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Ko Dong-hwan

Korea Times Business Reporter

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Companies

SK chairman ordered to pay $644 mil. in cash in property division retrial

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won was ordered Friday to pay 944 billion won ($644 million) to his former wife, Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong, in a retrial of their high-profile property division lawsuit. The Seoul High Court handed down the ruling during a hearing, concluding the latest round of the long-running dispute over the division of the couple's marital assets. The court treated Chey's stake in SK Inc., the group's holding company, as property subject to division. The court said a third of Chey’s share property is subject to Roh and two thirds to him. The court added Chey should pay in cash for any insufficient amount of share due for Roh. The court said it has calculated the property division using an earlier appellate court's closing date of April 16, 2024. “Although SK’s share price rose significantly between the close of arguments in the appellate trial and that of the remanded trial, it cannot be said that Chey’s managerial contributions had no impact," the court said. The court, however, added that “to ensure an equitable division of marital property, the sub

Jul 24, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
SK chairman ordered to pay $644 mil. in cash in property division retrial
Law & Crime

Court reduces sentences in newborn killing case, acquits mother

A Korean appellate court has reduced sentences of a hospital director and a surgeon convicted of killing a newborn baby shortly after it was delivered via cesarean section, while acquitting the mother of all charges. The Seoul High Court sentenced the hospital director surnamed Yoon to four years in prison, along with a fine of 1.5 million won ($1,000) and forfeiture of 9 million won. The operating surgeon, identified as Shim, received a sentence of two years and six months. Both were also banned from working at child-related institutions for five years. Their sentences were reduced from six years and four years, respectively, in the first trial. The mother, Kwon, who had previously been convicted as an accomplice to murder and given a suspended three-year sentence, was acquitted on appeal. The court ruled that she may have believed the fetus had already died in utero and found insufficient evidence that she was aware the doctors would kill a live-born infant. The court upheld the finding that Yoon and Shim performed a cesarean section in June 2024 when Kwon was 34 to 36 weeks pregnant,

Jul 23, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Court reduces sentences in newborn killing case, acquits mother
Companies

Korean firms review Canada investment plans after submarine bid loss

Korean firms are reconsidering whether to proceed with the investments in Canada that they had pledged as part of Seoul's bid for Ottawa's multibillion-dollar submarine procurement project after the Korean consortium lost the competition. Hanwha Ocean lost to Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) in the roughly 60 trillion won ($39.3 billion) competition to replace the Royal Canadian Navy's aging fleet of four Victoria-class submarines with up to 12 new 3,000-ton diesel-electric vessels. Contrary to speculation that Korean firms would abandon their Canadian investment plans following the failed bid, the companies are still weighing their next steps. The uncertainty comes even as the Canadian government continues to emphasize the importance of expanding bilateral business ties. Hyundai Motor Group, which had proposed building a nationwide hydrogen mobility and logistics ecosystem in Canada, said that it has not decided to abandon the so-called Project Beaver and is considering its next steps. “Our hydrogen business in Canada was part of Team Korea's package deal that was tied to

Jul 23, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Korean firms review Canada investment plans after submarine bid loss
Companies

President Lee, biz leaders to meet Nvidia, OpenAI chiefs in San Francisco

President Lee Jae Myung and Korean business leaders will meet with executives of Big Tech firms during his visit to the United States later this week, his office said Wednesday, highlighting Korea’s growing role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry and strengthening ties with key players in the sector. Lee will embark on a five-nation trip on Friday, visiting Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Germany and the U.S. National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac and presidential chief of staff for policy Kim Yong-bum said Lee will meet Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Broadcom CEO Hock Tan in separate meetings in San Francisco. The presidential office said the meetings are part of the president’s schedule to engage with global AI leaders and Silicon Valley venture capitalists. "Through meetings with CEOs of global Big Tech companies, the president will emphasize Korea's commitment to AI investment and global cooperation while securing tangible outcomes such as investment partnerships from key enterprises," Kim said. The presidential office sai

Jul 22, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
President Lee, biz leaders to meet Nvidia, OpenAI chiefs in San Francisco
Companies

Mom's Touch to open 11 Tokyo stores this year

Major fast food company Mom's Touch said Wednesday it will open 11 restaurants in Tokyo by the end of this year, expanding its network across Japan’s Kanto region to 16. The company also said it aims to increase that number to 100 restaurants nationwide by the end of next year. Currently, Mom's Touch, which opened its first Japanese restaurant in Shibuya district in 2024, operates four company-owned restaurants and one franchise location in the country. To support its franchise expansion, Mom's Touch appointed Shoichi Nakamura as CEO of its Japanese subsidiary in April. Next month, the company will open a new restaurant in Tokyo's Shinjuku district dedicated to training franchisees. It will also relocate the subsidiary's office from Shibuya to Shinjuku in September, making the area the hub of its Japanese operations. As part of its expansion strategy, the company held a business showcase this month in Tokyo's Harajuku district to promote the Korean brand to major Japanese retail and distribution companies and attract potential franchisees, drawing 24 representatives from local companie

Jul 22, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Mom's Touch to open 11 Tokyo stores this year
Companies

Amorepacific, LG H&H streamline portfolios amid rise of indie K-beauty brands

Major beauty firms Amorepacific and LG H&H are downsizing their nonbeauty sectors to sharpen their focus on cosmetics as smaller rivals gain ground in the global beauty market. The two companies have led Korea's beauty industry since the 1980s. Their business overhaul underscores how K-beauty's global rise is no longer defined by a handful of conglomerates, but rather by a growing number of smaller companies with competitive brands. Amorepacific, whose key brands include Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Cosrx, Hera and Aestura, is seeking a buyer for its health supplement manufacturing plant in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. The company has appointed a lead manager to oversee the bidding process. The plant was built in 1989 by Pacific Pharmaceutical, which changed its name to Aestura in 2015. It became part of Amorepacific in 2021 after the company acquired Aestura and converted the facility into a health supplement production hub. Since then, however, the plant has struggled with weak utilization, with its operating rate falling to just 46 percent last year. Production totaled 31 billion won ($21 mill

Jul 21, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Amorepacific, LG H&H streamline portfolios amid rise of indie K-beauty brands
Society

Seoul's monthly transit pass users angered by service suspension

Commuters are growing frustrated as Seoul prepares to end its flagship Climate Card service next month before its replacement, Climate Card Plus, is fully integrated with the Modu Card system, raising concerns over a bumpy transition. The disruption stems from Seoul's plan to replace the Climate Card with Climate Card Plus, a successor designed to integrate with the transport ministry's K-Pass, which offers similar public transit discounts. However, delays in coordinating the integration between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport have postponed the transition, leaving commuters facing uncertainty until the new system is ready. Introduced in 2024, the Climate Card, available in both prepaid and postpaid versions, allows users unlimited rides on Seoul's buses and subway for 62,000 won ($41.82) a month. The pass also offers discounted fares to certain groups, including an 11 percent discount for young adults aged 19 to 39, reducing the monthly cost to 55,000 won, and a higher discount that lowers the fare to 45,000 won for low-income r

Jul 21, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Seoul's monthly transit pass users angered by service suspension
Companies

PHOTO Amazon visits APR

APR Executive Vice President Shin Jae-ha, center, poses with Vice President of Worldwide Fulfillment by Amazon Piyush Saraogi, third from left, in front of the Korean cosmetics and beauty device company’s Factory Campus 2 in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, earlier this month. Saraogi and his team visited the Korean beauty company’s facility to inspect its automated production lines and logistics capabilities amid surging U.S. demand for K-beauty products, including APR’s flagship Medicube cosmetics and AGE-R beauty devices. Courtesy of APR

Jul 19, 2026By Ko Dong-hwanphoto
[PHOTO] Amazon visits APR
Companies

KCCI chief warns of chip supply crunch as memory demand set to nearly double

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won said global memory chip demand could nearly double next year, while overall semiconductor demand is expected to increase by 50 to 60 percent, underscoring the need to expand manufacturing capacity. "I do not know if I would go so far as to call it complete chaos, but we are under immense lobbying and pressure," Chey said Friday on the sidelines of the KCCI Jeju Forum. “Despite the surge in demand, there will be almost no increase in supply next year. As a result, the gap between supply and demand will widen even further next year than it has this year." Chey, who also serves as chairman of SK Group, said surging demand and limited supply have become a government concern as well, describing the situation as a "national security issue." He said governments are increasingly stepping in to help secure memory chips for domestic companies to sustain manufacturing capacity and meet soaring global demand. “This could become a serious issue. Although it is currently confined to companies, there is a high probability that gove

Jul 19, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
KCCI chief warns of chip supply crunch as memory demand set to nearly double
Companies

Starbucks Korea workers form 1st coffee franchise union

Starbucks Korea workers have formed the first labor union at a domestic coffee franchise, joining the Korean Chemical, Textile & Food Workers' Union (KCTFU), an industrial union affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). According to the KCTFU on Sunday, employees of Starbucks Korea, the local unit of the global coffee chain, joined the union on Thursday and established a Starbucks Korea chapter. Explaining the move, the union said the company had limited communication with employees through an employer-led consultation channel instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue, while addressing workplace issues with temporary fixes rather than fundamental solutions. It also accused the company of ignoring workers' demands while unilaterally rolling out increasingly burdensome promotions and operating policies. The union's establishment follows the company's controversial promotional campaign in May, which evoked memories of the military's deadly crackdown on the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement. The backlash prompted Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin to issue a pub

Jul 19, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Starbucks Korea workers form 1st coffee franchise union
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