Global tobacco company British American Tobacco Korea has signed a collective bargaining agreement with its Sacheon factory’s labor union, agreeing to bolster cooperative relations, the company said Tuesday.The negotiation was finalized in February.“The latest agreement is the result of our consistent efforts to further consolidate a cooperative labor-management culture. The Sacheon factory, based on such stable relations, will continue to cement its status as a global hub in addition to improvi

Hong Ra-hee, wife of Samsung Electronics head Lee Kun-hee, has decided to leave the two art museums she has chaired for years, Samsung Foundation for Culture said Monday. The foundation that runs the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art and Ho-Am Art Museum in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, said she was stepping down as director for both institutions, citing personal reasons.  Hong Ra-hee (The Korea Herald)“We haven’t heard of any background on her resignation in detail,” said the foundation, adding she was

Hanwha Life Insurance Co., a major South Korean insurer, decided Friday to pay all overdue insurance claims on suicide.Hanwha plans to pay around 91 billion won ($78.8 million) on 637 unsettled cases in the decision made at a board meeting.It's apparently aimed at reversing the state financial watchdog's tough punishment against the firm.Last month, the Financial Supervisory Service issued a two-month suspension of partial business operations for its refusal to pay most of unpaid benefits for su

LG Electronics Inc. said Friday its new flagship smartphone, G6, has won a total of 31 awards from foreign technology magazines at a wireless industry fair in Spain. LG unveiled the G6 smartphone earlier this week at the annual Mobile World Congress fair with the aim of reviving its loss-making smartphone business. (Yonhap)Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. did not release their new flagship smartphones at the fair. According to LG, foreign technology media organizations, including Wired, Di

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, a law firm that has represented the de facto chief of Samsung Group, will take a bigger role in the upcoming trial of Lee Jae-yong after the group dismantled its key office, a group official said Friday. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., was arrested on Feb. 17 over his alleged role in a presidential influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. (Yonhap)Special prosecutors investigating the scandal accused Lee of paying bribes

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major shipyard here, traded at a 52-week high on Friday on simmering expectations that the shipbuilding sector is on a recovery track and its plan to spin off non-shipbuilding businesses may boost its competitiveness.Hyundai Heavy closed at 167,500 won ($146) on the Seoul bourse, up 1.21 percent from the previous session's close, while the broader index, the KOSPI, dropped 1.14 percent.For the past month, the combined market capitalization of Hyundai Heavy and its

Ra In Ho, a South Korean ship lift and transport system developer, has signed a deal with a Russian shipyard to provide it with the world’s largest ship transfer system, the company said Thursday. The company will provide a 54,000-ton ship transfer system worth about 20 billion won ($17.5 million) to Zvezda Shipyard in the Russian Far East. Ra In Ho will have full control of the entire process from designing to installing the system, the company said. Ra In Ho Co. CEO Rainer Sinnreich (right) si

With Hanjin Shipping’s bankruptcy declared earlier last month, Hyundai Merchant Marine, now South Korea’s only major shipping line, is expected to fill the vacuum, supported by government rescue schemes and positive signs in the industry, analysts and industry watchers said Tuesday. “After hitting the bottom in 2015 and 2016, the shipping industry seems to be improving with increased freight rates and eased competition,” Um Kyung-a, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities

South Korea’s food and entertainment giant CJ Group is set to expand investments and speed up its delayed plans to tap more markets around the world by carrying out a personnel reshuffle in March, the group said Sunday, hinting at chairman Lee Jay-hyun’s return to management. “Sales grew slightly last year but the group’s sales remained at 20-something trillion won for the last three or four years,” an official at CJ Group said. “We need to spur growth in or

The labor union of Hyundai Heavy Industries has launched a full-scale strike, calling on the company to finish wage negotiations and scrap its plan to spin off non-shipbuilding units. The labor union has staged partial strikes several times but Thursday’s strike was the first full-fledged strike in 23 years.  The labor union carried out an eight-hour strike from 8 a.m. and said it planned to continue with it Friday and also Monday when the company shareholders will meet to decide a

KEB Hana Bank was selected the best private bank in Korea in the Private Banking & Wealth Management Survey 2017 by Euromoney, a business and finance magazine based in London, the bank announced Thursday. This is the 10th time the bank was recognized by the Euromoney survey, which has been conducted for 14 years.  KEB Hana Bank CEO Ham Young-joo (center) poses after receiving the best private bank in Korea award Tuesday. (KEB Hana Bank)“As a new bank combines strengths in asset management and fo

Kumho Asiana Group has been expanding its cultural activities as the core of its social contribution programs, helping to foster aspiring artists and operating the country’s representative museums and art centers.South Korea’s leading air carrier has been expanding its artistic contribution, in particular since Chairman Park Sam-koo was made the ninth chair of the Korea Mecenat Association, a nonprofit body that encourages corporate support of the arts, in February 2015.Many of the group’s arts-

Shares of a luxury hotel led by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s younger sister were on the rise amid rumors that she might fill the group’s leadership vacuum. Shares in Hotel Shilla, led by Lee Boo-jin, the eldest daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, soared Friday as market watchers speculated the 46-year-old female tycoon may succeed her brother in managing South Korea’s most powerful conglomerate. Shares in Hotel Shilla soared more than 5 percent

A court in South Korea has declared the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping, after two weeks of appeals that ended Friday, bringing to a close 40 years of the company’s history as a leading shipping line and leaving challenges for the industry. The demise of the company -- once the largest shipping company here and the world’s seventh biggest -- began in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis.  Hanjin and other local shippers suffered from falling freight rates caused by an over

SPC Group, which was recently boosted by its successful launch of premium burger chain Shake Shack here, is undergoing a generational shift in management.Chairman Hur Young-in’s two eldest sons were promoted to vice presidents in 2015 and 2016 joining the firm’s management.The change has drawn a mixed reaction among those in the food and beverage industry, with some anticipating the young leaders will take initiative in coming up with new business models and improving the group’s structure. Othe