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    Termination of Homeplus rehabilitation endangers 12,000 workers

    A court decision on Friday to terminate the rehabilitation proceedings for cash-strapped discount store chain Homeplus has raised concerns for the company's 12,000 employees who could lose their jobs. After Homeplus first filed for rehabilitation in March last year, the retailer began reducing its offline outlets. Of the 126 locations, only 67 stores remain, while the number of employees dropped from 20,000 to about 15,000 following the downsizing. After the company sold its supermarket unit Homeplus Express to NS Shopping last month to secure more cash, the workforce dropped again to 12,000 people. If Homeplus ultimately goes into bankruptcy, the government will activate a substitute payment program, which would allow it to advance unpaid wages of up to 21 million won ($13,600) per employee and later recover the funds. Employees who lose their jobs would also be eligible for unemployment benefits equivalent to 60 percent of their average wages over the three months preceding their termination. The government also plans to provide at least 440 billion won in emergency liquidity to help sm

    2 MIN READBy Ko Dong-hwan
    Termination of Homeplus rehabilitation endangers 12,000 workers
  • Banking & Finance

    Toss to face stricter oversight as Korea's first fintech financial conglomerate

    2 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Toss to face stricter oversight as Korea's first fintech financial conglomerate
  • Banking & Finance

    Korea's brokerages are raking it in. Their stocks aren't.

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    Korea's brokerages are raking it in. Their stocks aren't.
  • Others

    Weak won, K-beauty fuel Chinese shopping trips, spending in Korea

    4 MIN READBy Yulu Ao
    Weak won, K-beauty fuel Chinese shopping trips, spending in Korea
  • Companies

    Lee to review mega chip cluster project next week

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Lee to review mega chip cluster project next week
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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.

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Others

Luxury label Loro Piana faces probe over sweatshop conditions

Loro Piana, the Italian fashion brand led by Frederic Arnault — the rumored boyfriend of BLACKPINK member Lisa — has come under legal scrutiny following allegations of labor exploitation at its subcontractors, according to reports. On Monday (local time), Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that a Milan court had placed Loro Piana under judicial supervision for one year. The brand is a subsidiary of French luxury conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy). According to the court’s findings, Loro Piana outsourced production of luxury cashmere clothing to a subcontractor, which then subcontracted the work to a Chinese company near Milan. This second-tier contractor allegedly employed undocumented Asian workers, forcing them to work nights and holidays. The working conditions were reportedly dire, including unsafe machinery, illegal dormitories and unsanitary environments. One Loro Piana cashmere jacket, which retails for 3,000 euros ($3,484), was produced by workers for just 80 euros, according to the court. The court said Loro Piana knowingly failed to oversee illegal pra

Jul 16, 2025By Xportsnews
Luxury label Loro Piana faces probe over sweatshop conditions
Companies

Hanwha Ocean to establish Canadian office amid push for major submarine contract

South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean plans to establish a new overseas office in Canada as part of its efforts to strengthen its presence in the North American defense market, according to industry sources Wednesday. The company's board of directors approved the plan to set up the Canadian office during a meeting held on June 23, the sources said. When launched, the Canadian office will become Hanwha Ocean's seventh overseas branch, following ones in the United States, Japan, Singapore and Norway, among others. The move comes as Hanwha Ocean is seeking to secure a major Canadian submarine contract. Canada is currently pushing for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), under which the country plans to acquire eight to 12 submarines with a total budget of up to 60 trillion won ($43.7 billion). In March, South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced that domestic defense companies would form a unified team to participate in the Canadian project. A Hanwha Ocean official confirmed the plan to open the Canadian office but said, "Details of the establishment have yet

Jul 16, 2025By Yonhap
Hanwha Ocean to establish Canadian office amid push for major submarine contract
Companies

Bunjang accelerates global expansion with borderless strategy

Bungaejangter, a local secondhand marketplace also known as Bunjang, is advancing its global expansion rapidly through a borderless strategy, leveraging innovative partnerships and technology to redefine the cross-border resale experience. Under the leadership of Gong Yoo-hyeon, the company’s head of product & business, Bunjang is emerging as a trailblazer in the international secondhand market. The company’s global business strategy is centered on achieving borderless transactions. Rather than diverting to direct overseas expansion or extensive localization, Bunjang has chosen a faster and more flexible approach to global markets through Global Bunjang, providing overseas users a platform to access and purchase secondhand items from the Korean market. “The Global Bunjang platform is our dedicated global domain for overseas users, operated in partnership with the proxy company Delivered Korea. Powered by a deep learning-based large language model trained on extensive socio-cultural data, Global Bunjang features advanced AI technology capable of understanding and responding to natu

Jul 16, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Bunjang accelerates global expansion with borderless strategy
Companies

Eastar Jet to add 126 flights during Chuseok holiday period

Korean low-cost carrier Eastar Jet said Wednesday it will operate 126 additional flights during the extended Chuseok holiday period this year, offering a total of 24,000 more seats. The airline said it plans to expand operations from Oct. 2-12 to accommodate growing travel demand during the period. The expanded schedule includes 18 flights from Incheon to Vietnam's Da Nang and 14 to Nha Trang, along with 22 flights to Japan's Sapporo and 22 to Taipei. From Busan, it will add six flights to Phu Quoc in Vietnam and 12 to Chiang Mai, Thailand. On domestic routes, 32 additional flights will operate between Gimpo and Busan. With the temporary increase, the number of available seats on the affected routes will nearly double from 25,638 to 49,356. "We are adding flights to popular destinations to ease seat shortages during the holiday and provide travelers with more options," an Eastar Jet official said.

Jul 16, 2025By Yonhap
Eastar Jet to add 126 flights during Chuseok holiday period
Companies

Haribo opens Asia's 1st offline store in Korea

German confectionery company Haribo opened a dedicated offline store in Korea on Wednesday, marking the brand's first standalone outlet in Asia as it seeks to meet growing demand in the region's fourth-largest economy. Haribo, the world's leading manufacturer of fruit gummy products, has sold its products in Korea for more than a decade. In early 2023, it established Haribo Korea to expand its presence in the local jelly gum market. Korea has become Haribo's largest market in Asia in recent years, a company spokesperson said, without disclosing specific sales figures. The company plans to increase the number of offline stores nationwide over the long term, the spokesperson added. The flagship store, Asia's first, is located at Shinsegae Simon Premium Outlets in Yeoju, about 65 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

Jul 16, 2025By Yonhap
Haribo opens Asia's 1st offline store in Korea
Companies

NC AI releases new multimodal AI model as open source

NC AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) affiliate of game giant NCSOFT, said Wednesday it has released its new Korean-based multimodal AI model as open source. Its four models of VARCO-VISION 2.0 — 14B, 1.7B, 1.7B OCR and Video-Embedding — are now available for free for commercial purposes, according to NC AI. VARCO-VISION 2.0 is a next-generation AI model capable of understanding both images and text simultaneously to answer questions. It can analyze multiple images at once, making it effective in processing complex documents, tables and charts. It also offers natural understanding of both Korean and English, with improved comprehension of Korean culture. NC AI said the 14B model outperforms other open-source counterparts, including InternVL3-14B, Ovis2-16B and Qwen2.5-VL 7B, in various benchmarks, such as English and Korean image understanding and optical character recognition (OCR). "With the release of these four models, NC AI, which has been leading Korea's multimodal AI market in specialized fields, such as media, games and fashion, has demonstrated its potential to uphold Korea

Jul 16, 2025By Yonhap
NC AI releases new multimodal AI model as open source
Companies

Financial regulator searches SBS over suspected insider trading linked to Netflix deal

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) on Tuesday conducted a search-and-seizure at the major TV station SBS over allegations that some of its officials engaged in illegal insider trading using undisclosed information about a partnership with Netflix, government sources said. The FSC's Capital Market Investigation Division collected evidence while questioning an SBS official on charges of insider trading, according to the sources. The official is suspected of purchasing SBS shares upon learning of the company's planned strategic partnership with Netflix and selling them after the deal was made public. He is believed to have earned hundreds of millions of won in illegal profits through the trades. In December last year, SBS signed a deal with Netflix to provide its content, ranging from dramas and variety shows to news shows, to the global streaming platform. Following the announcement, SBS shares hit the daily upper limit for two consecutive sessions. The FSC is also investigating other SBS officials on similar charges. Earlier in the day, SBS said it had dismissed the official after bein

Jul 15, 2025By Yonhap
Financial regulator searches SBS over suspected insider trading linked to Netflix deal
Companies

Seoul shares up for 2nd day on tech gains despite tariff concerns

Seoul shares closed higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street and boosted by technology stocks in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats. The Korean won rose slightly against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 13.25 points, or 0.41 percent, to finish at 3,215.28. Trade volume was moderate at 415.06 million shares worth 11.94 trillion won (US$8.6 billion). Decliners outnumbered gainers 510 to 364. Foreigners bought a net 212.29 billion won worth of shares, while institutions and individuals sold 20.8 billion won and 311.19 won stocks, respectively. Trump has notified key U.S. trading partners of new tariff rates set to take effect Aug. 1 unless they offer improved terms in ongoing trade negotiations. "Trump has already sent a letter to South Korea notifying plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on South Korean products starting Aug. 1. The market had already priced in the news, causing no major jitters," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities Co., said. Large-cap stocks were mixed. Market bellwether Sam

Jul 15, 2025By Yonhap
Seoul shares up for 2nd day on tech gains despite tariff concerns
Tech & Science

KT to invest $724 mil. in cybersecurity, anti-phishing measures over 5 years

KT unveiled a major plan to invest more than 1 trillion won ($724.5 million) in data and information security over the next five years on Tuesday, pledging to bolster its security infrastructure and provide safer telecommunications services for its users. As part of the investment, KT will allocate approximately 340 billion won to enhance a zero-trust, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered monitoring system, and around 20 billion won to form security partnerships with global tech giants such as Microsoft and Google. The company also plans to nearly double its in-house security personnel from 162 to 300, with about 50 billion won earmarked for talent expansion. The remaining 660 billion won will be used to maintain and upgrade its existing security infrastructure. “Security is not just a matter of technical concern, but a core value in building corporate trust,” KT Chief Information Security Officer Hwang Tae-sun said during the company’s briefing in central Seoul. “We plan to elevate our information security system, which already is the best in the local industry, to a world-clas

Jul 15, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
KT to invest $724 mil. in cybersecurity, anti-phishing measures over 5 years
Tech & Science

Concerns persist over Chinese appliance makers’ personal info protection

Doubts continue to mount over Chinese home appliance makers’ personal data protection policies in Korea, as companies such as Xiaomi and Roborock maintain practices that allow their headquarters in China to access Korean users’ private information. Roborock, the world’s biggest robot vacuum cleaner maker, recently faced controversy over a March 14 update to the privacy policy of its official Korean website, which stated that the company “collects and processes users’ personal information in China in order to provide services.” It added the same clause to its updated privacy policy for its smartphone app on March 31. The previous version, which took effect on Oct. 22, 2024, had stated that data from Korean users would be collected through a U.S.-based data center, but the new version replaced that with a table that suggested data would be collected through centers in Singapore and other countries. To fully use the features of Roborock robot vacuum cleaners, users are required to install the smartphone app and sign up for an account. Since the devices collect images and data f

Jul 15, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Concerns persist over Chinese appliance makers’ personal info protection
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