SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Major South Korean business lobby groups are preparing to send delegations to the United States in the near future for discussions on bilateral economic cooperation under the second Donald Trump administration, according to industry observers Monday. A business delegation led by Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group and the [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean financial authorities have unveiled plans to reform project financing (PF) regulations, significantly relaxing the strict completion guarantee requirements that construction companies have long argued were excessively burdensome. According to financial authorities, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) shared a draft of improved completion guarantee guidelines with about 40 representatives [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — A new analysis has revealed that South Korea’s large companies offer significantly higher wages and wage growth rates compared to their counterparts in Japan and the European Union. According to a report released February 16 by the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF), the annual total wages at large Korean companies, excluding [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid a real estate market downturn, South Korea’s major construction companies are grappling with surging construction costs that have pushed their cost-to-sales ratios above 90%, triggering disputes and lawsuits over cost increases between builders and project owners. According to industry sources, among top-ranked construction companies, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — As discussions of potential peace negotiations between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine gain momentum, South Korean companies are positioning themselves to participate in what could become one of the largest reconstruction efforts in modern history. Estimates have pegged the cost of rebuilding Ukraine’s war-torn infrastructure at approximately $900 billion, [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Recent fishing vessel accidents off Jeju Island have put a spotlight on the hazardous nature of long-distance winter fishing operations in South Korean waters, with fishermen risking their lives to pursue catches in distant seas. The latest incident occurred on February 12 when the 32-ton Jaeseong-ho, carrying 10 crew members, [...]
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — At a bustling food expo in the heart of Jakarta, Indonesian shoppers eagerly sampled fresh strawberries flown in from Nonsan, South Korea. Among them was Ainna, a 30-year-old visitor, who proudly showcased a strawberry shortcake she had just purchased. Taking a bite, she remarked, “The combination of fresh [...]
POHANG, South Korea, Feb. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The mood outside Hyundai Steel’s Pohang Plant 2 is one of unease. Employees show up for work, but operations remain largely stalled. “We come in, but there’s no production. It’s frustrating,” a worker in his 40s, employed by Hyundai IMC, a Hyundai Steel subsidiary, said on Monday. [...]
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – Two U.S. senators have introduced a bill to allow the U.S. Navy to build naval vessels in a trusted ally’s shipyard in order to modernize and expedite construction and procurement processes for U.S. maritime forces, according to one of the lawmakers. On Wednesday last week, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Faced with the worst economic downturn in 21 years, South Korean consumers are increasingly turning to supermarkets over big-box retailers, preferring to buy necessities in smaller quantities rather than bulk purchases. According to data from Statistics Korea and industry sources, total retail sales fell by 2.2% in 2024, marking [...]