Family-controlled Orion Group, the nation’s second-biggest snack giant after Lotte, took a bold measure last week by dismantling the office of chairman, which had served as the control tower for the group for decades. Prior to this, group chairman Tam Chul-kon had governed the group with his wife and vice chairman Lee Hwa-kyung since he took up the chairmanship in 2003. Tam is a son-in-law of th...

Top Swedish furniture outlet betting on quality and affordability to attract Korean customers

(Gmarket) Gmarket, the country’s largest online shopping site, has introduced a payment system that will save shoppers both time and energy. With “SmilePay,” users’ credit cards, CVC codes and identification numbers are automatically stored after they are first entered. This information is then brought up when shoppers want to use their credit cards ― issued by Samsung and Hyundai ― to shop at ...

KOMIPO, Hyundai Heavy, Polaris Shipping, Siemens to jointly develop

Chung Joon-yang (Yonhap News) POSCO chairman and CEO Chung Joon-yang conveyed his willingness to resign to the chairman of the company’s board of directors to pave the way for new leadership, company officials said on Friday. Chung requested that the board chairman launch the in-house process to select his successor, the officials said. Chung decided to step down out of the need for new leader...

Lee Won-joon The rapid pace of digital adoption by Korean consumers means businesses must move to meet them in the digital arena, tapping social media and using big data to strengthen their connections with their target audience. As a global leader in the production and consumption of high-tech products, Korea is among the fastest-growing information and communications technology markets worldw...

Gayle Peterson The past 12 months have seen some notable milestones for women in senior positions. Fifty-one percent of senior management positions in China are now held by women, up from 25 percent in 2012. On a global scale the percentage of women in senior roles has risen from 21 percent in 2012 to 24 percent in 2013, and here in Korea, 2013 saw the inauguration of its first female president....

KNOC to focus on post-merger integration, risk management overseas rather than expansion

A growing number of South Korean corporations are turning their backs on a workaholic culture once seen as indispensable but increasingly viewed as unhealthy, unproductive and inefficient. Long working hours, often followed by intense late-night drinking sessions with the boss, have long been a feature of the Korea Inc. that transformed a war-ravaged nation into Asia’s fourth-biggest economy in ...