The novel coronavirus is disrupting the plants of Korea’s major conglomerates, as new confirmed cases reported one after another involve their employees. On Sunday, Samsung Electronics confirmed its third case of COVID-19 infection, of a worker at its smartphone plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. The Gumi site produces next-generation smartphones such as the Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Fold. The assembly line where the employee worked is temporarily closed and expected to be fully

GS Group said Thursday it has donated 1 billion won ($820,000) to the Community Chest of Korea to prevent and deal with the spread of COVID-19 outbreak. “We hope that the donation will help the medical staff and victims who are struggling under difficult circumstances,” said Chairman Huh Tae-soo. “We will continue to do our best to support those vulnerable to the virus, especially in Daegu and low-income people who suffered from the contraction due to economic activities,&r

KT&G said Thursday it signed a 2.2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) contract with Dubai-based consumer giant Alokozay for a period of seven years and four months. This is the South Korean tobacco company’s second global collaboration this year following the supply deal signed with Philip Morris International on Jan. 29 to export the firm’s e-cigarettes globally for the next three years. KT&G said through the deal, it “cleared uncertainties in major overseas markets,

Samsung C&T said its board approved Wednesday to expand dividend income over the next three years and cancel treasury stocks worth 300 billion won ($250 million), as part of its shareholder-friendly policies. Last year, the firm allocated 2,000 won per share, which amounted to 60 percent of dividend income of related companies, including firms that its holds a stake in -- Samsung Electronics Samsung SDS, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Heavy Industries and Samsung Engineering. Over th

South Korean steelmaker Posco said Wednesday its charity unit, Posco1%Foundation, plans to support disabled artists and persons of merit with new and innovative programs through an open contest. The foundation conducted a monthlong contest in January inviting applications from individuals and institutions for various charity ideas and projects. A total of 271 ideas were submitted, many of which focused on future generations, multiculturalism and disabled, culture and arts, the firm said. Aft

South Korea’s listed companies are on edge ahead of shareholders meetings scheduled for March as the number of COVID-19 cases surges day by day and many shareholders are expected to stay away. Next month, more than 300 listed companies are slated to hold shareholders meetings to handle issues such as the approval of financial statements and the appointment of in-house directors. Tech giant Samsung Electronics has a shareholders meeting scheduled for March 18, Hyundai Motor for March 19,

The new coronavirus outbreak has led to drastic changes in South Korea’s workplace culture, albeit temporarily. Many major companies are letting their employees work from home or have flexible working hours after the government raised the alert level to “serious” and the number of cases here surged. As of Tuesday afternoon, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients stood at 977, up 84 from 10 a.m., while the death toll stood at 10. The nation’s largest conglomerat

South Korea’s major industries -- including electronics, automobiles, retail and oil refining -- are on high alert due to a surge in COVID-19 cases here, as well as the market slowdown in China, the nation’s biggest export destination. As of Monday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients stood at 833, up 161 from the previous day, and the death toll had risen to eight. The nation’s largest tech firm, Samsung Electronics, temporarily shut down its operations at its Gumi p

A corporate culture centered on employees is often misunderstood here. It is mistakenly considered the opposite of a profit-centered culture and is used to describe companies providing generous welfare and compensation to employees. However, PMK goes beyond that, said Upadhyay in an interview with The Korea Herald. The company ensures staff go through a better employee experience throughout the employment cycle, starting from the job-seeking stage to leaving the company. Upadhyay, who has w

Former Finance Minister Park Jae-wan was appointed as the new board chair of Samsung Electronics, becoming the first outside director to head the tech giant’s board of directors, the company said Friday. Park, 64, has been an outside director for the tech behemoth since March 2016. Park served as the minister of labor from 2010 to 2011 and minister of finance from 2011 to 2013, both times in the Lee Myung-bak administration. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Seoul Nati

Following the Hanjin Group labor union’s endorsement of Chairman Cho Won-tae last week, former executives have also stepped up to support the current management, according to their statement Friday. Issued in the name of the former executive council, they said, “We fully trust and support the current management centering on Chairman Cho.” The group consists of about 500 retirees who served as executives at the group. “Despite the challenging business environment,

South Korea’s tobacco giant KT&G is the most profitable company among the nation’s top 30 conglomerates, while Hanjin Group and Doosan Group, on the contrary, are in urgent need of improving their financial health, data showed Thursday. Local corporate tracker Korea CXO Institute surveyed the net profit margin of the nation’s top 30 companies between 2008 and 2018 using data submitted to the Korea Fair Trade Commission. According to the survey, the total revenue generat

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo will step down as the chair of the board, as he was not reappointed as an internal director at the firm’s board meeting, the automaker said Wednesday. Chung, who had been the board chair since 1999, will retain the positions of Hyundai Motor’s unregistered executive and Hyundai Mobis’ registered director. He has been stepping away from day-to-day management and has not attended board meetings since 2018. Upon the departure of Chu

Korean low-cost carrier Eastar Jet has decided to tighten its belt by reducing executive wages and workweek, amid the continued spread of the novel coronavirus that apparently originated in China, according to the company on Wednesday.  The firm said the executives agreed to reduce 30 percent of their salaries from March for four months. It also will accept applications from all employees -- barring flight and cabin crew -- for three-day and four-day workweeks. Employees can choose one o

Only eight companies, including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor, have been ranked among Korea’s top 50 listed companies in revenue for 35 consecutive years. Seventy percent of the largest companies were found to have lost their ranks or changed ownership, data showed Tuesday. Local research firm Sustainable Growth Institute surveyed sales data of the nation’s 50 largest companies by revenue between 1984 and 2018. The surveyed companies are in the manufacturin

Attention is turning to who will replace the leadership on the boards of Korea’s tech and automobile behemoths -- Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor -- at the upcoming general shareholders meetings in March. On Friday, Lee Sang-hoon, chairman of Samsung Electronics’ board, resigned from his role after being found guilty of sabotaging labor unit activities. Lee was sentenced to 18 months in jail in December upon conviction of violating labor union-related laws. On his resignat

Despite public apathy and tougher shareholder censure, South Korea’s chaebol groups have been preparing for 3rd to 4th generational shift in their ownership. The Korea Herald looks into different groups, different families and different scenarios for their power handover. - Ed.  In taking over their parents’ multibillion-dollar chaebol, heirs follow a similar path. Young heirs begin their careers at key affiliates, usually at a manager level, and fast ascend to executive po

Hanwha Systems, the defense unit of Hanwha Group, said Sunday it would take part in an air taxi project by US personal air vehicle company Overair. On Friday, the opening ceremony of the US company -- recently spun off from aerospace-development firm Karem Aircraft -- was attended by CEO Ben Tigner and Hanwha Systems CEO Kim Yeon-chul. In December, the US Committee on Foreign Investment approved Hanwha Systems’ investment of $25 million in Overair. The Korean firm said it would contri

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission is set to report Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin to prosecutors for alleged violation of antitrust laws, officials said Sunday. The antitrust watchdog said Lee is accused of omitting 20 affiliates, including Line Friends and some of his own and relatives’ companies, when submitting data to the FTC in 2015. The company was also found to have omitted eight affiliates owned by executives of nonprofit companies wholly owned by Naver in 2017 and 2018. Ea

An increasing number of disputes are being reported between consumers and travel agents over trip cancellation fees, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to stifle international travel. The nation’s major travel agencies have been waiving cancellation fees for travel products such as flights, hotels and car rentals involving China, Hong Kong and Macao. However, as the government has further encouraged people to limit their travel to Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapo