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Lee Kyung-min

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Recent housing price fall 'not sharp': land minister

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong speaks during the National Assembly's audit of his ministry, Friday. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min The land minister said the recent downward trajectory of housing prices is “not sharp,” and that the dip of around 6 percent in the first eight months of this year is relatively small compared to the over 50 percent increase in housing prices over the past few years.The real estate market slowdown is a consequence of changes in the macro-economic and financial conditions, such as interest rate hikes, according to Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong.This is why he stopprd short of taking steps to ensure a soft landing to limit the fallout of what some market watchers expect to be the onset of a rapidly cooling real estate market.“It is not a plunge,” Won said during an audit of the ministry at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, Friday.Housing prices have increased by about 50 percent over the past few years, in his view, and the figures falling by about

Oct 22, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Recent housing price fall 'not sharp': land minister
Companies

Lawmaker blames Kakao's greed, neglected infrastructure investment for outage

The headquarters of Kakao in the Pangyo area of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times fieBy Lee Kyung-minKakaoTalk, the most widely used messenger app in Korea, generated about 2.6 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in sales from advertisements over the past 18 months, at the expense of corporate expenditure to fortify system operations and stability, a ruling party lawmaker said.Insufficient preventative measures amplified the service outage at an SK C&C data center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday, according to Rep. Kang Min-kuk of the ruling People Power Party. The fire led to the electrical shutdown of Kakao's servers. The ensuing server outage lasted for over 10 hours, causing disruptions to the entire 134 services available on the platform. According to data submitted to the lawmaker, who is a member of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee, KakaoTalk advertisements netted Kakao 2.55 trillion won from January last year to June this year.The strong sales were driven by a marketing tool, KakaoTalk for Biz, available to sellers enabling them to place promotion

Oct 21, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Lawmaker blames Kakao's greed, neglected infrastructure investment for outage
Companies

LS Cable & System seeks rapid overseas expansion into Europe

Undersea cables are being loaded onto a ship at the manufacturing plant of LS Cable & System in Donghae, Gangwon Province. Courtesy of LS Cable & SystemBy Lee Kyung-minLS Cable & System, the cable manufacturing affiliate of LS Group, has won a supply order of about 240 billion won ($167 million) in high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) cables for the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm in the United Kingdom (U.K.), the firm said Thursday.This is the largest contract of orders to date won by a Korean cable manufacturer for a project in Europe, defined by the advanced use and development of renewables, an indication of further expansion into North America and Asia. The U.K. plans to make renewables account for over 60 percent of its national power generation. The firm's prospects are buoyed further by its recent acquisition of a 15.6 percent stake in KT Submarine, a marine solution provider affiliate of KT, a telecommunications service provider. The joint cooperation will help them fortify a competitive edge in the global renewable energy market.The Boreas wind farm is to be bu

Oct 20, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
LS Cable & System seeks rapid overseas expansion into Europe
Companies

Parties clash over gov't rice purchase policies

Some members of the National Assembly Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Committee protest the passage of a bill that mandates government purchase of all excess rice with taxpayers' money at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Wednesday. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-minA highly contentious bill to mandate all excess rice be bought with taxpayers' money passed the parliamentary standing committee, late Wednesday, intensifying years-long debate over whether the government should protect farmers, despite clearly tanking demand for the once-popular staple crop, market watchers said Thursday. The issue is expected to take a further politicized turn for the worse, as indicated by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) railroading the bill considered by many to be overprotective of rice farmers in order to deflect focus from a bout of legal risks posed by its corruption allegation-ridden party leader Lee Jae-myung. President Yoon Suk-yeol said early Thursday that the bill “does not help farmers,” in a clear stance against the opposition-led collective move to salvage

Oct 20, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Parties clash over gov't rice purchase policies
Companies

Kakao faces class action suit, monopoly probe following service outage

Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho apologizes for the recent fire-induced server failure that caused inconveniences to Kakao users during a National Assembly audit of the ministry at the Institute for Basic Science in Daejeon, Tuesday. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-minKakao is facing a severe backlash from consumers and regulators following a fire-induced service disruption of Kakao Talk, as a number of users are preparing for a class action lawsuit against the IT giant amid growing calls for a probe into its monopolistic status.The service failure of the country's most-popular messenger app, and disruptions to the entire 134 services available on the online platform, are prompting a growing number of Kakao users to seek other service providers. Data from Wiseapp, Retail and Goods, a real-time data analysis services provider, showed the user number of LINE, operated by local IT giant Naver, spiked to 1.28 million, Sunday, nearly tripling from 430,000 on Saturday. The user number of Telegram, a cloud-based instant messaging app, surged to 1.28 million, Sunday, up from 1.06 million, Fri

Oct 18, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Kakao faces class action suit, monopoly probe following service outage
  • Legal experts debate class action suit against Kakao
  • Kakao, SK C&C expected to clash over compensation for messenger service outage
  • SK C&C says it has completed power supply to Kakao servers
Companies

Lotte Chemical's acquisition of Iljin Materials 'lowers credit outlook'

Lotte Chemical Vice Chairman Kim Kyo-hyun. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-minThree local credit rating agencies are rushing to lower the outlook for Lotte Chemical, Monday, casting doubt over whether the chemical affiliate of Lotte Group spending 2.7 trillion won ($1.8 billion) to buy Iljin Materials, the country's second-largest copper foil manufacturer, was business overreach.Lotte Chemical Vice Chairman Kim Kyo-hyun said the firm “has no plan to provide any funding to Iljin,” as solidified by overseas manufacturing plants expansion facing no complications at all, a prospect lifted further by its cash generation capabilities from stable supply contracts with long-term clients. These were cited in an interview with a local media outlet, Sunday. However, the three agencies ― Korea Ratings, Korea Investors Service and NICE Investors Service ― said the current AA+ rating for Lotte Chemical would come under review, due in large part to a significant increase in the corporate debt ratio and borrowing.The debt ratio for the firm will spike to 59.7 percent, up from 52.1 percent,

Oct 18, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Lotte Chemical's acquisition of Iljin Materials 'lowers credit outlook'
Companies

Maeil Health Nutrition seeks enhanced personal services

Maeil Health Nutrition COO Park Seok-jun, right, and Hologram Sciences CEO Ian Brady hold copies of a signed memorandum of understanding, Monday. Courtesy of Maeil Health NutritionBy Lee Kyung-minMaeil Health Nutrition, formerly Maeil Dairies, has signed a strategic partnership with Hologram Sciences, a consumer-facing personalized nutrition solutions provider based in New York and Boston, for personal healthcare, the Korean firm said Monday.Maeil will be able to better provide tailored products to Korean consumers of all age groups with varying health and nutritional needs, in cooperation with Royal DSM, a Dutch multinational chemical firm with which Hologram Sciences drew a $100 million (143 billion won) investment last year. The Korean firm will roll out a new product lineup in the first half of next year, including an enhanced vitamin D product that is absorbed up to three times faster compared to similar products currently available on the market.A test kit provided will help consumers check their vitamin levels, and nutrition coaching services will make recommendations on food

Oct 17, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Maeil Health Nutrition seeks enhanced personal services
Companies

Korea's last captive Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin freed

Beebong, Korea's last captive Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, is seen after being released in waters off of Jeju Island, Sunday. Courtesy of the Ministry of Oceans and FisheriesBy Lee Kyung-minThe last captive Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, Beebong, has been freed in the waters off of Jeju Island, Sunday, after 70 days of training to help it acclimatize to the natural environment after 17 years of captivity, according to the oceans ministry.Beebong was the last of eight captive dolphins held at eight aquariums on Jeju Island since 2012, when the ministry designated them as an endangered species. The remaining seven have already been released ― three in 2013 and two each in 2015 and 2017.The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said that the aquatic mammal was released near Seogwipo, off the south coast of Jeju Island, at 9:40 a.m. Sunday.It showed no difficulties in communicating with other groups of dolphins and adjusted well to areas with fast currents and high waves. The ministry plans to monitor it daily for the next 30 days with three onshore teams and two ships, as enabled by a

Oct 17, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Korea's last captive Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin freed
Companies

Retired KEC officials draw criticism for hefty dividends

Korea Expressway Corp. acting CEO Kim Il-hwan, third from left, and other witnesses take an oath before attending a National Assembly audit of the land ministry, Oct. 7.By Lee Kyung-minRetired officials of Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC) received more than 4.8 billion won ($3.3 million) in dividends from expressway rest stop operators over the past five years, according to a ruling party lawmaker, Sunday, fueling criticism that the land ministry-supervised state-run organization prioritized employees' gains at the expense of taxpayers.This scandal follows the sudden resignation of KEC CEO Kim Jin-sook late last month, brought on by intensifying scrutiny due to discord with the land ministry over lowering food prices at rest stops.The KEC rejected the ministry's suggestion to lower food prices by 10 percent, mostly by reducing the commission fee of 41 percent paid to the KEC and operators of rest areas by vendors.The lowered prices will, the KEC said, result in poor performance evaluations in the finance ministry's annual review and a sharp reduction in employee benefits and bonuses.&ldq

Oct 16, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Retired KEC officials draw criticism for hefty dividends
Companies

Korea to bolster overseas expansion of hallyu-related businesses

A Korean entrepreneur, third from left, based in Vietnam promotes Korea-made products during Vietnam Expo 2022 in Hanoi, April 13. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-minThe government will hold K-EXPO VIETNAM 2022, whereby local small and medium-sized firms will be able to identify hallyu-centered market demands and tailor corresponding promotion strategies for Southeast Asia, five ministries said Wednesday. Around 250 hallyu-related businesses will be represented at the event including cultural content creators, consumer goods and food manufacturers and smart e-mobility services providers. Over 600 buyers from Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand will be there. The first part of the event will be held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, from Oct .15 to 18. One-on-one consultations on export strategies will be provided by Vietnamese law firms, followed by network building sessions. The second event will be held at the International Convention Center in Hanoi from Oct. 27 to 28.The event will be supervised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Also involved are the Ministry of

Oct 12, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Korea to bolster overseas expansion of hallyu-related businesses
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