South Korea's state financial watchdog on Thursday lowered the level of administrative punishment against the nation's leading life insurers -- Samsung and Hanwha -- accused of refusing to pay suicide claims.The Financial Supervisory Service's decision has effectively cleared an obstacle for Samsung Life CEO Kim Chang-soo's bid to stay in office. Kim, whose tenure ends next week, is poised to be re-elected at the upcoming shareholder meeting.Last month, the FSS decided to issue a "disciplinary w

Politics March 16, 2017

Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Kim-moon said Thursday the 2015 signing of the Paris agreement on climate change was the proudest moment of his 10-year tenure, defending the often-questioned UN's role in solving complex global problems."I fought tirelessly to ensure that climate change stays at the top of the leaders' agenda and launched various initiatives to fight climate change on the ground. And finally the Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015, concluding 20 years of clim

Politics March 16, 2017

Volkswagen Korea has been promoting the “We Care” campaign since last month, offering superior customer services to its longtime customers to reinforce customer relations, the company said Thursday.　The We Care campaign began on Feb. 20 with the initiative of providing care services that focuses on people first. These include enhancing customer relations with multiple digital communication and consulting platforms as well as matching professionally-trained service personnel with customers for hi

Mobility March 16, 2017

Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement on Wednesday, members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea and the Korea International Trade Association held a joint seminar at Coex in Seoul, discussing the future prospects of the deal. 　The seminar, organized by US and Korean business organizations, was designed to express a unified message to the governments and business communities of both countries, organizers said.　Forum speakers delved into topics such as t

Industry March 15, 2017

Tesla will officially launch its operations in South Korea on Wednesday, opening its first showroom at the Starfield Hanam shopping complex in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province.　While customers cannot actually purchase vehicles at the showroom, visitors can inspect a display model of the company’s S 90D luxury vehicle, which will be the first model introduced to the Korean market. Vehicles can only be purchased through the company’s website, which allows for the customization of each vehicle. 　Shortly fo

Mobility March 14, 2017

Promotional image for Hyundai Motor’s home charging system for the Ioniq Electric. (Hyundai Motor Company)　Hyundai Motor has won two product design awards at this year’s annual 2017 iF Design Awards ceremony for its new typeface, “Hyundai Sans,” and the Ioniq Electric vehicle’s home charging system, the company said Monday.  　Germany’s iF Design Awards competition is judged by a panel of some 60 international experts in the fields of design, industry and architecture. This year’s winners’ ceremo

Mobility March 13, 2017

Toyota’s fourth-generation smart hybrid Prius (Toyota Korea)　Toyota Korea announced it will carry out a commemorative service campaign this month for all Toyota and Lexus vehicles in celebration of the cumulative global sales of hybrid vehicles surpassing 10 million units, the company said Monday. 　The two brands’ official dealer service centers will offer customers a 10 percent discount (15 percent for more than two selections) on service and inspections of main hybrid batteries, hybrid auxilia

Mobility March 13, 2017

BMW Group Korea announced Monday its plans to establish a strategic planning team and the appointment of Choi Il-yong as its director. 　Choi has 20 years of experience working as a specialist in business development and strategic planning in the field of information technology, according to BMW. He is slated to take up the post on April 3. He formerly worked for Samsung SDI, IBM Korea and SK Energy. Choi Il-yong (Yonhap)　The new strategic planning team is expected to take charge of corporate str

Mobility March 13, 2017

Posco held its 49th general shareholders meeting at the Posco Center in Seoul on Friday, where it confirmed the re-election of Chairman Kwon Oh-joon as head of the steelmaking giant for another three-year term.In January, the company’s board approved the motion to elect Kwon as its sole candidate. The shareholders’ meeting was attended by roughly 200 domestic and overseas shareholders, including representatives of overseas shareholders and institutional investors.“Although a difficult management

Industry March 10, 2017

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has ordered a recall of 97,038 vehicles across 17 models from Renault Samsung Motors, Jaguar Land Rover Korea, Forza Motors Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea. 　According to the ministry’s press release Thursday, of the overall total, 94,069 Renault Samsung SM6 sedans are being recalled. The Transport Ministry also announced it plans to charge Renault Samsung Motors a fine of roughly 611 million won ($528,000) for violating safety standards.Renault S

Mobility March 9, 2017

A mere three years from now, the public can expect to see fewer manually driven cars on the road.  　Autonomous technology has become the new wave of the future for the automotive industry, as worldwide sales of self-driving cars are forecast to reach annual sales of 20 million units by the year 2035, according to a report by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.　“The smart car market will expand to a large extent as self-driving cars are expected to hit the road around 2020,” t

Mobility March 8, 2017

The Korea-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz Korea and BMW Group Korea, announced the launch of Germany’s advanced vocational training system “Ausbildung” here Monday. 　The German educational program in Korea is an on-the-job training and academic system geared toward nurturing technical professionals, particularly young students interested in pursuing careers in the automotive industry. 　“The dual education training system has a very long tradition in Ger

Mobility March 6, 2017

South Korea’s government is spurring investments to foster eco-friendly cars, with its latest plan announced last week to build 200 more charging stations for green cars on expressways nationwide until 2025.　The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport shared plans to construct charging stations for hydrogen-powered cars, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Eco-friendly cars will also receive a 50 percent reduction on highway tolls until theys become common here.　A detailed business pla

Mobility March 5, 2017

INCHEON -- The 12th International Plant Protection Convention will take place at the Songdo Convensia in Incheon from April 5-11, organizers said Sunday. The IPPC is a multilateral treaty for international cooperation in plant protection, overseen by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. The logo of IPCC (IPCC)The annual convention makes provisions for measures by governments to protect their plants from harmful pests that may be introduced through international trade, ac

Industry March 5, 2017