While the automobile industry continues to face difficulties amid the pandemic, GM Korea’s labor union has decided to stage another three-day partial strike in protest against the management over wage and collective agreement negotiations, the automaker confirmed Thursday. The GM Korea branch of the hard-line umbrella labor union the Korean Metal Workers’ Union held a central committee meeting on the day to draw up guidelines for the struggle, including partial strikes. Accordin

Mobility Nov. 5, 2020

A total of 44 medals were awarded to foreign-invested companies and related organizations who contributed to the Korean economy, at the 2020 Foreign Company Day held on Tuesday in Seoul, according to the Korea Foreign Company Association, or FORCA. Inaugurated in 2001, the Foreign Company Day marks its 20th anniversary this year. The ceremony is held annually under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and FORCA. At the event, medals were given to a total of 44 investm

Industry Nov. 4, 2020

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors saw their retail sales rise in the US market last month, according to the automaker’s US units Wednesday. In the performance data released on the website of Hyundai Motor America, total sales in October recorded 57,395 units, up one percent from the same month last year. Retail sales reached 52,117 units, up 10 percent year-on-year. HMA said sales of sport utility vehicles, which accounted for 68 percent of total retail sales, increased 23 percent. Sales vo

Mobility Nov. 4, 2020

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun met with the labor union for the first time since taking office. With both labor and management under new leadership, the automaker, which has long struggled with its militant union, now sees hope of stabilizing the relationship for the first time in 11 years. 　 Chung had a lunch meeting on Friday with Lee Sang-soo, head of the labor union, after President Moon Jae-in’s visits to Hyundai’s Ulsan production plants the same day, according to

Mobility Nov. 3, 2020

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it has appointed Luc Donckerwolke to chief creative officer in charge of design-related communications for the Genesis brand, electric vehicle Ioniq and its fuel cell vehicles. Donckerwolke originally joined the South Korean automotive group in 2016, gradually overseeing design for Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands as the chief design officer before resigning in March to focus on his health. He is returning to the group following temporary time away in which he t

Mobility Nov. 2, 2020

Hyosung T&C said Monday it planned to invest 60 billion won ($52.9 million) in the Cerkezkoy area near Istanbul, Turkey to more than double the size of its spandex production plant with an annual capacity of 15,000 metric tons by July next year. The fiber production unit of Hyosung Group said the spandex plant production capacity in Turkey would be about 40,000 tons when the expansion is completed. The firm’s decision came from Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon’s judgment that a

Industry Nov. 2, 2020

Since 2018, Hyundai Mobis has been operating the “Mobis Software Academy” that allows employees and researchers to complete specialized software training at a technical institute in Yongin City, a move to reinforce the firm’s software development capabilities. The biggest feature of the academy is to focus on convergence software processes specialized for autonomous driving, such as sensors and technologies for the vehicles’ “cognition,” “judgment,&ldq

Mobility Nov. 1, 2020

LG International said its operating profit in the third quarter of this year was estimated at 34.9 billion won ($30 million), up 19.5 percent from the same period last year. Sales rose 14.3 percent year-on-year to 3.1 trillion won. Net profit rose 358.9 percent to 41.3 billion won. LG International explained that the rebound was the result of an increase in trading volume -- for example, for palm oil and information technology parts -- and a strong performance in the logistics sector. &ld

Industry Oct. 30, 2020

President Moon Jae-in visited Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan plant on Friday for a tour of its future automobile production sites and reaffirmed the government’s strong willingness to foster eco-friendly future cars, officials said. 　 Moon was accompanied by Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki and the ministers of industry, environment and transportation. At the production sites, Moon reaffirmed the government’s plans to invest more than 20

Mobility Oct. 30, 2020

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it held a meeting with companies entering New Northern countries to discuss success factors and market entry strategies. The New Northern countries -- a term coined by the government -- are Russia, Moldova, Mongolia, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Georgia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The meeting was attended by Yeo Han-gu, head of the Northern Economic Cooperation Committee, large co

Industry Oct. 29, 2020

South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held an international webinar Thursday to actively promote Gangwon Province’s Gangneung as a candidate city for the 2025 ITS World Congress. The ITS World Congress, dubbed the “Transportation Olympics,” is the world’s largest exhibition and academic conference in the field of intelligent transport systems that began in Paris, France in 1994 and is held annually in Asia, the Americas and Europe. Intel

Industry Oct. 29, 2020

Posco CEO Choi Jeong-woo has suggested the global steel industry jointly respond to structural changes accelerated by coronavirus and find sustainable growth measures at a recent steel conference, the firm said Wednesday. On Tuesday, Choi gave a keynote speech on the theme of Post-COVID-19 megatrends at the Steel Success Strategies conference hosted online by World Steel Dynamics. WSD is a US-based steel research firm that conducts and announces competitiveness evaluations for major global s

Industry Oct. 28, 2020

Posco International was selected as the grand prize winner in the ESG segment at the 2020 Outstanding Companies Awards hosted by the Korea Corporate Governance Service, the firm said Tuesday. The firm said its efforts and achievements in promoting sustainable management had been recognized by winning the prize for two consecutive years. The KCGS is an organization that conducts evaluation, research and surveys on corporate governance, social responsibility and environmental management. I

Industry Oct. 27, 2020

South Korean business representatives, policymakers and government officials gathered at the annual The Korea Herald Biz Forum in its third iteration Tuesday to share insights on changing consumer patterns, business regulations and new economic growth engines in the post-COVID-19 world. Under the theme “Contact less, connect more,” this year’s forum was held at The Shilla in Seoul and was livestreamed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the speakers were Kim Jae-shin, vice c

Industry Oct. 27, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected a restructuring of the economy, there is an increasing demand for in-depth discussions on changing consumer patterns, working environments, business regulations and new economic growth engines. Against this backdrop, The Korea Herald has called on experts in fields who have successfully demonstrated leadership in evolving business strategies and non face-to-face services and seeking new opportunities in the post-COVID-19 world. “The Kore

Industry Oct. 26, 2020