Q: Can I fire employees who constantly show poor performance? What steps should I take? A: Article 23 of the Labor Standards Act stipulates that an employer shall not, without justifiable cause, dismiss or suspend a worker, reduce wages, or take other disciplinary action against a worker. It goes without saying that dismissal of a poor performer should also be based on a justifiable cause. Yet, no consistent legal principle has been established in regard to what constitutes justifiable cause for

Japanese chemical company Kuraray held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday to build a production facility for polyvinyl butyral film at a plant of its South Korean unit in the southeastern city of Ulsan.PVB is a glass interlayer used in creating safety glass in the automotive and architectural industries. The company plans to complete the construction of the PVB production facility by the end of next year with an investment of $50 million.Kuraray's expansion of the local plant is part of its e

Major U.S. firms operating here on Tuesday joined the South Korean government's efforts to help local startups globalize.Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea held a ceremony in Seoul to launch the "Global Leading Companies Mentoring Startups" campaign in partnership with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.Nineteen American companies participated in the event, including Facebook, IBM, Microsoft and Boeing.They agreed to provide 14 selected South Korean startups with

First female chief of Deutsche Bank Korea expects glass ceiling to gradually disappear over the next decade

Richard Hill, honorary citizen of Seoul, talks about living here with his family as an expat CEO

Intel, Heineken, OB, Fendi donated nothing for whole year

CEOs say bringing highly talented workers from overseas would help Korean economy

Visa Korea has named Iain Jamieson, former Philippine and Guam branch manager, as its country manager, the company announced last week.The new chief’s term that is to begin in January will also include the role of establishing the Visa brand in Mongolia and expanding its business there as the country’s branch manager.Jamieson joined the company in 1995 and held various major positions in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East, including the overall supervision of international affairs for the Asia-Pac

Hankook Shell Oil Co. announced Monday that it had appointed Kang Gin-won, former vice president of the company, as its new CEO.He will replace Ha Jong-hwan, who left the position after reaching retirement age.Born 1961 in Seoul, the newly appointed CEO studied mechanical engineering in Switzerland and earned both his master’s degree and doctorate in the field of management, according to the company.He has over 25 years of experience in construction equipment and parts manufacturing and was the

Toyota Motor Korea said Monday that it had named Akihisa Yoshida, former vice president at the Japanese carmaker’s Asia-Pacific sales unit, as its new country chief. Yoshida, 52, studied economics at Hokkaido University and joined Toyota Motor in 1984. He has held a number of sales positions in Japan, Australia and other Asia Pacific regions. Since 2011, he was vice president at Toyota Motor Asia-Pacific, a regional sales unit based in Singapore. Yoshida is set to start his term on Jan. 1.His pr

KOSDAQ chief hopes to raise foreign firms’presence on Korean stock market to 20%

The time may soon come for Korea, whose electricity market is monopolized by a state-run company, to introduce competitive arrangements, according to the chief of a global research firm specializing in the energy business.“Throughout history, it has always made sense to have one, often state-run, company to keep control over the nation’s electricity industry,” Clint Wheelock, managing director of Navigant Research, told The Korea Herald in an interview. As the primary intention of the business i