SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Recent data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) reveals that 82 percent of local manufacturers are prioritizing seeking cheaper labor outside of the country, ultimately undermining their productivity. Based on the business performance of 1,474 South Korean manufacturers with overseas plants, 12.6 percent fell within Kotra’s “high-cost, high-productivity” [...]
SEJONG, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s industrial output jumped at the fastest pace in nearly four years in February, government data showed Friday. Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries moved up 6.6 percent last month from a year earlier, marking the highest on-year gain since January 2013, when it posted [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will ease regulations on visa screening procedures for young foreigners who get jobs at selected manufacturing businesses in a way to tackle the labor shortage, the government said Monday. Foreign students who are studying in South Korea and want to work in the country’s “root” industries such [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Korean auto parts makers are growing more active overseas, backed by factors ranging from personnel costs to the possible global protectionism that may be triggered by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump in line with his election pledges. Castec Korea, a manufacturer of automobile components that supplies parts to global automakers [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – In contrast to the recent global tendency for enterprises to bring manufacturing back to their native soil, Korean companies seem to be bucking the trend, government data showed Monday. Reshoring is when a company moves manufacturing ventures back to its home country after operating overseas, often in search of [...]
SEJONG, Sept. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – About 30 percent of manufactured goods consumed by South Koreans in their daily lives were imported from abroad in this year’s second quarter on rising demand for foreign electronic devices and pharmaceuticals, latest data showed Friday. Out of the total domestic manufacturing supply, including intermediate and consumer goods, foreign-made [...]
SEJONG, Aug. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will invest 40 billion won (US$35.5 million) by 2020 to improve the country’s industrial design capability and develop higher value-added products, the trade ministry here said Monday. In a design promotion plan unveiled at the 2016 Design Innovation Forum held in Seoul, the Ministry of Trade, Industry [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea has to carry out sweeping reform of the service industry as a first step to transform the manufacturing-focused economy into the service sector-led economy, a Korea-born official from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Friday. “The South Korean economy has been steered by the manufacturing industry and [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The Korean economy is changing, with startups meeting both success and failure, and companies that fail to adapt to the new market realities will eventually perish. In a recent survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and 71 regional organizations, 49.9 percent of 2,400 surveyed [...]
SEOUL, June 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Large retail and distribution companies are rapidly expanding their presence in the manufacturing industry through M&A or Private Brands (PB). The rationale behind this phenomenon is that integrated management from planning and manufacturing to distribution of products saves costs and exerts greater influence in the market. Lotte Department Store launched [...]