Being small doesn’t mean you’re not strong. The same rule can be applied to the Mini John Cooper Works, a high-performance Mini. Built for the track, the new Mini JCW, which debuted in Korea last Friday, goes the extra mile in performance compared to the previous model, positioning itself as the fastest and the most powerful car in the Mini family.The car is the second JCW model that Mini has introduced since BMW, Mini’s parent company, bought John Cooper Works in 2006. The acquired firm had bee

Mobility June 28, 2015

QM3, the compact sport utility vehicle brand of Renault Samsung Motors, is strengthening its market leadership in the segment this year, leading the company’s sales growth.According to the nation’s third-largest carmaker, the accumulated sales of QM3 cars since the model’s debut in December 2013 are expected to exceed 30,000 units by June or early July. “Popularity of our compact SUVs has risen since last year. Sales of QM3 cars for the first five months soared 77.4 percent to 7,974 units compar

Mobility June 25, 2015

The growth rate of South Korea’s household savings fell to its lowest level since the global financial crisis, reflecting people’s struggle to seek more profitable investment alternatives amid low interest rates, according to data released by the central bank on Sunday.Household deposits totaled 547.7 trillion won ($494 billion) as of the end of April, up 26.6 trillion won or 5.1 percent from the same period a year ago, the Bank of Korea said.Of that, savings deposits stood at 492.5 trillion won

June 21, 2015

The spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome is battering the nation’s economy, which was showing signs of recovery, sapping consumer spending and economic activity.The agricultural sector is no exception. Experts said farmers were suffering from a decrease in demand for agricultural products as people avoid crowded places like department and discount stores.According to the Korea Foodservice Industry Research Institute, local restaurants reported an average 38.5 percent drop in sales from Jun

June 21, 2015

Kia Motors, South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said it would begin accepting preorders for its upgraded midsize sedan, the all-new K5, from Monday.The second-generation of the K5, set to go on sale in mid-July, comes five years after the first version’s launch in 2010. The vehicle features an upgraded design and improved engine features.The new K5 comes in two models, featuring differing design schemes ― the K5 Modern Extreme and the K5 Sporty Extreme. There are five engine types available,

Mobility June 21, 2015

With competition in Korea’s limited luxury car market heating up, German luxury carmakers are turning their eyes to the country’s younger generation for further growth, introducing their compact car models, armed with a new look and cheaper price. In the latest move, Audi, the fourth-largest foreign car brand in Korea, debuted two A1 cars ― the A1 30 TDI and A1 Sportback 30 TDI ― on Thursday, hoping that its smallest diesel-powered product line will appeal to the 20- and 30-somethings here.The b

Mobility June 21, 2015

Park Wan-su (left), CEO of Incheon International Airport Corp., poses with Mertol Genc, CEO of the project to build the Istanbul Grand Airport, after signing a contract to offer airport operation consulting services to the new airport in Istanbul, Turkey until 2020. The Incheon Airport-led international consortium won the 12.9 billion won ($11.7 million) consulting project in March. IIAC

Industry June 18, 2015

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp., the nation’s largest utility company, has internally decided to cut electricity rates under pressure from the political circles, according to a source.“KEPCO will soon lower the electricity rates as it has already agreed with the government on the measure,” a company official close to the matter told The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity.The source, however, declined to say how large the cut would be. KEPCO has been under pressure to make a rate cut

Industry June 17, 2015

The South Korean government will soon review supplementary budgeting to turn the faltering economy around, experts said Sunday. The Korean economy has faced a number of difficulties to tackle, including sluggish domestic consumption and falling exports for the first half of this year. To make things worse, the recent outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome is casting cold water on the economy. Witnessing worsening economic conditions, economists said an extra shot to the budget is neces

June 14, 2015

For urban dwellers who are tired of the hustle and bustle of the city and dream of a break in a remote corner of the world, Yangshuo, a rural Chinese town in southern China, might be the perfect destination. The 2,000-year-old town is under the jurisdiction of Guilin City in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of southwest China. It has just 30,000 people, but its world-class scenery of endless karst peaks and winding rivers make it a big draw for tourists. Guilin and Yangshuo, both of which ha

Travel June 12, 2015

A crisis began escalating at Daewoo International ― the trading and overseas resource development arm of POSCO ― Wednesday following rumors that CEO Jeon Byeong-eal would quit in protest of the parent firm’s asset restructuring plan.POSCO officials declined to comment in the day, saying they would issue a statement after a decision regarding his status was made.According to industry sources, Jeon uploaded a message on the internal corporate board in May that he had sent an email to POSCO chairma

Industry June 10, 2015

Mobility June 7, 2015