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Park Jin-hai

Korea Times K-Culture Reporter

Park Jin-hai primarily focuses on K-dramas, entertainment shows and actor interviews. Beyond that, she also pens articles covering the broader arts scene, with a particular emphasis on classical music, dance and various aspects of lifestyle. Since joining The Korea Times in 2013, she has made significant contributions in the realms of hallyu (Korean wave), industry news and international affairs.

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Companies

Hanwha distributes Braille calendars

Hanwha Group employees stand behind a specially designed “calendar of love” Braille calendar. The company has distributed 50,000 copies to related organizations and individuals. / Courtesy of Hanwha GroupBy Park Jin-haiAs a part of its social responsibility program for the visually challenged, Hanwha Group has made 50,000 Braille calendars for 2016 and delivered them to related organizations, the company said Tuesday.The nation’s tenth largest conglomerate has been delivering the specially designed “calendar of love” since 2000.The campaign began with 5,000 copies of desk-top calendars after its chairman, Lee Seung-youn, read an e-mail from a blind person who pleaded for support for visually challenged people. The calendar has grown in size through getting greater responses from many organizations.“The campaign was intended so that all blind people can share the joy of greeting the New Year,” said a company official.Now, wall calendars have been added and distributed to the people in need.The calendars were made after a review of experts said

Dec 29, 2015By Park Jin-hai
Companies

Year 2016 will see more green, sport utility vehicles

Hyundai Motor Ioniq hybrid sedanBy Park Jin-haiIf the local auto industry saw its biggest domestic sales and the rise of compact SUVs in 2015, customers will likely see more environmentally friendly vehicles in 2016.Domestic vehicle sales reached a record 1.8 million this year, with imported carmakers taking another 23 percent jump in sales growth at 220,000.Compact SUVs, including Renault Samsung’s QM3, GM Korea’s Trax and Ssangyong’s Tivoli, have emerged as hot as ever, doubling the sales growth of such vehicles two years in a row.Hyundai Motor’s launch of its new luxury Genesis, aiming to compete against German luxury carmakers, has also made a big mark in the local car industry. However, the upcoming year will see a slimmer market, down 3 percent from this year, and it will be greener, with more SUVs. The five local automakers’ sales have been predicted to slip 4.6 percent to 1.47 million next year, but the imported automakers’ sales have been forecast to go up 7.7 percent to 280,000, according to the recently released Korea Automobil

Dec 29, 2015By Park Jin-hai
Companies

Dongwha boosts employees' English proficiency

Ahn Seong-jin, NIE (Newspaper in Education) Times Editor, gives a lector to Dongwha Enterprise employees, at the company’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on Nov. 26. / Courtesy of Dongwha EnterpriseBy Park Jin-haiDongwha Enterprise’s headquarters in Yeouido are packed with employees asking about “long forgotten” English grammar during a two-hour lecture.“The basic passive voice sentence is formed of the verb ‘to be’ and a ‘past particle,’” Ahn Seong-jin, NIE (Newspaper in Education) Times Editor, told the employees.Since August, more than 100 people have applied for the lecture series.Dongwha Group’s wood materials manufacturing unit has been striving to boost the English competence of its employees in order to nurture them as global talent. It has four overseas offices and factories in Vietnam, Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand.“Our company provides able employees, regardless of age and rank, opportunities to work at our overseas offices,” said Dongwha Enterprise official Lee Ki-young.“Only a year

Dec 28, 2015By Park Jin-hai
Companies

Car imports outpace exports of minor three

By Park Jin-haiThough the Volkswagen scandal left a dent in the carmakers’ image this year, their sales figures have nonetheless grown stronger.As of November, the total worth of imported autos far exceeded exports of the three local automakers that rank behind Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, according to data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), Monday.Korea imported $8.74 billion worth of automobiles, up 22 percent year-on-year during the first eleven months of this year.However, GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and Ssangyong Motor altogether exported $7.61 billion worth of automobiles, down 8.2 percent, showing a $1.13 billion negative gap between them and the imports.It is the first time that the value of automobile imports has surpassed that of vehicles exported by the three companies.Due to the rising popularity of imported cars here, the gap has been substantially narrowing since 2013, according to KAMA. In 2013, the combined exports posted by the three automakers came to $10.8 billion, far outpacing the $5.5 billion of imported cars. But

Dec 28, 2015By Park Jin-hai
Companies

Hyundai Motor tapped non-Korean executives in annual reshuffle

By Park Jin-haiKim Hun-sooHyundai Motor vice presidentPark Gwang-sikKia Motors vice presidentManfred FitzgeraldHyundai executive directorLuc DonckerwolkeHyundai executive directorHyundai Motor Group (HMG) carried out its annual executive-level reshuffle on Monday, promoting a smaller-sized group of 368 officials on a more merit-based shakeup.That’s 15 percent fewer executives than were promoted a year earlier, signaling that the world’s fifth-largest carmaker is preparing for a dismal global economic outlook, rather than thinking of expansion.It promoted eight new vice presidents, including Hyundai Vice President Kim Hun-soo and Kia Vice President Park Kwang-sik, and promoted 29 executive directors and 81 directors.Notable was the tapping of global talents and elevation of R&D personnel.As the company announced earlier during the launch for the Genesis luxury brand, former Bentley styling chief Luc Donckerwolke has been appointed to the head of design for the Hyundai and Kia brands, succeeding Peter Schreyer. He led car design at Audi, Lamborghini and S

Dec 28, 2015By Park Jin-hai
Hyundai Motor tapped non-Korean executives in annual reshuffle
Companies

Hyundai to top 100 million global sales

Record sales will become possible in first half of 2016By Park Jin-haiGlobal sales of Hyundai Motor and its sibling Kia Motors are expected to top the 100 million mark in the first half of next year.It will be a pivotal moment for the nation’s two largest carmakers, which began selling Korea-made cars in 1962.Hyundai and Kia had sold 97.11 million vehicles as of November. Hyundai sold an accumulated 62.38 million, while Kia sold 34.73 million.Given the average monthly global sales of 650,000, sales figure are expected to go beyond 100 million mark by March or April. Kia began domestic sales earlier in 1962, followed by Hyundai in 1968. The exports started with Kia in 1975 and Hyundai in 1976.The two achieved 10 million sales in 1993 and doubled this in 1999.Since Hyundai Motor Group was launched in 2000, their growth momentum has soared.After reaching 30 million sales in 2003 and 40 million in 2006, it has been adding 10 million almost one or two years.It achieved 50 million in 2008, 60 million in 2010, 70 million in 2012 and 80 million in 2013, before reaching 90 million

Dec 27, 2015By Park Jin-hai
Companies

SK E&C signs deal with China's largest builder

SK E&C CEO Choi Gwang-cheol, third from left, and CSCEC Chairman Guan Qing, fourth from left, pose after signing an MOU in Beijing this month. / Courtesy of SK E&CBy Park Jin-haiSK Engineering & Construction (SK E&C) has signed a strategic partnership with China’s largest builder the China State Construction Engineering Corporation CSCEC, SK said Sunday.Earlier this month, SK E&C signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CSCEC for a comprehensive and strategic partnership on overseas projects.With SK E&C CEO Choi Gwang-cheol and CSCEC Chairman Guan Qing present, the MOU signing ceremony was held at the CSCEC headquarters in Beijing.The companies agreed to cooperate in their major area of businesses, such as the petrochemical, power and railway sectors.The deep-pocketed CSCEC and SK E&C will participate in overseas investment development projects in China and elsewhere, the company said.“The latest MOU, in particular, has laid important groundwork for us to make inroads into the global infrastructure construction market including the Asian

Dec 27, 2015By Park Jin-hai
Companies

GS Caltex focuses on local needs in CSR

GS Caltex employees pack gifts for a Santa Claus-clad volunteer to deliver to children at Dream Tree Village orphanage in Seoul. / Courtesy of GS CaltexBy Park Jin-haiGS Caltex under the slogan of “Beautiful World through Energy Sharing” carries out a range of social responsibility programs, which cater to the needs of local people.The “Maeum TokTok,” one of its representative nation-wide CSR programs, provides psychological therapy through art, acting and dancing for children who have suffered from violence at home and in school since 2013. So far, more than 7,400 children have been through this program.Currently, more than 50 percent of employees at the nation’s second largest oil refiner have been voluntarily participating in the program, while the company runs a matching grant system to support their contribution. GS Caltex has also committed itself to meeting a desire for culture from people living in less developed areas. Spending 110 billion won, it built a giant cultural center named Yeulmaru in Yeosu, where its main plant is located.The fac

Dec 27, 2015By Park Jin-hai
Companies

Hyundai reaches tentative agreement with labor

Hyundai Motor management and union announce that they reached a tentative agreement in this year’s wage talks at the company’s Ulsan plant, Thursday. / YonhapBy Park Jin-haiHyundai Motor has reached a tentative agreement in this year’s wage talks, ending more than six months of negotiations, the company said Thursday.The agreement is for an 85,000 won increase in base pay, a 300 percent plus 2 million won bonus, and other incentives including a Genesis launching and quality bonus.The company and union also agreed on an eight-plus-eight-hour daytime shift, one hour less than the present eight-plus-nine-hour system.Unionists agreed to maintain production by increasing efficiency and reducing break times.The parties held 33 dialogue sessions since June, but had a hard time in closing the gap in demands.Along with the wage talks, issues such adopting a peak wage system and expanding the definition of “ordinary wages,” the basis for fixing employees’ benefits, have added to the problems.During the time, Park Yu-ki, a hard-line former union leader, was e

Dec 24, 2015By Park Jin-hai
Companies

Hyundai EQ900 receives design award in U.S.

Hyundai Motor’s luxury sedan EQ900By Park Jin-haiHyundai Motor’s luxury sedan EQ900, globally named G90 under the newly launched Genesis brand, received a Good Design Award in the transportation design category, the company said Wednesday.The award is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in architecture and design. It honors the achievements of the best industrial and graphic designers and world manufactures for the year.Awarded in Chicago by an international jury of design professionals, architects, experts and cultural leaders, some 900 products from 47 countries vie for awards in all categories.Hyundai said the EQ900, has been highly praised for its defined and elegant design elements from its bold front grill, headlamps, all the way through its fluidic contour. It is the top-of-the-line Genesis model.“It is meaningful that our luxury sedan’s design has been recognized in the U.S., home to some of the world’s great automakers,” said a Hyundai official. “With the award, we have secured a base from where we can be successful in the

Dec 23, 2015By Park Jin-hai
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