my timesThe Korea Times
jhkim

Kim Jae-heun

Korea Times Print Reporter

Go to Email

Read more

Companies

Eugene Asset Management to take over Joonggonara

Joonggonara corporate image / Courtesy of JoonggonaraBy Kim Jae-heunThe country's first online flea market platform Joonggonara is about to be sold to Eugene Asset Management.According to a source from an investment bank, the two entities will meet within this week to sign a stock sale agreement.Joonggonara's value is currently estimated at around 100 billion won ($87.41 million). The two parties began negotiating with the aim of striking a deal since early last year. Eugene Asset Management is eyeing acquiring 62.87 percent of Joonggonara's ordinary shares, followed by 47.78 percent owned by its CEO Lee Seung-woo, along with some preferred stocks. Kiwoom Securities and Pureun Partners Asset Management, two financial investors holding Joonggonara's preferred stocks, plan to unload their holdings as well.However, other strategic investors are planning to keep their stocks with the expectation that Joonggonara's financial condition will improve once the acquisition proposal is completed. “Eugene Asset Management has been stumbling in raising funds to acquire the management rights

Mar 11, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Eugene Asset Management to take over Joonggonara
Companies

ANALYSIS Labor issues may hamper Coupang's sustainability

A delivery worker poses with a parcel in front of a vehicle at Coupang's fulfilment center in Seoul in this 2019 file photo. Courtesy of Coupang By Kim Jae-heun, Kim Yoo-chul Korea's top e-commerce company Coupang is seeking to raise up to $4.08 billion in its U.S. initial public offering (IPO) after increasing its target price.In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company and its current shareholders said they plan to offer 120 million ordinary shares at $32 to $34 apiece ― an earlier forecast was $27 to $30. At the high-end target price ― $34 ― Coupang could be valued at $58 billion based on the number of outstanding shares. Coupang will be traded under the ticker CPNG from March 11. Investors and stock market analysts say Coupang's business sustainability depends upon a detailed assessment of its labor conflicts, because the company's core competency lies in the intensity of its logistics network. The company's business model is

Mar 9, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
[ANALYSIS] Labor issues may hamper Coupang's sustainability
Music

SeAH Woon Hyung Lee Foundation to hold online concert

Promotional poster for a performance of the opera “The Marriage of Figaro” by the SeAH Woon Hyung Lee Foundation, March 20 / Courtesy of SeAH Woon Hyung Lee FoundationBy Kim Jae-heun The SeAH Woon Hyung Lee Foundation will bring Mozart's comic opera “The Marriage of Figaro” to the stage without a live audience March 20 as part of its “Opera Bucket” series at the Seoul Arts Center. The concert will be aired online on Naver TV and YouTube starting from 7 p.m. on the day.Opera Bucket concerts were first started in 2015 to inherit the will of Lee Woon-hyung, the late SeAH Group chairman and an avid opera fan. This year marks the sixth such concert to be held. Many classical music performances have been canceled here since last year due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. However, the SeAH Woon Hyung Lee Foundation decided to hold the concert without an audience to help local opera singers who have not been able to perform for some time. This year, the Opera Bucket will tackle the popular “The Marriage of Figaro.” Unlike typical opera p

Mar 9, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
SeAH Woon Hyung Lee Foundation to hold online concert
Companies

Market Kurly under fire for blacklisting staff

Market Kurly founder and CEO Sophie Kim speaks during a press conference at the company's headquarters in Seoul, in this 2019 file photo. YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunLocal grocery delivery firm Market Kurly has come under fire for blacklisting temporary workers at its logistics centers and allegedly dismissing ones who were labelled as troublemakers.According to an investigative report by Kyunghyang Shinmun, a vernacular daily, managers at Market Kurly's distribution centers allegedly formed a blacklist of workers they said showed poor performance or caused problems at worksites and fired them.At least 500 names have reportedly been found to be on the blacklist and the managers shared this with five employment agencies to prevent the workers from finding other jobs. Market Kurly said it only collected the names of lazy workers aiming to discontinue their employment contracts. But the workers said mangers used the list as a tool to dismiss those they found to be annoying.A 29-year-old worker said on condition of anonymity that he was blacklisted for leaving work early two times, even though

Mar 7, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Market Kurly under fire for blacklisting staff
Companies

Etude House's capital impairment troubles AmorePacific

Etude House store in Dubai, United Arab Emirates / Courtesy of AmorePacific By Kim Jae-heunAmorePacific's cosmetics brand Etude House once aspired to become a global brand. However, after years of accumulating losses, Etude became capital impaired and AmorePacific is agonizing as it looks for a way to save the brand.Capital impairment means a company is worth less than the par value of its issued stock. Etude is in urgent need of capital, but most of AmorePacific's subsidiaries are not faring much better. According to AmorePacific, Tuesday, Etude's total equity stood at minus 6.6 billion won after its total liabilities of 56.6 billion won exceeded its total assets of 49.9 billion won. It faced consecutive asset impairment losses in both 2019 and 2020. Its cumulative net losses over the last four years and costs of restructuring road shops caused the brand to suffer capital impairment. AmorePacific said it checked for capital impairment after Etude's operating losses

Mar 5, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Etude House's capital impairment troubles AmorePacific
Companies

BGF Retail to bolster CU brand power in Asia

People drink beverages on the terrace of a CU convenience store in Ulaanbaatar in this 2018 file photo. Courtesy of BGF Retail By Kim Jae-heunLocal retail giant BGF Retail is seeking to build its CU convenience store chain into a global brand starting in Asia.The confidence comes from the success of its convenience store business in Mongolia. BGF Retail entered the market there in 2018 and expanded its presence quickly by opening more than 100 stores. CU is currently the No.1 convenience store brand in Mongolia. The achievement contrasts with American convenience store chain Circle K that only managed to open 20 stores in Mongolia after entering the market at the same time as CU. Around 1,000 people visit CU stores in Mongolia on average every day, which is 3.2 times more than the visitor traffic at its stores in Korea. CU's success can be attributed to its master franchise contract with a local firm called Central Express. Under a master franchise contract, the mas

Mar 5, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
BGF Retail to bolster CU brand power in Asia
Companies

15th Shake Shack in Korea

American fast food restaurant chain Shake Shack, operated by SPC Group, is opening its 15th store at Lotte Department Store in Nowon District, northeastern Seoul, next month. Prior to the opening, SPC is displaying art on the construction site hoarding in front of the restaurant in collaboration with illustrator Atmosphere. Courtesy of SPC

Mar 3, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
15th Shake Shack in Korea
Companies

Coupang Eats' new delivery fee policy hits riders

A Coupang Eats rider delivers food on a bicycle in Seoul, in this Jan. 31 handout photo. Courtesy of CoupangBy Kim Jae-heunLocal food delivery platform Coupang Eats has met resistance from the union that represents its riders after reducing its commission fee for workers of the delivery service.Coupang Eats adopted a new fee system on Tuesday that pays delivery workers 600 won less than the previous 3,100 won of its standard commission fee. Instead, the food delivery player decided to pay an additional 10,000 won to those who travel long distances for a given delivery. This sets a maximum 16,000 won delivery fee for riders. However, for delivery workers who only want to travel short distances, this means a major reduction in their pay. Those who deliver 10 orders per day ― supposing that they only take orders traveling short distances ― will receive about 200,000 won less in earnings per month. A group of delivery workers on a Naver internet community proposed going on strike for a day. “If we accept Coupang's new policy, it will lead to a reduction in our pay with other food d

Mar 3, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Coupang Eats' new delivery fee policy hits riders
Companies

Employee complaints grow at Naver, Kakao

Founder of Kakao Kim Beom-su gives a speech to students at Hanyang University in Seoul in October 2020. YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunNaver and Kakao are the country's two largest internet firms that young people dream of working at. However, contrary to what outsiders think, workers there have a lot of complaints. According to Blind, an anonymous mobile message board used by office workers, Naver set unfair standards on giving out “performance-based bonuses” to its employees, and most of the bonus pay went to senior executives. Meanwhile, a Kakao worker posted a message implying they would commit suicide after allegedly being bullied at work. Other Kakao workers there said on condition of anonymity that there is a problem with the personal appraisal system at Kakao and it may have forced this worker into the corner. This brought the founders of the two firms to hold online meetings with their workers to talk about ongoing issues on Thursday. Naver employees expressed dissatisfaction about receiving the same amount of bonuses despite the company's sales and operating profit last y

Feb 26, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Employee complaints grow at Naver, Kakao
Companies

Lotte Shopping struggles to find its place online

Cho Yong-je, former head of the e-commerce business unit at Lotte Shopping, speaks about Lotte ON during a press conference held at Lotte Shopping headquarters in Seoul, April 2020. Courtesy of Lotte ShoppingBy Kim Jae-heunLocal retail giant Lotte Shopping is still lost in its online business sector despite Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin's strong push to reorganize offline businesses and focus on digitization. Lotte Shopping launched its online shopping platform Lotte ON last April, combining all seven of the company's retail brands including Lotte Department Store, Lotte Mart and Lotte Home Shopping. However, it started off uneasy with the platform's online traffic overloading and data processing paralyzed. The company took quick action to settle down the problem but the real issue lied with customers not returning to shop with Lotte ON. Last year, Lotte Shopping's gross merchandise value (GMV) with Lotte ON stood at 7.6 trillion won, which is only 7 percent up from the previous year when it did not have the combined shopping platform. Considering that the size of the domestic online

Feb 26, 2021By Kim Jae-heun
Lotte Shopping struggles to find its place online
previous page
9596979899
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.