Techno valleys in Korea are playing a pivotal role as hubs for technology start-ups as the government pushes to boost innovation through policy measures. Pangyo Techno Valley in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, which opened in 2011, is one of the leading techno valleys in Korea. It started small. Having only 82 companies in the 661,000-square-meter-large land, the first-year sales reached just 5 trillion won, ($4.3 billion).Pangyo Techno Valley, however, soon drew a sharp growth as the number of com

The origin of AmorePacific traces back to Suh Kyung-bae’s grandmother Yun Dok-jeong who came up with an idea of selling hair oil made of camellia oil in Gaeseong, in present day North Korea. Attracting upper class customers with the high-quality oil, Yun soon established a cosmetics shop, Changseong Store, in 1932 and expanded to other products, such as facial cream and powder. Learning from Yun’s entrepreneurship and business skills, Suh’s father Suh Sung-whan began to fully engage in the busin

Women in Korea have come a long way. Their social and political standings have greatly improved in this traditionally male-dominated society, as can be seen by the female head of the nation. In the corporate world, however, little has changed. Women in boardrooms or the C-suite are still a rare sight. Lee Haeng-hee is among those rare ones. Corning Korea president Lee Haeng-hee (Corning Korea)The president of Corning Korea, the local unit of U.S. materials firm Corning, is the epitome of how a w

The Korean government will gradually shut down 10 aged coal-fired power plants as part of measures to curb fine dust emissions, officials said Wednesday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that the 10, to be closed by 2025, are aged over 30 years and have a combined capacity of 3.3 million kilowatts. It will also no longer build coal power plants to support the country’s aim of cutting the fine dust level by 24 percent to 6,600 tons by 2030. Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan presides ov

Multinational conglomerate 3M is remaining silent over its potentially toxic filters used in local air cleaners, stirring public anger over the lack of countermeasures. Earlier last month, a local broadcast revealed that a toxic substance called OIT was detected in air cleaners produced by Cuckoo and Dayou-winia. LG Electronics also admitted later that it had found the same issue in products. The filters of those products were all provided by 3M. Customers looks at air purifiers at a home applia

The prosecution looking into Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering has found new allegations of embezzlement amounting to 2 billion won ($1.7 million), on top of the suspected 5 trillion won accounting fraud, sources said Thursday. The investigators suspected that DSME’s former CEO Nam Sang-tae created about $500,000 worth of slush funds in 2008 through a DSME affiliate to purchase stocks in a paper company set up by his college friend surnamed Jeong. In exchange for business favors, Nam al

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. has successfully built its state-of-the-art independent power system in Penetanguishene, a small town in Ontario, Canada, expanding its business to the North American market, officials said Thursday. KEPCO said it held a completion ceremony for the establishment of a microgrid in the town where some 440 households reside. Microgrid is a power system that can be autonomously run in a limited region. The energy monitoring system controls the renewable energ

 Korea Southern Power, one of Korea’s public energy companies, is gradually breaking into the overseas market with its innovative technology and know-how.Late last month, KOSPO successfully made the first trial ignition in the Kelar gas power plant in Chile, where construction is still underway. The trial ignition, the first step after installing a gas turbine, is considered crucial as it indicates how a plant is well-connected.  Korea gas power plant in Chile (KOSPO)Since 2013, KOSPO has been b

Traditional liquor producer Kooksoondang’s rice wine (makgeolli) flavored with banana has hit the market, attracting in particular the young generation. Released in early April, the Rice Makgeolli Banana recorded more than 2 million bottles of sales in two months, the company said.  Kooksoondang’s rice wine with banana flavor.The unique traditional beverage with 4 percent alcohol combines Korean methods of brewing makgeolli with banana puree. The product is sold in Korea and 11 other countries,

Financial counseling service JPTV offers professional investment tips for individual investors to support them with up-to-date stock information. With more than 30 stock investment experts, JPTV has provided content ranging from trading signals and system training to automatic trading solutions, for private investors who lack professional knowledge and support. The website of JPTVThe experts deliver their tips through a number of TV programs on various economy channels, such as MTN or edaily TV.

Former Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering CEO Nam Sang-tae was taken into custody early Tuesday amid the widening probe into a massive accounting fraud. The Seoul Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said it was holding Nam in its custody, following a half-day questioning on Monday as a suspect in the alleged window dressing. It has found new allegations and spotted signs of destroying evidence, it added. (Yonhap)The office plans to ask the court to issue an arrest warrant for him on Wednesday. T

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering’s labor union is resisting restructuring measures out of layoff fears, adding to the woes at the country’s second-largest shipbuilder facing mountains of debt and allegations of over 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion) in accounting fraud. The union has launched an indefinite demonstration in protest, starting from late Monday. Yonhap“Creditors and the management are unilaterally pushing for the restructuring plan with no consideration of employees,” the union

Prosecutors on Monday called in the former CEO of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering as part of its expanding probe into allegations that he speculated with trillions of won through accounting fraud.　The Seoul Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said it summoned ex-CEO Nam Sang-tae on charges of breach of trust while the 66-year-old was serving the post from 2006 to 2012.  Former DSME chief Nam Sang-tae answers questions from reporters before being summoned to the Seoul Supreme Prosecutors’ Office

Korea’s major oil refiner GS Caltex is helping underprivileged children and youths by providing counseling services to them as part of corporate social responsibility, the company said Monday.With the aim of boosting youths’ self-esteem and supporting them socially, the company has been running the program “Heart Tok Tok” since 2013. It involves sessions designed to help them heal psychologically such as through music, painting and ballet.  North Korean defector students participate in the Heart

Korea’s exports are projected to improve in the second half of this year, despite the poor performances of the semiconductor and shipbuilding industries, data showed Thursday. According to the Korea Institute for Economics & Trade’s report, the amount of exports will recover in the second half of this year and reach an increase rate of minus 1.3 percent compared to last year. Exports in the first half plummeted by 10.8 percent on-year. The overall export increase rate is projected to record minu

Korea’s largest steelmaker POSCO is drawing up a plan in detail to integrate processing centers in China as part of its restructuring measures to save the cost and improve organizational efficiency, local reports said Thursday. According to the reports, the steelmaker is considering integrating processing centers of stainless and steel sheets in China, such as POSCO-CZPC and POSCO-CQPC. It had previously decided to put the company’s overseas subsidiary Qingdao Pohang Stainless Steel up for sale.

Korea’s retail giant Lotte Group topped the ranking for making mergers and acquisitions deals over the past six years, data showed Tuesday. According to corporate tracker CEO Score, Lotte took over a total of 21 companies through M&A deals from 2010 to 2015. The size of the deals amounted to $6.5 billion, accounting for 20 percent of total M&A deals made by the top 30 conglomerates. Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin has aggressively pushed for the deals since 2004, completing 36 such deals so f

Korean smartphone maker Pantech on Wednesday unveiled a new model – the first in 20 months -- targeting mid-tier customers with upgraded audio, display and battery-charging features.Named “Sky IM-100,” the new smartphone sports a 5.1-inch display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 processor and the Google Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system, the company said. Two promotion supporters show Sky IM-100 at a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap)The product is the first that the company has rel

 Steel prices will likely continue to rebound in the second half of this year on China’s large-scale efforts to reduce steel supply, industry insiders said Tuesday. Korea’s largest steelmaker POSCO plans to hike the price of hot rolled steel plates by 30,000 won ($26) per ton next month. This marks a total rise for the product of 150,000 won from January. 　Hot rolled steel plate, produced by fusing iron ore, is the most basic flat product which local coil manufacturers negotiate prices over ever

Speculation has grown over the possible rally of semiconductor prices amid the industry’s efforts to control the supply and releases of new smartphones, industry sources said Monday. According to global online semiconductor market DRAMeXchange, the spot price of DDR3 began its rebound early this month. The prices of DDR3 and DDR4 have been on the decline since late 2014, with each hitting record lows last month, at $1.25 and $1.31, respectively. The fall of DRAM price has, consequently, led to s