McDonald’s Korea and the nation’s union of part-time workers are at odds over the company’s hourly wage and workplace environment.The union said it would hold a rally in Seoul this weekend to protest “McDonald’s low wages and poor working environment.”But the Korean unit of the fast-food chain Tuesday denied the allegations that its hourly pay is not more than the legally set minimum wage of 5,580 won ($5.05). The company said it has paid workers 7,000 won to 9,000 won an hour.  “Under our philo

AK Plaza, the department store affiliate of Aekyung Group, became the fourth-largest department store in South Korea in terms of sales, beating the posh Hanwha Galleria for the first time since launching its business in 1993, the company said Monday.AK Plaza recorded total sales, including online and in-store, of 2.15 trillion won ($1.92 billion) last year, surpassing Hanwha Galleria’s 2.05 trillion won. “All five outlets rank at No. 1 in each region. The sales figure of the Suwon branch in Gyeo

LG Household & Health Care’s hopes of making a splash in the beverages market appears to have foundered, despite its initial vigorous drive.According to data compiled by CEOScore, a local website which specializes in analyzing corporate performance, LG Household & Health Care’s beverage business’s performance has been less than stellar.The data showed that the company’s operating profits from the business only recorded marginal growth despite a large jump in sales.Last year, the company’s sales

Lotte Group founder and general chairman Shin Kyuk-ho was reelected to the internal board of its retail affiliate Lotte Shopping on Friday, amid the prosecution’s widening probe into the firm’s irregular activities including slush funds.Despite opposition from some local consultancies, Shin won the majority support at an annual shareholders’ meeting that lasted less than 25 minutes. Analyst firms Daishin Economic Research Institute and Sustinvest had adviced Lotte shareholders to vote against Sh

In an unusual move, French fashion house Chanel will lower the prices of its handbags by 15-20 percent in South Korea to boost weak domestic consumption, the company said Wednesday.Chanel will start lowering the price of three of its most popular lines ― the Boy Bag, the 11.12 and the 2.55 ― on April 8.The move comes less than a year after Chanel raised the prices of some accessories by 5-15 percent in June and November. “Chanel has continuously raised its price tag in the past, and now it’s low

Hyundai Department Store is fast moving to expand its presence and diversify its portfolio, signing two real estate deals in succession.As the company eyes the tightly contested market, Hyundai Department Store Group chairman Chung Ji-sun is also increasing his public presence. While Chung is a member of the famous Chung Ju-yung family, he has for the large part kept a low profile.While a department store opening new branches is nothing new, Hyundai Department Store has taken on the unusual stra

LG Household & Health Care, a cosmetics-maker, is targeting China this year by preparing to release new products in the market soon. The company’s move is in line with the reinforcement of marketing by South Korean cosmetics-makers including AmorePacific, which are enjoying a sales upsurge owing to high demand from Chinese visitors.Last week, LG Household & Health Care vice chairman Cha Suk-yong said China was their No. 1 target market this year for growth. LG Household & Health Care vice chairm

Lotte Group appears to be bringing forward its succession plans as the conglomerate named one of the founder’s sons to the board of its holding company last week. The group appointed its chairman Shin Dong-bin to the board of Hotel Lotte, the de facto holding company of the conglomerate, whose businesses range from construction to shopping malls and snack production. The appointment is widely seen as another sign of the controlling family’s succession plans, amid rampant rumors that Shin is aggr

CJ Group chairman Lee Jae-hyun has decided to quit from the boards of two officiates after taking similar steps last year, sources said Thursday.Lee, who was convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion, will quit his posts at its delivery unit CJ Korea Express and retail arm CJ OliveNetworks this month, the sources said.The move is expected to weigh heavily on the entertainment and retail conglomerate, which has been struggling to deal with a leadership vacuum and failed investment plans. Lee Jae-

POSCO, South Korea’s leading steelmaker, said Wednesday it will be supplying lightweight magnesium sheets to Porsche for the German sports carmaker’s highest-performance model, the 911 GT3 RS. POSCO said the material will be used for the roof of the new GT3 RS, the first body adoption of the material that has been used for a limited number of smaller car parts. “We expect the demand for auto parts using magnesium will continue to grow at a fast pace,” POSCO said in a statement. Body work for Por

Homeplus CEO Do Sung-hwan on Tuesday publicly apologized over a series of malpractices the company was involved in, from the alleged sale of customer information to unfair treatment of suppliers. “We’re reflecting on ourselves over what has happened in the past year. We’ll strive to win back customers’ trust and meet their expectations,” Do said during his first press conference held since his inauguration in 2013. “2015 will serve as an opportunity for us to transform into a customer-only retai

More and more South Korean firms are leaving Japan due to business difficulties caused by the protracted weak yen.Fashion and retail conglomerate E-land said Monday it pulled its fast fashion brands SPAO and Mixxo from Japan in the past few months. The measure comes less than two years since the company launched both brands. “If fast fashion brands are price competitive, it’s difficult to survive. It must have been inevitable to close down operations due to the weaker yen leading to sales drop,”

Thanks to the ever-connected environment, cross-border trade is in full bloom. Still, differences in taxation, government policies, customs and culture can be a hindrance to 21st-century baron-wannabes. EBay Korea, operator of Korea’s largest online shopping site Gmarket and Auction.co.kr, has been dedicated to supporting small- to mid-size vendors to tap the global market through its platform. From translation to logistics, delivery and customer service, it has provided a wide range of services

Samsung Group last week announced it will further increase spending on employee welfare. The good news, however, was not entirely welcomed as it came after the group decided to freeze this year’s wages ― the first time in six years. “We cannot say the expanded welfare has no link to the recent salary freeze,” said an official from the group’s flagship Samsung Electronics, declining to be named. Under the new scheme, Samsung will offer widened welfare benefits, including more allowance to purchas

Uber Korea said that it shut down its low-cost ride-sharing service on Friday amid controversy over the legality of its business.“Uber Korea has decided to terminate the operations of UberX to negotiate with the Seoul city government,” the company said in an email to drivers Friday afternoon.The company said that it was “a very difficult decision” as they have been trying to expand UberX operations in South Korea since the service was launched in August 2014. The decision comes days before the N

POSCO SNNC, a leading manufacturer of ferronickel, has completed the construction of its second electric furnace, which will help nearly double the firm’s annual capacity of pure nickel to 54,000 tons from the current 30,000 tons.The POSCO affiliate said it invested about 480.6 billion won ($437.1 million) to build the second facility in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, to stabilize its nickel production.“With our increase in production capacity, POSCO SNNC has become a nickel smelter that is c

South Korea’s POSCO and Hyundai Steel are in a tug-of-war with carmakers seeking to lower the price of automotive steel sheets, adding more pressure to the steel manufacturers’ prolonged slump.Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors are reportedly pushing POSCO and Hyundai Steel to mark down steel plate prices by 70,000 won ($64) per ton this year.The move comes less than a year after the steel firms cut prices by 130,000 won to 140,000 won per ton, according to local reports.“It is true that the company’s

Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is forecast to take a big stake in POSCO Engineering & Construction.“The deal is included in a comprehensive partnership agreed between PIF and POSCO,’’ a company official said on Wednesday.  Both parties signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint partnership at a meeting on the sidelines of President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Saudi Arabia with leaders of South Korean businesses.The deal is valued at around 1.5 trillion won (

Local consumer groups are planning to file a class action suit against Homeplus, the South Korean supermarket chain owned by British retail giant Tesco, for the firm’s alleged illegal gathering and selling of customer information to third parties.Ten consumer groups affiliated with the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations said Monday they were gathering participants in a suit to demand compensation for the retailer’s sale of their private information. Homeplus is accused of collectin

Hurom, a South Korean slow juicer supplier, is joining hands with a major home shopping channel to expand its overseas marketing and sales, officials said Monday. Hurom signed a memorandum of understanding with CJ O Shopping on Friday to form a task force to enter the Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. Both companies said it aimed to enter 25 more countries and earn 500 billion ($453.8 million) in sales through the MOU. Hurom’s slow juicer. (Hurom)“We plan to increase sales of Hurom juicers th