The Korea Times

FTC's probe focuses on Korean Air

By Lee Hyo-sikThe Fair Trade Commission (FTC)’s probe into inter-subsidiary dealings has unnerved the country’s family-controlled conglomerates, which have long used unfair practices to boost the wealth of offspring and other relatives of the groups’ chairmen.Currently, Hanjin Group, Hyundai Group and Lotte Group are under FTC investigation, and several more conglomerates are expected to face the similar fate in the coming months.Under the law, which took effect in February, companies are banned from establishing a preferred deal with unlisted affiliates in which company owners hold at least a 20 percent stake in benefiting affiliates. The limit is set at 30 percent for listed units. Violators can face up to three years in prison. However, some business groups continue to maintain intra-group dealings among their affiliates.The anti-trust agency has launched a probe into Hanjin Group’s unlisted subsidiary, CyberSky, which publishes promotion magazines for Korean Air and operates an online duty-free shopping mall for the carrier, for the alleged unfair business

May 24, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Minister regrets Japan's WTO action

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick, left, shakes hands with Yoichi Miyazawa, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, beforea meeting in Boracay, the Philippines, Saturday. During the meeting, Yoon expressed regret over Japan’s recent decision to ask the World Trade Organization to address the country’s ban on imports of Japanese fisheries products. / YonhapBy Lee Hyo-sikKorea’s trade minister expressed regrets over Japan’s recent decision to ask the World Trade Organization (WTO) to address the country’s ban on imports of Japanese fisheries products, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Sunday.Minister Yoon Sang-jick met with his Japanese counterpart Yoichi Miyazawa in the Philippines, Saturday, and discussed a wide range of bilateral economy-related issues. Both were in the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 21st APEC Trade Ministers’ Meeting.The face-to-face meeting between trade ministers from Korea and Japan was the first of its kind since April 2013. Encounters between senior government officials wer

May 24, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Korea Air to rise on increasing tourists

By Lee Hyo-sikKorean Air shares will likely fly higher in the second quarter on stronger earnings prospects bolstered by growing outbound travelers, analysts said Thursday.The won’s strength against the yen, the euro and other currencies has made it cheaper for Koreans to travel abroad, while lower oil prices have cut airfares.In addition to its passenger business, the carrier’s cargo operations will likely improve in coming months as it transports more goods to and from the United States, Japan and Oceania.“Shares of Korean Air have dropped nearly 18 percent from its year-high, due to concerns that the carrier would have underperformed in the first quarter of 2015,” Korea Investment & Securities analyst Yoon Hee-do said. “The steadily rising oil prices also weighed on the stock. However, it turns out that the company performed well in the first three months of the year.”Korean Air posted a 189.9 billion won operating profit from January through March, up 787 percent from 21.4 billion won in the first quarter of 2014.Yoon said the company&rsquo

May 21, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Hyundai to sell Sonata PHEV in July

Sonata plug-in-hybrid electric vehicleBy Lee Hyo-sikHyundai Motor will begin selling the Sonata plug-in-hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) by as early as July in order to secure an upper hand in Korea’s rapidly-expanding eco-friendly vehicle market.GM Korea and other automakers are expected to introduce PHEVs in 2016 when the government will begin extending subsidies to buyers.The country’s largest automaker said Thursday that it will make the Sonata PHEV available for Korean consumers in the third quarter, stressing that it will make every effort to lead in the country’s growing environment-friendly automobile market.“We first unveiled the vehicle during the Seoul Motor Show 2015 in April, attracting a great deal of attention from auto enthusiasts,” a Hyundai Motor spokesman said. “To stay ahead of our competitors in this growing segment, we decided to put the Sonata PHEV on the market in the third quarter of this year.”PHEV shares characteristics of both a conventional hybrid electric vehicle, which has an electric motor and an internal combust

May 21, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

BBQ to operate electric vehicles for delivery

Yoon Hong-geun, right, chairman of the Genesis BBQ Group, poses with Renault Samsung Motors CEO Francois Provost, left, during a ceremony at BBQ’s flagship store in downtown Seoul, Wednesday, to mark the chicken franchise’s use of the automaker’s electric vehicles for deliveries. / Courtesy of BBQ GenesisBy Lee Hyo-sikGenesis BBQ Group said Wednesday that Korea’s largest fried chicken franchise will use compact electric vehicles produced by Renault Samsung Motors for deliveries to help protect the environment and increase the safety of its drivers.BBQ signed an agreement with Renault Samsung and the Seoul Metropolitan Government to create an “environmentally friendly and safe delivery system.”Under the agreement, the chicken chain will purchase five Twizy vehicles from the carmaker for test operations this year in Seoul. From 2016, the company plans to buy more vehicles for its franchise stores outside Seoul.The city government will offer financial subsidies and other support to the BBQ chain to help it purchase and operate electric vehicles. The c

May 20, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

BBQ to operate electric vehicles for delivery

Companies

Daewoo, Daelim to build $4.1 bil. refinery plant for S-Oil

By Lee Hyo-sikDaewoo Engineering & Construction and Daelim Industrial have won an order from S-Oil to build a 4.5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) refinery plant in the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan.The plant, due to be completed in the first half of 2018, is the single largest construction project in Korea, the companies said Wednesday.The two companies formed a consortium to secure the deal to construct the residue enhancement and olefin production facilities in the Onsan Industrial Complex for Korea’s third-largest refiner by revenue. Saudi Aramco, the world's largest crude exporter, has a 63.4 percent stake in S-Oil.The planned facilities will convert bunker C oil and other heavy fuel oils into gasoline, propylene and other high-value products.S-Oil is expected to spend about 1 trillion won to finance the facility design and other preparatory works, while the remaining 3.5 trillion won will be spent on construction.Daelim holds a 55 percent stake in the consortium worth 1.93 trillion won, while Daewoo has a 45 percent stake worth 1.58 trillion won.Builders here compe

May 20, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Tivoli adds momentum to Ssangyong Motor

Workers assemble parts on a Tivoli production line at Ssangyong Motor’s plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Ssangyong MotorBy Lee Hyo-sikWorkers were busy assembling parts at a production line for the Tivoli, a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV), inside Ssangyong Motor’s plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday.They have been working double shifts since the automaker began mass-producing the SUV to meet surging orders. According to company officials, those who want to drive the popular SUV have to wait at least a month for delivery of their vehicles.The Tivoli has been selling well since it was launched on Jan. 13, attracting keen attention from motorists particularly in their 20s and 30s. Ssangyong sold 5,747 Tivolis at home and abroad in April, up from 4,598 in March. Of the vehicles moved in April, the automaker sold 2,327 in foreign markets, up from 1,771 a month earlier.The Pyeongtaek plant, built on an 860,000 square-meter site, is operating three assembly lines capable of producing 250,800 vehicles annually. Of the three, the No.

May 19, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Portals, online malls banned from collecting customers' private info

By Lee Hyo-sikPortals and online shopping malls will be banned from “needlessly” collecting customers’ personal information and storing it for an extended period of time, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Monday.The move is to help prevent customer data held by online companies from being leaked following the massive leakage of customer information by credit card companies in January of last year.The anti-trust agency said it ordered 20 online businesses to correct their policies concerning the collection, storage and use of their customers’ private information.They include three web portal operators ― Naver, Daum Kakao and SK Communication ― and 17 companies operating websites, such as Lotte Shopping, E-Mart, Home plus, Interpark, E-Bay Korea, Coupang, WeMakePrice, GS Homeshopping and Hyundai Homeshopping.The FTC decided to stop companies from collecting personal data from those seeking to sign up on their websites in the name of identity confirmation.“It is not necessary to confirm the identity of people who join a website,” an FTC o

May 18, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Travel stocks booming on surging outbound tourists

By Lee Hyo-sikHana Tour and Mode Tour, the country’s two largest travel agencies, posted their best performances ever in the first quarter on the back of the surging number of outbound travelers, companies said Thursday.The won’s strength against the yen, the euro and other foreign currencies has made it cheaper for Koreans to travel abroad, they said. In addition, low oil prices have slashed airplane ticket prices, making it more affordable for people to head overseas.Hana and Mode do not normally deal with Chinese and other inbound foreign visitors.Hana Tour said a total of 492,385 people went abroad on its package tour programs from January to March, up 24 percent from the same quarter in 2014. About 327,600 people purchased plane tickets from Korea’s largest travel agency, up 40 percent.The company earned revenue of 118.2 billion won, up 26.1 percent from 93.7 billion won a year earlier, while its operating profit soared 85 percent to 16.8 billion won from 9.1 billion won.Mode Tour also saw the number of its outbound travelers jump by 27.3 percent to 335,000 in

May 17, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Shinsegae bets big on duty free shop

By Lee Hyo-sikShinsegae Group, a retail-focused family-controlled conglomerate, is rushing to secure cash to expand duty free and other businesses in a bid to find a breakthrough amid the prolonged domestic consumption slump.Shinsegae, the group’s department store unit, said Friday that it had sold 3 million Samsung Life Insurance shares in a block deal, Thursday, at 109,200 won a share, raising 327.6 billion won. The group’s discount store franchise, E-Mart, also sold 3 million shares, securing the same amount of cash.Group officials said sovereign wealth funds and other foreign investors purchased 74 percent of the 6 million Samsung Life shares, while domestic institutional investors bought the remaining 26 percent.Following the sale, Shinsegae’s stake in the country’s largest life insurer dropped to 2.19 percent, while E-Mart now holds 5.88 percent.“We disposed of 6 million Samsung Life shares and raised 655.2 billion won in cash,” a Shinsegae Group spokesman said. “We will spend the money to improve the financial health of our affiliates

May 15, 2015By Lee Hyo-sik

Lee Hyo-sik

Read more

FTC's probe focuses on Korean Air

Minister regrets Japan's WTO action

Korea Air to rise on increasing tourists

Hyundai to sell Sonata PHEV in July

BBQ to operate electric vehicles for delivery

Daewoo, Daelim to build $4.1 bil. refinery plant for S-Oil

Tivoli adds momentum to Ssangyong Motor

Portals, online malls banned from collecting customers' private info

Travel stocks booming on surging outbound tourists

Shinsegae bets big on duty free shop

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