South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group on Tuesday appointed a new head for its flagship mobile business, which is struggling with falling margins amid rising competition from low-end smartphone makers and Apple Inc.Under its annual executive-level reshuffle, Koh Dong-jin, who was previously in charge of the mobile research and development, was promoted to head Samsung Electronics Co.'s Mobile Communications Business.Shin Jong-kyun, meanwhile, will remain as the head of the IT & Mobile Comm

South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group has shed more than 5,000 jobs over the past year, data showed Thursday, reflecting its struggle to cut costs amid a prolonged economic slump.The key affiliates of South Korea's iconic conglomerate saw their combined workforce reach 212,331 as of end-September, compared with 217,685 a year earlier, the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service showed.Group flagship Samsung Electronics Co.'s payroll came to 98,577 as of end-September, down 999

The eldest son of the Lotte Group founder said Thursday he has sued the chief of Lotte Holdings Co. for the head's role in driving him out, waging a sideline attack against his younger brother as part of a long-running sibling power struggle. Lotte, South Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate, is mired in a leadership dispute between group founder Shin Kyuk-ho's two sons -- Dong-joo and Dong-bin -- who had each controlled the company's operations in Japan and Korea until earlier this year. While Do

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors sought a 10-year jail term on Monday for a business tycoon accused of creating slush funds and evading taxes of over 800 billion won (US$690 million) in total.Prosecutors demanded the sentence at a trial at the Seoul Central District Court against Cho Suck-rai, chairman of conglomerate Hyosung Group, saying that the group's accounting fraud amounts to 890 billion won over a decade from 1999.Prosecutors also demanded 300 billion won in fines. "While he degraded the c

PAJU (Yonhap) – The U.S. industrial giant General Electric opened a collaboration office in the South Korean border city of Paju Monday as part of efforts to expand business in preparation of the unification of the two Koreas.GE held an opening ceremony to celebrate the opening of its office at Paju City Hall near the western border with North Korea.The ceremony drew some 80 people, including GE Korea head Kang Sung-wook, Paju Mayor Lee Jae-hong, Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo, and Kim Moo-s

Authorities are poised to slap sanctions on Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung Group for violating investment regulations when it merged Samsung C&T with Cheil Industries in September, sources said on Friday.The Fair Trade Commission has yet to pinpoint the violations, but industry watchers say the agency is likely to zero in on the newly created investment rotunda binding the Samsung affiliates together. For instance, the newly merged entity holds stakes in Samsung Life, which holds stakes in Sam

POSCO Chairman Kwon Oh-joon lamented the global steel industry’s overwhelming supply in his first interview with a local business daily Thursday.Kwon said the oversupply, fueled mainly by ramped-up production from China, is turning the markets lopsided. With that in mind, the chairman called for China to cut its steel supply by at least 30 percent.Between 2005 and 2014, China’s steel production doubled to 820 million tons from 350 million tons. Global production also rose, but until last year th

LG Electronics Inc. started global sales of its latest dual-display smartphone, the V10, on Friday, one day after it reported disappointing quarterly earnings for its mobile business.Starting this month, the V10, showcased earlier in October, will reach the United States, and gradually head to China, Latin America, and Europe in the near future, the company said.The 5.7-inch LG V10 features a QHD IPS Quantum display and a small rectangular screen above the larger screen. Although the display see

Chinese electronics giant Lenovo Group said Friday it will open a service center in South Korea as part of its efforts to expand its market presence here.Lenovo said the center, which will open on Monday, aims to provide customers with faster and better service. Currently, Lenovo's China-based service centers provide support to South Korean users.It will mark the first time Lenovo has opened a service center outside China in the Asia-Pacific region.Chinese companies have been rushing to tap into

South Korea tech firm LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it has decided to withdraw its lawsuit against Dyson filed earlier this week in Australia over a controversial advertisement, as they have reached an out-of-court settlement.On Tuesday, the South Korean player asked an Australian court to ban British manufacturer Dyson's V6 vacuum cleaner advertisement that read "the most powerful cordless vacuum" and "twice the suction power of all cordless vacuums." LG claimed that such remarks mislead cons

Lotte Shopping, a key retail unit of Lotte Group, has racked up a huge loss from its Chinese operations over the past four years, the elder brother of the group chairman claimed Wednesday, demanding a right to review the firm's financial report. Shin Dong-joo, the elder son of Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho, filed several legal suits against Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, his younger brother, to nullify his dismissal from executive posts from Lotte Holdings Japan and to gain the right see and c

One in four unlisted affiliates of South Korea's retail giant Lotte Group are found to meet requirements for a stock market debut, data showed Wednesday.The conglomerate has pledged to simplify its governance structure and boost its managerial transparency through a set of measures, including initial public offerings, after a bitter family feud over control of the retail conglomerate. Currently, Lotte has eight publicly traded affiliates here, with the key units being linked through unlisted Jap

The union of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. agreed to self-secure plans, officials said Monday, a move that could lead to an injection of additional funds from creditors."We made a final decision to submit a letter of consent to the creditors," Hyun Si-han, the head of the union, said in the country's southeastern island of Geoje Island, home to South Korea's shipyard operations.Yoon Yo-han, a spokesman of Daewoo Shipbuilding in Seoul, said the management and labor are likely to su

SK Networks said Tuesday it hopes to keep its existing duty-free store in a luxury hotel in eastern Seoul and wants to open another in Dongdaemun, a major fashion district, to expand its retail sector.The trading and hotel unit under SK Group is up against Lotte, Shinsegae and Doosan in a heated competition to win three operating licenses for Seoul duty-free stores that are set to expire this year. SK Networks has a store in the Sheraton Grand Walkerhill Hotel in the southeastern part of the cap

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit against British manufacturer Dyson over an advertisement in Australia claiming that its vacuum cleaners perform better than those made by the South Korean maker.In the advertisement rolled out only in Australia, Dyson said its V6 cleaner is "the most powerful cordless vacuum" and boasts "twice the suction power of all cordless vacuums." LG claimed that such remarks can mislead consumers and decided to ask Australia's federal court to ban th