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Kakao considers acquiring crypto asset platform 'MiL.k'

A worker walks in the office of Kakao's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, in this 2014 file photo. Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunKakao Group is considering acquiring a 100 percent stake in Milk Partners, which runs the crypto asset platform MiL.K, local investment banking industry sources said, Monday.They said that Kakao, operator of the country's dominant messaging platform KakaoTalk, is set to spend at least 100 billion won to acquire the virtual asset platform operator.Kakao said it was merely studying the option. But one industry source said, “Kakao has been reviewing either collaborating with or taking over firms that are related to its virtual asset business.”The sources said Milk Partners received offers for business collaborations from several unnamed companies in Korea and added that they cannot rule out the possibility of Kakao acquiring a stake in the virtual asset platform operator, amid accelerated moves by top tech companies to deepen collaboration with crypto businesses. MiL.K is a blockchain-based point integrated platform, founded by Milk Par

Dec 6, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Kakao considers acquiring crypto asset platform 'MiL.k'
Companies

S-OIL CEO wins Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit

President Moon Jae-in pins the Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit medal on the breast of S-OIL CEO Hussain A. Al-Qahtani during a ceremony commemorating the 58th Trade Day held at the COEX building in Seoul, Monday. The CEO was selected as a person of merit for significantly contributing to Korea's exports. Yonhap

Dec 6, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
S-OIL CEO wins Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit
Companies

E-Mart seeks to acquire Ministop Korea

E-Mart 24 store in Incheon / Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunE-Mart 24, a convenience store brand of the country's largest retailer E-Mart, has joined the bidding to acquire No. 4 convenience store chain Ministop, an industry source said Sunday. E-Mart 24 is the only convenience store operator that joined the tender along with local private equity funds Anchor Equity Partners Korea and Unison Capital.Analysts said the acquisition will offer E-Mart 24 a chance to catch up with rival 7-Eleven, the third-largest convenience store brand in the country which runs 10,501 shops. E-Mart 24 operates 5,169 branch stores and Minstop runs 2,603 stores.Running a convenience store business is all about economies of scale ― meaning the number of stores matters the most in creating profit. As a result, acquiring Ministop is the most effective and fastest way for E-Mart 24 to bring up its performance in the market.The domestic convenience store market is already saturated and the government regulates firms from opening new stores within a 100-meter radius from one another. 7-Eleven rose as another str

Dec 5, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
E-Mart seeks to acquire Ministop Korea
Companies

Management reshuffles at Orion and Lotte surprise market insiders

From left, new Orion CEO Lee Seung-joon and new chief of Lotte Group Food & Beverage Business Unit Lee Young-goo / Courtesy of Orion and Lotte ConfectioneryBy Kim Jae-heunManagement reshuffles at the country's two top confectioners, Orion and Lotte, came as a surprise to market insiders. Orion performed well this year, but decided to change its top executives, while Lotte changed its CEO, but retained its high-level staff despite lackluster earnings.“It is understood that two companies may have the same goal of expanding their businesses, but they are using different strategies to achieve this,” an industry source said.In 2020, Orion beat Lotte to become Korea's top confectioner by sales, achieving 2.22 trillion won in annual revenue, surpassing its rival's 2.07 trillion. This year was no different with Orion bringing in 1.72 trillion won in cumulative sales as of the third quarter compared to Lotte's 1.59 trillion won. The last time Lotte was ahead of Orion was in 2019.Orion is making bigger profits too. It earned 376.1 billion won last year, which is more than tripl

Dec 5, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Management reshuffles at Orion and Lotte surprise market insiders
Companies

Baedal Minjok to abolish on-the-spot payment

A Baedal Minjok delivery person rides a scooter on a road in Seoul on Sept. 23, 2020, while delivering food in the back. YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunThe country's No.1 food delivery service, Baedal Minjok (Baemin), will no longer take payments on delivery. The new policy is part of Baemin's efforts to strengthen its contactless payment system while reducing consumers' possible exposure to crime.The big player in the food delivery business said Thursday, its delivery people will only receive cash until Dec. 29. However, this policy only applies for “Baemin 1” and “Baemin Riders” services users, where drivers directly hired by Baemin deliver purchased food. Restaurants that employ their own drivers will still receive cash. Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baemin, decided to abolish on-the-spot payments to reduce the interaction time between customers and drivers amid the ongoing pandemic.“We are often asked to leave the food at the door because customers have already paid online. We didn't have many people paying on the spot anyways,” a Woowa Brothers offici

Nov 29, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Baedal Minjok to abolish on-the-spot payment
Companies

Entertainment gurus to invest in NFTs, metaverse

HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, left, and Dunamu Chairman Song Chi-hyung talk about their plans for business collaboration in the non-fungible token sector on YouTube on Nov. 5. Screen-captured from HYBE YouTubeBy Kim Jae-heunHigh-profile entertainment companies are expanding their businesses into the metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT) sectors by investing in firms with related technologies and services. This shows their drives to create synergy between their main businesses and the developing sectors while increasing their corporate value.Last year, HYBE, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment have all invested in Naver Z, operator of Zepeto, Korea's leading metaverse platform. HYBE spent the most among three by purchasing a 4.26 percent stake in the firm for 7 billion won ($5.86 million). HYBE also spent 4 billion won on Giant Step, an artificial intelligence-based content solution company, while securing 2.48 percent of Dunamu for 500 billion won through a share swap agreement. YG Entertainment's YG Investment achieved an operating profit of 8 billion won in the third quarter of t

Nov 27, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Entertainment gurus to invest in NFTs, metaverse
Companies

Lotteria's price hike draws customer complaints

A staffer at a Lotteria restaurant in Seoul carries food ingredient deliveries into the store Oct. 28, 2020. Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunConsumers are complaining about a recent price hike for of Lotteria's hamburgers, after the country's top chicken restaurant franchise Kyochon Food & Beverage (F&B) raised its menu prices last month. “I cannot understand how a fast food burger item can cost over 9,000 won, when a pot of Korean sausage and rice soup costs 7,000 won,” a consumer surnamed Kim said. “Kyochon chicken menu items cost nearly 20,000 or more now. It is ridiculous to see how they raise prices following the government's adoption of the Living with COVID-19 plan,”Lotte GRS, the operator of Lotteria, said Wednesday it will increase prices for all of its menu items by 4.1 percent on average. This is the second price hike since February, when the hamburger franchise raised the prices of its 25 menu items by 1.5 percent on average.The company said it had no choice because the minimum wage rose along with a surge in raw material prices due to the o

Nov 26, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Lotteria's price hike draws customer complaints
Companies

E-Mart24 in bind over acquiring more stores

A customer purchases a used item at an E-mart24 store in Seoul on Jan. 28. YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunE-Mart's convenience store brand E-Mart24 is in a double bind, where it can neither open stores aggressively due to a government regulation, nor can it acquire other firms to grow in size, because its mother company recently spent 3.8 trillion won to take over both eBay Korea and W Concept.The convenience store firm said that it will differentiate its stores from others by operating them with unstaffed technology, but this decision too does not look to be enough to help E-Mart24 become one of the top three convenience store brands. According to the Financial Supervisory Service on Wednesday, GS25 marked 1.92 trillion won ($1.61 billion) in sales in the third quarter of this year to rank No.1 in the local market. CU, operated by BGF Retail, took the No. 2 spot with its sales reaching 1.83 trillion won ($1.53 billion), followed by Seven Eleven in third place with 1.13 trillion won ($949.65 million) in sales. E-Mart24 only logged 517.8 billion won ($435.1 million) in sales. E-Mart24 is a late

Nov 25, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
E-Mart24 in bind over acquiring more stores
Companies

Coupang to spend $308 mil. to expand distribution network

Coupang's distribution center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province / Yonhap By Kim Jae-heunCoupang, Korea's largest online retailer, borrowed $308 million from a bank by putting up real estate holdings as collateral to expand its distribution network, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.Also known as “fulfillment centers,” the distribution warehouses play a key role in delivering online orders to customers across the country.Coupang confirmed that it obtained the loan, noting that it is part of a long-term investment to enhance its share of the e-commerce market.The online retailer pledged to invest 1 trillion won ($842.8 million) to expand logistics facilities nationwide, following its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in March.The company did not disclose any further details regarding the loan, including the name of the bank that offered the money.The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Coupang borrowed $169 million in August an

Nov 24, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Coupang to spend $308 mil. to expand distribution network
Companies

BAT Sacheon Factory kicks off green solar power generation

BAT Sacheon Factory in South Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of BAT BAT strengthens investments in green manufacturing to advance its 'A Better Tomorrow' strategyBy Kim Jae-heun British American Tobacco (BAT) has completed the construction of eco-friendly solar power facilities at the BAT Sacheon Factory in South Gyeongsang Province, marking the commencement of its green energy operations.Solar panels have been installed over the entire roof of the factory building as part of its reusable power generation project, one of the company's environmental initiatives. The tobacco firm plans to expand the entire eco-friendly energy-generation facility to cover parking lots, where it will operate solar power modules with a total area of 16,000 square meters.The BAT Sacheon Factory looks forward to a revolutionary carbon reduction effect by operating a solar power facility, which produces up to 1,435 kilowatts of electricity annually. It is expected to reduce carbon emissions

Nov 23, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
BAT Sacheon Factory kicks off green solar power generation
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