The Korea Times

Posco to secure key raw materials in Australia

Posco Group chairman Choi Jeong-woo, left, poses with Gina Rinehart, executive chairwoman of Hancock Prospecting, after signing a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in developing important metals at Hancock Prospecting headquarters in Western Australia, June 20. Courtesy of Posco GroupBy Kim Jae-heunPosco Group chairman Choi Jeong-woo visited Australia to assess strategic investment assets for the company's future business and discussed ways to cooperate with local raw material suppliers. Choi arrived in Western Australia on June 20 and met with Gina Rinehart, executive chairwoman of Hancock Prospecting, to sign a memorandum of understanding for strategic cooperation in developing important metals such as lithium, nickel, copper, iron ore and hot briquetted iron (HBI). HBI is a compacted formed of direct reduced iron that is manufactured with well-defined, consistent chemical and physical characteristics. They also agreed to seek opportunities for future collaboration in businesses such as mining and processing of secondary battery materials.“Posco Group and Hancock Pr

Jun 21, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Posco to secure key raw materials in Australia

Companies

Hyundai Mobis CEO vies for top spot at International Organization for Standardization

By Kim Jae-heunHyundai Mobis CEO Cho Sung-hwan is vying to become the head of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) said on Monday. Cho Sung-hwanThe election will be held during the ISO General Assembly in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, in September, and a candidate who wins the largest number of votes from 124 full-fledged members will be tapped as the new president. Cho is the first Korean to run for the non-profit organization's presidency. He will compete against the Chinese Academy of Machinery Science and Technology Group Chairman Decheng Wang. The winner will officially take office in 2024 after serving as president-elect with current chief Ulrika Francke for a year. ISO is the world's largest standard organization with more than 24,000 international standards under coverage.The president-elect gets to choose the length of his term ― between two and three years ― and Cho applied to be president for two years. The director of KATS, Lee Sang-hoon, served as an ISO president between 2020 and 2022 and

Jun 20, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Hyundai Mobis CEO vies for top spot at International Organization for Standardization

Companies

Naver, Kakao adopt more flexible work systems

Kakao employees wait for the elevator at the company's headquarters in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, in this 2014 file photo. Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunThe country's top two IT firms, Kakao and Naver, will introduce more flexible work systems starting next month as part of their efforts to retain talented employees, according to company officials, Sunday. Starting July 4, Kakao employees will have a four-day workweek every other week and will be able to work from wherever they choose. Meanwhile, Naver employees will now choose between two systems ― working fully remotely or working in the office three days a week ― with the additional option of working from shared company offices at various vacation spots for up to five days at a time.Kakao will roll out its flexible work policy in pilot form on July 4. The company has decided to recommend rather than require ― based on the objections of employees to its proposed Metaverse work system, which led to its cancellation one day after announcement ― that its employees meet offline once a week and use voice-based communication to compens

Jun 20, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Naver, Kakao adopt more flexible work systems

Companies

Wealthy consumers begin shunning luxury goods amid soaring prices

People wait in a line to purchase Chanel products prior to a price hike by the luxury brand, at a department store in Seoul, in May 2020. Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunA 34-year-old restaurant owner surnamed Kim has been purchasing a luxury-brand product every month for the past three years thanks to his flourishing business. He didn't pay too much attention to the price tags before, forking over at least 20 million won ($15,444) each month on expensive clothes and other flashy items. But his financial situation began to deteriorate after his restaurant started struggling with soaring raw material costs on top of higher labor expenses and rent.“Everything has become so expensive in recent weeks, starting with food materials, gas and rent for my restaurant. The interest rates on my business loans have gone up and will continue to climb even higher,” Kim said. “My personal investments have also been hit hard by the plunging stock market. I have to reduce unnecessary consumption starting with luxury goods for now,” Kim said. Even for the rich, now is not the rig

Jun 19, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Wealthy consumers begin shunning luxury goods amid soaring prices

Companies

'It's now a luxury to eat watermelon'

Watermelons are displayed in the produce section at an E-mart store in Seoul, on June 16.By Kim Jae-heunA 58-year-old housewife surnamed Kim was surprised to see how expensive watermelons have become in recent weeks. Watermelon is one of Koreans' favorite seasonal fruits in the summer, but many shoppers are hesitant to put one in their shopping baskets, as prices have increased by more than 30 percent from a year ago, according to retailers.“Watermelons have become 2,000 won ($1.55) to 3,000 won more expensive recently. It is my husband and children's favorite fruit, but the higher price is making me rethink purchasing it,” Kim said. Another housewife surnamed Lee said that she has been choosing other fruits over watermelon due to the high price.“How can a watermelon become 22,000 won all of sudden? I have never paid that much money to eat that fruit. It is now a luxury to eat watermelon,” Lee said.Climate change has made the volume of watermelon shipments in the country drop by 4 percent. Summer this year came earlier than expected and increasing demand for w

Jun 17, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Companies

Japanese beer makes comeback

Asahi beers / Korea Times fileAsahi to air first advertisement after Boycott Japan campaign in 2019 By Kim Jae-heunJapanese brewers are staging a comeback in the Korean market after a three-year hiatus, as they advertise new products ahead of the peak summer season, company officials said, Thursday. Asahi Breweries said it will air its online commercial for Asahi Super Dry beer on YouTube and several other social media platforms from June 17 to the end of August. The company hopes to win back its former Korean customers, who have been boycotting Japanese products since Japan removed Korea from a preferential trade list in 2019.At the time, Korea's top court had ordered Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor. Subsequently, the Japanese government retaliated by restricting Korean firms from importing some key industrial materials. This led to Korean consumers deciding to boycott all Japan-made goods in return. Japanese breweries such as Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin were the main victims of the Boycott Japan campaign and as such, stopped advertising thei

Jun 16, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Companies

AmorePacific gains momentum in US cosmetics market

AmorePacific's store at Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York / Courtesy of AmorePacificBy Kim Jae-heunAmorePacific has achieved notable business growth in the U.S. cosmetics market this year as it is stepping up efforts to reduce dependence on the Chinese market, according to company officials Wednesday. “North America is the global mecca of beauty products and it is the most important cosmetics market in the world. We have been expanding our business in the United States so as to lower our dependency on overseas sales in China, which accounts for 70 percent in total,” an AmorePacific official said.Korea's largest cosmetics market saw its North America sales grow by 60 percent in the first quarter of 2022 from the same period last year. While most AmorePacific-affiliated brands achieved decent performance, it was Sulwhasoo and Laneige that carried the high growth of overall sales in the United States. “With our luxury beauty label Sulwhasoo and a mid-to-low-priced cosmetic brand Innisfree, the company expanded its business mainly on e-commerce platforms and

Jun 15, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

AmorePacific gains momentum in US cosmetics market

Companies

SK Innovation to invest $30 mil. in Amogy

SK Innovation Vice Chairman Kim-jun, second from left, shakes hands with Amogy CEO Woo Seong-hoon, second from right, after signing a memorandum of understanding on investment and technical cooperation in San Jose, California, June 12. Courtesy of SK InnovationBy Kim Jae-heunSK Innovation has decided to invest $30 million (38.59 billion won) in Amogy, a U.S. developer of ammonia-based fuel-cell systems, and cooperate with the firm on related technologies, the local battery maker said Tuesday. This is part of SK Innovation's efforts to speed up discovering new eco-friendly projects and form a green portfolio. SK Innovation Vice Chairman Kim Jun said at a recent global forum held in the U.S. that the company will expand its portfolio and increase corporate value by securing and commercializing related technologies in the areas of zero- and low-carbon energy. This led SK Innovation and Amogy to meet in San Jose, California, on June 12, and sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in developing ammonia-based fuel system technology and expand business in the related markets

Jun 14, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

SK Innovation to invest $30 mil. in Amogy

Companies

Lotte's e-commerce unit scrambles to improve bottom line

A Lotte Mart worker hands over a customer's online order to a delivery driver in a neighborhood in Seoul, Feb. 18, 2021. Courtesy of Lotte ONBy Kim Jae-heunLotte Shopping has decided to reduce the number of delivery vehicles operated by its online shopping mall Lotte On by 20 percent as part of efforts to improve its profitability, company officials said, Tuesday. Lotte Group is a traditional retail giant here, but its e-commerce sector has failed to show substantial results in the past two years since its launch in May 2020. Lotte On's sales in the first quarter of this year stood at 26 billion won ($20.15 million), down 4.1 percent from a year earlier. Its operating loss grew by 57 percent ― increasing from 29 billion won to 45 billion won ― in the same period. The limited variety of products sold on Lotte On's platform is attributed as the main reason for the company's poor earnings. Lotte Shopping had originally planned to combine all seven of its retail subsidiaries including Lotte Department Store, Lotte Super and Lotte Homeshopping and sell their products through Lotte On. How

Jun 14, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Lotte's e-commerce unit scrambles to improve bottom line

Companies

Woowa Brothers begins renting out robot waiters

Customers receive food from Woowa Brothers' server robot Dilly Plate S at a restaurant in Seoul, on June 11. Courtesy of Woowa BrothersBy Kim Jae-heunWoowa Brothers, which operates the country's largest food delivery platform, Baedal Minjok, has launched a rental program for its hall-serving robot called “Dilly Plate S” (Dilly S), the company said Monday.“We have diversified the rental service of our server robots to help restaurant owners use them without having to spend too much money. Dilly S will definitely help self-employed people run their restaurants and create a convenient dining environment,” a Woowa Brothers official said. The company introduced Dilly S in March of this year, renting the robot for 750,000 won ($583.43) a month under a two-year contract. This time, Woowa Brothers has extended the rental contract to three years and reduced the monthly payment to 340,000 won. When the rental contract ends, people can purchase the server robot for 3 million won. Dilly S' rental service mainly targets restaurant owners who want to cut labor costs amid so

Jun 14, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Kim Jae-heun

Read more

Posco to secure key raw materials in Australia

Hyundai Mobis CEO vies for top spot at International Organization for Standardization

Naver, Kakao adopt more flexible work systems

Wealthy consumers begin shunning luxury goods amid soaring prices

'It's now a luxury to eat watermelon'

Japanese beer makes comeback

AmorePacific gains momentum in US cosmetics market

SK Innovation to invest $30 mil. in Amogy

Lotte's e-commerce unit scrambles to improve bottom line

Woowa Brothers begins renting out robot waiters

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