Cost efficiency has been a crucial factor for corporations and individuals to consider when leasing offices due to a continued rise in rental costs and an economic slowdown at home and abroad. As a result, a number of corporations have adopted and embraced the idea of mobile desks to reduce office rental expenses, particularly for employees who operate in sales and business development. The majority of companies still favor having an office in a major business district such as the Central Busine

GS Group, the nation’s eighth-largest conglomerate by assets, is expected to further tap the power business beyond its three core businesses of oil refinery, construction and retail. This shift was reflected by the launch of GS E&R, a new affiliate focusing on the power business, last week. GS E&R is the new corporate name of STX Energy, which GS Group took over last December with LG International from Japan’s Orix Corp. for about 600 billion won ($564 million).GS Group aggressively sought the d

Citibank Korea has become the latest victim in a string of fraudulent loans involving large corporate customers.Digitech Systems, a main supplier of Samsung Electronics’ assembly lines in China, is currently under investigation for taking money worth 18 billion won ($17 million) in loans from the bank with forged documents, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. According to the financial watchdog, the local touch-panel producer borrowed the money from Citibank with false account receiv

Hyundai Capital Services, Inc. was found to have issued irregular loans worth 800 billion won ($720 million) to two Hyundai Motor Group subsidiaries, the Financial Supervisory Service said Sunday.According to the financial regulator, Hyundai Capital has breached the state supervisory rules that oblige a lender to immediately notify the FSS governor of a credit-based lending worth 1 billion won or more.“While Hyundai Capital signed the loan contract with its two sister firms (in the automotive gr

Siemens Korea said it would recruit a group of supporters composed of college students for its social contribution program “Green Science School.’’ In collaboration with Dong-A Science and Kids & Future, a social welfare foundation, the Green Science School, to be launched in March, is designed to inform children about the importance of environmental challenges and to educate them about the environment and science.The new corporate citizenship program will be fully financed by Ai SaRang KiKeum,

Korean won headed for the best week since September as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s pledge to cut stimulus in “measured steps” increased demand for emerging-market assets. The currency was supported also by data from China, South Korea’s largest overseas market, which showed exports increased 10.6 percent from a year earlier in January, compared with the 0.1 percent gain projected in a Bloomberg News survey. The Bloomberg JP Morgan Asia Dollar Index (ADXY), which tracks the region’s 10 m

Kim Young-mi, 43, a working mom who lives in Daechi-dong, Seoul, has a monthly routine of applying for free concert tickets given away by POSCO. “The monthly music concert, held at POSCO Center on the third Saturday of each month, has become the location for regular family outings,” Kim said.POSCO Center is the steelmaker’s Seoul headquarters located in the heart of southern Seoul’s Teheran Valley ― an area dubbed the Silicon Valley of Korea.The steelmaker said it first began the free concerts i

JEJUDO ISLAND ― The scenic island of Jejudo, located near the southwest end of the Korean Peninsula, is building itself a new reputation as a destination for high-tech companies. As a case in point, several construction projects by tech companies are underway in Jeju Science Park, a high-tech business complex located in Ara-dong, Jeju City. The state-run Jeju International City Development Center, or JDC, opened the park on 1.1 million square meters of land in 2011 as one of its six mega-develop

Korea Electric Power Corp., a company whose core business is powering up society by generating and distributing electricity, has long been pursuing corporate social responsibility programs that reflect its role as a power supplier. “Some companies consider CSR as a passing fad or another source of pressure, but it’s a critical factor for becoming a socially responsible firm for business to build key infrastructure for the development of a society,” said Korea Electric Power Corp. CEO Cho Hwan-ik

This year may become a great year for office building buyers, as public organizations located in Seoul and its adjacent areas rush to sell their office buildings, pressed by the government’s demands to lower their debt levels. “Plans for selling off office buildings is one of the key measures that the 41 public organizations vowed to take to cut their debt and normalize their businesses,” said an official from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, declining to be identified. At the request of th

Air Busan, the nation’s second-largest low-cost carrier, announced Sunday it would seek to double its sales to 700 billion won ($652 million) by 2018 to become the top short-haul flight in Asia. When the company achieves this mid-term sales goal, its operating profit is forecast to grow to 40 billion won by 2018, the company added. “For this future growth goal, the company will increase the number of carriers to 19 from the current 9 over the next four years,” the company said in a press release

The management know-how of General Electric, a leading U.S. conglomerate, has long been considered a model for executives of Samsung Electronics. The tables have turned, as GE now studies the success of the South Korean tech giant in areas such as mobile devices and semiconductors. In 2013, Samsung Electronics became the world’s top IT and electronics company in terms of sales and profitability to beat previous leaders such as Apple and HP. Reflecting the changing tides, the GE management at its

Hanwha Group, a family-owned Korean conglomerate, has spurred its drive to market its fledgling engine-solar power business, starting with the 2014 World Economic Forum as the first international venue for promoting its goods. Hanwha, together with other firms, sponsored the annual meeting ― better known as the Davos forum in Korea. The forum is a global gathering of world business and government leaders who meet in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss pressing global agenda and build worldwide networ

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is poised to sign a 3 trillion ($2.8 billion) nuclear power deal in the U.K. next month involving the maintenance of outdated nuclear plants.The move is now prompting market watchers to issue an optimistic outlook for Korea’s power heavyweight. “When the deal is sealed, Doosan Heavy, which has failed to meet its annual order target for two years in a row in 2012 and 2013, will be able to make a turning point in recovery this year,” Choi Won-kyung, a stock a

The nation’s chief economic policymaker made another public apology on Friday to contain mounting public anger over his comments on the worst-ever data leak by three local credit cards.Before a breakfast meeting hosted by the Korea Management Association in Seoul on Friday, Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok bowed from the waist and said, “I thought I should apologize (again) to the public rather than explain the intention behind my words, if the words hurt the heart of the public.”Public uproar has

Ha Sung-yong, CEO of Korea Aerospace Industries, the country’s sole aircraft manufacturer, expressed his confidence in winning the upcoming U.S. Air Force T-X project that involves replacing outdated trainers. “The project will be one of the key overseas orders that KAI has set its sights on. I am confident about winning the deal if the competition is launched, as KAI’s T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer is the model most similar to the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 and F-35 fighters,’’ Ha said. Durin

The global economy is expected to see growth improve this year, although significant risks, including possible capital market volatility and asset bubbles, still remain.This forecast was made in the 2014 global business outlook issued by the B20 Coalition at its annual meeting in Paris on Tuesday. “The global economic recovery is underway at a modest pace this year, with the private sector creating jobs, innovating and investing again,” said the body representing 15 of the largest private busine

Bolstering business investment and deregulation are critical for South Korea to join the ranks of countries whose per capita GDP exceeds $40,000, a report by the country’s big business lobby group said Sunday. The assessment by the Federation of Korean Industries based on data provided by the International Monetary Fund claimed that the 22 countries that have made the “exclusive club” all had higher growth and employment rates and more developed service sectors compared to South Korea after thei

The state-run Korea Gas Corporation, the world’s second largest liquefied natural gas importer after Japan, said it will host the 2014 Gastech Conference and Exhibition between March 24-27 at KINTEX, Gyeonggi Province. The London-based Gastech, one of the world’s largest gatherings in the gas industry, has offered a venue for gas industry leaders and experts to exchange technological information and to build their global networking. It is the first time Gastech will be hosted in Northeast Asia,

Spending on advertising by information technology firms soared last year, driven by telecom firms and smartphone makers, a report showed on Sunday.The country’s tech firms spent a combined 607 billion won ($571 million) on advertisements last year, up 14.4 percent from 531 billion won a year earlier, according to the report by AC Nielsen.Samsung and its rivals such as Apple and LG Electronics spent a combined 166 billion won on smartphone advertisements last year, rising 14.2 percent from a year