GS Caltex is expanding an upcycling method that goes further than simply recycling plastic waste and creates new value by mixing materials. The firm said it plans to increase the production of compounded resin made from recycled plastic waste to streamline resources and reduce carbon emissions. Compound resin is a functional plastic widely used as a raw material for automotive and home appliance parts. If plastic waste is recycled to produce compounded resin instead of being incinerated, c

Industry July 2, 2020

South Korean and European business experts held an online forum Thursday to discuss ways to jointly respond to challenges in the wake of the pandemic and strengthen cooperation in areas such as future mobilities, secondary batteries and bio-health. As a follow-up event to the summit between the two regions, the EU-Korea Virtual Business Conference 2020 was jointly hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea. The conference aimed to discus

Industry July 2, 2020

Most managers in South Korean companies are of the view that telecommuting has either improved work efficiency and employee satisfaction or remains unchanged, a new survey showed Tuesday. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry surveyed personnel managers of 300 Korean companies on the status of remote work that is in force due to the new coronavirus outbreak. Around 83.6 percent said work efficiency was similar or has improved while 16.4 percent of the respondents said it has declined.

Industry July 2, 2020

HMM said Wednesday it held a naming ceremony for the world’s largest container ship HMM Hamburg. It is the fifth of the seven ships that HMM ordered from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. The South Korean shipping firm is slated to receive a total of 12 24,000 TEU-class ships -- seven from DSME and five from Samsung Heavy Industries -- by September this year. Among the 12 ships, six vessels have already been deployed on European routes so far, including HMM Algeciras, which

Mobility July 1, 2020

South Korea’s 500 largest companies by assets have expanded their investments in startups with high technologies since 2015, latest data showed Wednesday. Local corporate tracker CEOScore said their investments in startups increased more than 10-fold from 118.2 billion won ($98 million) in 2015 to 1.2 trillion won last year, with the total amount reaching 2.7 trillion won over the past five years. By sector, large investments were made in shared mobility, green cars, artificial intellig

Industry July 1, 2020

The European Chamber of Commerce in Korea has appointed Dirk Lukat, CEO of Schenker Korea, as the new chairperson, the organization said Tuesday. Lukat is a German citizen and has been the CEO of Schenker Korea in Seoul since January 2015. He will represent the ECCK and oversee its operations and activities, effective July 1, 2020. The new leader started his career at Schenker & Co. in Frankfurt in 1986 and held management positions at DB Schenker in Singapore, Vietnam and India. Befor

Industry June 30, 2020

Experts said Monday the current trade restrictions imposed by Japan on South Korea should be alleviated as strengthened cooperation in material, parts and equipment will lead to greater economic value. Speaking at a seminar hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries, they noted that closer cooperation between both countries could generate added value worth $123 billion. The seminar aimed to explore the economic impact of Japan’s export regulations on three major high-tech raw materi

Industry June 29, 2020

LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo marks two years Monday since he took the helm of South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate. Under his new and pragmatic leadership, the group has seen quiet but significant changes. Koo became the new leader of LG on June 29, 2018, at the age of 40 after his father, Koo Bon-moo, passed away a month earlier. He inherited the group in the Confucian tradition whereupon the eldest son takes over the family business. The late Koo’s management philosophy

Industry June 28, 2020

Companies doing business in Korea have shared their best practices and lessons learned amid the pandemic in a seminar hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Friday. On the day, AmCham hosted the “Doing Business in Korea Seminar 2020,” which was attended by around 100 distinguished guests, including officials from the US and Korean governments and CEOs of foreign companies. In his congratulatory remarks, AmCham Chairman & CEO James Kim highlighted the need fo

Industry June 26, 2020

South Korean businesspeople have called for easing unfavorable regulations that are not applied in rival countries in order to secure the competitiveness of the nation’s major industries. On Friday, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a second meeting of the regulatory improvement for the major industries with the private and public sectors to listen to the regulatory difficulties of the equipment industry and seek solutions. The meeting was attended by industry associations

Industry June 26, 2020

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has approved the merger between French multinational corporation LVMH and American jewelry company Tiffany & Co., saying there is no concern of competition restrictions, officials said Wednesday. On March 13, LVMH filed a business combination report with the nation’s Fair Trade Commission after signing a deal in November last year to acquire all of Tiffany’s shares. The merger has so far been approved by the authorities in the US, Austr

Industry June 24, 2020

South Korea’s non-regular workers lost jobs more than six times as much as regular workers amid the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. A local civic group Gabjil119 surveyed 1,000 office workers about how COVID-19 has changed work life from June 5-10. According to the survey, 12.9 percent of the respondents said they became unemployed regardless of their will over the past six months. Of the total, 26.3 percent of non-regular workers said they lost jobs, 6.7 times more than 4 percent of

Industry June 24, 2020

Yakult, a sweet probiotic drink in a tiny pale peach bottle, has been Koreans’ favorite beverage for more than 40 years, even creating its own culture through “Yakult ajumma.” While it sounds similar to yogurt and also contains lots of probiotics -- as much as around 20 billion lactic acid bacteria per bottle -- yogurt and Yakult are different products. Yakult originates from Japan, referring to a drink brand made of skim milk powder that contains probiotic culture with su

Industry June 23, 2020

When social media influencers are paid to post recommendations or reviews on social media, they must clarify that fact and make sure the disclosure is easy to read, the nation’s antitrust watchdog said Tuesday. The Fair Trade Commission said it had finalized revisions to its advertising guidelines, which deal with how to disclose financial interests when posting reviews on social media. The revisions will take effect Sept. 1. The guidelines are designed to prevent violations of the law

Industry June 23, 2020

South Korean exporters are likely to benefit from rising opportunities in China due to diverse government policies this year, a report suggested Monday. According to the report on China’s six major policy directions and implications released by the Korea International Trade Association’s Institute for International Trade, China’s economic growth rate in the first quarter was minus 6.8 percent, down 12.8 percent from the previous quarter. To revive the economy, the Chinese go

Industry June 22, 2020