LG Electronics Vice Chairman and CEO Koo Bon-joon has sent out “CEO pizzas” to up to 1,000 employees to help boost morale, the Seoul-based electronics maker said on Wednesday.The latest batch of pizzas, sent out by Koo to express his affection for the LGE staff, were delivered on Tuesday to LG Electronics’ Air-conditioning and Energy Solution division’s “Chiller” team’s production and R&D units in

The country’s top 30 conglomerates were found to have set up a spiraling number of overseas corporations in countries without tax treaties with the South Korean government. Lotte Group had the largest number of corporations in such nations overall, according to Chaebul.com, an online portal devoted to analyzing conglomerate activities on Wednesday.As of last year, the conglomerate had 33 such offi

Samsung Everland Inc. on Tuesday said its theme park “Everland” was ranked among the global top 10 of such facilities for a fifth straight year in 2010. Everland stood at 10th place, with 6.88 million visitors according to recent figures from the Themed Entertainment Association. Everland has been included in the list of top 10 theme parks since 2006, the Seoul-based company said. In the category

Hard-hit Samsung, LG hoping for revival with smart devicesA prolonged underperformance of IT stocks, including Samsung Electronics, seems likely to continue right up until the third quarter.Experts were upbeat about the long-term resilience of the IT sector, but said the second quarter was not going to hold up as well as previously expected.“In general, second quarter earnings will show a decline,

Samsung Electronics marked its splash into the global fourth-generation telecom market in earnest with a contract for providing long-term-evolution equipment to Japan’s second-largest mobile phone operator.Samsung will be offering its LTE equipment to KDDI to help the firm launch its LTE services starting next year, the Seoul-based electronics company said on Monday.LTE is the fourth-generation of

BEIJING ― Acquity Group is an unfamiliar name to Koreans, but it promises to fundamentally change the landscape of corporate Korea’s online marketing.Exclusive brands do not want their brand value diluted by uniformly stacking their goods on the anonymous virtual shelves of eBay or Amazon, according to George Lu, chairman of Acquity Group.Acquity Group is a U.S. company Lu founded in 2001 to speci

In an emotion-charged speech against corruption, President Lee Myung-bak called for a sweeping overhaul of the way the government works, imploring top officials Friday to end long-ingrained irregularities in officialdom.Speaking at a brainstorming meeting that brought together all Cabinet ministers, vice ministers and other top officials, Lee expressed deep frustrations about the bureaucracy, repr

Prosecutors put a former aide to President Lee Myung-bak and state auditor on trial on Friday, accusing him of receiving kickbacks in return for using his influence to help a corruption-ridden savings bank survive inspections by financial regulators.Eun Jin-soo, 50, is suspected of having received 70 million won (US$64,844) from Busan Savings Bank through a broker last year in exchange for lobbyin

LG Electronics on Friday marked the global launch of its “Optimus 3-D” smartphone, starting with the European markets. The Seoul-based company held a ceremony in Spain to mark the launch and plans to release its phones in 60 countries in Europe. The Optimus 3-D is a smartphone with third-dimensional functions. The phone features a 4.3-inch glasses-free 3-D display that gives users the third-dimens

Corporate image has a major influence on local consumers who said their purchases were largely based on the image companies cultivate, according to a survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.More than 80 percent of those surveyed said they were influenced by corporate image when purchasing products, while only about 15 percent said they were not. Consumers also were found to hold domes

Electronics maker pledges further greenhouse gas emission cuts, labor rights promotionLG Electronics vice chairman and CEO Koo Bon-joon called for the electronics maker to commit to the basics in its sixth sustainability report issued last month, the Seoul-based company said on Monday.“The most important principle for a company to maintain its sustainability is essentially to secure competence in

Hyundai powerhouses are reportedly interested in acquiring the 15 percent stake in Hynix Semiconductor that will be put up for sale later this month, financial sources said on Sunday. Among them, Hyundai Heavy Industries is seen as one of the most viable candidates, industry sources said. The biggest motivation for the company is its undying desire to gather all the Hyundai affiliates under one ro

South Korean stocks are expected to trade in a narrow range this as investors step to the sidelines amid a lack of upward momentum and signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed last week at 2,046.67, down 3.16 percent from a week earlier.The KOSPI got off to a weak start at the beginning of the weak, as downbeat j

The government plans to make all-out efforts to stem growing inflationary pressure as South Korea faces potential difficulties in taming inflation in the second half, officials said Sunday.Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan presided over a meeting with ministers on Friday to discuss ways to stabilize consumer prices where he suggested 22 policy steps, including the stable management of macroeconomic fa

South Korea is mulling injecting public funds to rescue ailing local savings banks in an effort to overhaul the troubled sector in the second half, sources said Sunday.The government is seeking to put seven teetering savings banks up for sale this year, whose operations have been suspended since January due to a pile-up in soured construction loans and weak capital positions.The Financial Services

Chairman Lee says scandal prevalent throughout conglomerateEmployees at Samsung, the nation’s largest industrial group, are expected to face a conglomerate-wide shakeup as owner Lee Kun-hee was unable to shake his fury over the latest corruption scandal at a Samsung affiliate. “It seems that corruption is prevalent in all parts of Samsung,” was what Lee said on Thursday, a day after he said the co

Koreans are the most eager among global consumers to purchase a smartphone, Nielsen, a global information research firm, said on Wednesday.Half of South Korean consumers without the smart device responded in a survey by Nielsen that they would purchase a smartphone in the future.The figure was the highest among global consumers also surveyed by Nielsen, the company said.About one-fifth of the 50 m

LG Electronic launched its Cinema 3-D televisions at Ferrari World, the world’s largest theme park in Abu Dhabi on Monday to mark its foray into the Middle East and Africa, the Seoul-based company said Tuesday. The electronics maker is now aiming for a 40 percent market share of the 3-D industry in the region. “We believe that our products will be able to offer distinguished, next generation 3-D t

A tripartite tie-up between multinational companies, conglomerates and small- and mid-sized firms is one way the Korean government can attempt to cope with the daunting task of leveling the corporate playfield, says the head of the Korean CEO’s Association of Multinational Corporations.“We may have the drive and means for helping these small- and mid-sized companies, but it can’t be done without a

Kumho Petrochemical Chairman Park Chan-koo was on Friday summoned by prosecutors over allegations that he created slush funds and gained illegal profit on the back of exclusive, internal information.The prosecution believes the slush funds may amount to up to 30 billion won ($27.7 million).Park, however, denied any wrongdoing, saying he would “clear everything” during the questioning session. Park