The two most important questions often facing the leader of an organization have been the same throughout time: What is now and what is next? The answers now may be more important than ever at a time when the global economy is gaining momentum for recovery after a five-year downturn. As to the biggest change in the business environment compared with the past, CEOs of Korean units of multinational companies were of one voice ― the “speed and volatility” of change.“It is not an exaggeration to say

Business Nov. 5, 2013

Hyosung Group, a leading industrial conglomerate in Korea, announced on Monday that it has developed a new and advanced polymeric material patented under the name of Polyketone.“The group has made a decade-long R&D investment to develop the original and high-performance engineering plastic material, which could replace other polymeric materials like nylon,” the group’s vice chairman Lee Sang-woon said in a press conference. Polyketone is used as an engineering plastic and high-strength super fib

Industry Nov. 4, 2013

Choi Gye-woon, 59, a professor at Incheon National University, was named the new CEO of state-run Korea Water Resources Corp., better known as K-water, the company said. Choi, a well known water environment expert in Korea, has carried out a number of water resource-related studies and projects, including the state-funded “smart water grid project.” Industry watchers said imminent tasks ahead of the new K-water CEO are to improve the financial health of the organization by cutting the debt level

Industry Oct. 31, 2013

The Incheon Free Economic Zone, the nation’s first free economic zone, was launched in 2003 to strengthen national competitiveness by creating new growth engines. The IFEZ is now taking shape as a foreign business-friendly city based on decade-long investments. I’ve often heard that the first stage development of the zone was like creating something from nothing. The IFEZ, composed of three districts ― Incheon, Songdo, Youngjong and Cheongna ― is now recognized as a leading global city in and ou

Business Oct. 30, 2013

A growing number of global retail brands, including fashion brands as well as food and beverage chains, are seeing Seoul’s major commercial and retail streets as an opportunity to test out Asian waters.“Commercial and retail streets, better known as high streets in the U.K., have emerged as a key sales and marketing channel for foreign retail brands in Korea since the mid 2000s, when more young Korean consumers started looking for brands to express their own fashion and style beyond brands in de

Industry Oct. 29, 2013

The three-day CEO Conference of the Association of the Electricity Supply Industry of East Asia and the West Pacific, or AESIEAP, was launched on Monday at Coex InterContinental Hotel in southern Seoul, said the Korea Electric Power Corp., the organizer of the event. KEPCO CEO Cho Hwan-eik made an opening speech as the AESIEAP president. Cho will serve as the association chief for the next two years. Under the theme of the role and responsibilities of the electric power industries to make a smar

Industry Oct. 28, 2013

Korea’s strong trade and industrial competitiveness stayed intact last year, while there was a wide gap between Korea and developed nations in the labor and social sectors, according to a statistics book released by the Korea International Trade Association on Sunday. According to “Korea Mirrored in Statistics,” based on a variety of international data and publications, Korea was the world’s 12th largest economy based on gross domestic production and 8th largest global trade powerhouse last year

Industry Oct. 27, 2013

Hyosung Corp., a leading textile manufacturer in Korea, will speed up its market expansion into the fast-growing Chinese spandex market as part of its efforts to bolster its global market leadership, the company said Wednesday. “The Chinese spandex market, which makes up 57 percent of total global demand, has annually grown more than 6 percent. Hyosung continue to expand business activities to lead the fast-growing Chinese spandex market and so to reinforce its global market leadership,” Cho Hyu

Industry Oct. 23, 2013

LS Group, the nation’s 16th-largest conglomerate by assets, is struggling to contain the fallout from its units’ involvement in nuclear power plant-related corruption scandals. On Monday, LS Group placed an ad on the front page of the nation’s major dailies under the name of group chairman Koo Ja-yeol, saying that the group would take full responsibility for wrongdoing and inconvenience caused by its affiliate firms and make painstaking efforts to be reborn as a trusted business group. Prior to

Industry Oct. 22, 2013

OCI, a Korean green energy solution provider, launched the construction of a cogeneration power plant at the Saemangeum industrial complex in North Jeolla Province on Monday, company officials said.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok, North Jeolla Province Governor Kim Wan-joo and other prominent figures attended the groundbreaking ceremony. The 1 trillion won ($942 million) project to build a coal-powered combined heat and power plant is the first investment that the Saemang

Industry Oct. 21, 2013