Industry welcomes regulatory easing but expresses disappointment at lower-than-expected tax benefits

Kim Ji-yeon, a 29-year-old elementary school teacher, stopped eating out during weekdays and started to eat lunch at a school canteen. Instead of going to cafes after lunch, Kim drinks instant coffee in her office. It has been two weeks since she has not spent any money during weekdays. “I first heard about the ‘no-spend challenge’ on Instagram, and thought it was a good way to save money. I was able to save around 200,000 won ($153) in two weeks.” Kim is one of the gr

Flight attendants are seen at Incheon Airport Terminal 2 on Thursday, as the gradual increase in the number of international flights has prompted airline employees to return to work. According to the aviation industry, Korean Air employees’ leave of absence rate this month recorded less than 20 percent. Flight attendants all over the airport industry have been on extended leave due to a pandemic-induced hiatus, but employees have been sequentially coming back since the beginning of this ye

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor on Thursday reported its best-ever quarterly result for the April-June period, with operating profits surging 58 percent to nearly 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion) on the back of increased luxury vehicle sales and the weak Korean won. The carmaker’s operating profit jumped to 2.97 trillion won with the rate of operating profit reaching 8.3 percent. The last time the company recorded operating profit above 2 trillion won was in the second quarter of 2014

Ahead of the global unveiling event for Samsung Electronics’ newest mobile lineup, the Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, next month, the company’s mobile business chief said Thursday that its foldable series is having its moment with shipments of foldables nearing the 10 million mark. “Last year, we saw almost 10 million foldable smartphones shipped worldwide. That’s an industry increase of more than 300 percent from 2020, and I predict this fast-paced growth will continue,”

LG Chem is exporting its first bio-balanced phenol and acetone products to Germany, the company said Thursday. According to LG Chem, the exports that were made from biomaterials such as waste vegetable oil are eco-friendly products certified by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification PLUS. The total amounts of exported phenol and acetone are 4,000 tons and 1,200 tons, respectively, to mark the largest single-export volume that have been certified by the ISCC PLUS. The produ

A media art tower displays content favored by younger people at an experience hall called HiKR Ground, set up at the Korea Tourism Organization in Seoul, Wednesday.

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Wednesday it is implementing a new clean hydrogen certification system from 2024 that evaluates corporate carbon footprints based on the amount of carbon emissions, not the type of production process. The new scheme will determine whether hydrogen can be classified as “low carbon” by analyzing the amount of carbon generated during its production -- the lower the emissions, the greater the incentives for companies. Th

Incheon Airport is pumping up its Level 4 construction plan, a project to expand its second passenger terminal, to maintain its leading position as an air transport hub in East Asia. The 4.84 trillion won ($3.69 billion) Level 4 construction plan involves a major upgrade of the airport’s infrastructure, through measures such as expanding its flight network and building a new runway. This year, the Incheon International Airport Corp. will focus on the expansion of Terminal 2 and its parki

The Federation of Korean Industries said on Wednesday that the average annual wage per employee of listed companies rose 43.4 percent in the 10 years preceding 2021. During that time, their average revenue only rose 12.5 percent. The average annual salary per worker jumped from 55.93 million won ($42,600) in 2011 to 80.16 million won in 2021, while the listed firms’ revenue per employee went from 960 million won to about 1.1 billion won in the same period, the lobby of the nation’s

Amid pressure building on South Korea to join a US-led chip alliance that strategically isolates China from the global semiconductor supply chain, Science Minister Lee Jong-ho on Wednesday said in rare remarks that the government should be careful in making such a decision, citing its impact on other industries. “I have talked to business executives who have been to China. It’s difficult to talk about the details, as it is an ongoing matter, but we have to make a decision that will

Households expect to spend near W1m on summer trips

GS Energy, an energy arm of South Korean conglomerate GS Group, said Wednesday it has renamed its electric vehicle charging subsidiary as GS Connect. The subsidiary is a joint corporation, created by GS Energy and local EV charging firm Gntel. The two companies hold 50 percent of shares each. By stressing its identity as being part of GS Group, the subsidiary said it hopes to expand business and bolster customer trust. The name change also includes the company’s promise to connect with

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday sent out invites to the 2022 Galaxy Unpacked event for its new foldable phones that will be held online via its official website at 10 p.m. (Korea time) on Aug. 10. Titled “Unfold Your World,” the event will feature Samsung’s latest Z series, including the larger Z Fold 4 and the more compact Z Flip 4, along with its smart watch Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Buds wireless earphones. Since last year, Samsung has held two separate unveiling events fo

The debt ratio of South Korea's leading 1,000 companies by sales has more than halved over the past 21 years, pointing to a sharp increase in their financial health, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The average debt-to-equity ratio of those big companies stood at 160 percent in 2021, compared with 323 percent in 2000, according to the Korea CXO Institute. A key barometer of financial soundness, the ratio is calculated by dividing a company's total liabilities by its stockholders