[Behind the Wheel] No surprises with VW’s solid new Passat GT

Volkswagen’s flagship sedan, Passat GT, has returned to Korea, with its base in the European model and with smarter technology to assist drivers. Introduced in 1973, the Passat has been one of the German automaker’s global best sellers, with over 30 million units sold around the world. The company introduced the fifth generation Passat in South Korea in 2005. Up to 2018 and through the eighth-generation Passat GT, it has sold 36,000 units of the car here. Both types of Passat,

Jan. 10, 2021

Coway nominates current CFO as co-CEO

Coway has nominated Seo Jang-won, the current chief financial officer and an expert in strategic planning, as the new co-chief executive officer to strengthen its overseas businesses, the company said Sunday. The electronic home furnishing rental firm said Seo’s promotion has been decided in the latest senior executive reshuffle, and the official appointment will be in a board meeting slated in February. With the reshuffle, the company will be led by two chiefs, the incumbent CEO Lee Ha

Jan. 10, 2021

Credit loans soar again amid relaxed rules, bullish market

Credit loans climbed back up in the first week of 2021, fueled by a bullish stock market and eased bank loan rules, data showed Sunday. The total credit loan balance of the major five commercial banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, KEB Hana, Woori and NH Honghyup -- stood at 134.1 trillion won ($122.6 billion) as of Jan. 7, adding 453 billion won from 133.6 trillion won at the end of 2020. The number of new credit loans via overdraft accounts almost doubled from 1,048 on Dec. 31 to 1,960 on Jan. 7.

Jan. 10, 2021

[News Focus] Korea strives to branch out into South America

SEJONG -- South Korea has pushed forward signing free trade agreements with major economies around the globe over the past two decades. After the nation’s first free trade agreement with Chile took effect in April 2004, 17 such deals -- with 56 partner countries engaging -- have been implemented. Among them were the pacts with the European Union (effective since July 2011) and the US (effective since March 2012). Four agreements (which include 16 partner countries) with Korea are poised

Jan. 10, 2021

S. Korea to kick-off 3rd round of emergency cash handouts Monday

South Korea plans to kick off a 4.1 trillion won ($3.7 billion) emergency cash handout program Monday to offer up to 3 million won to small business owners, freelancers and special contract laborers hit by the third wave of coronavirus here, the Finance Ministry said Sunday.　 Roughly 2.5 million small business owners and self-employed individuals, or almost 90 percent of the country’s total, are eligible for the cash subsidies. They will be notified via text messages that they have been c

Jan. 10, 2021

340 Korean tech firms take part in 2021 CES

South Korea would be the biggest participating country after the United States at this year’s CES, with more than 300 tech companies set to exhibit their latest products and technologies. The event’s organizer, Consumer Technology Association, said Sunday that as many as 340 firms from South Korea would be taking part in 2021 CES, which kicks off Monday, making Korea the second-biggest participating country after the host nation which will have 567 companies taking part. A total

Jan. 10, 2021

LG unveils bigger, advanced OLED TVs for 2021

LG Electronics on Sunday unveiled its full lineup of TVs for 2021, including the first 83-inch organic light-emitting diode TV model with advanced self-emissive lights, to cement its leadership in the growing OLED TV market. Dubbed “OLED evo,” the new model features an upgraded OLED panel that boasts better contrast ratios and picture quality due to improved lights. It marks the third advancement in LG’s OLED TV technology since its launch in 2013. LG announced 4K High Dyn

Jan. 10, 2021

Samsung Display to ink 1st collective agreement with labor union

The management and labor union of Samsung Display Co. said Sunday that they will sign a collective agreement this week for the first time among the electronic affiliates of Samsung Group, which declared it would scrap its "no labor union" policy last year. A ceremony to sign the agreement will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, they said. The labor union launched in February last year as a member of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), one of the two largest local labor umbrella

Jan. 10, 2021

Hyundai Motor’s sedan Grandeur racks up 2 million unit sales

Hyundai Motor has sold over 2 million units of its signature sedan Grandeur, the company said Sunday. As of last year, the Grandeur sold a total of 2,000,573 units since the release of its first model in 1986, the automaker said. The sedan sold 145,463 units during last year alone, breaking its annual sales record and becoming the best-selling car in the country for the fourth consecutive year. The Grandeur was initially seen as a luxury car symbolizing success, but the sedan has more recen

Jan. 10, 2021

Kospi logs record rise in first trading week of 2021

South Korea’s main bourse Kospi posted its strongest rise in the first trading week of this year in more than a decade, according to data compiled by the Korea Exchange on Sunday. The Kospi closed at 3,152.18 points Friday, up 278.71 points or 9.7 percent. It was the largest weekly increase since the last trading week of October 2008, when the index rose 174.31 points or 18.57 percent. Small domestic investors, and foreign and institutional investors rotated to lead the market and took

Jan. 10, 2021

Economic recovery momentum slackens amid flare-up in COVID-19 cases: KDI

South Korea's economic recovery momentum is slowing down as the service sector has remained sluggish amid a resurgence in new coronavirus cases, a state-run think tank said Sunday. The country's manufacturing sector sustained a recovery due mainly to robust exports, but the service industry is suffering sluggishness due to a flare-up in COVID-19, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). "Despite the recovery in the manufacturing industry,

Jan. 10, 2021

Hyundai Motor Group pushes for project to reuse waste EV batteries

Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest automotive group, said Sunday that it will carry out a pilot project to reuse batteries used for electric vehicles (EVs) at solar power plants. The move follows the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's recent decision to give regulatory exemptions for new business models based on reusing EV batteries. Before, it was difficult for companies to push for such projects as the country has no regulations related to the reuse of worn-out EV batteries.

Jan. 10, 2021

S. Korea to phase out industrial waste imports

South Korea plans to restrict or phase out its imports of 10 kinds of industrial waste to increase the recycling of domestic waste, the Ministry of Environment said Sunday. The ministry said the importation of half of the 10 waste items, including plastic waste, mixed waste paper and coal ash, will be banned between 2022 and 2023. According to the ministry's road map, imports of all kinds of industrial waste, excluding metal scraps and a few others, will be banned in principle by 2030, while t

Jan. 10, 2021

[Eye Plus] Gapyeong’s garden of fantastic lights

  At Garden of Morning Calm, an arboretum in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, once the trees shed their leaves and their botanical splendor fades, bright lights fill the conservatory for the “Starlight Garden Festival.”  Every year between December and March, ecofriendly light-emitting diode bulbs are placed throughout the 330,000 square-meter garden using the trees as a canvas.   The result is a massive garden lit with fluorescent colors, with giant illuminated sculptures

Jan. 9, 2021

[Weekender] Young and fearless: Startups enter global race for space, robotics and AI

While overseas global corporations such as Elon Musk‘s Space X, are leading to charge to turn the stuff of science fiction into reality, in South Korea, the brave companies eyeing the likes of space travel and humanoid robots are not its hardware giants, but small startups. Hybrid rocket engine maker Innospace is a prime example. The Sejong-based startup, led by a former Hanwha engineer, manufactures small “hybrid” rocket motors that use a combination of solid fuel and liquid

Jan. 9, 2021

Hyundai shares soar on Apple car talks reports

Shares in South Korean automaker Hyundai soared Friday on the back of reports it was in talks with Apple for a joint project to manufacture self-driving electric vehicles. Hyundai Motor shares rocketed 19.4 percent in Seoul, with its affiliate Kia also jumping 8.4 percent at the close. The moves came after cable broadcaster Korea Economic TV said the iPhone maker had approached the South Korean company to discuss a potential partnership to develop electric cars and batteries for them. South

Jan. 8, 2021

Samsung SDI replaces electric-car battery chief

Samsung SDI said Friday that it had recently conducted an executive-level reshuffle to appoint a new electric-car battery chief. According to the South Korean electric vehicle battery maker, the reshuffle included major posts -- chief financial officer, head of the medium-to-large-battery division and head of the small-battery division. Kwon Young-no, chief of the business management office, has been replaced by Kim Jong-sung, who had previously worked at Samsung Electronics’ video di

Jan. 8, 2021

Industrial accident bill passes assembly despite brawl

The National Assembly on Friday passed a bill to enhance employer liability in industrial accidents, amid persistent backlash from business circles. The corresponding bill was laid out to the parliamentary plenary session in the afternoon and obtained 164 votes out of the 266 lawmakers attending, while 44 dissented and 58 abstained. Under these new enhanced rules, employers are to face a minimum jail sentence of one year or a maximum fine of 1 billion won ($915,751), should a deathly industr

Jan. 8, 2021

Ssangyong Motor operations stay afloat, amid hopes of new investment talks

Ssangyong Motor is managing to keep its manufacturing operations afloat, as some suppliers are temporarily providing a minimal amount of necessary parts while the automaker works on finding a new investor. “Our manufacturing facilities are fully functional as sufficient parts are being supplied for now,” an official said. “But this is a provisional situation as no official deal has been struck regarding resuming the (once stalled) parts supplies.” In December, the carm

Jan. 8, 2021

Former vice land minister tapped as Incheon Airport chief

Kim Kyung-wook, former vice land minister, has been nominated as president and CEO of the state-run Incheon International Airport Corp. to fill in the vacuum caused by the predecessor’s dismissal. The airport operator held a shareholders‘ meeting virtually on Thursday and agreed to nominate Kim as the sole candidate for the ninth president and CEO post, officials said Friday. The top post has remained vacant since Koo Bon-hwan was dismissed in September for neglecting his supervis

Jan. 8, 2021