South Korean tech giant’s new fab in US set to start operation in 2024

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

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 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

Kwon Bong-seok, the CEO of LG Electronics, is likely to be promoted as the new vice chairman of LG Corp., the holdings firm of South Korean conglomerate LG Group. According to LG Group on Tuesday, LG Electronics and LG Corp. are scheduled to hold their respective board meetings Thursday and finalize the executive reshuffle. Kwon Bong-seok is expected to fill in the shoes of Kwon Young-soo, who was appointed in October as the new CEO of LG Energy Solution, the battery unit of LG Group. The

LG Chem Vice Chairman Shin Hak-cheol on Tuesday emphasized five inclusive growth strategies to bolster the transparency and competitiveness of its suppliers. According to South Korea’s leading chemical company, the five principles are creating a fair trade culture; providing financial support and improving payment conditions; pursuing mutual growth through safe environments and eco-friendly business; building the capacity of suppliers; and sharing information and exchanging ideas. To

In a move to expand its footprint in the health care sector, CJ CheilJedang will spin off its health and wellness business, the Korean food maker said Tuesday. Set to be launched on Jan. 1, the new subsidiary CJ Wellcare will be entirely controlled by CJ CheilJedang. The move comes after CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun in early November pledged to invest 10 trillion won ($8.41 billion) over the next three years to boost four growth engines -- one of which is the health and wellness sector.

Biden administration’s selective incentives for US makers, battery procurement issue hamper Korean automaker’s planned EV production there

BMW said Tuesday it will strengthen its electric vehicle lineup in South Korea to meet growing demand for environment friendly vehicles. This week, BMW added the all-electric iX flagship SUV and the iX3 midsized SUV to its existing EV lineup composed of the pure electric i3 subcompact car and the plug-in hybrid i8 sedan. "The company will continue to beef up its EV lineup by adding electrified models to each segment to satisfy customers' demands," BMW Korea said in a statement. BM

  South Korean carmakers’ sales fell 22 percent last month from a year earlier as an extended global chip shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on vehicle production and sales, industry data showed. The country’s five carmakers - Hyundai Motor, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and SsangYong Motor - sold a combined 548,192 vehicles in October, down from 705,047 units a year ago, according to data from the companies. Their domestic sales declined 21 percent

Large South Korean companies have cut their combined workforce by more than 1 percent over the past two years amid the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The number of workers hired by 313 out of the country's top 500 firms by sales came to 1.24 million as of end-September this year, down 1.02 percent, or around 12,800, from two years earlier, according to the Leaders Index. These companies removed some 18,200 regular jobs over the cited period, while increasing the number

The European Union antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has resumed its investigation into the proposed combination of two major South Korean shipbuilders 16 months after it suspended the probe. The European Commission plans to finalize the probe by Jan. 20, it said on its website. "The probe was able to be resumed as we fully answered questions by the EU antitrust regulator," said an official at Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE). KSOE is the subholding compan