The National Pension Service has exercised its shareholder rights more actively since it adopted the stewardship code in 2018, said a local corporate tracker. On Wednesday, CEO Score released the results of a survey of 577 companies in which the NPS held shares and exercised its voting rights at shareholders meetings last year. It found that the NPS voted against initiatives proposed by compani...

The nation’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor confirmed Tuesday it will suspend all production lines at local plants in phases due to the disruption of parts supplies from China. The decision follows three-hour talks between the labor union and management, and the suspension is expected to last until around Monday. The production shutdown is due mainly to the inventory shortage of wiring harness...

According to local corporate tracker Korea CXO Institute, Samsung Electronics’ ailing Chairman Lee Kun-hee will soon receive a dividend of 353.8 billion won ($296 million) for 2019. The firm analyzed the dividend status of Lee Kun-hee, his wife Hong Ra-hee and his son Lee Jae-yong for 10 years from 2010. Hong, formerly director of Samsung Museum of Art Leeum, is estimated to receive dividends o...

Park Seon-hee, a resident of western Seoul, stayed home over the weekend, canceling her plans to meet friends, as more cases of coronavirus infections were reported. She and her husband chose to order in food, though she is now considering purchasing premade food products online or cooking from scratch. South Korean consumers are increasingly turning to online shopping as the prolonged outbreak...

South Korean companies said Thursday they are lending a helping hand to fight the outbreak of new coronavirus in China, the nation’s top export destination. The nation’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Group was one of the first firms to decide on delivering donations to Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province. The firm said it would deliver medical goods and dona...

As the outbreak of China’s new coronavirus rapidly spreads, concerns have been raised about the Korean economy that heavily depends on China, the nation’s top export destination by volume. On Wednesday, China confirmed the number of deaths from the coronavirus epidemic at 132 and the number of confirmed cases at around 6,000. If the coronavirus turns into a prolonged outbreak, “the biggest conc...

The number of South Korean institutions that have embraced shareholder activism by adopting the stewardship code surged last year, raising tensions for companies ahead of their general shareholders meetings in March. The stewardship code sets forth guidelines for institutional investors, allowing them to participate actively in corporate governance by exercising their voting rights in the intere...

The road to Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun reigning over the nation’s largest automobile giant is predicted to be less bumpy as activist hedge fund Elliott, which had put the brakes on his succession plans, recently sold all its stakes in Hyundai Motor companies. According to the industry, Elliott sold its stakes of 2.9 percent of Hyundai Motor, 2.1 percent of Kia Motor...

Following a recent change in regulations limiting tenures of outside directors, South Korea companies are scurrying to scout new members ahead of their general shareholders meetings in March. Citing a need to reinforce shareholders’ rights and institutional investors, the Cabinet approved on Tuesday revisions to the enforcement decrees of the Commercial Act, Capital Market Act and National Pensi...

Samsung Electronics and Posco are the only South Korean companies to record an operating profit of 1 trillion won ($858 million) for more than 20 years, latest data showed Wednesday. A new study by the Sustainable Growth Institute surveyed changes in operating profit of Korean companies between 1998 and 2018. The number of companies with an operating profit exceeding 1 trillion won stood at 18 ...

The demise of Lotte Group founder and Honorary Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho on Sunday has put the spotlight on the distribution of his assets amongst his kin, reportedly worth over 1 trillion won ($864 million). However, market watchers are of the opinion that it will not affect the current leadership structure of Lotte Group, led by his second son and Chairman Shin Dong-bin. The inheritance is expect...

However, the era of Shin Kyuk-ho began to decline in July 2015, when his eldest son -- Shin Dong-joo, former vice chairman of Lotte Holdings in Japan, and his second son, Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group -- engaged in a public battle over control of the company. The elder Shin stepped back from the front lines of management during this time. After years of quarreling, Shin Dong-bin managed ...

Eight out of 10 listed Korean companies with assets of more than 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) were found to have no women on their boards of directors, showing that the invisible barrier to top management is still strong, data showed Sunday. Local corporate tracker Chaebol.com found that 114 of the 143 listed companies with total assets of more than 2 trillion won had no female directors based ...

GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo presented “innovation” as his first management keyword since taking office last month, with the aim of expanding an open innovation culture in the conglomerate, officials said Tuesday. He took the baton to lead the group from his brother Huh Chang-soo last month. “We can increase the sustainability of our business and society by building partnerships with various o...

The number of South Korean companies with revenue of more than 1 trillion won ($867 million) has doubled over the last two decades, although the growth has slowed in recent years, latest data showed Tuesday. The findings were disclosed in a study by Sustainable Growth Institute which surveyed large domestic companies between 1998 and 2018 to gauge the health of Korea’s economy. According to the...