The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on infrastructure as part of its second installment of Power Korea. Korea’s success story is a 60-year-old tale written by not one, but many who worked to build one of the world’s most powerful nations from the ashes of war. This series features the development and global competitiveness of Korea’s infrastructure. The special articles were made in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. This is the 5th part of the i

July 1, 2013

The nation’s top business groups, including Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG, are expected to unveil a new investment plan during the state visit of President Park Geun-hye to China in a bid to woo the world’s largest market and for business expansion, industry sources said. On Friday, SK Group, the nation’s third-largest conglomerate, announced a joint-venture between its chemical subsidiary SK Global Chemical and China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec, China’s state-run and largest oil company

Industry June 28, 2013

Daewoo Engineering & Construction, the nation’s third-largest builder, is stepping up its efforts to win engineering, procurement and construction contracts overseas in the nuclear power plant sector, the company said in a press release. Daewoo E&C is a latecomer to nuclear power plant construction compared with other builders such as Hyundai E&C, but it quickly caught up to become the first builder to have capabilities from plant design to construction by winning a nuclear plant design deal fro

Industry June 27, 2013

The Incheon Free Economic Zone has invested in attracting global educational institutes, in the belief that it is important to attract global talent to build the reputation of Songdo as an international city. It has made efforts to provide the facilities and resources to educate high-caliber talented people. At the center of these efforts is Songdo Global University Campus, which just completed its first stage of development. Located on a 295,000-square-meter site in the seventh zone of Songdo I

Industry June 26, 2013

The Incheon Free Economic Zone has emerged as one of the most popular investment destinations over the last decade, and is still seeing continued development. The IFEZ, covering 209 square kilometers, is located within Incheon Metropolitan City and consists of the three regions of Songdo, Cheongna and Yeongjong Island where Incheon International Airport is located. It is the nation’s first FEZ, designated in 2003. There are currently eight FEZs nationwide.In 2003, with the vision of transforming

June 26, 2013

G-Tower in Songdo is expected to become a hub for U.N. offices in Korea. This year, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and North-East Asia Office moved to G-Tower in the Incheon Free Economic Zone. Three more U.N. offices, including the Global Climate Fund, also plan to move to the same building. UNESCAP-ENEA occupies the sixth and seventh floors of the building, and there is a library that exclusively houses U.N. materials as well as state-of-the-art conf

Industry June 26, 2013

ULSAN ― The offshore yard in Ulsan run by Hyundai Heavy Industries, the nation’s top shipbuilder, is a surprisingly interesting place to explore. The focus on offshore plants makes for a much more diverse range of construction than at conventional shipyards, and increased orders in recent years have the place buzzing.According to HHI, as of June, seven different offshore plants are being built in the world’s largest offshore yard, which covers 215 acres. Those include modules for the Barrow Isla

Business June 25, 2013

Korea completed the construction of the nation’s largest oil tank terminal in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, on Monday, as part of its goal to become a Northeast Asian oil hub.As part of the goal, the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. has led oil tank terminal construction projects in Yeosu and Ulsan since 2008, both of which have leading petrochemical industrial complexes near the tank terminal sites. “The Yeosu tank terminal completed the construction in March this year of 36 tanks whose crude

Industry June 24, 2013

The debate on whether or not to cultivate corporate farms has heated up in Korea since a Dongbu Group subsidiary decided to pull out of its tomato production business in March, under pressure from farmers’ interest groups. Dongbu Farm Hannong, a leading crop producer in Korea, invested about 40 billion won ($36 million) to build and operate a 150,000-square-meter greenhouse farm for tomato production in Hwaong, an area of reclaimed land in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The government removed barr

Business June 18, 2013

The Korea Petroleum Association, one of the most influential lobby groups in the oil industry, has appointed Chun Young-won, 69, a former lawmaker from the ruling Saenuri Party, as its new chairman, the organization said in a press release. CEOs of four regular member firms ― SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil and Hyundai Oilbank ― all agreed to his appointment in a recent general meeting, it added. The association, which was established in 1980 to tide over the second oil crisis, has preferred a chair

June 14, 2013