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Hyundai Elevator vies to win orders from Indonesia's smart city project

A robot greets passengers on Hyundai Elevator's mock-up elevator presented at Korea International Elevator Expo held at Kintex Exhibition Center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Sept. 14, 2022. Courtesy of Hyundai ElevatorBy Kim Jae-heunHyundai Elevator will visit Indonesia as a member of “One Team Korea,” led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, to participate in a bid to win orders for smart city projects, the company said Wednesday. Indonesia is currently working on relocating its capital from Jakarta to Nusantara on Kalimantan Island, due to serious issues of population concentration and ground subsidence. Its government will invest 40 trillion won ($30.7 billion) in infrastructure development for the city and carry out a five-stage development plan for the capital relocation project until 2045, according to the company.Hyundai Group's subsidiaries Hyundai Elevator and Hyundai Movex will showcase their technologies in elevators, logistics automation and information technology to vie for contracts related to the capital relocation project. “As a me

Mar 15, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Hyundai Elevator vies to win orders from Indonesia's smart city project
Companies

POSCO International promotes Busan's Expo bid in Uzbekistan

POSCO International CEO Jeong Tak, left, poses with Uzbekistan's Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Oybek Khamraev after their meeting at the ministry office in Tashkent, on Tuesday. Courtesy of POSCO InternationalBy Kim Jae-heunPOSCO International CEO Jeong Tak visited Uzbekistan on Monday to request support for the Korean port city of Busan's bid to host the 2030 Expo, the company said Wednesday.Jeong, who is also a private bid committee member for the World Expo, met with Governor of Fergana Hayrulla Bozarov, Vice Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Oybek Khamraev and Vice Minister of Agriculture Kakhramon Yuldashev to ask for their support.“Since the establishment of the company's overseas branch in the capital city of Tashkent in 1992, POSCO International has achieved continuous cooperation and mutual growth with Uzbekistan for more than 30 years ― maintaining a special relationship as brothers and old friends,” Jeong said during his meeting with Uzbek government officials. “Korea's hosting of the World Expo in Busan in 2030 will serve as a

Mar 15, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
POSCO International promotes Busan's Expo bid in Uzbekistan
Companies

Restaurant owners reduce side dishes amid soaring vegetable prices

Side dishes served at a restaurant in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province / Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunA 32-year-old office worker surnamed Jang is surprised at how many restaurants near his company have been reducing the number of side dishes they offer.“I used to get three or four side dishes before, but these days, I only get one or two. One restaurant owner said he didn't want to raise the price, so he had to cut back on side dishes instead,” said Jang who lives in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.A 34-year-old restaurant owner surnamed Kim has already received quite a few complaints from his customers after reducing the amount of corn salad he serves as a complimentary side dish.“I used to give plenty of corn salad before, but I had to cut the amount by half because the price of corn had doubled recently. I want to give more too, but there is nothing I can do about food inflation,” said Kim who runs the eatery in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.Like Kim, many restaurateurs are facing increasingly unfavorable business conditions. On top of soaring energy costs and

Mar 15, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Restaurant owners reduce side dishes amid soaring vegetable prices
Companies

Danggeun Market hit for downplaying sexual harassment case

Danggeun Market's online flea market service / Courtesy of Danggeun MarketBy Kim Jae-heunDanggeun Market, the country's largest flea market platform, is facing growing criticism for downplaying a sexual harassment case involving its employees, according to industry officials Tuesday.Danggeun Market CEO Kim Jae-hyunThe case was made public last Saturday when a Danggeun Market employee posted a message on Blind, an online community for office workers, blasting the firm's handling of the case. The worker said the company only cut wages and lightly reprimanded three workers who were found to have sexually harassed their colleague at the in-house year-end party last December. “I am really turned off by this company for not protecting the victim but embracing the perpetrators. Is this the same at other companies?” the post read.The post immediately went viral online, drawing over 700,000 clicks in just two days and being re-twitted over 175,000 times. A number of users of the popular platform also said they are disappointed at the company and that they will cancel their members

Mar 14, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Danggeun Market hit for downplaying sexual harassment case
Politics

Coffee franchises tap into niche markets as competition intensifies

Starbucks Korea's Bukhan River R premium branch in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of Starbucks Korea By Kim Jae-heunLarge chain coffee houses used to open stores nearby subway stations or in popular downtown areas in Seoul with heavy foot traffic. Nowadays, they are focusing on introducing unique and lifestyle-oriented stores to attract customers. Starbucks Korea is the most prominent in this trend. Starting with its Yangpyeong DTR (Drive-Thru Reserve) branch in Gyeonggi Province, which opened in July 2020, the franchise has been expanding its “destination stores” throughout the capital area.A destination store is a place that people are willing to make a special trip to, solely to enjoy the unique experience it offers. They can naturally enjoy the scenery and even bring their dogs.The biggest reason behind the latest trend among local coffee house chains is to develop niche markets. The coffee franchise market in Korea is already saturated and competition

Mar 14, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Coffee franchises tap into niche markets as competition intensifies
Companies

Samsung chief plans to make more anonymous donations

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong poses with students at Gumi Electronics Technical High School in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 7. Courtesy of Samsung ElectronicsBy Kim Jae-heunSamsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong met with his employees at the company's Smart City in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, and promised to make more anonymous donations, according to industry officials Sunday.“I want to participate in volunteer works more actively, but I am well-known to the public so it's not easy for me. However, I try to donate a lot anonymously,” Lee said during a meeting with employees. “I make donations to a foreign worker's organization regularly and I wish it could create an environment where foreign laborers can live happily with their children,” the chairman added. Prior to his visit to Gumi Electronics Technical High School on March 7, Lee visited the Smart City to meet nine workers who have actively participated in the company's donation activities and community service.Samsung Electronics' Smart City in Gumi is where the company f

Mar 13, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Samsung chief plans to make more anonymous donations
Companies

Coupang withdraws from Japan to focus on Korea, Taiwan

Coupang's delivery vehicles are parked at a parking lot in Seoul on May 12, 2022. YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunCoupang has decided to withdraw its e-commerce business from Japan, 21 months after it began offering its online delivery service there, a company official said Sunday. “After testing our service as a pilot version, we have decided to withdraw our business from Japan,” a Coupang Japan official said.The Japanese daily, Nikkei, reported Saturday that Korea's largest e-commerce firm will terminate its delivery service for fresh food and daily necessities in Meguro and Setagaya, Tokyo, on March 21. The company has been operating a quick commerce service that delivers online customer purchases within 10 minutes in the two cities. It has been selling nearly 5,000 grocery items on its shopping platform in partnership with local department store, Takashimaya and the dollar-store, Daiso.However, local consumers find Coupang's service less attractive because Japan already has a strong convenience store business culture. Also, Japan has, by far, the highest senior population in the

Mar 12, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Coupang withdraws from Japan to focus on Korea, Taiwan
Companies

Korean cosmetics firms shift focus to North America from China

By Kim Jae-heunKorean cosmetics companies are stepping up efforts to expand their presence in North America, where a growing number of young consumers have become fans of Korean music, movies and other cultural contents, while reducing their dependence on China, according to company officials.Over the past decade, the cosmetics firms saw their sales grow at an explosive rate thanks to Chinese consumers who used to be big buyers of made-in-Korea beauty products. But this has become a thing of the past as more and more Chinese now prefer either high-priced European brands or affordable local ones. Now, AMOREPACIFIC, LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) and other domestic beauty product manufacturers have hired new models or rebranded their products to appeal to millennials and Gen Z consumers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.AMOREPACIFIC, Korea's largest cosmetics company, recently changed the brand logo of its premium product line, “Sulwhasoo,” from Chinese characters to English. This is the first time that AMOREPACIFIC dumped the Chinese characters that the

Mar 11, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Companies

Burger King under fire for series of price hikes

A customer exits a Burger King restaurant in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap By Kim Jae-heunA 35-year-old office worker surnamed Jang in Seoul was surprised to find out the price of his favorite burger, the Whopper, reached nearly 7,000 won ($5.30). He said it feels like each time he visits local fast-food restaurants, he pays more than he did the previous visit.“I just read a news article that Burger King is raising their burger prices again. If I am not mistaken, they already increased the price several times last year. I cannot agree on their price policy to raise prices this often and keep saying the company is affected by the soaring costs of raw ingredients and logistics,” Jang said. Another 28-year-old office worker surnamed Lee said he will not visit Burger King for a while, pointing out that there are many better options now.“Burger King's hamburger prices are about the same as those of Shake Shack now. If you ask people which brand's burger they would choose betwe

Mar 10, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Burger King under fire for series of price hikes
Companies

GS Retail faces police probe for selling butterbeer without butter

Brewguru's Beurre Biere products / Courtesy of GS RetailBy Kim Jae-heunThe Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has filed a complaint with the police against GS Retail on charges of violating the country's food labeling laws, according to the ministry Thursday.GS Retail CEO Huh Yeon-soo“Beurre Biere,” better known as butterbeer here, has been an instant hit at GS25 stores after its launch last September. GS25 is a convenience store brand operated by GS Retail.The MFDS argued that if a product wants to use “beurre” in its name, which means butter in French, it has to use butter in its manufacturing or processing system.Brewguru, the manufacturer of Beurre Biere, is also suspended from producing the alcoholic beverage for a month from March 3. “We borrowed the commonly used term (butter) to give a better understanding for consumers (about our product). Giving a nickname with a concept and characteristic to a product can easily be found in the retail business. It is not true at all that we used the term butter beer to deceive consumers deliberately,&rdqu

Mar 9, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
GS Retail faces police probe for selling butterbeer without butter
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