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Lee Kyung-min

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Companies

Unionized truckers' strike extends to 6th day

A member of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union stands next to a truck during a strike in Yeosu, Korea, June 9. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min The national strike by unionized cargo truckers under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is expected to continue for the time being, as a ten-hour round of negotiations between the transport ministry and key KCTU officials failed to reach an agreement, Saturday, according to industry watchers, Sunday. Some fear that the week-long logistics disruptions might develop into an economic crisis, eating into the profit margins of not only retail businesses but also the country's key manufacturing industries increasingly considering temporary output reductions due to a lack of storage. No immediate compromise is on the horizon between drivers and logistics operators. The two sides remain poles apart as to whether or by how long the Safe Trucking Freight Rates System should be extended beyond Dec. 31. The system guarantees minimum freight rates for truckers, helping prevent dangerous driving.Should the umbrella union escalate the protes

Jun 12, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Unionized truckers' strike extends to 6th day
Companies

KEPCO, KHNP to cooperate with Westinghouse in overseas nuclear ventures

Korea Electric Power Corp. CEO Cheong Seung-il, second from left, and Westinghouse Electric Company President and CEO Patrick Fragman, second from right, exchange opinions at a meeting, Wednesday. Courtesy of KEPCOBy Lee Kyung-min The CEOs of two Korean state-run energy firms held separate meetings with their counterpart at Westinghouse Electric Company, a U.S. nuclear power firm, Thursday, over joint cooperation in overseas nuclear energy projects, according to Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and its subsidiary Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP).KEPCO CEO Cheong Seung-il met with Patrick Fragman, president and CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company, Wednesday, to bolster cooperation in joint overseas nuclear business opportunities. Fragman, who is visiting the country for three days, also met with KHNP CEO Chung Jae-hoon, Thursday. The two closed-door meetings were a follow-up to the Korea-U.S. summit last month between President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden. The two leaders reiterated their commitment to leading the global nuclear power industry via strategic par

Jun 9, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
KEPCO, KHNP to cooperate with Westinghouse in overseas nuclear ventures
Companies

Gov't urges steelmakers to refrain from raising prices

Trade, Industry and Energy First Vice Minister Jang Young-jin, front right, and POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, front left, as well as members of the Korea Iron & Steel Association enter a conference room to celebrate the 23rd Steel Day at POSCO Center in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and EnergyBy Lee Kyung-min The industry ministry stressed the need for steelmakers to seek mutual growth with their manufacturing peers, including carmakers and shipbuilders, Thursday, advising steel firms to refrain from raising their prices despite spiking global commodity prices. The private-led business drive will be backed by government assistance, especially for the steel industry instrumental to generating and sustaining economic growth after the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, according to Trade, Industry and Energy First Vice Minister Jang Young-jin.The slew of adverse global business conditions notwithstanding, continued innovative efforts to develop new products and upgrade manufacturing processes overall will spell new growth oppo

Jun 9, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Gov't urges steelmakers to refrain from raising prices
Society

Yongsan Park to reopen Friday for 10 days on trial basis

A road in Yongsan Park in Seoul. Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and TransportBy Lee Kyung-min A total of 25,000 people who make online reservations will be allowed a two-hour on-site tour of Yongsan Park, near the newly relocated presidential office, in the southwestern part of Yongsan Garrison, Seoul, which the U.S. returned to Korea last week. Reservations will be possible from Friday through June 19, in a partial resumption of an ill-prepared plan scrapped earlier due to environmental contamination concerns, the land ministry said, Friday. The 1.1-kilometer tour connecting the south of the presidential office with the “Sports Field” is part of 51,000 square meters of land covering roads within the military base and areas nearby Gates 13 and 14 in Yongsan District, Seoul, which was returned from the U.S. Forces Korea on June 3.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport dismissed the ongoing controversy over the serious level of soil and groundwater contamination of the site, since visitors will be limited to areas cleared by the government for env

Jun 9, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Yongsan Park to reopen Friday for 10 days on trial basis
Companies

KARI says it's fully prepared to launch Korea's first lunar mission

Researchers at Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) conduct a final review of Danuri at the institute's headquarters in Daejeon. Courtesy of KARIBy Lee Kyung-min Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is fully prepared for a successful launch of Korea's first lunar mission, the first step in a giant leap forward into advanced space exploration, the state-run aeronautics and space agency said Tuesday. The mission involving Danuri, the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) developed by KARI, will help elevate Korea as an active participant in moon exploration alongside its global peers ― Russia, the U.S., China, Japan, the European Union and India. Korea's limitations in technological prowess notwithstanding, the joint project with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provides enormous learning opportunities for the country, a fast learner defined by the rapid development of high-tech industries, the institute said. Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) President Lee Sang-ryool speaks at a press conference at the institute's headquarters in Daejeon

Jun 6, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
KARI says it's fully prepared to launch Korea's first lunar mission
Companies

Concerns grow over possible summer blackout

A woman passes by an electricity meter box in an apartment in Seoul. Korea Times file By Lee Kyung-min Concerns are growing over a possible blackout in the summer as power demand has soared due to the unusually hot weather, according to market watchers and economists Sunday. The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) has been unable to raise utility rates, despite surging prices of coal, natural gas and other raw materials, making the nation's power grid system more vulnerable, they said. Over the past two years, the state-run energy firm has been unable to increase electricity rates, due to an emergency measure that was implemented so as to weather the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the former Moon Jae-in administration's attempt to try to subdue inflation.The analysts said it now has little room to withstand the rate increase pressure, as indicated by the record-high energy demand and falling reserve margin in May, with its estimated operating loss of up to 30

Jun 5, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Concerns grow over possible summer blackout
Companies

POSCO to accelerate hydrogen, rechargeable battery biz

POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, right, presides over a meeting attended by 20 key group executives at POSCO Center in southern Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of POSCO HoldingsBy Lee Kyung-min POSCO Group will accelerate its investments in hydrogen and rechargeable batteries, coupled with continued efforts to develop new technologies, the firm said Thursday.The growth vision is part of the steel giant's move to transform itself into a green energy business, a survival strategy pivoting from decades of a carbon-heavy business model to reinvent itself as a leading eco-friendly sustainable market player. The new growth vision was outlined during a meeting of 20 key executives including POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo and head of the firm's research institute at the POSCO Center in southern Seoul. It was the first future strategy meeting attended by the firm's figures with decision-making power. It will be held regularly every six months. Choi and top executives discussed ways to facilitate technology development for non-steel businesses.“The future of POSCO will be carried by

Jun 2, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
POSCO to accelerate hydrogen, rechargeable battery biz
Companies

KEPCO, Samsung C&T to accelerate green energy biz in UAE

Officials of Korea Electric Power Corp., Korea Western Power, Samsung C&T, Petrolyn Chemie as well as government officials of Korea and the United Arab Emirates pose for a photo after signing a joint development agreement at the headquarters of Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) in the UAE, Tuesday. Courtesy of KEPCOBy Lee Kyung-min A consortium of three local state-run and private energy and construction firms will build a hydrogen and ammonia plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the latest of Korea's green energy initiative expansions into the Middle East, according to industry officials, Thursday.This is Korea's first overseas green hydrogen and ammonia project, a meaningful step toward gaining a strong foothold in the lucrative global energy market expected to generate an annual market volume of about 130 trillion won ($103 billion) every year from 2050.State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and its plant subsidiary Korea Western Power as well as Samsung C&T said Thursday that they signed a joint development agreement to build the plant with an annual

Jun 2, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
KEPCO, Samsung C&T to accelerate green energy biz in UAE
Companies

Gov't earmarks $321 million to foster small nuclear reactor biz

Nuclear reactors / gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min The government will spend 399.2 billion won ($321 million) over the next six years to foster small modular reactor (SMR) businesses. The plan to develop the country's new growth driver has gained serious traction after passing the government's feasibility test required for large, long-term state-run projects, the science and industry ministries said Wednesday.SMRs are the next generation of nuclear reactors, defined by safer and simpler in design and the construction method despite lower power generation capacity. The Ministry of Science and ICT the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the project was approved Tuesday, a step toward the rapid advancement of nuclear power energy via stable investment in research and development (R&D).The initiative, tentatively named “i-SMR development project,” will manufacture from 2023 to 2028 reactors with a power generation capacity of less than 300 megawatts, about a third of the 1,000 megawatts used for large nuclear power plants. Separate from the project, the government

Jun 1, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Gov't earmarks $321 million to foster small nuclear reactor biz
Economy

Trade deficit concerns weigh on Korean economy

gettyimagesbankCountry suffers trade deficit of $1.71 billion in May on soaring energy pricesBy Lee Kyung-min Korea suffered a trade deficit of $1.71 billion (2.12 trillion won) in May, due largely to a robust export performance being overshadowed by a short-term spike in key commodity import prices, government data showed, Wednesday.The sustained trade deficit over the past two months is expected to weigh heavily on the country's export-reliant economy, as indicated by a widening fluctuation in the price of key input materials for manufacturing, including crude oil, minerals, as well as food, amid global geopolitical volatility. Some market watchers say Korea may see an annual trade deficit this year, a highly concerning yet probable scenario for an economy powered by exports of final goods and services from the import of intermediate goods. Further anchoring the pessimistic view is the market consensus on the steeper price hikes in global commodities in the second quarter of this year, hobbled further by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's COVID-19 lockdowns.Data from the Mini

Jun 1, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Trade deficit concerns weigh on Korean economy
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