Business - The Korea Times

KT&G hits record stock high on shareholder-friendly moves, stronger tobacco business

KT&G, Korea’s leading tobacco and e-cigarette manufacturer, has reached a record stock high, driven by sustained domestic market dominance and overseas growth opportunities. The company’s stock peaked at 144,000 won ($104) on July 14, marking a surge of over 50 percent from this year’s low of 87,300 won. KT&G attributes its record-high stock price to its shareholder-friendly policies and robust market expansion worldwide. Stock market analysts also remain positive about the company’s outlook, citing its proactive dividend strategy that is in line with the Lee Jae Myung administration’s drive to encourage private investment. According to KT&G, its record stock value came in the wake of the Lee administration’s inauguration last month, which helped boost investor sentiment and began addressing corporate valuation uncertainties inherited from the previous Yoon Suk Yeol government. The company described the current investment-friendly trend as a long-term 'money move,' contrasting it with the debt-fueled, overheated market of 2021, driven by pandemic-related instability. KT&G’s

Jul 23, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan

KT&G hits record stock high on shareholder-friendly moves, stronger tobacco business

BMW M stays on top in Korea’s performance car market

BMW Korea is maintaining its top position in the country’s high-performance car market, selling nearly 2,700 BMW M vehicles in the first half of this year, outpacing rivals. According to BMW Korea, it delivered 2,668 BMW M vehicles from January to June this year, up 20 percent from a year earlier. The growth was driven by a balanced performance across a wide range of M models rather than concentrated on a single model. The importer attributed the stable sales to BMW Group’s “power of choice” strategy, which offers a broad range of selections to customers seeking driving performance and a premium lifestyle at the same time. BMW Korea currently offers a total of 34 high-performance models ranging from sedans to SUVs and compacts to large vehicles. It also includes internal combustion engines, plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles. In the first half of the year, the top selling models in the M high-performance segment were the M2 with 170 units, the XM with 157 and the M5 with 137. In the M performance segment, the M340i led with 271 units, followed closely by the M850i with 27

Jul 23, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo

BMW M stays on top in Korea’s performance car market

Renault Korea, labor union reach tentative wage deal

Renault Korea Motors said Wednesday it has reached a tentative agreement with its labor union in this year's wage negotiations. Under the deal, the company will raise the base monthly wage by 103,500 won ($75) and provide a bonus of 2.5 million won to each employee, along with a separate 150 percent performance-based incentive. The two sides also agreed to establish a joint labor-management committee to review and improve the company's personnel management system ahead of next year's wage negotiations. The 20-member committee, composed of equal numbers of union and management representatives, will discuss issues such as peak-wage structure, base salary standards and working conditions.

Jul 23, 2025By Yonhap

Renault Korea, labor union reach tentative wage deal

PM highlights Korea’s roles for US business, defense strategies

A seminar hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) on Tuesday became a venue for high-level government officials from Korea and the United States to seek leverage in ongoing trade and defense cost negotiations between the two countries. While Prime Minister Kim Min-seok highlighted the importance of Korea for the U.S. economy and security, Charge d’Affaires Joseph Yun from the U.S. Embassy called for Seoul’s efforts to make the countries’ trade and defense cooperation more sustainable. In his keynote speech, Kim said the U.S. will become stronger if it maintains ties with Korea. “The two nations share universal values rooted in constitutional democracy and have, over the decades, developed into a true value-based alliance through deep people-to-people ties, cultural affinity and cooperation across strategic industries,” he said. The prime minister added that the two countries can go beyond “Make America Great Again” and move toward “Make Korea and the World Greater.” His remarks came amid the government’s efforts to prevent the Donald Trump administ

Jul 22, 2025By Park Jae-hyuk

PM highlights Korea’s roles for US business, defense strategies

Hyundai Motor’s eco-friendly models selected as APEC protocol vehicles

Hyundai Motor Group will provide a fleet of its strategic eco-friendly vehicles for upcoming international energy ministerial meetings scheduled for August in the southern port city of Busan, the carmaker said Tuesday. The company plans to supply a total of 63 vehicles consisting of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) for the two events — the 16th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) Meeting and the 10th Mission Innovation (MI) Ministerial Meeting. The fleet includes 34 all-new Hyundai NEXO hydrogen fuel cell SUVs, 12 Genesis Electrified G80 sedans, 14 Kia EV9 all-electric SUVs and three Hyundai UNIVERSE hydrogen buses. They will be used to transport key participants and support various activities during the meetings. “Hyundai Motor Group is honored to support these major international energy forums with our hydrogen and electric vehicles,” said Kim Dong-wook, executive vice president and head of the Strategic Policy Division at Hyundai Motor Group. “By showcasing our eco-friendly vehicles at a venue that discusses the future of global energy, we ho

Jul 22, 2025By Lee Min-hyung

Hyundai Motor’s eco-friendly models selected as APEC protocol vehicles

PHOTO Genesis BBQ exports to Europe

Representatives from Genesis BBQ, Highland Foods Group, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety pose in front of a freight truck carrying meal kits made with Korean-grown chicken at Highland's manufacturing and logistics center in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday. The meal kits, produced through a collaboration between Genesis BBQ and Highland Foods Group, are destined for retail outlets across Europe. After the APQA and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety agreed with the European Union last year to jointly conduct quarantine and quality control measures for Korean chicken meal kits destined for Europe, Genesis BBQ began monitoring local markets there and entered partnership talks with Highland Foods Group. Courtesy of Genesis BBQ

Jul 22, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan

SPC launches new whistleblower committee to prevent factory accidents

Giant food conglomerate SPC has launched a new internal committee aimed at reporting the organization’s safety issues and ensuring compliance with the country’s labor laws. The move follows the death of a female employee at an SPC Samlip factory in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, in May, which sparked public outrage and prompted a police investigation. According to SPC Tuesday, its Transformation Office was launched the previous day and held its first meeting at the group’s office in southern Seoul. The 10-member committee is led by Hur Jin-soo, CEO of Paris Croissant, SPC’s cafe subsidiary. It includes CEOs of other key affiliates — including SPC Samlip, BR Korea, SPC GFS, SPL and Secta9ine — as well as senior executives from across the group. Two representatives, one man and one woman, from the company’s labor union also joined the committee. In addition, the vice president of Korean Air’s IT and Marketing Division joined as an external member. The Transformation Office is comprised of three subcommittees focusing on the conglomerate’s safety system, welfare policies and

Jul 22, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan

SPC launches new whistleblower committee to prevent factory accidents

Renault Korea’s incoming CEO tasked with balancing sales portfolio

Renault Korea’s incoming CEO Nicolas Paris is tasked with balancing the carmaker’s sales portfolio by reducing its heavy reliance on the Grand Koleos hybrid SUV and increasing sales in other lines. Under the leadership of outgoing CEO Stephane Deblaise, the company has charted a solid course for rebound, driven largely by outstanding sales for the strategic model, also known by its project name of Aurora 1. Accumulated sales for the vehicle topped 45,000 by September last year. The vehicle also accounted for some 90 percent of the firm's total auto sales here in the first half of the year. The carmaker, however, is in dire need of a more balanced portfolio, since relying on a single vehicle is risky from a mid- to long-term viewpoint, according to market watchers. Renault Korea also sells the Arkana compact SUV and Scenic E-Tech electric vehicle (EV) in the Korean market, but they are only a minor portion of its sales. Even if Grand Koleos still maintains its luster as a relatively new vehicle, the carmaker has to brace for the worst amid toughening competition in the domestic hybrid

Jul 22, 2025By Lee Min-hyung

Renault Korea’s incoming CEO tasked with balancing sales portfolio

GS Entec delivers locally made monopiles for Yeonggwang offshore wind project

GS Entec has delivered 50 monopile foundations out of a total of 64 for the Yeonggwang Nakwol offshore wind power project. Located off Korea’s southwest coast, the Yeonggwang Nakwol project is a large-scale 365-megawatt offshore wind farm under development in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province. It will feature a total of 64 turbines, each with a capacity of 5.7 megawatts. The company signed a 200 billion won ($144.1 million) contract in 2023 to supply all the monopiles required for the project and plans to complete the remaining deliveries by October. Monopiles are cylinder-shaped steel structures that serve as a foundation for securing offshore wind turbines to the seabed. Due to their simple structure, they can be made quickly and cost-effectively, making them one of the most popular offshore wind foundations in the global market. With this project, GS Entec became the first company to supply locally produced monopiles for a large-scale wind farm of over 100 MW, demonstrating the quality and productivity of domestic equipment as well as the potential for localizing its supply chain.

Jul 22, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

GS Entec delivers locally made monopiles for Yeonggwang offshore wind project

Jeju Air expands fleet with 6th B737-8 as part of modernization push

Jeju Air, Korea's leading low-cost carrier, said Tuesday it has added its sixth Boeing B737-8 aircraft as part of efforts to modernize its fleet. With the latest acquisition, Jeju Air now operates a total of 44 aircraft, with 42 passenger planes and two cargo aircraft. The airline has been accelerating its fleet renewal, having introduced one new aircraft each month over the past three months. It plans to purchase and deploy two more B737-8 units by the end of the year. Amid the fleet increase, Jeju Air said it plans to increase weekly flights on 12 routes, including those to Fukuoka, Weihai, Cebu and Ulaanbaatar, to 74 during the July-August peak travel season. It will also launch new routes, including those connecting Incheon and Singapore, and Busan and Shanghai in the coming weeks. "A next-generation fleet and efficient route operations will be key to securing long-term competitiveness," a Jeju Air official said.

Jul 22, 2025By Yonhap

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