The Korea Times

LS chief calls on employees to become futurists

LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun speaks at the company's LS Future Day event held at LS Tower in Anyang Gyeonggi Province, Monday. / Courtesy of LG GroupBy Kim Hyun-binLS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun called on its employees to become futurists to be able to effectively introduce changes in new businesses and digital transformation during the conglomerate's first LS Future Day event held at LS Tower in Anyang Gyeonggi Province, Monday.The purpose of the event was to share ideas for future businesses and discuss ways to enhance R&D and digital transformation.The event was attended by around 200 executives and employees, including Koo, CEOs, chief technology officers (CTOs), and chief digital officers (CDOs) of each affiliate.This year, 20 projects were selected and shared across the company in the three areas of new business, technology, and innovation. Leading employees are given the opportunity to visit the Consumer Electronics Show 2023 (CES 2023), the world's largest international electronics fair, scheduled to be held in Las Vegas in January, where they can experience the latest tech

Sep 20, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

LS chief calls on employees to become futurists

Companies

FKI seeks to let employers hire replacement workers during strikes

Ssangyong Motor union workers occupy the automaker's Pyeongtaek facilities while one protester ignites Molotov cocktails in July, 2018. Korea Times fileBy Kim Hyun-binThe Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a major business lobby group, said Monday that it submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Employment and Labor asking for permission to hire replacement workers during strikes and to prohibit the illegal occupation of business sites by unionized workers. The proposal, titled “improvement plan for establishing a balanced labor-management relationship,” includes allowing substitute workers in case of strikes, prohibiting illegal occupations of workplaces during labor walkouts, improving what businesses claim are unfair labor practices, expanding the validity period of collective agreements and improving the voting procedure for strikes.The FKI pointed out that in the event of a strike, employers cannot use replacement workers such as new hires, subcontracted laborers or dispatched personnel. The business lobby group said this causes companies to suffer production disr

Sep 19, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

FKI seeks to let employers hire replacement workers during strikes

Companies

GS Group invests heavily in new businesses

GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo discusses business with executives at the GS Group Strategy Report meeting in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, Sept. 7.  Courtesy of GS GroupBy Kim Hyun-binGS Group is starting to invest heavily in future growth businesses ranging from solar power, nuclear power and electric vehicles (EVs) to biotechnology, according to industry officials, Monday.The move comes as GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo has been pushing to invest in new businesses with partners for future growth.GS Group is promoting more than 15 new businesses in diverse fields such as hydrogen and biofuel, plastic recycling, EV charging, battery recycling, small module reactors (SMR) and ammonia development and distribution. "The recession and economic downturn are providing a better investment environment for GS," Chairman Huh said.GS Group entered the solar power business recently with Hanwha Solutions and also entered the carbon capture business with seven domestic companies. GS Energy will establish a joint venture with Hanwha Solutions to produce ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), a core materia

Sep 19, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

GS Group invests heavily in new businesses

Companies

Hyundai aims to win support in Africa for Busan's Expo bid

Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp. headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor GroupBy Kim Hyun-binHyundai Motor Group is striving to win support in Africa for Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030. Kia CEO Song Ho-sung departed for Africa as a special envoy for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to host the Expo, Sunday. According to the company, Song will visit South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe for six days through Sept. 23.Song is the first businessman to be dispatched overseas as the minister of foreign affairs' special envoy for Busan's bid to host the Expo.Africa has 45 member countries of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which is the second largest following Europe with 48 members."Africa has the second largest number of members of the international organization on the Expo after Europe, so this visit is very meaningful," a Hyundai Motor Group official said.Song will visit Johannesburg and Pretoria, the administrative capital, of South Africa, Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, and Harare, the capital of the Republic of Zimbabwe, to meet with high-ranking govern

Sep 18, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

Hyundai aims to win support in Africa for Busan's Expo bid

Companies

Samsung chief expected to attend funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong / YonhapBy Kim Hyun-binSamsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and is expected to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, according to industry officials, Sunday. Lee arrived in the U.K. and is known to be engaged in business activities at present. Initially, he was scheduled to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss as a special envoy to the president and ask for cooperation in hosting the World Expo 2030 in Busan, but the scheduled meeting was postponed after the death of the Queen Elizabeth II.Industry officials believe Lee will likely attend the funeral of the late queen accompanying President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is arriving in the U.K. Monday (local time).Samsung Electronics established a U.K. sales company in 1984 and has maintained a special relationship with the British royal family.The late queen delivered a congratulatory speech at the completion ceremony of Samsung Electronics' Wynyard Appliances Factory in England in 1995, greeting late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee.It was a very unusua

Sep 18, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

Samsung chief expected to attend funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

Companies

KCCI chief meets Japan's key Expo 2025 bid committee figures

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won, left, poses with Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai Promotion Committee Vice Chairman Masayoshi Matsumoto after holding a meeting in Tokyo, Thursday, on ways to win the bid to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan. Chey also met with key figures of Japan's bid committee. Courtesy of KCCI

Sep 18, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

KCCI chief meets Japan's key Expo 2025 bid committee figures

Companies

Hyundai Motor bets on battery recycling business

Hyundai Motor IONIQ 6 / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor GroupBy Kim Hyun-binHyundai Motor Group has begun a company-wide initiative to enter the waste battery business at home and abroad, according to company officials Thursday. Kia signed a contract recently to supply waste batteries with a German state-owned railway company, and Hyundai Motor formed a task force team for the waste battery business in a joint venture with Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glovis. Kia Europe Corp. signed a contract to supply waste batteries collected from its electric vehicles (EV) sold in Europe to Encore, an energy storage system (ESS) startup of German state-owned railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB). DB is the largest railroad company in Germany as well as pan-Europe. Encore is already in the process of collecting waste batteries for recycling and reuse in Europe using DB's infrastructure. Kia and Encore already launched an ESS prototype using waste batteries in Berlin last month.This prototype, made with Soul EV batteries recovered by local Kia dealers, has a total capacity of 72 kWh and operates on self-genera

Sep 15, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

Hyundai Motor bets on battery recycling business

Companies

Volkswagen launches first EV ID.4 in Korea

Sacha Askidjian, president of Volkswagen Korea, poses next to the company's first electric vehicle ID.4 at the launch ceremony held at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul, Thursday. / Korea Times photo by Kim Hyun-binBy Kim Hyun-binVolkswagen Korea launched its first pure electric SUV ID.4 at a launch ceremony held at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul, Thursday. “This beautiful compact luxury SUV features Volkswagen's unique intelligent design, identity and visionary technology. This EV provides a very solid driving feeling and a nice interior experience,” Sacha Askidjian, president of Volkswagen Korea said. “This is the role of Volkswagen giving access to premium quality for the widest range of customers.”The ID.4 is Volkswagen's first electric vehicle based on MEB, the company's EV platform. According to the company, the ID.4 is an accessible premium strategic model that will provide Korean customers with new EV experiences and values ??that only Volkswagen can deliver.“Korea is the most competitive in the EV sector, and the transition to e-mobility is fast. Volkswage

Sep 15, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

Volkswagen launches first EV ID.4 in Korea

Companies

SK to invest $48 billion outside greater Seoul area over 5 years

By Kim Hyun-binSK Group will invest 67 trillion won ($48.1 billion) over the next five years to foster the semiconductor, biopharmaceutical and energy industries in areas outside Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, Korea's second-largest business group said Wednesday. The investment is largely designed to help revitalize regional economies and achieve a more balanced national development."We plan to lead the global market by continuously building new and expanding domestic facilities for sectors such as semiconductors, batteries, biotechnology and R&D," an SK official said. "The medium- to long-term investment currently planned will proceed without any setbacks to create domestic jobs and to grow together with partners in the materials, parts and equipment fields."SK also announced that from 2022 to 2023 it will invest a total of 73 trillion won in facility investments, such as expanding existing domestic factories or starting new construction, and has plans to invest 25 trillion won in R&D by 2027.Its domestic investment and R&D arms aim to enhance the infrastructure a

Sep 14, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

SK to invest $48 billion outside greater Seoul area over 5 years

Companies

Genesis wins design awards at IDEA 2022

The Genesis G90 / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor GroupBy Kim Hyun-binThe Genesis has won a total of two awards, including one Silver Award at the 2022 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) hosted by the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA), the company said, Wednesday. IDEA is considered one of the world's top three design awards, along with Germany's iF Design Award and Red Dot Design Award, and has been the leading design award in North America since 1980. Genesis' G90 luxury flagship sedan and its wireless charger reflecting its design identity won Silver and Finalist awards in the mobility & transportation category, respectively.The G90 has an elegant and classy exterior that best reflects the design identity of Genesis. A clamshell hood completes the image of a simple yet magnificent luxury sedan. In addition, the spacious interior and juxtaposition of analog elements with new digital technology are harmonized to add a sense of luxury.The wireless charger is a technology that can charge an electric vehicle (EV) simply by parking the vehicle on a charging pad instal

Sep 14, 2022By Kim Hyun-bin

Kim Hyun-bin

Read more

LS chief calls on employees to become futurists

FKI seeks to let employers hire replacement workers during strikes

GS Group invests heavily in new businesses

Hyundai aims to win support in Africa for Busan's Expo bid

Samsung chief expected to attend funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

KCCI chief meets Japan's key Expo 2025 bid committee figures

Hyundai Motor bets on battery recycling business

Volkswagen launches first EV ID.4 in Korea

SK to invest $48 billion outside greater Seoul area over 5 years

Genesis wins design awards at IDEA 2022

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