The Herald Design Market showcases design products of young up-and-coming Korean designers. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)The biggest merit of living in the age of design, perhaps, is the accessibility and affordability of goods for everyone. About 80 talented young designers set up tables under their own brand names at the Herald Design Market, showcasing everyday items with sophisticated designs. The products were displayed in a colorful, three-storied container building, an open patio of th

Siemens Korea on Monday named Christoph M. Aebischer as the company’s vice president and head of the building technologies division. Aebischer formerly served as regional head of fire safety and security solutions for the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, after heading the building automation division of the Hong Kong and Macau operations of Siemens. He joined Siemens Switzerland as a service engineer and accumulated extensive experience in various sectors, including product management, sales market

This is the seventh in a series of articles about promising foreign-invested companies. ― Ed.ICHEON, Gyeonggi Province ― Electric cars and automated driving were the two hot trends of the Frankfurt Motor Show 2013, according to Sunwoo Hyun, the chief executive of Continental Automotive Systems Korea, the Korean unit of German auto part maker Continental AG.Founded in 1871, Continental AG is headquartered in Hanover, Germany, with annual sales of 32.7 billion euros ($44.4 billion) and about 170,0

Foreign investors are maintaining their active buying spree on Korea’s main bourse, posting a combined net purchase of stocks worth about 10 trillion won ($9.3 billion) since the end of August.According to the Korea Exchange, foreigners net purchased local stocks for the 26th consecutive trading session between Aug. 23 and Oct. 2. The collective volume came to 9.6 trillion, marking the highest figure in 15 years since the 1997 Asian foreign exchange crisis.Though the U.S. government’s tapering s

The local operation of British American Tobacco announced on Monday that it will lower the price of KENT Convertibles to 2,300 won ($2.10) a pack, down 400 won from the current 2,700 won, starting Oct. 1. “We believe the price repositioning of KENT will provide additional choice for consumers who are seeking high-quality products at a more affordable price range,” said Guy Meldrum, the chief executive of BAT Korea. The under-2,500 won cigarettes comprise about 15 percent of the local tobacco mar

NongHyup Financial Group on Monday reiterated its determination to bid for the brokerage unit of Woori Financial Group.After the government resurrected the project to privatize the state-funded Woori Financial earlier this year, NongHyup Financial was deemed one of the few powerful potential bidders for Woori Investment & Securities.“In the past, local financial institutions could grow naturally by sticking to traditional operations. Now, they must reach out for artificial growth through nontrad

The National Tax Service has launched another probe into CJ Entertainment & Media, seven months after it conducted a regular audit of the company. Tax investigators on Thursday raided the company headquarters in Sangam-dong, western Seoul, and confiscated computer hard disks, documents and account books, officials said.The company underwent a regular tax probe in February and CJ Group did in June.The unexpected probe aroused speculation that the tax agency might have found new evidence to suppor

Diageo Korea, the local operation of the world’s largest whiskey maker Diageo, on Thursday completed the construction of additional production lines for its plant in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. This additional production line will be used in producing Smirnoff-based cocktail products that will be exported to Southeast Asia. The expansion aims at overcoming limited growth in the local whiskey market, said Diageo Korea CEO Cho Kil-soo at the launching ceremony of Johnnie Walker House in Sinsa-dong,

Shinhan Financial Group vowed to strengthen its social contribution activities to help the country enhance its welfare and culture in a practical way.One such attempt is the group’s corporate social responsibilities council, which consists of the chief executives of Shinhan subsidiaries. The council is the group’s highest decision-making body for corporate social responsibility activities.CSR achievement is one of the qualifications that Shinhan evaluates when employees are considered for promot

A top foreign bank official advised Korean companies to use Renminbi, or yuan, in their trade settlements with foreign partners, stressing that the globalization of the Chinese currency is going faster than had been predicted.“When the RMB was first set on an international course, we predicted that it would be used for 20 percent of (Chinese) cross border trade by 2015,” Carmen Ling, the global head of the RMB solutions unit of Standard Chartered Bank, told The Korea Herald in an email interview

The tax revenue collected by company audits has been on the rise for the past three years, the National Tax Agency said in a report on Wednesday. Last year, the NTS collected an extra 7 trillion won (6.3 billion) through tax crackdowns, which takes up about 3.6 percent of the country’s total tax revenue, according to the report to ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Kim Tae-ho. The report revealed that the majority 70.4 percent of this extra tax, or 4.9 trillion won, came from auditing companies. The

Financial authorities said Tuesday that the government would have to pay about 20.3 trillion won ($18.9 billion) in debt interest this year. Financial analysts said the government’s high interest payments may elevate concerns about the nation’s fiscal soundness.The interest payment for the government debt this year rose to 20.3 trillion won ($18.9 billion), or about 7.7 percent of this year’s total state revenue, the Financial Services Commission said in a report to ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker

Korea and China are likely to suffer from problems of a typical aging society, since their working-age population is projected to shrink over the next 10 years, an economist at a major U.S. investment bank predicted.A research report of Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Hak Bin Chua was quoted by broadcaster CNBC as saying that “the next decade will be very different from previous decades when most of Asia was still experiencing demographic divides, including China and Korea.”Chua asserted

Kyobo Life is eager to buy Woori Bank to improve its competitiveness against conglomerate-backed insurance firms, the head of the nation’s public fund committee said on Friday. “Being solely an insurance company is limiting in terms of market share, especially because they have to compete with life insurance firms affiliated with conglomerates,” said Sohn Byung-doo, secretary general of the Secretariat to the Public Fund Oversight Committee. The committee is the public fund unit of the Financial

The local unit of Goldman Sachs gave an optimistic view on Korea’s exports in the second half of this year, lowering its previous warning against weak yen’s negative effects on the Korean economy. “We said in an earlier report (in April) that the weak yen was seen as major problem that was manageable as long as the cross rate stays around 105,” said Kwon Goo-hoon, co-head of research of Goldman Sachs Asia Seoul branch, in a press conference in Seoul on Thursday. “Now we are seeing an inverse cas

Diageo Korea announced on Wednesday the launch of “Windsor Black,” the latest edition of its Windsor lineup. Windsor Black, which will be put on sale from Sept. 16, has an extra-enriched fruity fragrance compared to previous Windsor products, said the local operation of the world’s largest whiskey maker. The 17-year-old blended scotch was created by Windsor master blender Douglas Murray, distilled in Royal Lochnagar Distillery in Lochnagar, Scotland, and matured in brand-new sherry oak barrels,

The number of savings banks has decreased by half in 14 years due to the government’s restructuring and the nation’s protracted economic slump, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service.The number dropped from 186 in 1999 to 91 in March 2013, the report said. The country had 249 savings banks three decades ago.Past irregularities of some savings banks are also held responsible for the decrease as the cases led them to close, an FSS official said.The regulator plans to further stre

  There are multiple factors that a foreign company must take into account before making a huge investment overseas: operational costs, market demographics, logistics and manpower, to name a few. For Kimberly-Clark Corp, the world’s leading manufacturer of baby care and paper products, it was Korea’s futuristic market and customer trends that led it to set up the Global Innovation Center Asia in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in 2006. The company has some 60 regular foreign and local employees.Best

Strong logistics is the key advantage that differentiates Korea from neighboring emerging economies, chief executives of foreign-invested companies operating here said on Wednesday. The three classical incentives offered by host countries are tax reductions, site support and cash grants. Currently the Korean government charges no tax for the first 3-5 years, plus a 50 percent tax reduction for the following two years. It also provides land free of charge for 50 years and rent discounts, besides

The 10th memorial ceremony for Shin Yong-ho, the late founder of Kyobo Life Insurance Co., will be held in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, on Wednesday, the insurance firm said Tuesday.A variety of commemorative events, including a photo exhibition and concert, will be staged in Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, the company said. Besides influential figures from the insurance industry and academia, a large number of young people are expected to join the commemoration, the organizer said. “The l