my timesThe Korea Times
mhlee

Lee Min-hyung

Korea Times Business Reporter

Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.

Go to Email

Read more

Companies

Incheon airport operator to halve employee parking permits

Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) will slash the number of parking permits issued to airport employees by more than half beginning Wednesday, as part of a sweeping reform aimed at addressing lax management and the misuse of employee parking privileges, the state-run airport operator said. The measure follows a recent inspection by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which found that IIAC had issued an excessive number of long-term parking permits, while failing to adequately oversee their use. The audit also identified cases in which some employees used complimentary parking privileges for personal purposes rather than for work-related needs. In response, IIAC has pledged to completely overhaul its employee parking permit system, invalidating all existing permits and requiring workers to reapply under stricter eligibility criteria. Under the revised rules, the standard for obtaining a permit will be tightened from cases where parking is considered “necessary for work” to circumstances where it is deemed “essential for work.” The corporation plans to reduc

Jun 30, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Incheon airport operator to halve employee parking permits
Companies

PHOTO Hyundai Motor's cutting-edge maintenance facility

Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chair Chang Jae-hoon delivers a speech during an opening ceremony of the carmaker's new High-Tech Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. The facility will serve as a major vehicle maintenance facility for the carmaker's customers in the southern part of the province. Its total floor area spans roughly 51,500 square meters. Hyundai Motor plans to transform the facility as a maintenance center particularly designed for advanced, high-level repair services in an era of electrification and software-defined vehicles. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor

Jun 30, 2026By Lee Min-hyungphoto
[PHOTO] Hyundai Motor's cutting-edge maintenance facility
Companies

BMW Korea pins high hopes on iX3 electric SUV

BMW Korea is pinning high hopes on its next-generation flagship electric SUV — the iX3 — as the vehicle is expected to serve as a major sales driver for the premium carmaker. Deliveries to Korean customers will begin in July. The iX3 is the carmaker’s first mass-produced model built on its Neue Klasse design language. BMW Korea has already achieved preorders of more than 4,500 iX3 vehicles. The iX3 embodies BMW’s future mobility vision under the new platform. Blending the brand’s heritage with groundbreaking advances in driving dynamics, design and digital technology, the model signals a new direction for premium electric mobility, according to the German automaker. The new iX3 showcases a progressive design language that harmonizes BMW’s legacy with a futuristic aesthetic. Its streamlined body achieves a class-leading drag coefficient of 0.24, enhancing both efficiency and performance. The vertically oriented kidney grille reinterprets the styling of the original Neue Klasse models from the 1960s, while illuminated contour lines replace traditional chrome accents to create a

Jun 30, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
BMW Korea pins high hopes on iX3 electric SUV
Companies

Hyundai Motor unveils redesigned AI-driven Avante sedan

Hyundai Motor has unveiled the all new Avante, the eighth-generation version of its best-selling compact sedan, at the 2026 Busan International Mobility Show, marking the global debut of the model that reflects the automaker’s accelerating shift toward software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered mobility, the carmaker said Friday. The redesigned Avante came about six years after the launch of its predecessor in 2020. Long regarded as one of Korea’s most popular passenger cars, the Avante has been comprehensively redesigned with a stronger focus on connectivity, digital services and next-generation in-car experiences. The new model becomes Hyundai Motor’s second sedan to feature the firm’s up-to-date infotainment platform, Pleos Connect, following its flagship Grandeur sedan. It also adopts Gleo AI, Hyundai Motor Group’s generative AI-based voice assistant, extending advanced conversational AI capabilities to a broader range of customers. Hyundai Motor said the all new Avante represents a new chapter in the evolution of mobility by integrating soft

Jun 26, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Motor unveils redesigned AI-driven Avante sedan
Companies

GM Korea’s union on verge of strike as carmaker bears nearly all tariff burden

GM Korea’s labor union is on the verge of a strike after wage negotiations reached an impasse, with tensions exacerbated by the automaker’s decision to shoulder the vast majority of the cost from U.S. auto tariffs that have weighed heavily on its earnings last year. The carmaker’s labor union has moved closer to the labor action, after an overwhelming majority of members voted in favor of a strike. The status quo is feared to worsen the carmaker’s already deteriorating financial performance amid mounting tariff-related costs. Korean automakers, including GM Korea, face an auto tariff of 15 percent when exporting vehicles to the United States. Some 86.5 percent of GM Korea’s union members favored the walkout last week. The carmaker’s union and management had held nine rounds of wage negotiations, but failed to find a breakthrough. The conflict between the two sides escalated after it turned out that GM Korea did not share its tariff burden with its U.S. headquarters, instead taking on the full burden. The union argued that the tariff-related costs should be shared with headquar

Jun 26, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
GM Korea’s union on verge of strike as carmaker bears nearly all tariff burden
Companies

Hyundai Motor union set to leverage strike against Atlas robot deployment

Hyundai Motor’s labor union is poised to use a potential strike as leverage to secure job protections against the carmaker’s planned deployment of Atlas humanoid robots in its manufacturing operations. More than 86 percent of the carmaker’s roughly 40,000 union members voted in favor of the walkout, Wednesday, setting the stage for a contentious showdown over wages, job security and the upcoming robot deployment. The union also gained the legal right to go ahead with the strike, Thursday, after a state labor mediation committee decided to suspend its arbitration process between the two sides. While the carmaker’s annual wage negotiation has typically revolved around compensation, this year’s talks have hit a roadblock over a new core agenda on manufacturing automation amid the rise of physical artificial intelligence (AI). Earlier this year, Hyundai Motor Group unveiled its plan to gradually deploy Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robots across its major production lines here and abroad, which has drawn severe backlash from its union. Starting from 2028, the carmaker is schedul

Jun 25, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Motor union set to leverage strike against Atlas robot deployment
Companies

LS Electric steps up hiring of veterans, service members

LS Electric is stepping up efforts to recruit active-duty service members and military veterans, viewing their commitment to national service as a valuable asset in the workplace. The Korean power and automation solutions provider said it has adopted a human resources policy aimed at expanding recruitment of active-duty service members and veterans across all job functions. The company is particularly focused on creating new career opportunities for career military personnel transitioning to civilian life at a relatively young age due to mandatory retirement rules. As part of the initiative, LS Electric recently launched a recruitment process for reserve force staff officers through referrals from a government-run employment support center for military veterans, as part of its broader effort to expand hiring of former service members. The company has also been supporting transitioning service members through its participation in a series of job fairs organized by the Ministry of National Defense and related organizations. In April, LS Electric participated in a military employment fair a

Jun 25, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
LS Electric steps up hiring of veterans, service members
Companies

LS Cable breaks ground for undersea cable facility in US

LS Cable & System said Thursday its manufacturing subsidiary in the United States, LS GreenLink, has begun constructing a cutting-edge facility used to produce undersea cables in Chesapeake, Virginia. The vertical continuous vulcanization (VCV) tower is a key facility in the manufacturing of high-voltage cables, as it forms the insulation layer that determines cable quality and reliability. By producing cables vertically, the system minimizes the effects of gravity during the production process, thereby improving both product quality and production efficiency, according to LS Cable. LS GreenLink’s cable factory is the largest undersea cable production base in the United States. Commercial cable production is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2028. Standing at 201 meters tall, the VCV tower will become the world's largest VCV facility and the tallest structure in the state of Virginia upon completion. The investment comes as the U.S. is rapidly expanding its power grid infrastructure to replace aging transmission networks and support the proliferation of artificial intelligence

Jun 25, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
LS Cable breaks ground for undersea cable facility in US
Companies

Positive outlook for Toyota, BYD's expansion in PHEV market

Toyota and BYD are aggressively targeting Korea's niche plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) market, a move experts and industry officials view as a highly viable strategy to capture transitional demand and capitalize on Hyundai Motor Group’s absence in the sector. Local customers have not favored PHEVs due largely to their vague positioning between traditional hybrid cars and all-electric vehicles. PHEVs are also excluded from government subsidies here, making them compete at a distinct price disadvantage against typical electric vehicles (EVs). While a standard hybrid self-charges and relies primarily on a gasoline engine, PHEVs utilize a larger battery that requires external charging to deliver all-electric driving. According to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, PHEVs accounted for just 0.7 percent of the Korean passenger vehicle market between January and May, with 4,739 PHEVs newly registered. This represents a 24.6 percent decline compared to the same period last year. Despite this structural hurdle, industry experts remained optimistic over the latest pu

Jun 25, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Positive outlook for Toyota, BYD's expansion in PHEV market
Companies

T’way, Eastar in dilemma over unprofitable Jeju route

T’way Air and Eastar Jet face a quandary over newly acquired rights to operate flights between Jeju Island and Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, as the two low-cost carriers (LCCs) left most of the slots unused to prioritize higher-margin international flights — even at the cost of a severe ticket shortage on the route. The seat shortage stems largely from budget airlines scaling back domestic operations in favor of more lucrative international routes amid worsening macroeconomic risks — represented by the strengthening dollar and rising fuel costs. Both LCCs secured the additional flight slots following Korean Air's takeover of Asiana Airlines this year, but they have been unable or unwilling to fully utilize them due to the route’s limited profitability. As part of remedies tied to the Korean Air-Asiana integration, 13 slots on the Jeju-Gimpo route were redistributed from the two full-service carriers to four LCCs in March. Eastar Jet received six slots, Jeju Air four, Parata Air two and T’way Air one. However, not all of the newly allocated capacity has been put into ser

Jun 24, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
T’way, Eastar in dilemma over unprofitable Jeju route
previous page
34567
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.