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Lee Kyung-min

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Companies

FTC's move to 'restrain' Coupang founder hits snag

Coupang founder Bom Kim / Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min The years-long move by Korea's antitrust agency to designate Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk as the head of a large conglomerate has been postponed due to inter-ministerial discord, according to officials Monday. The Korean American with U.S. citizenship widely known as Bom Kim founded the e-commerce giant, a New York Stock Exchange-listed firm. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has long sought the designation, put in place in 1986 to limit the power and influence of the country's large, family-run conglomerates. As long as a year will be needed to resume the move, contingent upon agreement between the related authorities.“We decided to delay the announcement until after an agreement is reached,” an FTC official said. “It remains uncertain as to how soon the date will be.”Behind the last-minute decision was opposition from the finance, industry and foreign ministries, which maintain that the issue could spark a full-fledged trade dispute between Korea and the U.S.They say the designation violates "the most-f

Aug 1, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
FTC's move to 'restrain' Coupang founder hits snag
Companies

Trade conflict looms over FTC's move to 'restrain' Coupang founder

Coupang founder Bom Kim / Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min A full-fledged trade dispute could occur between Korea and the U.S., triggered by the Korean antitrust agency moving to designate Kim Bom-suk, founder of Coupang, Korea's e-commerce giant, as the head of large conglomerate, according to market watchers, Friday. The Korean American with U.S. citizenship is widely known as Bom Kim. This adds concern to the already shrinking foreign investments in Korea, bogged down by regulations and arbitrary applications and interpretation of the law, trumping free market principles. Some are calling for the abolition of what they call an archaic designation in effect since 1986 that limits the power and influence of Korea's top conglomerates, adding that Korea is the only country where firms' business activities are regulated by their asset size. Under the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) law, any business organization with over 5 trillion won ($3.8 billion) in total assets is designated as a large conglomerate every April. Those designated as large conglomerates are prohibited from cross-investm

Jul 30, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Trade conflict looms over FTC's move to 'restrain' Coupang founder
Companies

Conflict escalates over milk price policies

Members of the South Chungcheong branch of the Korea Dairy & Beef Farmers Association pour out milk into a basin at a protest in front of the South Chungcheong Provincial Office, July 11. Korea Times file By Lee Kyung-minFears of a milk supply disruption are mounting, fueled by an impasse between the government and dairy farmers over a move to lower the prices of milk supplied to the confectionery and coffee-making industries, according to officials and the farmers' association, Friday. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs seeks to revise the current supplier-friendly price methods, a move dairy farmers characterized as “irresponsible railroading with total disregard of the far-reaching implications for the agricultural business.”The ministry says milk prices remain elevated despite sinking market demand, due in large part to price setting methods tied to production costs, long embraced and demanded by farmers.Farmers are refusing to accept the ministry's plan to lower the per-liter price of milk for processed dairy product makers to 800 won ($0.62), do

Jul 29, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Conflict escalates over milk price policies
Companies

Paradox of good rice harvest: higher yields mean lower prices

Unpopularity of staple crop continues amid low-carb diet trendBy Lee Kyung-min This year's rice harvest is expected to be markedly better than 2021's, an upbeat outlook given the concerns of brewing the global food crisis, amplified by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Many economists and food experts say the concerns come from years of extreme weather conditions attributable largely to climate change that long predate the spike in logistics and shipping costs triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.However, fears of what could spark a violent unrest in some countries don't carry much weight in Korea, where farmers are grappling with the sinking price of rice ― a textbook indication of market oversupply. The longstanding problem persists. It certainly is not for the lack of trying.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has announced policy responses to counter the rapidly weakening demand every year. It has run campaigns to promote rice consumption. Years of research efforts by the ministry-affiliated Rural Development Administration led to the development of floury rice. This ne

Jul 28, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Paradox of good rice harvest: higher yields mean lower prices
Companies

Samsung Biologics surpasses $821 million in sales in H1

A manufacturing plant of Samsung Biologics in Songdo, Incheon. Korea Times file By Lee Kyung-min Samsung Biologics has recorded over 1 trillion won ($821 million) in sales in the first six months of this year, buoyed by the rapid growth of its contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) business, the biotech affiliate of Samsung Group said, Wednesday.Its sales in the April-June period came to 651.4 billion won, up 59 percent year-on-year, and operating profit came to 169.7 billion won, up 1.75 percent over the same period. Net income stood at 152 billion won, up 25.11 percent. Underpinning the all-time high in sales was the robust performance of its new subsidiary, Samsung Bioepis, a biosimilar developer purchased in April from Biogen, a U.S. multinational biotech firm. The operating profit of Biologics almost doubled from sales of Bioepis biosimilars in the April-June period.“We were able to achieve a strong performance, thanks to growing global dema

Jul 27, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Samsung Biologics surpasses $821 million in sales in H1
Companies

Osstem Implant posts earnings surprise in Q2

Headquarters of Osstem Implant in Seoul's Gangseo District Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min Osstem Implant, a local dental implant manufacturer, recorded sales of 265.4 billion won ($202.8 million) and an operating profit of 56.2 billion won in the April-June period, the firm said, Tuesday. The respective 31.7 percent and 64.2 percent year-on-year increases are the strongest quarterly performances to date. Sales in the first six months of this year stood at 499.5 billion won, up 33.9 percent. Operating profit in the same period came to 107 billion won, up 79.7 percent. It exceeded the 100 billion won mark for the first time.The record earnings were driven in large part by 192.3 billion won in overseas sales, a jump of 42.3 percent from a year earlier.Even stronger performance is expected in the latter half, during which time the industry expects to see higher product demand compared to the first half of the year.“We expect sales will soar to 1 trillion won and the operating profit to rise subsequently to 170 billion won this year,” an Osstem Implant official said.Domestic

Jul 26, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Osstem Implant posts earnings surprise in Q2
Companies

'Korea's nuclear power industry became 40% less competitive under Moon gov't'

President Yoon Suk-yeol visits a nuclear power plant of Doosan Enerbility in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, June 22. Korea Times file By Lee Kyung-min The competitive edge of Korea's nuclear power industry has crashed by as much as 40 percent compared to before the "nuclear phase-out policy" took effect under the former Moon Jae-in administration, according to the country's business lobby, Monday.About four years will be needed to recover the largely destroyed industrial ecosystem, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) added. Increasing the number of highly skilled nuclear energy experts should be top priority, as well as deregulation to help businesses find new projects.A FKI survey of 31 local nuclear energy firms showed over half, or 51.6 percent, of the respondents said the competitive edge of the industry sank by a range of between 30 percent and 40 percent over the past five years. About a fifth, or 22.6 percent, pinpointed the range between 20 perce

Jul 25, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
'Korea's nuclear power industry became 40% less competitive under Moon gov't'
Companies

Samsung first to mass produce 3-nanometer chips

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang, center in front row, Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division head Kyung Kye-Hyun, second from left in the same row, and key semiconductor industry officials raise their fist to celebrate the mass production of 3-nanometer chips at the manufacturing plant of Samsung Electronics in Gyeonggi Province, Monday. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-minSamsung Electronics said Monday that it succeeded in mass producing 3-nanometer chips, becoming the first chipmaker to reach the milestone. The latest achievement to reduce the size and boost the power of semiconductor chips puts Samsung ahead of its global foundry rivals such as TSMC and Intel.The achievement by the global leader in memory semiconductors is expected to cement its lead in the foundry business, underpinned and lifted by local partner firms involved in the materials, parts and equipment industries, as well as logic chips and intellectual property (IP) design, according to industry analysts.The feat is also expected to elevate Korea's standing on the global stage via the firm's increase

Jul 25, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Samsung first to mass produce 3-nanometer chips
Companies

POSCO Holdings fortifies group-wide risk management

POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-wooBy Lee Kyung-minPOSCO Group will strengthen its group-wide risk management, in a move to better respond to tightening demand, cost overruns and supply chain disruptions, its holding company, POSCO Holdings, said Sunday. The directive seeks to preempt employee complacency, after robust second-quarter earnings were announced last week.POSCO Holdings' sales in the April-June period on a consolidated basis stood at 23 trillion won ($17.5 billion), up 25.7 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit came in at 2.1 trillion won, down 4.5 percent. Net income was 1.8 trillion won, the same as seen in last year's second quarter.The sales growth was driven by an increase in steel prices and the strong performance of its subsidiaries. But market watchers say the group's outlook in the months to come will not be as rosy, due to falling steel product prices, a moderate increase in supply and economic recession fears.POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo presided over a meeting attended by key executives of the group and its affiliates, July 21, reiterating the n

Jul 24, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
POSCO Holdings fortifies group-wide risk management
Companies

Civil damage, criminal charge issues linger after DSME strike

Fire officials set up air mattress at a dockyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering on Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province, July 21. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min Civil damage claims of up to 800 billion won ($610 million) will continue to haunt the unionized subcontractors of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), despite the last-minute breakthrough in management-labor talk that ended their 51-day strike, according to market watchers, Sunday.The weeks-long impasse was broken July 22, largely because the subcontractors agreed to a lower-than-demanded wage increase and guarantees of job security in the event their employers ― partner firms of the shipbuilder ― dismiss them.However, lacking in the much-rushed agreement was whether the shipbuilder would file a civil suit seeking about 800 billion won in damages from the strike-induced corporate losses. Also left unclear was whether and how many unionized members would be referred to the prosecution on charges of obstruction of business.The clear absence of the two critical conditions were, according

Jul 24, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Civil damage, criminal charge issues linger after DSME strike
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