The Korea Times

Doosan freezes paychecks on employees

By Park Jin-haiFaced with a prolonged slump in the manufacturing sector, Doosan Group froze wages for its affiliates this year.As a pre-emptive measure to take on challenges amid a drop in confidence among its chief international competitors, the country’s mid-sized conglomerate has chosen to cut wages as a short-term solution.Except for the group’s advertising arm of Oricom, the group’s other affiliates will be affected by the freeze, said sources directly involved with the issue, Sunday.“The market growth in businesses that Doosan operates has flattened due to fierce competition and increasing uncertainties. This situation is forcing the group to save expenditures in operations and to cut other fixed costs,” said one source.Doosan Group’s major affiliates have an annual wage system whereby employees’ salaries are negotiated after performance evaluations in June.This year, the conglomerate carried out the consultation sessions with the workers, but it didn’t lead to wage hikes.Such moves are intended to prepare for the worst because th

Oct 4, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Companies

Hyundai Motor heir's share purchase boost succession

By Park Jin-haiChung Eui-sunHyundai Motor Vice ChairmanThe Hyundai Motor heir apparent’s recent move to purchase Hyundai Motor shares owned by its affiliate Hyundai Heavy Industries could be a signal of corporate governance restructuring linked to its succession plan, experts said.“It is highly likely that the move can be read in the context of corporate governance. As it followed the Hyundai Mobis purchase of its own shares a day earlier, the timing signals that the corporate governance restructuring may have kicked off,” said Lim Eun-young, an analyst at Samsung Securities.Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun spent nearly 500 billion won ($419.3 million) to purchase 3.16 million Hyundai Motor shares from Hyundai Heavy in after-hour trading on Wednesday.With the purchase this time, Chung’s stake in Hyundai Motor has been jacked up to 1.44 percent, from almost nothing.Chung previously had only a 1.75 percent stake in Kia Motors and 31.88 percent of Hyundai Glovis shares, which has little influence on the corporate governance structure.His father, Cha

Sep 25, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Hyundai Motor heir's share purchase boost succession

Companies

Volkswagen scandal probe may lead to other diesel cars here

By Park Jin-haiVolkswagen BeetleVolkswagen JettaAudi A3GolfThe government probe of Volkswagen cars, found to have manipulated software to pass emissions tests in the U.S., may expand to other diesel cars in Korea.The Environment Ministry has selected the Volkswagen cars, which arrived at the port at Pyeongtaek, and secured them for full-scale inspection on Thursday, the day after it held a meeting with Volkswagen Korea and said it began inspections of its four diesel cars. It also said the full-scale inspection may expand to other diesel cars here.When the carmaker was found to have manipulated data to pass the emissions test here, the Environment Ministry said it may issue a recall, the revocation of its certificate and a fine of 1 billion won for each model, which is the maximum fine under Korean law.“We are carrying out the test on the defeat device in the same manner as it was done in the United States. If the result turns out to prove the device was adjusted to give a false reading, it may lead to a recall here,” said an Environment Ministry official.Until now, the g

Sep 24, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Volkswagen scandal probe may lead to other diesel cars here

Companies

One Dongwha Camp boosts understanding, communication

By Park Jin-hai NAMYANGJU, Gyeonggi Province ― At the One Dongwha Camp, 37 foreign workers from Dongwha’s five overseas offices in Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong shouted “Daebak!” a Korean word meaning super cool, in unison.On the first evening of the annual event, participants wearing different colors cheered for their teams in a game where people passed a ping-pong ball to each other using chopsticks.The One Dongwha Camp is Dongwha Group’s cultural initiative aimed at better communication and as a reward for its hardworking overseas employees.The leading building and decorative materials manufacturer says communication is an important issue for a multinational company, and the camp helps foster better communication among employees living across different borders.  “Prior to the event, we had our own worries, because there was an emotional barrier separating one group of people from another,” said a company spokeswoman during the event at the Dongwha Culture Village in Whado, Namyangju, Gyeonggi Provinc

Sep 22, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Companies

About Dongwha Group

Dongwha Group’s headquarters in SeoulDongwha Group, founded in 1948 as a wood manufacturer, has evolved into a building and decorative materials company, producing wood boards, chemicals, construction and home building materials. It extended its business area to second-hand automobiles with Dongwha M Park in 2011 and most recently to media through the acquisition of Korean daily newspaper Hankook Ilbo and The Korea Times.The company has five affiliates including Dongwha Enterprise and Daesung Wood. It has overseas production bases in Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.In the domestic wood materials market, Dongwha is the No.1 supplier, with nearly 70 percent share of the local particle board market and 24 percent for medium density fiberboard.Last year, it posted 565.2 billion won in sales. 

Sep 22, 2015By Park Jin-hai

One Dongwha Camp boosts understanding, communication

Companies

NZ participant bags new ideas from camp

By Park Jin-haiChristopher Paul KevilleChristopher Paul Keville, operations manager at Dongwha New Zealand, says communication has been an issue at his work place too.“It wasn’t serious, but it was more a misunderstanding. From our point of view, the Korean culture is still foreign to us, and it’s not something we see day to day,” he said during the interview with The Korea Times.The ways of thinking and the decision-making processes are really quite different, he said.“Your schooling is very different from our schooling. It is quite normal for one of my staff to bypass me and talk to my manager in New Zealand. In Korean culture, that is disrespectful. There are things like that where we’ve had to learn to adapt and change, make sure we’re not building a fence and blocking what we’re trying to do every day.”Keville, who is visiting Korea with four other New Zealanders, says he is still on a steep learning curve. “At the end of the day, I’m in the middle. I will respect the Korean way when I’m dealing with my Kore

Sep 22, 2015By Park Jin-hai

One Dongwha Camp boosts understanding, communication

Companies

'I am proud to be Dongwha family'

By Park Jin-haiPhan Dinh ToanPhan Dinh Toan, logistics team manager and elected trade union chairman of VRG Dongwha MDF in Vietnam, says that before he joined the company his perception of Korean companies was largely negative.“As we see in newspaper reports about hot-tempered and abusive Korean owners beating Vietnamese employees, my image about Korean firms was not good,” said Phan during an interview with The Korea Times.But since he joined Dongwha, he said he is proud to be part of the Dongwha family.“Our workers’ morale is especially high,” said Phan, the father of two children.  “The Vietnam plant capacity has increased 20 percent in the past two years. Previously, Vietnamese workers moved to the region to work at the plant by themselves without their families because it is far from the capital. Now their families are moving to the region to be with them, because they see the company has further growth potential.”  Because the plant is operating at capacity, another production line will be added by next year, Phan said.He said

Sep 22, 2015By Park Jin-hai

One Dongwha Camp boosts understanding, communication

Companies

Lotte to launch mobile payment system this month

By Park Jin-haiShin Dong-binLotte Group ChairmanLotte Group said Monday it has completed its L-Pay mobile payment system and will start operating the service this month.This has been regarded as the key to the group’s omni-channel shopping system that ties together all means of purchasing, such as on- and off-line venues and mobile devices.The L-Pay enables customers to use L Point credit card points as well as Lotte credit card and all other credit cards with ease, once they download an application on their smart phones.“To extend our business area, we have launched the innovation lab and we will continue to find new business opportunities. In the finance sector, we are diversifying our business portfolio from the credit card business to fintech,” said Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin at a recent Asian Business Counsel forum.“We plan to start commercial services this month,” he added.As the retail mogul is about to make inroads into the mobile payment system, based on its off-line retail networks, industry watchers expect competition in the mobile pay

Sep 21, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Lotte to launch mobile payment system this month

Companies

HiteJinro launches premium soju gift sets

Ilpoom Jinro setBy Park Jin-haiHiteJinro launched premium soju and wine gift sets for the Chuseok holiday, said the company on Sunday.The leading beverage maker of the nation rolled out its Ilpoom Jinro set and 35 kinds of wines for the season.Ilpoom Jinro soju, a 10 year old soju distilled from pure rice and aged in oak, has been popular during the holiday season as a gift set for years.With its distinctive taste with clean and smooth notes and a lasting delicate scent, the limited edition gift set sells out quickly after its release each season, said the company.Two bottles of Ilpoom Jinro soju (375 ml, each) and a pair of shot glasses and another pair of cocktail glasses come with each set.For this year’s set, golden colored silk cloth encase the bottles, while the traditionally made Hanji paper label adds to the attractiveness of the gift set.Ilpoom Jinro soju began selling at the Dubai International Airport in the UAE in August, raising awareness of Korean premium soju overseas.The liquor was given awards at three top world spirit competitions, including the Monde Selectio

Sep 20, 2015By Park Jin-hai

HiteJinro launches premium soju gift sets

Companies

Rexton W revives Ssyangyong's old honor as classic SUV maker

Ssangyong Motors’ Rexton W SUVBy Park Jin-haiAt first, it sounds like another tall task for Ssangyong Motors, after the now-popular the Tivoli compact SUV was driven on a race track.The mid-size SUV is Ssangyong’s second ambition to take back the glory it enjoyed as the maker of the best SUVs in Korea. If the Tivoli SUV aims at the urban driver, the Rexton W aims to be the “SUV to the bone” customized for the off-road.Armed with an engine that meets Euro-6 emission standards and a Mercedes seven-speed transmission, the new Rexton W’s media test-drive took place on Mount Kalbong, in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, the hot spot for mountain bikers and off-road drivers. Driving on a gravel road climbing a rugged 900 meters, the new Rexton W SUV was certainly a challenge to drive.  The gravel road, covered as it was with large rocks all along the way, the SUV took a beating, but the 2.2-liter diesel powered SUV was drivable, even when the road was at its roughest.The impact delivered to the driver, despite the rough road, was not as much as I expected

Sep 17, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Park Jin-hai

Read more

Doosan freezes paychecks on employees

Hyundai Motor heir's share purchase boost succession

Volkswagen scandal probe may lead to other diesel cars here

One Dongwha Camp boosts understanding, communication

About Dongwha Group

NZ participant bags new ideas from camp

'I am proud to be Dongwha family'

Lotte to launch mobile payment system this month

HiteJinro launches premium soju gift sets

Rexton W revives Ssyangyong's old honor as classic SUV maker

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