The Korea Times

SK E&C signs financial deal for beltway construction in Almaty

From left, sitting, Vice Chairman of EDB Amangeldy Issenov, EBRD Infrastructure Director Ekaterina Miroshnik, President of Alsim Alarko Ayhan Yavrucu, President of Eurasia Marketing at SK E&C Lee Seung-soo and Director of KEC Yoo Ho-sik pose for a picture after signing a deal for the construction of a beltway in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, in the capital Nur-Sultan. / Courtesy of SK E&CBy Kim Jae-heunSK Engineering & Construction (SK E&C) said Thursday it has closed a deal to begin the construction of a beltway in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the country's very first public-private business partnership. Multilateral development banks including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Development Bank and the Eurasia Development Bank are involved as project lenders.The project is to build a six-lane, 66-kilometer-long highway with 21 bridges and eight interchanges. Construction is expected to take four years and two months, and SK E&C will operate the beltway for the remainder of the 20-year turn-key project's timeline in partnership with the

Feb 14, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

SK E&C signs financial deal for beltway construction in Almaty

Companies

Delivery application operators asked to improve customer service

Founder of Woowa Brothers Kim Bong-jin poses in this 2018 file photo. / Korea Times photo by Ryu Hyo-jinBy Kim Jae-heunLast year, the delivery application market experienced a 10 trillion won turnover, up 84.6 percent from 2018. The growth rate has been on the rise so far this year as the new coronavirus continues to keep people at home, forcing them to order food via mobile platform services.Yet, such rapid growth doesn't come without disruption.The country's No. 1 delivery service application, Baedal Minjok (Baemin), operated by Woowa Brothers, recently announced that it will restrict how often restaurant owners can feature the names of their establishments at the top of the search index.The delivery service application receives a monthly 80,000 won ($67.40) advertisement fee for allowing shops to advertise on their mobile platform. Below that, restaurants are listed in order of proximity to the user. To reach as many customers as possible, restaurant owners have been saving their business address under several locations in order to ensure they remain near the top of the list.Start

Feb 13, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Delivery application operators asked to improve customer service

Companies

Nongshim, HiteJinro are riding on the coattails of Parasite

Nongshim parodies Parasite's film poster for its instant noodles advertisement. / Courtesy of NongshimBy Kim Jae-heunKorean firms are riding on the coattails of Parasite, the first non-English language film to win the Oscars' top prize in its 92-year history.While many brands stand to benefit from the films' Oscar-winning success, the local food and beverage (F&B) company Nongshim seems to have the upper hand. There is a scene in the movie where Mrs. Park calls the housekeeper, asking her to prepare “Chapaguri” for her son ― loosely translated as “ram-don” in the English subtitles. The term ramdon is a combination of ramen and udon, which is made by combining Chapaghetti (instant black bean ramen) and Neoguri (instant spicy udon-like noodles). To keep up with growing demand, its manufacturer Nongshim uploaded a video of the Chapaguri recipe in 11 languages, including English, Chinese and Japanese on its YouTube's official channel, Monday. “We have decided to make video showing how to cook Chapaguri online in various languages so people can follow and

Feb 12, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Nongshim, HiteJinro are riding on the coattails of Parasite

Companies

CJ Group vice chairwoman in spotlight over 'Parasite' Oscar win

CJ Group Vice Chairwoman Lee Mi-kyung, second from left in the front line, smiles after “Parasite” won the Oscar for best picture at the 92nd Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Sunday (local time). / Reuters-Yonhap By Kim Jae-heunThe Korean thriller “Parasite,” directed by Bong Joon-ho, became the first non-English language film to win best picture at the Academy Awards along with three more ― best director, best foreign language film and best original screenplay. Bong described his “surreal” feeling about the unprecedented honor he enjoyed during the 92nd Oscars ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Sunday, (local time), after the accomplishment surprised not only Koreans but movie fans around the world. The success put filmmaker Bong and his cast in the spotlight as The Academy gave recognition to their great work producing the movie, but film industry officials say it would not have been possible if CJ ENM had not supported Parasite behin

Feb 11, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

CJ Group vice chairwoman in spotlight over 'Parasite' Oscar win

Trends

Plastic surgery hospitals to refuse Chinese customers

Signboards for plastic surgery hospitals in Gangnam, Seoul. / Korea times fileBy Kim Jae-heunPlastic surgery hospitals here are refusing to take Chinese customers amid growing concerns over the coronavirus. One popular plastic surgery clinic located in Gangnam, the country's most vibrant district, has put up a notice stating that it will not receive Chinese customers or those who have visited China within the last 14 days. The hospital made the decision due to the reluctance of local customers visiting places popular with Chinese medical tourists. This doesn't bode well for many other clinics that took similar action as over 30 percent of foreign patients in 2018 were Chinese. According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute's report, in 2018 a total 378,967 Chinese received cosmetic surgery here. Americans and Japanese ranked second and third, respectively, but their combined number only amounted to 87,776. Still, the hospitals had no choice but to stop receiving Chinese customers when the third victim diagnosed with the new coronavirus here reportedly visited a plastic

Feb 11, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Plastic surgery hospitals to refuse Chinese customers

Companies

Retail companies to reorganize business structure

By Kim Jae-heunLF President & CEO Koo Bon-keulRetail companies are reorganizing their respective business structures to cope with a rapidly changing ecosystem in the industry.Expanding concerns over the spread of the coronavirus have brought uncertainties in corporate management, which has led many ― including the likes of LF Corporation, LG Household & Health Care and AmorePacific ― to either integrate or separate their subsidiaries.LF Corporation (LF) is strengthening its food and beverage (F&B) business in an effort to transform the firm into a lifestyle company. In 2007, LF established LF Food to launch a seafood buffet restaurant “Makino Chaya” and Japanese ramen brand “Hakoya.” Ten years later, LF Food acquired international food material distributing company “Mono Link” to trade items in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) sectors.Established in 2000, Mono Link has been importing international ingredients from various countries including Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. They trade directly with local compan

Feb 10, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Companies

Starbucks Korea to cut opening hours amid virus

A staff member at Starbucks store in Beijing, China, checks the temperature of a customer. / Reuters-YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunAmid the growing number of new coronavirus patients here, Starbucks Korea has decided to shorten opening hours at up to 400 stores nationwide.The global coffee franchise's Korea branch said Sunday it will close a quarter of its stores here an hour earlier starting today. It has not confirmed which stores are subject to the “preventive measure” but said they will be those close to locations where patients with the virus have visited. “The decision comes as part of our plan to protect customers from the virus while minimizing the inconvenience it can cause. We will operate our stores flexibly according to the situation,” a Starbucks Korea official said.The coffee chain also said it is reviewing whether to temporarily start serving drinks in paper cups again. To reduce the use of plastic and disposable cups here, Starbucks Korea has been serving drinks in mugs for non-takeaway orders.“We are monitoring the situation and working closely w

Feb 9, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Starbucks Korea to cut opening hours amid virus

Companies

Ministry requests FTC to probe McDonald's 'alleged unfair business practices'

People order burger meals at McDonald's restaurant in Seoul in this 2019 file photo. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunThe Ministry of SMEs and Startups has recently requested the Fair Trade Commission investigate “alleged unfair business practices” conducted by McDonald's Korea.According to the ministry, the Korean branch of the U.S.-based fast food chain received 544 million won ($458,298) from 22 prospective franchisees between Sept. 13 and Nov. 2016. According to the Fair Franchise Practices Act, franchises can keep any deposits received from prospective franchisees at a designated financial company, such as a commercial bank. This is to protect franchises from any unexpected incidents such as a franchisee going out of business or fleeing the country. The ministry said McDonald's Korea may have violated the subcontract and fair franchise practice acts.“McDonald's Korea has also failed to provide disclosure documents to prospective franchisees that give them information on how to run their franchised business,” a ministry official said. Some of them have received the

Feb 7, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Ministry requests FTC to probe McDonald's 'alleged unfair business practices'

Companies

Renault Samsung Motors to reveal six new cars

QM6 LPe vehicle by Renault Samsung Motors is seen in this photo. / Courtesy of Renault Samsung MotorsBy Kim Jae-heun2019 was a monumental year for Renault Samsung Motors. The car company collectively sold 177,450 vehicles at home and abroad. Its sport utility vehicle (SUV) QM6, in particular, took 54.8 percent of domestic sales alone to sell 47,640.In last December, Renault Samsung Motors sold 7,557 QM6 vehicles, which became the bestselling domestic SUV that month. The recognition came only six months after the motor company initially launched a modified version of the mid-sized SUV.Renault Samsung Motors attributes two factors to QM6's success: pursuing customer-oriented values and pioneering trends. According to the motor company, local customers are sensitive to market trends, which change quickly and unexpectedly. The successful launch of a vehicle such as the QM6 requires the company to stay in tune with consumer demand.The motor company' said its decision to launch QM6 LPe, the country's very first SUV running on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), was a game changer in the market.

Feb 6, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Renault Samsung Motors to reveal six new cars

Companies

GS HomeShopping closed over employee's coronavirus infection

GS HomeShopping has temporarily closed its headquarter in western Seoul, Thursday, amid confirmation of an employee being infected with the new coronavirus Wednesday evening. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunGS HomeShopping suspended operations, Thursday, following confirmation that a staff member was infected with the new coronavirus. The company will not air its live shows until 6:00 a.m., Saturday. The infected employee is a family member of another patient, the 15th victim of the epidemic here who was diagnosed Sunday. The home shopping employee had been attending the office until last Friday but was told to work from home from the next day. The employee tested positive for the virus Wednesday evening.Despite confirmation of the employee's coronavirus infection, GS HomeShopping told other employees to come to work. It also continued to run the nursery operating within its headquarters until Thursday morning. Furthermore, the company failed to notify its staff of the news.Strong pressure rose internally as well as from outside the company to shut down operations before the afternoon on the

Feb 6, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Kim Jae-heun

Read more

SK E&C signs financial deal for beltway construction in Almaty

Delivery application operators asked to improve customer service

Nongshim, HiteJinro are riding on the coattails of Parasite

CJ Group vice chairwoman in spotlight over 'Parasite' Oscar win

Plastic surgery hospitals to refuse Chinese customers

Retail companies to reorganize business structure

Starbucks Korea to cut opening hours amid virus

Ministry requests FTC to probe McDonald's 'alleged unfair business practices'

Renault Samsung Motors to reveal six new cars

GS HomeShopping closed over employee's coronavirus infection

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