This year, The Korea Herald celebrates the 70th year since its first publication on Aug. 15, 1953, upon the signing of the armistice agreement from the Korean War. The Korea Herald has been in the front line of current affairs through the seven decades. Writing in a foreign language, The Korea Herald reporters were outsiders from the inside, trying to tell the stories with a purpose different from those of Korean-language journalists. Through the historical upheavals, economic accomplishments, f

BAT’s US biotech subsidiary, Kentucky BioProcessing is developing a potential vaccine for COVID-19 that is now in pre-clinical testing, the tobacco firm said Thursday. BAT aims to gain partners and support from government agencies to manufacture a vaccine, if successful, to a capacity of between 1 million and 3 million doses per week, beginning in June, it said. The venture is not aimed at making a profit, it added. The project involves BAT’s proprietary, fast-growing tobacco pla

In our everyday drudgery of overwhelming duties and innate thirst for praise, it is easy to fall into the pit of spontaneous buck-passing when things go south.And such a defensive mode quickly transpires into aggressive offense against the point of threat, plastered with the rationale of self-righteousness, when the stakes get higher.In such a progression, it is easy to get lost in the tit-for-tat and all the emotions, with the direct parties and spectators losing grasp of what it was really all

We criticize intuitively every day. That slow driver in the fast lane, the waiter who obviously does not want to be here, the comedian who is just not funny anymore.Even the nicest person criticizes subliminally. When an important message suddenly lags on KakaoTalk, the blame quickly heads to those faceless technicians at Kakao (although they probably already prepared a fix, an apology and a debugging upgrade within five minutes).People criticize for several reasons: usually because we feel unde

Philip Morris Korea Director Kim Byung-chul (left) poses for a photo during an initiation ceremony on Thursday in Seoul for the Community Chest of Korea’s Honor Society, an exclusive club for individuals who have donated at least 100 million won. Kim became the 2,027th member with his latest donation, which will be used to help medically vulnerable social groups, prevent the spread of poverty and reinforce environmental protection projects, the company said.   Credit:PMK

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Tuesday that it has cut the prices of mainstay models in an effort to revive lackluster sales.Starting Tuesday, GM Korea slashed the prices of its major models, such as the Impala sedan and the Trax and Equinox sport-utility vehicle, by up to 3 million won ($2,700), the company said in a statement. The company expects its “customer-focused pricing approach” to strengthen the position of those key Chevrolet vehicles in th

The economic value of nonpaying housework reached some 360 trillion won as of 2014, according to a report from Statistics Korea. That figure, the most recent available, was 33.3 percent higher than five years earlier, when it stood at 90.1 trillion won. It was also one-fourth of the nation’s gross domestic product. If converted into a monthly wage, it would be about 590,000 won.Nonpaying housework refers to preparing meals, cleaning, taking care of children, pets and plants, purchasing goo

The number of traffic accidents increased by around 8 percent this summer compared to last year, a phenomenon largely attributable to a record-breaking heat wave, a report by Samsung Traffic Safety Research Institute showed.By analyzing over 1.86 million road accidents that occurred from June to August 2016-2018 (up until July 23, 2018) that involved their car insurance subscribers, the institute said the average number of accidents soared when temperatures escalated.For instance, while an avera

Business representatives to the Minimum Wage Council have decided not to attend any of the discussions for next year’s minimum wage, reports said Friday, a decision that came after their demand to apply differential minimum wage was turned down.Based on local laws, even without the participation of one of the three sides – government, workers and employees – the 27-member council can decide on the minimum wage level if they meet the quorum. Members of the Minimum Wage Council walk out of a meeti

On July 1, a vague mix of optimism and pessimism filled many workplaces in South Korea upon the effectuation of the 52-hour workweek. Local media have been loudly playing along to the tunes of the government or businesses, either highlighting the newfound leisurely life with shortened work hours, or on gloomy forecasts of the managerial nightmare and even an impairment to productivity.The Moon Jae-in administration has set out to expunge Korea’s notoriety as one of the most overworked countries

Management in Korea is a regular column written by the members of Egon Zehnder Seoul, touching on various aspects of Korean enterprises and business leaders and offering management tips. -- Ed.Being named CEO is a goal sought by many but obtained by few. Both in the public eye and within the executive suite, it is thought of as the end of a long career path. But the fact is that it is only the beginning of a new and more challenging stage. Even for executives who have been carefully groomed for

It is a crucial week ahead for Hyundai Motor Group seeking to streamline its complex corporate shareholding structure through a spin-off and merger deal that is subject to a vote at May 29 meeting of shareholders.Proxy advisory firms including Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. and the Korea Corporate Governance Service are expected to make their recommendations this week, in light of the latest move by hedge fund Elliott Advisors to oppose Hyundai‘s plans. By regulation here, a spin-off a

It takes an average of 6.8 years of savings to own one’s first home in South Korea, as of last year, slightly longer than 6.7 years tallied in 2016, according to analyses on housing in the country conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The average number of years residing in one place came to eight years, also up from 7.7 years in 2016. While homeowners lived in their homes for an average of 11.1 years, those renting the place stayed for an average of 3.4 years.The

Last year, the increase rate of loans taken out by the the self-employed surpassed by tenfold the rise of the number of self-owned businesses, data by Statistics Korea and the Bank of Korea showed.With the anticipated rise of interest rates, the debt repayment burden is expected to augment for those running their own businesses.A total of 5,682,000 are registered as self-employed as of the end of last year, up 1.2 percent from the previous year.According to data from the Bank of Korea, some 535.

Over the past three decades, the employment increase rate and the proportion of paid workers who are women increased noticeably to surpass those of men, according to data by the Korea Employment Information Service.The number of female employees in South Korea that had stood at 6,771,000 in 1988 increased 67.7 percent to 11,356,000 last year. The increase rate for men was 52.2 percent.The economic activity rate of women also surged from 45.0 percent to 52.1 percent in the same time span. The pro

South Korea saw its real household income rise in the fourth quarter last year from a year ago, ending eight consecutive quarters of decline, data by Statistics Korea showed.An average monthly income of a household reached 4.45 million won ($4,130) in the fourth quarter, up a nominal 3.1 percent from the previous year.The inflation-adjusted real income also surged 1.6 percent on-year. The real income had been on a decline since the last quarter of 2015.Households’ income through wages rose

The market for location based information services has been expanding rapidly with the size this year expected to surge 25 percent on-year to reach 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion), data by the Korea Internet and Security Agency showed.The data was based on a survey of 893 LBS businesses operating in the country as of August to October last year.For the market as of 2016, 296.1 billion won came from marketing and commerce-related services, followed by 114.3 billion won from living and entertainme

This week, as South Korea celebrates the Lunar New Year holiday, the number of air passengers is also expected to increase between the day before the holiday starts on Wednesday and Sunday. Incheon International Airport Corporation said that the number of passengers will reach some 940,000 including 462,453 outbound and 477,354 inbound travelers. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

The United States exported record-high $48.28 billion worth of goods to South Korea in 2017, while Korea exported $71.16 billion of products to the US, data by the US Department of Commerce showed.Korea’s trade surplus consequently dropped 17 percent on-year, contrary to Washington’s current claim that the free trade pact was disadvantaging the US.The US trade deficit stood at $22.88 billion, down $4.69 billion from the $27.57 billion tallied in 2016.The commerce department attribute

Sales at department stores in South Korea fell by 2.1 percent last year from 2016 partly due to the rising popularity of online shopping, data from Statistics Korea showed Friday.Local department stores posted combined sales of 29.24 trillion won ($26.7 billion) last year.Overall retail sales, meanwhile, increased 4.4 percent to 402.91 trillion won. Department store sales accounted for 7.3 percent of the total, with the rate continuing to decline from 8.4 percent in 2013.Shopping done online or