Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering gave hefty cash bonuses to its employees after overstating the company’s operating profits in a multitrillion won accounting fraud, local reports said Friday. The reports, citing sources at the state prosecution investigating the debt-ridden shipbuilder, said that DSME, under the direction of then-CEO Koh Jae-ho, gave out a total of 490 billion won ($420 million) in performance-based bonuses from 2012 to 2015. The CEO himself pocketed around 700 million w

Samsung Electronics expects to report its best quarterly results in more than two years in the second quarter of this year thanks to the sustained popularity of its flagship Galaxy S7 smartphones, the company said Thursday. The world’s largest smartphone maker by shipments estimated an operating income of 8.1 trillion won ($6.9 billion) for the latest quarter, a 17 percent increase from the 6.9 trillion won posted a year ago. Its revenue is also likely to increase 3 percent year-on-year to aroun

The first Korean consumer (center) of Hyundai Motor’s electric vehicle Ioniq Electric poses with the company’s domestic sales chief Chang Jae-hoon (left) on Wednesday at the company’s office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The all-electric model, which is able to drive up to 191 kilometers on a single charge, hit the market in June. (Hyundai Motor)

Hyundai Motor is facing increasing challenges on home ground, with Korean consumers looking at other options and rivals intensifying competition. The market share of the nation’s largest automaker reached 80 percent in the early 2000s after acquiring Kia in 1999. However, its market share dropped to 68 percent last year, with the figure for Hyundai falling below 40 percent for the first time.  Source: Hyundai Motor“Hyundai’s market share here will further go down -- albeit slowly. It is difficul

Hyundai Motor’s chronic labor disputes, which loom year after year, are taking a toll on the automaker already struggling from declining sales.Hyundai’s labor union said Tuesday it would stage a strike this year again after their wage negotiations with management collapsed. This time, they are seeking an alliance with Hyundai Heavy Industries’ union. Hyundai Motor’s union members protest the failure of wage negotiations with the management in Ulsan on Tuesday.(Yonhap)The recurring strikes from 1

[DECODED] Hyundai Motor’s aspirations to separate its premium brand Genesis from the globally recognized budget Hyundai image may take much longer than the company expects, market experts said. The nation’s largest automaker plans to completely separate Genesis by 2020 with six models so that luxury-seeking consumers no longer associate it with the cheap and mass-produced Hyundai brand when buying Genesis. “More than 10 years is expected for Genesis to be recognized as a truly separate brand fro

The United States International Trade Commission has quoted the submission of the Korea International Trade Association in its latest report on the impacts of free trade agreements. The report, titled “The Impact of the Trade Agreement,” published by the USITC in June, cited the paper that suggested positive impacts of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, according to KITA on Monday.  (123rf)“U.S. exports to Korea of IP (intellectual property)-intensive products and services, including software,

 [THE INVESTOR] A senior researcher at Hyundai Motor has said it will take much longer for electric vehicles to become mainstream in the global auto market than industry expectations.Global institutions including the International Energy Agency recently predicted that eco-friendly cars would secure more than half the global vehicle market share by 2030. Hyundai Motor`s Ioniq hybrid“The prediction is too optimistic. In order for EVs to become mainstream like smartphones are now, there should be a

[THE INVESTOR] Renault Samsung, a Korean arm of French automaker Renault, began to sell this month a special limited edition of QM3 Cannes Blue with a discount of up to 1 million won ($870) for the summer season, the company said Sunday. From July to August, the automaker will offer 500 units of QM3 Cannes Blue, the brand‘s third color revolution following the previous versions of Sonic Red and Chocolat Brown. QM3 Cannes Blue /Renault SamsungThe company said the QM3 Cannes Blue’s strong Cannes b

Renault Samsung, a Korean arm of French automaker Renault, began to sell this month a special limited edition of QM3 Cannes Blue with a discount of up to 1 million won ($870) for the summer season, the company said Sunday. From July to August, the automaker will offer 500 units of QM3 Cannes Blue, the brand‘s third color revolution following the previous versions of Sonic Red and Chocolat Brown.  QM3 Cannes Blue (Renault Samsung)The company said the QM3 Cannes Blue’s strong Cannes blue body and

LG Chem CEO and vice chairman Park Jin-soo meets with participants Friday at its recruiting event held in Tokyo‘s New Otani Hotel, where Park shares the company’s vision with around 40 students invited from Japan’s top 10 universities. (LG Chem)

A senior researcher at Hyundai Motor has said that it will take much longer for electric vehicles to become mainstream in the global auto market than industry expectations.Global institutions including the International Energy Agency recently predicted that eco-friendly cars would secure more than half the global vehicle market share by 2030. Hyundai Motor“The prediction is too optimistic. In order for EVs to become mainstream like smartphones are now, there should be at least more than 100 asse

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering on Thursday denied swirling market speculations that it could be acquired by its rival Samsung Heavy Industries.“We are seeking ways to survive through additional self-rescue plans,” said the company’s spokesperson.“The creditors have not reviewed the plans for the normalization by selling the firm to Samsung Heavy Industries.”The remark came after multiple local reports that DSME’s creditors would review the sales to Samsung Heavy in August after Mckinse

A total of 21 big firms, including troubled Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and local discount chain Homeplus, received the lowest grades in an independent survey that measured their efforts in forging mutuality with their subcontractors last year. The worst performers also include Kumho Petrochemical, Booyoung Group’s construction arm, 3M Korea and Seoul Semiconductor, according to the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership, an independent watchdog on corporate activities on Thursd

Samsung SDS, a key information and technology arm of Samsung Group, has partnered with German software firm SAP to jointly work on enterprise cloud business, the company said Wednesday. The two tech firms signed a memorandum of understanding for the future partnership at Samsung SDS’ head office in Seoul.  Samsung SDS CEO Chung Yoo-sung (left) and SAP’s executive board member Bernd Leukert attend a signing ceremony in Seoul on Tuesday. (Samsung SDS)Samsung SDS said it plans to provide its client

Online stock channel Segero TV is a breath of fresh air in the stock industry, with its focus on volunteering work. Segero TV run by Kim Won-ki, a stock analyst who has been in the industry for more than 30 years, is one of the most sought-after stock channels for the invention of its own ways to help investors reap profits from undervalued companies with high growth potential. Its new method is to better make up for principal without sales loss based on diverse technical analysis, the company s

Seho Tech, a local chemical materials supplier, is expanding its business into the global market with its eco-friendly chemical solutions, the company said. Seho Tech is the nation’s first company to commercialize the technology to recycle polyurethane foam in 1997 after long years of research to reduce carbon emissions generated from incinerating waste building materials. In 2008, the firm again succeeded in recycling the foam into polyol, used in many sectors, including panels for buildings, r

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest carmaker, views Britain’s departure from the European Union as an imminent threat and not an opportunity to outpace its Japanese rivals that are expected to suffer from surging yen and tariff walls.“Internally, we view that threats from the faltering European economies are larger than opportunities presented from the stronger yen sparked by Brexit,” a source at the company told The Korea Herald. “This is because we have seen the European market as stable and

Mercedes Benz said Sunday it was set to roll out four luxury models later this year, after garnering attention at the Busan Motor Show earlier in the month.“We plan to unveil the full lineup of dynamic, young roadsters and modern, luxury Cabriolets in the second half of this year, with an aim of meeting high-end consumers’ needs,” said an official at Mercedes Benz Korea. The new S-Class Cabriolet, the first convertible variant of the Mercedes-Benz luxury flagship, will enter the Korean market al

The nation’s second-largest automaker Kia Motors topped a car quality survey by the U.S.-based business consultancy agency J.D. Power, the carmaker said Thursday.It is the first time in 30 years that a Korean brand has topped rankings by the U.S. firm.Porsche ranks second, followed by Hyundai, Toyota and BMW. The initial quality survey is based on responses from purchasers and lessees of new 2016 model-year vehicles sold in the U.S. market. J.D. Power received more than 80,000 surveys from vehic