SEOUL, Korea, April 19, 2014 (Korea Bizwire) – Office buildings are becoming more and more hollowed out. In the premium-grade skyscrapers in Seoul, it is rather easy to find empty offices these days. The vacancy rate in buildings in the Yoido district – Seoul’s main business and investment banking area dubbed as “Wall Street of Korea” [...]
SEOUL, Korea, April 18, 2014 (Korea Bizwire) – Once a top-ten contractor, Byucksan Engineering & Construction has finally been declared “dead” after two years of a workout process. As it happens, industry officials begin talk about a crisis of the whole construction industry. That’s because there are quite many contractors under workout or court receivership [...]
SEOUL, Korea, April 7 (Korea Bizwire) – Imported wheels are selling like hot cakes in Korea. Last month, the monthly sales of foreign cars have exceeded 15,000 breaking the record of 14,953 in July 2013. According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, 15,733 foreign cars were registered in March which has increased 30.4 [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Mar 27 (Korea Bizwire) – The age of electric cars is on its way. More EV (Electric Vehicle) choices have become available; government subsidies have been increased; and more charging stations are being established. Last year, about 715 EVs are sold in Korea. In 2014, more than 1,200 EVs are estimated to be [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Mar 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The house that can be assembled like Lego blocks will soon be on the market. It remains to be seen what impact the prefabricated modular home will have on the whole housing market. Modular home building is still in its infancy. POSCO A&C, a POSCO-affiliated architectural firm, built [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Mar 23 (Korea Bizwire) — An approval process for building “small-sized apartments,” which used to be applicable only to housing complexes of fewer than 20, will be eased; the pertinent measures will be expanded to those fewer than 30 to 50 units for the foreseeable future. On March 20, the Ministry of Land, [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Mar 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of Korean cars hit a record-high level in China. On March 19, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade said that the total number of passenger cars sold in China last year is estimated to be 17,929,000, which has increased 15.7 percent from the previous year. Korean [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Mar 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Ahead of the opening of the first IKEA store in Korea at the end of this year, domestic furniture companies are busy devising ways to face the threat the Swedish behemoth poses. Some in the industry are optimistic that IKEA’s do-it-yourself, no-delivery business model would not be received [...]
LAS VEGAS, Mar. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: CZR) today announced that LOCZ Korea Corporation, a joint venture between Caesars, Lippo Group and OUE Limited, has received preliminary approval from the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism to include foreigner-only casino gaming in its planned integrated resort in Incheon, South Korea. “We [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Mar 7 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Heavy Industries won on February 14 a deal to build a floating liquid natural gas (FLNG) ship for Malaysia’s state-run oil company Petronas at the cost of US$1.47 billion. Given most container ships cost about $200 million apiece, this is more than seven times more expensive. Including [...]