in Korea, running a number of

Sept. 22, 2016

Ottogi vows to enhance social responsibility

Ottogi Co., a leading food company in South Korea, vowed to continue being devoted to its corporate social responsibility programs. “CSR is one of the most important roles of a company,” a spokesman from the company said. “We will commit more in social responsibility to become trustworthy and responsible to customers.”  Children pose during a ceremony to celebrate 4,000 successful cardiac surgeries funded by Ottogi in November 2015 (Ottogi)Seoul-based Ottogi has been running several CSR programs

Sept. 22, 2016

Samsung to shut down streaming radio service in US

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday said it will shut down its two-year streaming radio service, Milk Music, next month, amid media reports that the service has failed to appeal to users. In a statement posted on the company's website last Friday, Samsung said, "(It is) sun setting its Samsung Milk Music service in the United States on September 22, 2016. "We have made the strategic decision to invest in a partner model focused on seamlessly integrating the best music servi

Aug. 22, 2016

SK Telecom becomes top-paying firm in Korea

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's biggest mobile carrier, became the highest-paying company in the country with an average salary of 67 million won ($60,497) for the first half of the year, according to the company's regulatory filing on Thursday. The average salary of SK Telecom, which has focused on investment in the Internet of Things and location-based mobile services, rose 5 million won from six months ago. Men at SK Telecom earned an average salary of 70 million won during the January-June per

Aug. 18, 2016

Samsung Electronics forecast to post 30 tln-won operating profit in 2016

South Korea's brokerages on Sunday forecast Samsung Electronics Co. will post an operating profit of more than 30 trillion won (US$27 billion) for this year on strong demand for new smartphones. For the world's largest smartphone marker by shipments, it will be the second time profits will top the 30 trillion-won mark. In 2013, the corresponding number was 36.785 trillion won, according to market research firm FnGuide.The market consensus for the company's operating income this year continued to

Aug. 14, 2016

Lotte Duty Free reopens in Gimpo

Lotte Duty Free has reopened its store in Gimpo Airport, the firm said Friday. The company had secured its operation license in May. The duty-free operator has selected cosmetics, fragrances and accessories as major products for the store to meet travelers’ demand for Korean beauty products, it added.Despite concerns of its business feasibility due to high rental fees, Lotte expects to attract more customers, citing its store’s favorable location in the airport, near Gate 35 where many travelers

Aug. 12, 2016

Samsung BioLogics submits application for IPO plan

Samsung BioLogics Co., a medicine-producing subsidiary of South Korea's Samsung Group, on Friday applied for preliminary approval for its planned initial public offering, the local bourse announced.The Korea Exchange is required to inform Samsung BioLogics of the results of a related panel's review within the coming 45 business days, officials said.If it's approved, the company will begin the formal process for the IPO reportedly valued at around 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion).Samsung BioLogics i

Aug. 12, 2016

CJ to step up global expansion following chairman's release

CJ Group, South Korea's leading food and entertainment conglomerate, said Friday it will step up its global expansion following the release of its ailing chairman on special pardon.Lee Jay-hyun was indicted in 2013 on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion and was given two and a half years in jail last year, along with a fine of 25.2 billion won ($22.8 million). His confinement has been suspended a number of times because the 56-year-old suffers from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which involves

Aug. 12, 2016

Brotherly dispute at Kumho ends with less than reconciliation

A dispute between Kumho Petrochemical and Kumho Asiana Group that also placed strain on the two brothers that run the companies has apparently come to an end after the former withdrew its legal complaint against the latter, the companies said Thursday.Kumho Petrochemical, run by young brother Park Chan-koo, said it has dropped all legal suits against Kumho Asiana Group, which is run by Park's older brother Sam-koo.The companies have been mired in a number of legal disputes.The latest suit raised

Aug. 11, 2016