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Kang Seung-woo

Korea Times Business Reporter

Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.

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Companies

VAT frustrates pet owners

By Kang Seung-woo The government’s plan to impose a tax on medical treatment for pets faces a great deal of opposition, as veterinarians as well as owners are compiling a petition to reverse it. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced in August that a 10-percent value added tax (VAT) will be levied on such medical treatments from July 2011. The introduction of the new tax is being pushed as part of efforts to increase tax revenue and plug shortfalls expected for next year. Last year the government tried to pass the bill only to drop it after meeting intense resistance from those affected by the issue. According to ministry officials, vets and animal hospitals have so far received tax benefits, but the new tax is being introduced based on the global standard that only medical treatment for humans is exempted from VAT. However, those who oppose it argue that few countries currently impose VAT on medical treatment for pets. “It is quite out of the question. Among what we call developed economies, a few countries in the European Union and Japan impose VAT and

Dec 22, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Hyundai, LG, Samsung, POSCO make big donations

By Kang Seung-woo Local major conglomerates have rushed to make donations to those who are less well-off. POSCO, the global steel giant, along with its affiliates, contributed a total of 10 billion won to the Community Chest of Korea (CCK), an official said Wednesday, while Samsung Group, a multinational conglomerate corporation, also gave 20 billion won to the charity foundation one day earlier. According to POSCO, the steel maker donated 8 billion won, joined by its four subsidiaries including POSCO Engineering and Construction and POSCO Power. POSCO has run volunteer teams in Pohang, Gwangyang, Seoul and Incheon, while its 45,000 executives and employees have conducted global volunteer work in 19 countries. For Samsung, Chairman Lee Soo-bin, accompanied by Samsung Corporate Citizenship President Lee Chang-ryeol, gave money to the CCK, saying that the donation will offer help to the underprivileged at the end of the year. Meanwhile, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group and LG Group each gave 10 billion won to help the needy.

Dec 22, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Samsung Life going global

By Kang Seung-woo Samsung Life Insurance will aggressively make a foray into overseas markets and its first target is China, its president said Wednesday. “Samsung Life is a runaway leader in the Korean life insurance market, but we cannot be laidback, just enjoying the title,” newly-appointed President Park Keun-hee said in his visit to Samsung Air-China Life Insurance in Beijing. Samsung Life and Air China Group established the 50-50 joint venture in 2005. “Our business will focus on expanding our territory abroad.” It came after the insurance company went through a restructuring which expanded the Overseas Business team into the Overseas Business Headquarters. The industry believes that the Park appointment signals that Samsung Life is aiming at expanding its footing in overseas markets, especially in China. Along with the promotion of the Overseas Business Headquarters, Park named Shim Jae-ho, former executive director of Samsung Air-China Life Insurance, to lead the headquarters. “It might seem that Samsung Life has played a leading role in the Korean financ

Dec 19, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Seoul suspends sale of Woori Financial

By Kang Seung-woo The government has decided to suspend its move to privatize Woori Financial Group as the sale of the group has hit a snag after the two potential buyers pulled back from their bids to take over a controlling stake in the nation’s largest financial group. The Public Fund Oversight Committee (PFOC), the nation’s public fund watchdog, said that it will put a halt to its plan for the sale of a controlling 56.97 percent stake in Woori Financial due to the withdrawal of two key bidders. The PFOC, which is overseeing the Woori sale process, also said that it will reschedule the sale timetable and rewrite criteria for the sale of the financial holding group, headed by Chairman Lee Pal-seung. “Considering market conditions, including prospective buyers’ willingness, the committee determined it impossible to fulfill its goal of maximizing public fund retrieval through the hopeful way of an auction," Min Sang-ki, a chairman of the PFOC, said in a press briefing. The decision to halt the much-anticipated transfer of the decade-old state control came after Woori

Dec 17, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Korea plans to jolt WiBro into life

By Kim Tong-hyung Korea vows to continue being the life of the wireless and broadband party in Asia, with its government announcing further investment for advancing mobile Internet technology and provide more high-speed wireless connections on the road. In reporting its policy goals for 2011 to President Lee Myung-bak at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, unveiled a renewed commitment for WiBro, a homegrown portable Internet technology that is the local variant of mobile WiMAX. The KCC will also push for the deregulation of the advertising market to provide a business foundation for the new cable television channels that will be licensed later this month, as well as jolting next-generation broadcasting services like Internet protocol television (IPTV). Price competition in the mobile telephony market will be renewed with the introduction of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which lease capacity from telecommunications carriers to sell their own brands of mobile voice an

Dec 17, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

LG reshuffles executives, renews technology focus

By Kim Tong-hyung The LG Group of companies announced a major reshuffling of top-level managers on Friday, which it said represents an attempt to inject new life into its technology business and make progress in holding executives accountable for performance-based outcomes. The most notable changes took hold at LG Electronics, the group’s electronics unit that is reeling from its declining presence in its main markets of consumer electronics and mobile phones. Noh Hwan-yong, the head of LG Electronics’ air conditioning and energy solutions division, was promoted to president and will serve as a key lieutenant to Koo Bon-joon, the brother of LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo who replaced the Nam Yong as LG Electronics’ chief executive officer (CEO) earlier this year.

Dec 17, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Samsung to beef up risk management

By Kim Tong-hyung Samsung Electronics vowed a bright start for next year in the market for up-and-coming products like three dimensional (3D) and connected televisions and mobile Internet devices like smartphones and tablet computers. The Korean technology giant will also work to improve its abilities in measuring and managing risks across world markets as financial uncertainties loom in key regions, company officials said Friday. In its global strategy meeting between Samsung’s headquarters and its international business divisions, the company expressed high hopes to exploit the growth in the markets for 3D televisions and smartphones, which will be critical for sustaining its leadership in its main markets of consumer electronics and mobile phones. Samsung will also look to strengthen its positions in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe and Africa, and expand to new business areas such as the solar cell industry. ``Despite the struggling economy in advanced markets, we have been able to yield positive results over the past year based on our strengths in products

Dec 17, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Kumho Asiana to sell stake in Korea Express

By Kang Seung-woo Kumho Asiana Group plans to sell its affiliate Asiana Airlines’ stake in Korea Express, its official said Friday. “We are pushing to sell the 23.95 percent stake in Korea Express to improve the financial structure of Asiana Airlines,” the official told The Korea Times. The airline unit, whose debt ratio stands at 493 percent, has been put under a creditor-led restructuring program. Korea Development Bank (KDB), the main creditor of Kumho, also plans to sell Daewoo Engineering and Construction’s 24 percent stake in Korea Express, the nation’s largest domestic logistics firm. Asiana Airlines held a closed-door presentation for creditor banks on the same day. The combined deals are expected to be worth between 1.7 trillion won and 2 trillion won, according to industry sources. Kumho, the country's eighth-biggest business group by assets, is expected to launch an opening bid soon, but the specific schedule has not been decided yet. “After talking with creditors, we will set the date for the bid. But it has not been fixed,” the official said. Amo

Dec 17, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Leisure spending hits record high

By Kang Seung-woo Chung Ki-baek, a 37-year-old dermatologist, recently purchased a mountain bike worth roughly 4 million won ($3,456) for exercise in his free time. “I know it is a little bit expensive, but it is okay because I expect riding a bike will help to get rid of my stress,” said Chung, who also plays golf in his leisure time. Like him, a large number of people have opened their wallets to splurge on leisure activities, as the proportion of money spent on hobbies to the nation’s total consumption marked a record high this year, a central bank official said Thursday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) reported that Koreans spent 34.2 trillion won on entertainment and cultural activities in the first three quarters of 2010. The number accounts for 8.74 percent of the real consumer spending of households, according to the BOK. The spending on leisure activities managed to remain at 2 percent or so in the 1970’s, but skyrocketed to 7 percent in the early 2000’s and 8 percent in the late 2000s. The upward tendency snapped last year, as the spending shrank to 8.57 percent, af

Dec 16, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

LINA opens new chapter in charity

Korea to issue treasury bills next year to cover shortfalls By Kang Seung-woo Unlike old-school corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, simply seen as making donations, a large number of companies have recently taken advantage of their specialties in their charitable services. LINA Korea has joined this trend, as the dental insurance specialist is active in helping the underprivileged in Korea receive dental treatment. Teaming up with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Seoul National University Dental Hospital, LINA Korea, the Korean business unit of global health service company CIGNA, has carried out dental care every month for multicultural families, single-parent families and grandparent families. Since June 2010, they have visited six regions ― Yangju and Suwon in Gyeonggi Province, Sacheon and Gumi in South and North Gyeongsang Province, Gunsan in North Jeolla Province and Yangcheon-gu in Seoul. A total of 800 people from those regions have enjoyed the free dental services. The patients range from foreign women in multicultural families who

Dec 16, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
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