The Korea Herald

Debt-ridden Hyundai Merchant to sell bulk shipping business

Jan 21, 2016

A bulk cargo ship run by Hyundai Merchant Marine HMM Hyundai Merchant Marine, facing a liquidity crisis, is reportedly in negotiations with local private equity firm Hahn & Company for the sale of its bulk cargo shipping business. 　The target for sale is the company’s business on shipping fuel sources like iron ore and coal used for power generation.　The deal amount is forecast to reach about 600 billion won ($495 million) as the private equity firm reportedly offered a cash payment of 100
SK creates advisory team for M&A deals

Jan 13, 2016

SK Group headquarters building in Seoul. SK GroupSK Group, the nation’s third largest conglomerate, said Wednesday it has set up an independent team to offer a variety of advisory services to its affiliates seeking mergers and acquisitions. The group has recently created the “integrated financial solution team’’ under the roof of the Supex Council, the group‘s highest decision-making body, and appointed Jim Eun, the former head of Intel Korea, as the IFST leader. Eun, who has been appointed vice
Hanjin Group heir apparent takes bigger role in Korean Air

Jan 12, 2016

Korean Air executive vice president Cho Won-tae Hanjin Group, a leading South Korean transportation conglomerate, is expected to accelerate the generational power shift in management as Cho won-tae, the only son of group chairman Cho Yang-ho, will take a bigger role in its flagship affiliate Korean Air. 　Korean Air, the nation’s flag carrier, accounts for half of the groups’s entire revenue. 　According to the 2016 executive reshuffle announced late Monday evening, junior Cho, the executive vic
KEB Hana Bank cuts 690 jobs via early retirement

Jan 3, 2016

KEB Hana Bank, South Korea's leading lender by assets, said Sunday it has eliminated 690 jobs through a voluntary retirement program as part of efforts to downsize.The number of job cuts, made in late December, amounts to 4.3 percent of its workforce of 16,100 as of the end of November last year, according to KEB Hana.The lender said the early retirement program, carried out for the first time in about four years, focused mainly on employees aged 40 and older.KEB Hana's job reduction was the thi
SK Innovation going all out to expand global presence

Jan 3, 2016

South Korea's top refiner SK Innovation Co. plans to speed up its overseas expansion this year as it seeks to develop new growth engines while also boosting its global presence, company officials said Sunday.The move apparently comes as more than half of the company's overall sales already are from exports.Increased profits from overseas sales, rather than exports, will further improve the company's overall sustainability, an official noted. "To secure a foundation for a long and sustainable dev
Hyundai to run separate booth for Genesis cars at Detroit Motor Show

Jan 3, 2016

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. plans to run a separate booth for its new luxury lineup of Genesis cars at the upcoming international motor show in Detroit, where the new vehicle model will also make its international debut, company officials said Sunday.It will mark the first time the carmaker will run a booth wholly designated to just one lineup of cars at an international auto show, they noted.The company earlier said the new G90 model, locally named the EQ900, will make its int
Korean conglomerates backtracking on responsible governance commitment

Dec 23, 2015

South Korea's big businesses are backtracking on their responsible governance obligations, a report by the country's antitrust watchdog showed Wednesday.According to the Fair Trade Commission, the percentage of owners or immediate kin who are listed as members of the board at affiliates of large family-run conglomerates stood at 21.7 percent, down 1.1 percentage point from the year before.The regulator said that this number has been falling steadily for some time, having stood at 27.2 percent in
CJ head appeals to top court again against corporate crime conviction

Dec 22, 2015

The chairman of food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group filed an appeal to the nation's top court, for the second time, on Tuesday to try to avoid the 30-month jail term he received last week.Lee Jay-hyun, who has been convicted of embezzlement, breach of trust and tax evasion, brought the case back to the Supreme Court, arguing that he is innocent regarding the charges on breach of trust. The 55-year-old tycoon's legal representatives said Lee is not guilty as it is impossible to calculate
Six conglomerates fined for regulatory filing violations

Dec 22, 2015

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Tuesday it has slapped a combined 1.54 billion won ($1.3 million) fine on six conglomerates for breaking regulatory filing rules as the country moves to better protect the rights of shareholders.The action by the Fair Trade Commission comes after a three-year probe that kicked off in April 2012, which checked the practices of the country's largest business groups.The FTC said 28 affiliates belonging to six conglomerates failed to complete or delayed filings
Samsung execs to discuss 'global biz strategy' for next year

Dec 10, 2015

Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's top tech firm, said Thursday that its senior executives and overseas operations chiefs will gather in Seoul later this month to discuss next year's business strategy amid a slump in its mainstay business -- handsets.The business strategy meeting will include about 500 executives, according to Samsung."Participants will discuss ways to tide over a low growth trend," said a Samsung official.The company has scheduled two rounds of two-day meetings on Dec. 16-1
Hotel Lotte mulls employee stock ownership plan

Dec 6, 2015

South Korean retail giant Lotte's hotel unit has been working on an employee stock ownership scheme as part of preparations to list its stocks on the Seoul bourse, company officials said Sunday. Hotel Lotte, a unit of South Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group, plans to submit an application next month for a preliminary regulatory review of its initial public offering .The company said it has been preparing to establish an employee stock ownership association under the regulation that
All public firms agree to adopt wage peak system

Dec 6, 2015

All of South Korea's public corporations have agreed to adopt the wage peak system, which delays the mandatory retirement age in return for lower wages as part of labor reform measures, the finance ministry said Sunday.The wage peak system calls for the retirement age of workers to be pushed back, giving them greater job security. The same people benefiting from this, on the other hand, must accept lower wages just before retirement. The money saved will be used to hire new employees in a kind o
Samsung Engineering wins US$880 mln plant order

Dec 4, 2015

Samsung Engineering Co., South Korea's top engineering firm, said Friday that it has a received a US$880 million order to build petrochemical plants in Malaysia.Under the deal with state-run utility firm Petronas, Samsung Engineering will construct plants that produce polyethylene and other chemicals in Pengerang, southern Johor, by 2019.Petronas is cultivating a refinery and petrochemical integrated development project (RAPID) and other associated facilities in Pengerang, Malaysia.Last year, Sa
Asiana to temporarily halt flights to Vladivostok, Bali, Yangon

Dec 4, 2015

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's No. 2 full-service carrier, said Friday that it will temporarily suspend flight services to Vladivostok, Bali and Yangon due to weak demand.The company said it will halt flights to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East starting Feb. 1, while services to Indonesia's resort of Bali and Myanmar's capital will be discontinued March 1.Asiana currently operates four weekly flights to the Russian port city and two to the two Southeast Asian destinations.The company said i
Samsung's new mobile chief seeks stability over change

Dec 2, 2015

Samsung Electronics Co.'s new leader for its flagship mobile business said Wednesday he will not seek an all-out reshuffle of the business, but instead seek stability.The remark came after Koh Dong-jin, who was previously in charge of the mobile research and development, was named to head Samsung's Mobile Communications Business on Tuesday."There will be no large-scale changes," Koh told reporters briefly, when asked if the Mobile Communications Business will go through restructuring, possibly t