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Kwak Yeon-soo

Korea Times Digital Content Reporter

Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.

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Companies

Korea at risk of losing exclusive right to maintain UAE reactors

The Barakah nuclear power plant Korea Times fileBy Kwak Yeon-sooConcerns are growing over Korea's possible failure to win a long-term exclusive maintenance contract for the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to nuclear industry officials, Monday.Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) was initially expected to win a 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) maintenance project that will last for up to 15 years after the plant is completed. But the Middle Eastern country has reportedly decided to open a bid for several players and break down the long-term project into several shorter-term projects to reduce costs.The UAE and Nawah Energy Company, the operator of the Barakah nuclear plant, are yet to make the final decision on the maintenance project for the Barakah nuclear power plant, but it is unlikely KHNP will solely snatch a long-term maintenance deal.If so, the project would be worth 500 billion won, falling short of 3 trillion won as the KHNP expected initially.Nawah Energy has allegedly been in talks over the maintenance deal with three bidders includi

May 27, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
Korea at risk of losing exclusive right to maintain UAE reactors
Companies

SK chief busy protecting interests in China

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won speaks during the opening ceremony of Shanghai Forum 2018 at Shanghai International Conference Center in China in this May 26, 2018, file photo. Korea Times fileBy Kwak Yeon-sooSK Group is expanding its scope for business in China through a group-wide localization approach known as the “China Insider” strategy. On Sunday, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won met with Lou Qinjian, the Communist Party Secretary of Jiangsu Province in eastern China to boost cooperation with the country.“Chairman Chey was with three other conglomerate leaders from Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motor Group in the meeting. They exchanged remarks on strengthening pragmatic cooperation as to better benefit both the company and the province,” an SK Group official said. SK is one of the largest foreign investors in China, with the group investing billions of dollars with tax and administrative benefits from Beijing to operate semiconductor and battery factories both independently and through joint ventures.In April, SK hynix completed the construction of its DRAM manufactur

May 27, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
SK chief busy protecting interests in China
Companies

Try half-and-half sushi

A chef, right, and a model show off sushi plates at Bonga Sushi in Hyundai Department Store chain in Seoul, Monday. Hyundai Green Food said it will roll out “half-and-half sushi,” which consists of two different types of sushi on a single plate. Yonhap

May 27, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
Try half-and-half sushi
Companies

Renault Samsung-labor dispute deepening

Renault Samsung's plant in Busan / YonhapBy Kwak Yeon-sooThe dispute between Renault Samsung Motors and its union is deepening after the union cut off talks abruptly, threatening to go on strike on Monday. The union announced Saturday it will be staging a partial strike involving 34 union leaders and representatives, calling on the company to come up with better wage and working terms. “Only union executives will go on strike on Monday. The rest of its members will be at worksites,” a union spokesperson said. “For now, we plan to hold a one-day strike. But we'll carefully monitor how the company responds to our request. We are scheduled to have a meeting sometime this week, but the exact date is undecided.”The union's threat is seen as an attempt to get the upper hand in the upcoming negotiations with management.The union and management agreed to meet sometime this week to renegotiate wages and other working conditions following the union's rejection of a tentative agreement.Although the partial strike is not expected to lead to an immediate automotive plant

May 26, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
Renault Samsung-labor dispute deepening
Companies

Keep on running!

Mercedes-Benz CSR Committee Chairman Dimitris Psillakis, left, and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, second from left, cheer on runners in the “GIVE 'N RACE” hosted by the car company. This year's marathon was the largest, with about 20,000 participants. Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Korea

May 26, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
Keep on running!
Companies

INTERVIEW GOPIZZA discovers allure of single serving

Lim Jae-won, founder and CEO of GOPIZZA, poses for a photo at a store branch in Sangsu-dong, Seoul, May 20. Courtesy of GOPIZZABy Kwak Yeon-sooLim Jae-won, 30, is the founder of a pizza startup that now has over 30 franchise stores across the nation. He started the business in 2016 by selling pizzas from a food truck, and then moved to open up shops and make a foray into India.In April, he was listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 in Asia. Surprisingly, however, he confessed that he never wanted nor intended to become an entrepreneur. “Honestly, I never imagined myself starting a business because I'm not the type of person who likes challenging the status-quo. I've always wanted to work at large global companies,” Lim said. “Nonetheless, the idea of GOPIZZA struck me one day all of a sudden when I wanted a pizza but thought it was too big and expensive for a single person. I also didn't want to wait a long time for it.”He wanted to make single serving pizza that could be easy to make and fast to consume. So he started selling small pizzas from a food truck nearby t

May 26, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
[INTERVIEW] GOPIZZA discovers allure of single serving
Companies

POSCO volunteers for local communities

POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo paints a mural in a small village near POSCO's steel mill in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, May 24. Courtesy of POSCOBy Kwak Yeon-sooSteelmaker POSCO's 63,000 employees and executives working in 55 nations will participate in an annual week-long volunteer event for their local communities, the company said Sunday.This year, POSCO rolled out a slogan for its volunteer efforts in Korea and overseas, “Share the Talent, Change My Town.”Events will include offering free school supplies in China, medical volunteering in India and repairing old orphanages in Indonesia.In Thailand, POSCO-South Asia employees will build an infirmary and a library at an elementary school, while POSCO-Thainox will take part in providing aid kits to soldiers and plant trees for the environment. In Korea, employees and executives at offices and factories in Seoul, Pohang and Gwangyang contributed to restoring the coast's ecosystem and enhancing energy efficiency in residential areas. They also fixed agricultural machines, cleaned up the environment and participated in

May 26, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
POSCO volunteers for local communities
Companies

Hyundai Motor vows to serve customers better

Hyundai Motor's Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun, left, and Lee Kew-song, co-chief executive of The Carlyle Group, chat at an event hosted by The Carlyle Group in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor GroupBy Kwak Yeon-sooHyundai Motor Group has vowed to place its primary focus on customers rather than competitors and put quality first to keep ahead of rivals. Hyundai Motor's Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun attended an event hosted by The Carlyle Group in Seoul, Wednesday, and discussed issues including “how to revive customer interest” and “how to provide pre-emptive customer service” with Lee Kew-song, co-chief executive of The Carlyle Group.“I've been emphasizing the need to bring the focus back to customers,” Chung said. “Customers have always been our priority, but I question whether we are really thinking of our customers in our services and products. I want everyone at our company to think about how they can make the customer happy.”He also stressed the need to adapt a flexible corporate culture to bring change

May 23, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
Hyundai Motor vows to serve customers better
Economy

Transport minister cornered by angry bed town residents

Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee speaks at a press conference held in Sejong, Thursday. Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Yonahp By Kwak Yeon-sooTransport Minister Kim Hyun-mee is facing growing criticism from residents of commuter towns adjacent to Seoul for her introduction of plans for additional exurban communities.The residents fear the envisioned developments will bring down the prices of their homes amid the ongoing housing market slump, and make traffic worse when they commute to their workplaces in Seoul. On Thursday, the transport ministry arranged a press conference for Kim to announce plans for improving transportation infrastructure for residents on the outskirts of Seoul by establishing express railways and extending existing subway lines.However, these plans fell short of the expectations of angry commuter town residents, affected by the Moon Jae-in administration's goal of building hundreds of thousands of new apartments in Gyeonggi Province. They are demanding the government scrap the housing supply plan outright.Last September, the tran

May 23, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
Transport minister cornered by angry bed town residents
Companies

Renault Samsung faces possible plant shutdown in Sept.

Renault Samsung plant in Busan / Courtesy of Renault Samsung MotorsBy Kwak Yeon-sooConcern is growing over the fate of Renault Samsung Motors as the carmaker may see its main plant in Busan shuttered in September when a contract to manufacture the Nissan Rogue mid-size SUV expires, industry analysts said Wednesday.It has become increasingly likely that the company will not win new models to assemble from its French headquarters as the affiliate's management and union have continued to fail to reach an agreement on wages and work conditions for the past 11 months. With the Nissan Rogue, accounting for half of the plant's total output last year, Renault Samsung has to secure new orders and prove its efficiency and productivity to headquarters, but the 11-month-long stalemate has dealt a blow to that.On Tuesday, of 2,142 union members present for a vote, 51.8 percent cast ballots against a tentative agreement reached last week ― 52.2 percent of 1,662 production workers voted in favor, but 65.6 percent of 442 sales workers voted against it. The company and the union began negotiations in

May 22, 2019By Kwak Yeon-soo
Renault Samsung faces possible plant shutdown in Sept.
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