The Korea Times

Top managers responsible for Doosan's trouble, not new recruits

A captured image of Doosan Infracore’s English website. In contrast to its slogan, “At Doosan, people are the most important asset,” the company has dismissed hundreds of workers, including new recruits.By Lee Hyo-sikPark Yong-maanDoosan Group ChairmanDoosan Infracore, the construction equipment making unit of struggling Doosan Group, has been causing a stir lately over its plan to dismiss new recruits through a voluntary retirement program.Normally, the scheme is largely designed to lay off senior employees who get fat paychecks. But letting junior employees go clearly shows how dire the situation is for the company.Since its controversial dismissal plan was made public early last week, the company has been hammered by media outlets and the public for making young employees scapegoats for its ongoing trouble.Doosan said 704 workers out of its 3,041 workforce, or 23 percent, filed for voluntary retirement, including those who have been with the company for less than two years. The construction equipment maker refused to unveil how many junior employees expressed the

Dec 21, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

W Rare by Windsor big hit for Diageo

By Lee Hyo-sikW Rare by Windsor, Diageo’s low-alcohol premium spirit drinkW Rare by Windsor, Diageo’s latest premium spirit drink launched in November, has been well received by Korean consumers who increasingly prefer lower-alcohol drinks because of health concerns.The product has an alcohol content of 35 percent, compared with 40 percent for conventional Scotch. Despite the lower alcohol content, W Rare by Windsor retains the flavor and smoothness of Windsor-branded products thanks to its cutting-edge blending technology, according to the world’s largest premium whisky maker.Its bottle was also designed to reflect the consumer trend to lower-alcohol drinks, the company said.In March, Diageo launched W Ice by Windsor (W Ice), which also has an alcohol content of 35 percent. Diageo has been writing a success story with W Ice by capitalizing on changing consumer tastes for low-alcohol spirits.The company expects W Rare will further boost its presence in Korea’s rapidly expanding spirit market.Diageo Korea CEO Cho Kil-soo said that “I am very proud and con

Dec 20, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Has AmorePacific grown too quickly?

Surveillance camera footage shows a man in the back seat assault a taxi driver in downtown Seoul on Dec. 6. The man was found to be an employee at AmorePacific, while the woman in the back also works for Korea’s largest cosmetics firm./ Captured image from YTNQuestions raised over sustainable growth as employees fail to catch upBy Lee Hyo-sikAmorePacific CEO Suh Kyung-baeAmorePacific, headed by CEO Suh Kyung-bae, has grown too quickly into one of the world’s top cosmetics makers in a short period of time, according to industry watchers, who raise questions over its sustainability.Unlike automakers, shipbuilders and other local manufacturers hit hard by the prolonged global economic downtown, Korea’s largest cosmetics maker has been booming in recent years on the back of China’s surging demand for made-in-Korean beauty products. Its revenue and operating profits have increased by double-digits.Amore has soared to be the seventh-largest listed company on the nation’s main KOSPI, ahead of Kia Motors, SK hynix, LG Chem., Hyundai Heavy Industries and many oth

Dec 20, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Gov't encourages companies to build plants abroad

Latest policy shift is feared to reduce domestic jobsBy Lee Hyo-sikThe government has decided to encourage domestic companies to head overseas and build production plants, even at the risk of endangering jobs in Korea.For years, policymakers have urged local manufacturers to expand production facilities here to create jobs rather than go overseas. But with Korea’s rising labor costs and other unfavorable business conditions, the government has no choice but to give up its “Made in Korea” policy drive and adopt the new “Made by Korea.”While announcing the 2016 economic policy plan, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and other ministries said Wednesday they will build industrial complexes in China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia and other emerging Asian economies exclusively for domestic companies.Beginning in June, Land & Housing Corp. (LH), the state-run infrastructure developer, will be mobilized to build industrial complexes abroad, not only for large local companies, but also for small and medium enterprises.In addition, the so-called Korea Busines

Dec 18, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Kumho Tire wins design awards in Korea, US

Four award-winning Kumho Tire productsBy Lee Hyo-sikKumho Tire, Korea’s leading tire maker has won design awards both in Korea and the United States for four of its latest products.The company said Friday that its Sealant Tire and SOLUSU HA31 Tire received the 2015 Korea Good Design Awards a day earlier from the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP), the state-run industrial design promotion agency.The Sealant Tire, which won design awards in Germany and Japan earlier this year, received the KIDP CEO award and the SOLUSU HA31 Tire the KIDP main prize.With the awards, the two tires obtained a Good Design mark from KIDP, which guarantees their superiority in design, function and efficiency.The firm’s two other tires -- the ECSTA PS91 and the KRA50 -- won the 2015 North America Design Awards on Tuesday, it said.In cooperation with the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies, the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design has been awarding a wide range of industrial goods for their designs since 1950.The ECSTA PS91 was developed for racin

Dec 17, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Kumho Tire wins design awards in Korea, US

Companies

Han Sung Motor supports young talented artists

Han Sung Motor CEO Ulf Ausprung speaks during a ceremony to mark the year-end exhibition of the firm’s “Dream Gream” campaign at the Horim Arts Center in southern Seoul, Wednesday. The largest Mercedes-Benz dealer in the country has been running the campaign since 2012 to support a group of elementary and middle school students who have artistic talent. The students have been drawing, painting and creating other art work in collaboration with professional artists. / Courtesy of Han Sung MotorBy Lee Hyo-sikHan Sung Motor, the largest Mercedes-Benz dealer in Korea, has been supporting elementary and middle school students who have artistic talent through its “Dream Gream” campaign since 2012.On Wednesday, the company held the 4th Dream Gream Year-End Exhibition at the Horim Arts Center in southern Seoul to showcase paintings and other art work created by 40 students this year. It also awarded them with certificates of participation in the program.Han Sung Motor has been running the Dream Gream program, helping young people from underprivileged families dev

Dec 17, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Han Sung Motor supports young talented artists

Companies

Integrated resort sector feared to be overcrowded

Scholars discuss the future of Korea’s integrated resort industry during a seminar at the National Assembly building in Yeouido, Tuesday. They urged the government not to issue more licenses for foreigner-only casino-led comprehensive resorts, expressing concerns of oversupply. / Courtesy of Paradise GroupGov’t urged not to issue more licenses for foreigner-only casinosBy Lee Hyo-sikA group of scholars are calling on the government to refrain from issuing more licenses for integrated resort complexes, which cater to Chinese and other foreign visitors.Citing their latest research, the scholars say three foreigner-only, casino-driven resorts -- two in the Seoul metropolitan area and one elsewhere -- will be enough in Korea to accommodate non-Korean travelers seeking to gamble, shop and use other leisure facilities here.This counters the government’s plan to select two more entities in February next year, allowing them to construct and run casinos and other facilities inside integrated resorts in Seoul and other locations. As of now, six companies are co

Dec 17, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Integrated resort sector feared to be overcrowded

Companies

Ssangyong E&C wins $1.6 bil. deals in Dubai

An artist’s impression of the Royal Atlantis Hotel to be built by Ssangyong Engineering & Construction in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates / Courtesy of Ssangyong E&CBy Lee Hyo-sikSsangyong E&C Chairman Kim Seok-joonSsangyong Engineering & Construction (E&C) has won three contracts in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), valued at a total of $1.6 billion, the builder said Wednesday. The latest deals will likely provide a much-needed boost to the Korean builder, which was acquired by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) early this year.Ssangyong secured the three projects by forming a three-way joint venture with BESIX, a builder based in Europe, and Chinese builder CSCEC. Of the $1.6 billion, the Korean builder will take $730 million.The consortium will first build the Royal Atlantis Hotel worth $840 million, and then the Palm Gateway worth $386 million and an unnamed office building complex worth $370 million.The Royal Atlantis Hotel will be a 47-story hotel with 795 rooms and a 37-story apartment building with 231 units. The Palm Gateway is an upscal

Dec 16, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Ssangyong E&C wins $1.6 bil. deals in Dubai

Companies

IKEA to open 5 more stores by 2020

Andre Schmidtgall, country retail manager at IKEA Korea, speaks during a press conference at the Nine Tree Convention Center in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. He said IKEA will invest 1.2 trillion won to build five more stores here by 2020. / Courtesy of IKEA KoreaExpansion plan poses threat to local furniture makersBy Lee Hyo-sikIKEA will open five more stores here over the next five years to capitalize on the country’s rapidly growing DIY furniture market, the head of its Korean unit said Wednesday.IKEA’s latest expansion plan will likely pose a greater threat to Hanssem and other domestic furniture makers who have been struggling to keep up with the Swedish-based furniture giant.“We will open five more stores by 2020 to better serve our Korean customers,” said Andre Schmidtgall, country retail manager at IKEA Korea, during a press conference marking the store’s first anniversary in Korea.IKEA opened its first store in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, in December 2014. For the first year, the company, which employs 913 people, earned 308 billion won in sale

Dec 16, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Hyundai Motor chairman calls for success of Genesis brand

By Lee Hyo-sikHyundai Motor ChairmanChung Mong-kooHyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo is calling on the heads of overseas branches to work harder to nurture the automaker’s premium Genesis brand in 2016.With Hyundai’s first premium brand sedan, the EQ900 (globally named the G90), making a great deal of sensation here over the past month, the chairman wants to repeat its success in the United States and elsewhere next year.The vehicle will make its first overseas debut at the North American International Auto Show on Jan. 13 in Detroit.Chung held a meeting with heads of overseas offices at group headquarters in southern Seoul, early Tuesday. They reported sales and other business-related matters to the chairman.“Despite the prolonged global economic downturn, a slowdown in China and other unfavorable business conditions, we have been faring better than our competitors,” Chung was quoted as saying. “This year, we launched the premium Genesis brand and broke ground for two new plants in China. We must spare no effort to make the Genesis a huge succe

Dec 15, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Lee Hyo-sik

Read more

Top managers responsible for Doosan's trouble, not new recruits

W Rare by Windsor big hit for Diageo

Has AmorePacific grown too quickly?

Gov't encourages companies to build plants abroad

Kumho Tire wins design awards in Korea, US

Han Sung Motor supports young talented artists

Integrated resort sector feared to be overcrowded

Ssangyong E&C wins $1.6 bil. deals in Dubai

IKEA to open 5 more stores by 2020

Hyundai Motor chairman calls for success of Genesis brand

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