Sales of Volkswagen’s small sport utility vehicle T-Roc have been steadily growing since its launch in South Korea in January, the company said Tuesday. The T-Roc version 2022 boasts enhanced features such as a two-color design with a black roof, a new audio system and a new engine. Offered at a reasonable price around 20 million won ($16,800), T-Roc sales stand strong in the domestic small SUV market. The 2022 version comes in six body colors with a black roof and black side mirrors c

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea and Morgan Phillips Korea co-hosted a webinar Tuesday to discuss generational disparity in the workplace with four CEOs of leading global companies. Speakers across different generations included O.H. Kwon, president of Qualcomm APAC, Robert Wilkinson, managing director of Colliers, Oh Ji-won, country chair of Shell Companies in Korea, and Tyler Joo, marketing director of global brands at AB InBbev. The moderator of the conversation, Christina Ahn, ma

SK Group’s chemical unit SKC, food company Daesang and trading company LX International have forged a joint venture to develop and distribute a petroleum-based biodegradable plastic called PBAT, the companies said Tuesday. SKC will contribute 104 billion won ($87.5 million), while Daesang and LX will provide 40 billion won and 36 billion won, respectively, for the joint venture. Once commercialization starts, the joint venture will become the second-largest manufacturer of the material

South Korea’s financial regulator said Tuesday it might impose tax on nonfungible tokens, adding fuel to controversy surrounding virtual asset taxation in the country. NFTs refer to the digital counterparts of real-world assets, mostly of visual art or music, that guarantee ownership through the blockchain technology. Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang recently said that the government could collect taxes on NFTs under the current Act on the Specified Financial Tran

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate for the main opposition People Power Party, is struggling to finalize his election committee, with Kim Chong-in hinting at a possible rift within the ranks. Kim, a veteran election campaigner who was asked to lead Yoon’s election committee, said on Tuesday he “does not want to talk about politics anymore” and that he would “return to his daily life,” hinting that he will not play a role in supporting Yoon in March’s

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev is to present two unique performances Wednesday in Seoul, returning to the city for the first time in two years. “We were told only two or three weeks ago that we could visit South Korea and I’m thrilled that this performance can happen in the midst of the pandemic situation,” Gergiev, one of the world’s most celebrated conductors, told reporters in a press conference Tuesday. The 68-year-old energetic conductor will present two diff

Comprehensive real estate taxes have been levied on nearly half a million homeowners in Seoul this year, up more than 20 percent from last year, as housing prices and tax rates surged. Seoul homeowners collectively faced 2.8 trillion won ($2.35 billion) in comprehensive real estate taxes, 2.3 times the amount levied last year. The sharp increase in the property holding tax could affect the market as some homeowners may choose to sell their homes to reduce the tax burden, thereby bringing down

South Korea is extending COVID-19 home recovery to elderly patients amid critical shortages of hospital beds, after ordering hospitals to free up beds twice in the past month. In Seoul, which has long dealt with the largest surge of cases, patients aged 70 and older can now be prescribed home recovery if they are vaccinated and have other household members taking care of them. The city said as demand for hospital beds soar, more patients were being offered at-home care as an alternative. As

Ruling Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday pledged to create more than 2 million jobs through the country’s “digital transition.” Lee, a former Gyeonggi Province governor, announced his plans for the digital transition at the party’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. Although Lee had shared election pledges on social media on multiple occasions, it was his first official announcement through his election campaign committee. “As technolo

SEJONG -- The Finance Ministry has unveiled its plan to support microbusiness owners, including the self-employed, in use of tax revenue surplus and the national budget. This is regarded as a sort of bailout for small businesses, which were severely hit by the pandemic in terms of sales and financial conditions. While they will have the opportunity of taking out state-led loans on low rates, the government’s support package does not include cash grants. “The support scale would rea

Gwangju massacre and military coup overshadow Chun’s achievements

Whether or not the members of K-pop sensation BTS will soon be off to the military could be decided this week. Fresh off of their triple win at the American Music Awards on Monday, when the singers took home the artist of the year award, the future of the boy band depends on Thursday’s National Assembly defense committee subcommittee meeting. Changes to the Military Service Act are to be discussed there, and the lawmakers could decide to grant service exemptions to pop artists who have he

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics is looking to add a second site for its foundry semiconductor chip manufacturing plant in Texas, according to reports Tuesday. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is scheduled to make an “economic announcement” concerning Samsung Electronics’ plan to build a new chip plant in Williamson County, near the city of Taylor, Texas, which will involve $17 billion of capital expenditure, Wall Street Journal reported. A Samsung Electronics spokesperson s

Transporting hydrogen in liquid state has key drawbacks, but local shipbuilder has an idea