April 28th, 2013 at 5:39 pm » Comments (13)

A group of 175 South Koreans have been withdrawn from a jointly run factory complex in North Korea amid concerns of increasing tension between the two countries. The emergency evacuation follows an earlier North Korean rejection of a South Korean demand for talks on the labour complex that has been closed nearly a month. Both sides have warned of taking “grave measures” over the dispute but did not say what they might be.   In a statement, the South Korean minister in charge of inter-Korean relations said he was worried
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April 24th, 2013 at 10:23 pm » Comments (10)

The South Koreans have historically been susceptible to the whims of the norK regime during various cooperation schemes. It appears the ROK’s feel they are about to be burned again. Certainly, the Chaebols and business community are worried they may lose access to a much treasured supply of norK near-slave labor. One should not enter business dealings with a country one is at war with – and has a track record of being unpredictable. South Korea on Thursday warned of an unspecified “grave measure” if North Korea rejects talks on
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April 16th, 2013 at 3:34 am » Comments (13)

According to this article that is what it sounds like due to the various regulations put on big box stores in South Korea to protect local mom and pop shops: SEOUL (Reuters) – Tesco Plc finally managed to open a near-3,000 sq metre super store in South Korea, its largest market outside Britain, after a seven-month delay by agreeing not to stock 15 items including radishes, mangoes and some cuts of local beef. Big-box retailers in South Korea such as Tesco and Costco Wholesale Corp are reluctantly bowing to government
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March 4th, 2013 at 1:55 am » Comments (1)

Via a reader tip comes news of how a Korean company was indicted by the justice department for industrial espionage: WASHINGTON—Kolon Industries Inc. and several of its executives and employees have been indicted for allegedly engaging in a multi-year campaign to steal trade secrets related to DuPont’s Kevlar para-aramid fiber and Teijin Limited’s Twaron para-aramid fiber. The indictment seeks forfeiture of at least $225 million in proceeds from the alleged theft of trade secrets from Kolon’s competitors. The charges were announced today by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of
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February 7th, 2013 at 6:31 pm » Comments (1)

Wireless charging is actually a great idea that Samsung has come up with that hopefully becomes a standard cell phone feature: Wireless charging isn’t something that really resonates with smartphone users at this point, but it’s still a nice feature to have in the few smartphones that support it. While no wildly popular handsets include wireless charging out of the box, recent rumors suggest Samsung (005930) may look to make wireless charging mainstream with its next-generation Galaxy S IV. But whether or not the rumor pans out, Galaxy phone fans
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February 5th, 2013 at 7:15 am » Comments (4)

It will be interesting to see over the next year what effect the rising won will have on the Korean economy: A SURGING won and waning yen are eroding the bottom lines of South Korea’s export powerhouses, which are feeling the pinch after years of gobbling up global market share from their Japanese rivals. The South Korean currency has soared 27 per cent against the yen since the beginning of 2012, as anticipation of monetary easing promised by Japan’s new leader Shinzo Abe weakened the yen across the board. And
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December 17th, 2012 at 3:01 am » Comments (2)

It is going to be interesting to see if this ruling against Samsung is going to lead to a massive surge in lawsuits against the company: A South Korean government agency said Friday that working at a Samsung Electronics factory caused the breast cancer of a worker who died earlier this year, only the second time it has recognized a link between cancer and Samsung’s chip plants. The Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service, which is part of the labor ministry, ruled earlier this month that there was a “considerable
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December 13th, 2012 at 3:12 am » Comments (0)

Samsung workers say nights of drinking are for bonding and blowing off steam: Like many office workers in South Korea, Cho Sung-joon went out drinking with his colleagues most weeks during his five-year stint at Samsung Electronics Co. After kicking off the night guzzling soju, a rice-based liquor, over grilled pork or raw fish, he and his co-workers would move on to a pub or karaoke lounge, occasionally past midnight. “We did drink a lot to blow off steam,” said Mr. Cho. It’s a hierarchical bonding experience known as hoesik
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December 5th, 2012 at 6:15 pm » Comments (0)

Does anyone know if the recently released Samsung Galaxy S III faced the same warnings from the Korean government?: The South Korean government has warned that nation’s two largest mobile operators not to offer illegal subsidies for the soon-to-arrive iPhone 5,The Korea Times is reporting. The Korea Communications Commission called in marketing executives from SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM  ) and KT (NYSE: KT  ) , Korea’s two official distributors of Apple‘s (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) mobile devices, and ordered them, under the threat of punishment, not to attempt to lure customers away from each other
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December 1st, 2012 at 1:25 pm » Comments (2)

Samsung group chairman Lee Kun-hee (C), along with his wife Hong Ra-hee, enters a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of his inauguration as chairman of the nation’s largest business group at the Hoam Art Hall in Seoul on Nov. 30, 2012. Under Lee’s leadership, the nation’s largest business group expanded its annual sales to 383 trillion won (US$353.81 billion) this year from less than 10 trillion won 25 years ago. (Yonhap)