In 2013, the central business district office market saw its vacancy rate rise due to new supply. In the first half of the year, three projects totaling an approximate gross floor area of 161,323 square meters were introduced into the CBD market. Looking forward, although new supply in 2014 are much less than seen in 2013, various Cheongjin office development plans are scheduled to becoming available in 2014. However, some new completions will be occupied by owners in the CBD area. Market condit

A Korean consortium led by Daewoo International will launch a project to develop luxury hotel infrastructure in Yangon, Myanmar, the company said Monday. The POSCO trading arm and three other Korean companies are to build a 14-floor luxury hotel and a 29-floor serviced residence building on a 2,183-square-meter site near Inya Lake, one of the most popular recreational areas in Yangon. “The $220 million project will kick off soon as three other companies have reached an agreement for their roles

The nation’s two leading oil refineries are competiting over a stake in Australian petrol retailer and supplier United Petroleum, according to industry sources. Following the confirmation of Saudi Aramco-invested S-Oil last week, SK Innovation said on Monday that SK Energy, its refinery arm, was considering the acquisition of a stake in United Petroleum. “The move is part of the firm’s continued efforts to tap business opportunities overseas,” SK Innovation, the nation’s top refinery, said in a

The government will raise the transaction limit at two duty-free shops for domestic travelers in Jeju to $800, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Tuesday. The two duty-free shops catering to domestic travelers, where they can shop up to six times a year, are located at Jeju International Airport and International Convention Center Jeju. However, the new policy only increases the transaction limit, while the tax-free benefit itself remains capped at $400. Transactions past $4

The Korea Rural Community Corp., a public firm that has carried out rural infrastructure and community development projects for decades, is shifting its focus to overseas projects under its new leadership. “The demand for learning from Korea’s agricultural infrastructure construction and rural and fishing village development know-how is increasing in developing countries,” KRC CEO Lee Sang-mu told The Korea Herald.  “The KRC will focus on tapping overseas business opportunities in such areas und

Korea and China kicked off second-phase negotiations to conclude a bilateral free trade agreement in Incheon on Monday, in which both sides will tackle market opening and liberalization item by item, Seoul officials said. The FTA talks between the two countries, which will last until Friday, are the eighth such round. The two sides completed the first-stage talks in September in China where both sides agreed on the basic guidelines, or modality, for the second-phase talks on item-by-item tariff

Leaders from business and political circles agreed Friday to set up a consultative body to deal with pending economic issues including the passage of bills aimed at boosting the sagging economy.The agreement was made after the main opposition Democratic Party floor leader Jun Byung-hun expressed the party’s unwillingness to cooperate with business leaders’ request for quick legislative action to pass some of the economic-related bills.It is the first time that chiefs of the ruling and opposition

POSCO chairman and CEO Chung Joon-yang conveyed his willingness to resign to the chairman of the company’s board of directors to pave the way for new leadership, company officials said on Friday.Chung requested that the board chairman launch the in-house process to select his successor, the officials said.Chung decided to step down out of the need for new leadership to lead POSCO, the nation’s top steelmaker, in the fast-changing global business environment, the company said. The outgoing CEO wa

With rising public concerns over pollution blowing in from China, dust control products are gaining popularity. Air Max, a mat suctioning fine dust from shoes, made by Testonic, is one such product. “The company has sought a way to keep front entrances clean, which is important to prevent air pollution inside buildings. Eventually, we invented a mat product to clean off all types of hazardous substances attached to shoes,” Testonic CEO Kang Ok-nam said.To differentiate the product from similar p

Korea will nurture the fast-growing geospatial information industry as one of the nation’s new growth engines in an integrated and systematic manner, the new head of the Korea Cadastral Survey Corp., or LX, said on Wednesday. “LX will transform into a hub organization to realize the vision, renewing its corporate name as the Korea Land Geospatial Information Corp. soon,’’ LX CEO Kim Young-pyo told The Korea Herald. The new entity, aimed at promoting the nation’s geospatial information industry,

The shale gas boom in the U.S. will eventually turn Asia’s natural gas market from the current seller’s market to a buyer’s market, London-based World Energy Council cochair Younghoon David Kim said Tuesday. “Leading gas sellers, including Russia, Australia and Malaysia, have started feeling the pinch as the U.S., once a gas buyer, is transitioning into a gas provider thanks to the recent shale gas boom,’’ Kim, who also leads Daesung Group, a Korean city-gas-driven energy conglomerate, said in a

The state-run Korea National Oil Corp. is likely to shun new buyout deals for the time being as its CEO said the top priority of the firm next year would be making progress in current oil exploration and production projects.“The company plans to focus its efforts on seeing progress in its ongoing oil E&P projects overseas next year,” KNOC CEO Suh Moon-kyu said.  He made the remarks at a press meeting held on the opening day of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference on Mo

Korean companies’ interest in the Russian Far East is likely to be rekindled as Russian President Vladimir Putin and his economic delegation are expected to proactively invite them to the easternmost part of Russia during their visit to Korea this week, market analysts said. “Despite the growth potential of Russia’s Far East, Korean companies have been slow to make inroads into the energy affluent and geographically attractive, but less developed Russian region. Mainly due to its weak infrastruc

Demand for Korean food products is growing quickly in the U.K., riding on the rising popularity of Korean pop culture in Europe, Homeplus, the nation’s second-largest discount retailer owned by British retail chain Tesco, said Thursday. “The trend is reflected in the third Taste of Korea promotion event, which was launched on Nov. 5 through Tesco branches in the U.K. for a two-week run,” a company official said. The event began this year on the same day President Park Geun-hye started her state

S-Oil won the presidential award at the 15th Korea Brand Awards ceremony, hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and organized by the Institute for Industrial Policy Studies, the company said Wednesday. S-Oil is the first refiner to receive the government-recognized top brand award. IPS, the organizer, said it evaluated three-year brand management strategies and activities of the award candidates in five areas: brand building, brand management, brand communication, brand equity and

The two most important questions often facing the leader of an organization have been the same throughout time: What is now and what is next? The answers now may be more important than ever at a time when the global economy is gaining momentum for recovery after a five-year downturn. As to the biggest change in the business environment compared with the past, CEOs of Korean units of multinational companies were of one voice ― the “speed and volatility” of change.“It is not an exaggeration to say

Hyosung Group, a leading industrial conglomerate in Korea, announced on Monday that it has developed a new and advanced polymeric material patented under the name of Polyketone.“The group has made a decade-long R&D investment to develop the original and high-performance engineering plastic material, which could replace other polymeric materials like nylon,” the group’s vice chairman Lee Sang-woon said in a press conference. Polyketone is used as an engineering plastic and high-strength super fib

The nation’s electricity market, which has long been dominated by state-run Korea Electric Power Corp., will soon face restructuring as the Energy Ministry reportedly launched a research project in efforts to improve market conditions.The ministry’s research plan was confirmed by Rep. Choo Mi-ae of the main opposition Democratic Party on the final day of the National Assembly’s regular government audit session. “We found that the ministry’s energy and resources policy division made a proposal to

Choi Gye-woon, 59, a professor at Incheon National University, was named the new CEO of state-run Korea Water Resources Corp., better known as K-water, the company said. Choi, a well known water environment expert in Korea, has carried out a number of water resource-related studies and projects, including the state-funded “smart water grid project.” Industry watchers said imminent tasks ahead of the new K-water CEO are to improve the financial health of the organization by cutting the debt level

The operating profit of Hyundai Heavy Industries, the nation’s top shipbuilder, plunged 63 percent to 222.4 billion won ($210 million) from the same period a year ago due to worsening profitability in its shipbuilding and refinery business units, the company said on Thursday. It is the third consecutive quarter for the company to see a fall in its operating profit. Sales of the company inched down 0.5 percent to 13.1 trillion won in the third quarter from a year earlier. The shipbuilder’s net pr