When the chief of Korea’s largest tiremaker sold all his stock in the company to his second son on June 30, the succession appeared to have proceeded smoothly. But it had not. The simmering family dispute has come to light because the chairman’s daughter took issue with the handover. On Thursday, Cho Hee-kyung, the eldest daughter of group Chairman Cho Yang-rai, applied to be her father’s guardian -- requesting the legal authority to care for the personal and property interes

Industry Aug. 3, 2020

Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s founder and chairman, Lim Sung-ki, died of a chronic disease Sunday at dawn after devoting his life to the South Korean bio industry. He was 80. Lim was the owner of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group and the largest shareholder of Hanmi Science, the group’s holding company. Born in 1940 in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Lim graduated from Chung-ang University’s college of pharmacy. He opened the Lim Sung-ki Pharmacy in Dongdaemun, Seoul, in 1967 and went on to

Industry Aug. 2, 2020

South Korea will allow holding companies of conglomerates to run corporate venture capital units in order to boost investment in startups and invigorate the economy, officials said Thursday. The government said it will also prepare tools to quell concerns of side effects, such as the excessive influence of conglomerates in the financial sector. “We will allow general holding companies to own affiliates for corporate VCs,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said

Industry July 30, 2020

Korea’s antitrust watchdog has decided to impose a fine of 64.7 billion won ($54.1 million) on food giant SPC for violation of antitrust laws, officials said Wednesday. The Fair Trade Commission is also set to report Chairman Hur Young-in, former group CEO Cho Sang-ho and former Paris Croissant CEO Hwang Jae-bok to prosecutors. “The investigation found that the chief was involved in supporting Samlip in diverse ways on the group level,” an FTC official said. Samlip is the

Industry July 29, 2020

YONGIN, Gyeonggi Province -- “The ultimate sports car, spearheading AMG family. I love to call it our street legal racing machine.” Mark Raine, vice president of product & marketing at Mercedes-Benz Korea, proudly presented a face-lifted model of the AMG GT 2-Door Coupe to press at the AMG Speedway, its racetrack located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on a sunny Friday in July. Five years have passed since Mercedes-Benz Korea introduced the classic AMG GT 2-Door Coupe sports car

Mobility July 29, 2020

South Korea’s top 500 companies by assets have cut more than 11,000 jobs as the new coronavirus has continued to spread, data showed Wednesday. Local corporate tracker CEOScore surveyed the number of national pension fund subscriptions among the nation’s 500 largest companies between February and June. The pension fund subscription -- which is mandatory for regular workers -- is often used as a barometer for employment trends here. The survey showed that the 500 firms’ sub

Industry July 29, 2020

SK Group has solidified its market valuation -- just behind No. 1 South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group -- due to the initial public offering of its bio units, according market tracker FnGuide on Tuesday. As of Friday, its listed affiliates had a combined market cap of 120 trillion won ($100 billion), while Samsung Group had 480 trillion won. SK Biopharmaceuticals, which was listed on July 2, recorded 15 trillion won in market cap. Accordingly, SK Corp., which owns 75 percent of SK Biopha

Industry July 28, 2020

Hyundai Motor confirmed Tuesday it is seeking to acquire General Motors’ production facility in St. Petersburg, Russia. “We are discussing acquisition of the plant with GM,” a Hyundai official said. The South Korean carmaker has sought approval from the antitrust agency in Russia, an essential measure to take over the factory. The agency will decide on granting permission if it does not violate the law. The St. Petersburg plant opened in 2008 with an investment of about $30

Mobility July 28, 2020

Fiat Chrysler Korea confirmed Monday that President Pablo Rosso has been suspended following allegations of sexual harassment, verbal abuse and assault.  To ensure the integrity of the investigation is upheld, Pablo Rosso has been temporarily suspended from his duties as managing director of FCA Korea, the automaker said. "FCA does not tolerate any form of harassment, abuse or discrimination of our employees or business partners. It is the company’s policy to both immediately

Mobility July 27, 2020

The International Vaccine Institute, a Seoul-based independent nonprofit agency, said Monday that LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo has personally donated 1 billion won ($836,120) to develop therapies for the new coronavirus. Koo hopes his donation would help speed up the development of vaccines to tackle the unprecedented pandemic, the organization said. The donation will be used to study methods to prevent infections, improving the human immune response to COVID-19 vaccines and for strengthen

Industry July 27, 2020

Samsung Heavy Industries said Monday it has become the first shipbuilder to seek approval for its 3D model-based ships from American Bureau of Shipping. ABS sets standards for safety and excellence as one of the world‘s leading ship classification organizations. The South Korean shipbuilder said it began using the design techniques since 2016 but has taken an extra step for approval from ABS. “Shipbuilders must obtain approval from a classification society for the design of ship

Mobility July 27, 2020

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Friday it has decided to impose a fine of 970 million won ($808,000) on Hyundai Heavy Industries for misappropriating technical data from a subcontractor. The Fair Trade Commission said HHI “forcibly obtained” the technical data of pistons for its diesel engine from a subcontractor. HHI had maintained a close partnership with the company for over two decades in its move to localize key components, the watchdog explained. It also did not

Industry July 26, 2020

South Korean liquor company Golden Blue said Friday it has renewed its agreement with Scotland-based Heriot-Watt University and held a scholarship ceremony for students selected for a blender promotion project. Golden Blue has conducted the project since 2016 to discover and foster brewing and distillation experts for the advancement of the Korean liquor industry. Every year, two students are selected to support their master’s degree in Heriot-Watt University. Founded in 1821, Heriot-

Industry July 24, 2020

Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor posted half of its operating profit in the second quarter from a year earlier. But the earnings still came above market expectations due to the launch of new models. 　 Hyundai Motor’s operating profit fell 52 percent to 590 billion won ($493 million) and sales dropped 19 percent to 21.86 trillion won, according to the firm’s regulatory filings Thursday. Net profit fell 62 percent to 377 billion won. The automaker said, “The globa

Mobility July 23, 2020

LG International said Wednesday it has been selected as a “decent company” by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support small and medium-sized companies advancing into global markets. The commodity trading and mining affiliate of LG Group signed an agreement with the Startups Ministry and the Korea International Trade Association in Seoul at a ceremony attended by CEO Yoon Chun-sung, Minister Park Young-sun and KITA Chairman Kim Young-ju. The “decent company” pr

Industry July 22, 2020