The Korean arm of German automaker MAN Truck & Bus agreed to participate in the German vocational training program Ausbildung in Korea, according to the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday. Ausbildung is a German dual vocational training program that consists of practical training at company sites and academic education at colleges which are acting as vocational schools. The program has the intention of giving young Koreans the possibility to start a sustainable career with

It all started from a mere curiosity of Korea and its complex but unfortunate history. In the eyes of Sean Blakeley, CEO of the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea, the nation’s dynamic transition from a war-torn country to information technology powerhouse has always been a fascinating subject. The personal interest pushed him to learn more about diverse aspects of the country. But he couldn’t know that he would become a man bridging the two countries in terms of business and trade.“I found Ko

The South Korean minister of industry and commerce urged Korean chipmakers Friday to secure global competitiveness in non-memory chip to widen technology gap from Chinese competitors.Paik Un-gyu, the Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy“It is very important for Korean companies to secure global competitiveness in non-memory chips,” said Paik Un-gyu, the Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, adding that non-memory chips are the basis of advanced technologies powered by artificia

South Korean financial institutions are getting ready to embrace the future economic ties with North Korea amid cooperative atmosphere following the inter-Korean summit in April and a week ahead of the US-North Korea summit. Samsung Securities said Thursday it set up a research team on investment in North Korea for the first time among the nation’s financial companies. The firm said the team was set up to “provide systematic analysis on North Korea from a long-term perspective as the nation’s ge

Korea has attracted around $500 million of investment from Chinese investors in the areas of next-generation technologies, including chips, bio, automobiles and robots, through a ministerial roundtable, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Tuesday. The ministerial roundtable was held in Beijing on Tuesday, inviting 12 Chinese investors, including chip firm JCET, bio companies Evercare and Fujian Ruico, automakers BAIC and Siasun Robot and content providers Spearhead and IIE

James Kim, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, was appointed as an independent director of iClick Interactive, an online marketing technology firm in China, according to the company on Monday.James Kim, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea“We are excited and honored to welcome Kim to our board,” said Sammy Hsieh, CEO of iClick, “Mr. Kim brings 30 years of world-class operating experience in both Fortune 500 and entrepreneurial companies in various industries t

While the global cross-border mergers and acquisitions market is heating up, Korean companies are still behind in buying and selling promising tech startups on the global stage and are focused on local deals, according to a nonprofit trade organization on Monday. According to a report released by the Korea International Trade Association, the nation’s total number of cross-border M&As stood at 31 during the period between 2013 and 2017. It accounts for 15 percent of the total 197 deals. The numb

The US latest tariff move has added uncertainty to the Korean automobile companies already facing a decline in sales in its largest export destination. The US Department of Commerce recently sought opinions from interested parties pursuant to Section 232 to determine the national security impacts of automobile imports. This is a follow-up measure to the President Donald Trump ordering it last month to review whether it can impose up to 25 percent tariff on imported cars. Industry watchers have r

A senior North Korean official was due to visit the White House Friday to deliver a letter from his leader Kim Jong-un to U.S. President Donald Trump.Kim Yong-chol, known as a close aide to Kim Jong-un, was headed to Washington from New York, where he held two days of meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a possible summit between their leaders.Pompeo said after the meetings that "real progress" was made toward "setting the conditions" for a summit, but he also said there remains

The Bank of Korea on Thursday rebuked claims by a local news report that the central bank “inflated” the nation’s export volume over the past eight years for the sake of a “rosier” export economy outlook.On Wednesday evening, local television channel MBC claimed that the nation’s balance of payments has been exaggerated since 2010, when the Bank of Korea began applying new International Monetary Fund standards to its statistics. 　The chronic trade deficit in t

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday it has slapped penalties on leading air purifier makers including Samsung Electronics, Coway, Winix, Chungho and Cuckoo for their exaggerated advertisements in light of the popularity of the products amid air pollution in the country.Coway faced the largest penalty of 500 million won ($464,000), followed by Samsung Electronics with 488 million won, Winix with 449 million won and Chungho with 120 million won. LG Electronics received a warning, as i

Mixed expectations emerged Friday over the fate of Korean battery makers in China as the neighboring country granted approval for SK Innovation to develop batteries for Mercedes-Benz cars in the country, lifting its two-year ban.The South Korean commerce minister expressed optimism, saying that the case signals a new beginning.“The use of SK Innovation’s batteries was formally approved Tuesday and it is seen as an apparent signal by China (to Korean companies),” Paik Un-gyu, minister of trade, i

The South Korean government and automobile companies held a meeting Thursday to discuss how to respond to the potential impact following reports of US President Donald Trump ordering an investigation into automobile imports to see whether they threaten national security.The closed-door meeting was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and executives from Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Renault Samsung, Ssangyong Motor and Hyundai Mobis. “We agreed to f

Korea Aerospace Industries said Thursday it delivered its KUH-1EM utility helicopter for medical emergencies to the Jeju fire safety authority, and its KUH-1FS utility helicopter for forest services to the Korea Forest Service. This is the first time for KAI to deliver its utility helicopters to the KFS and the National Fire Agency, which had previously relied on imported ones. “We will provide our full support for KUH-1EM and KUH-1FS to seek their operational stabilization at an early stage for

South Korea’s top three social commerce companies including Wemakeprice, Coupang and Ticket Monster, were imposed with a total of 130 million won ($120,000) in penalties over unfair business practices against their partner firms, according to the Fair Trade Commission on Thursday. This is the FTC’s first penalties imposed on social commerce companies, which use social networks in the context of e-commerce transactions. The market has reached more than 10 trillion won in Korea, according to indus

South Korea will employ “strong measures” to reduce fine dust coming from coal power by up to 43 percent by early next year amid growing concerns of air pollution, the Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry said Wednesday.“We aim to reduce fine dust coming from coal power by up to 43 percent by the spring of next year, as it is the most urgent (to address air pollution),” said Paik Un-gyu, minister of the trade, industry and energy, at a thermoelectric power plant in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Prov

Korea has become the first non-European partner country of Eureka, laying the foundation for Korean companies to jump into the global market.Eureka is the world’s largest research and development network set up in 1985. It is led by Germany and France with the aim of forming a market-oriented community and jointly developing industrial technologies. It has 45 European member nations. Korea joined the network in 2009 as an associate member and has since expanded its cooperation. In October, the E

South Korea will adopt neural machine translation technologies for its patent administration in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Tuesday. Neural machine translation is the latest translation technology with the potential to overcome many of the weaknesses of conventional phrase-based translation systems, according to KIPO. Currently, Google, Kakao and Naver are providing artificial intelligence translation serv

The Korean government held its first regional investor relations activities called the “caravan for foreign investment” in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, with the aim of helping to reach $20 billion in foreign direct investment for four straight years, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday. The caravan for foreign investment refers to a government activity to help foreign investors solve their investment challenges and to encourage more, the ministry said. The e

The nation’s fourth-largest conglomerate LG Group will face new management centering on its heir apparent Koo Kwang-mo after his adoptive father and group Chairman Koo Bon-moo died Sunday. Koo Kwang-mo is the son of the late Koo’s younger brother Koo Bon-neung. Under LG’s strict principle of excluding women from the management, Koo Kwang-mo was adopted in 2004 by the late Koo. The heir apparent, who is currently an executive at LG Electronics, was hurriedly appointed a member of the company’s bo