South Korea has the third-highest proportion of low-paid workers among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, highlighting the need for the country to bolster its social safety net and focus on inclusive growth. The proportion of low-paid workers in Korea was 23.7 percent in 2017, the third-highest out of 26 OECD countries surveyed, following the US with 25.02 percent and Ireland with 24 percent, according to the organization’s report titled “Towards bette

Industry March 18, 2018

Anywhere you go either online or offline, it is easy to spot advertisements for diet supplements, spewing out enticing catchphrases that with their products, one can lose their weight in a short period time.They range from subway ads of oriental medicine clinics that prescribe weight-loss herbal medicines to diet supplement ads on social media.“I have tried just about every diet pill and slimming cream available while working as a model. When I first took my herbal medicine appetite suppressant,

Industry March 16, 2018

Amid continued uncertainty surrounding the fate of GM Korea, a report Thursday showed that the automaker achieved the highest productivity per worker of any Korean carmaker, countering the company’s argument that its poor performance was due to high operating and labor costs.GM Korea and its second-biggest shareholder Korea Development Bank officially started due diligence this week, following the headquarters’ decision to shut down one of its plants in the country.In a report released Thursday,

Mobility March 15, 2018

Toyota Korea has rolled out the Prius C hybrid compact car, boasting 19.4 kilometers per hour fuel economy and an affordable price tag of 24.9 million won ($23,400), with aims to bolster its hybrid vehicle portfolio, the company said Wednesday.Marking the last model of Toyota’s Prius hybrid car lineup, the Prius C was first introduced in Japan in 2011, followed by the US and other countries.Reaping popularity worldwide, the Prius C hybrid is the Japanese automaker’s second best-selling hybrid mo

Mobility March 14, 2018

Amid a debacle over its plant shutdown, GM Korea applied Monday to Incheon Metropolitan City and South Gyeongsang Province for a designation of its remaining three plants as foreign investment zones for tax benefits.During his fourth visit to Korea last week, GM International President Barry Engle met with Lee Dong-gull, head of the state-run Korea Development Bank, and related officials. He said the automaker would submit requests for factory sites in Bupyeong, Incheon and Changwon, South Gyeon

Mobility March 12, 2018

South Korea‘s leading energy and chemicals firm SK Innovation said Friday that it has held a ground breaking ceremony for an 40 billion-won ($784 million) electric vehicle battery plant in Hungary as part of its expansion of production capacity on growing demand. The plant is SK Innovation’s first exclusive factory to be built in Europe, in the hopes of playing an important role in the company’s advancements into the European market where most major global automakers are based.The plant will be

Industry March 9, 2018

The heads of local steelmakers held emergency meetings with the government, expressing grave concerns over the impact of the US‘ decision to slap a 25 percent tariff on steel products, though the degree of the anxiety differed slightly by the size of their businesses.Heads of South Korea‘s steel companies held a joint meeting with the government representatives headed by Trade Minister Paik Un-gyu in Seoul, soon after US President Donald Trump signed on Thursday a 25 percent tariff on steel impo

Industry March 9, 2018

Audi Volkswagen Korea, the local distributor of the two German brands, has received a temporary permit from the Seoul government to test drive its level 3 automation here, marking the first among import carmakers, the company said Thursday.Equipped with self-driving systems, the Audi A8 will run on local roads and K-City, Korea‘s test bed for automated vehicles in Gyeonggi Province, collecting data on traffic conditions here, while developing its level 3 conditionally automated driving technolog

Mobility March 8, 2018

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s leading automaker, on Tuesday denied suspicions that its factory in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, had leaked cutting oil into a nearby lake, the company said.“We are assuming that oil on roads was carried away in the rain. The related team is working to find out details,” Hyundai Motor said.Fishermen in the region and Asan city have called for Hyundai to apologize and take action for the leakage that has caused fishes to die and become deformed. “Component analys

Mobility March 6, 2018

GM Korea is to face an aggravating financial situation over the next two months, amid escalating protest from its labor union and a tug-of-war between its headquarters and the local government. 　The company must come up with ways to pay a combined 2.3 trillion won ($213 million) for voluntary resignations and loans.　The maturity date for the 700 billion won GM Korea borrowed from its headquarters expires later this month. 　The automaker’s board members agreed last month to postpone the loan’s du

Mobility March 6, 2018

In response to the state-run Korea Development Bank’s decision to sell the struggling Kumho Tire to Chinese tiremaker Double Star, the labor union of Kumho Tire will stage a partial strike this week followed by a general strike next week, the union said Monday.Kumho Tire’s Gwangju and Gokseong plants in South Jeolla Province had stopped production Saturday due to partial strikes staged by the union, the company said.Last week’s partial strikes came after the Korea Development Bank, the main cred

Mobility March 5, 2018

The labor union of GM Korea will hold multiple strikes this week with no end in sight for the US automaker’s plant closedown debacle. According to the labor union‘s website on Monday, the members will be holding a press conference in front of Korea Development Bank’s head office in Yeouido, western Seoul at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, to be followed by requests for meetings with representatives of the bank, the National Tax Service and the National Assembly.They will concurrently stage a one-man rally i

Mobility March 5, 2018

YANGPYEONG, Gyeonggi Province – For drivers looking to purchase a new car, fuel economy is a crucial factor to consider, and Kia Motors has rolled out a compact sedan that boasts top level efficiency. Kia Motors’ fully revamped second-generation K3 compact sedan is back in the market in six years as an “upscale dynamic sedan,” the company said.After the four-hour test drive from Mayfield Hotel in western Seoul to Yangpyeong rest area in Gyeonggi Province, which expressways made up over 90 percen

Mobility March 4, 2018

As GM Korea continues looking for ways to tighten its belt to restructure the struggling company, some 2,500 employees have signed up for voluntary redundancy. But the automaker has to take more measures, such as reducing labor expenses and lowering the cost-to-sales ratio, to complete a turnaround, industry experts said Sunday.From the voluntary redundancies applications made as of Friday, GM Korea is expected to save up to 400 billion won ($370 million) in labor and overhead costs.Given that t

Mobility March 4, 2018

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s leading automobile manufacturer, has launched a new division for high performance cars and motorsports, and appointed a former BMW M executive as vice chief, the company said Thursday.The new division will focus on expanding Hyundai’s presence in the global performance car arena by adding new performance models and releasing Veloster N, a high performance version of its hatchback, this year, the company said. Hyundai’s performance car lineup i30 N (Hyundai Motor)Thom

Mobility March 1, 2018