photo caption: Kang Ho-gap (right), chairman of the Association of High Potential Enterprises of Korea, speaks at a press conference on Friday. AHPEK　   The growth and success of medium-sized companies is critical not only for the nation’s sustainable growth, but also for high-quality job creation for the youth, a business leader said last week.　“In 2014, there were about 3,800 Korean companies categorized as midsized companies. They accounted for only 0.12 percent of registered Korean companies

Business July 20, 2015

     South Korean retail giant Lotte Group plans to enter the foreign car dealership business as part of efforts to strengthen its penetration into the automotive sector, industry sources said. 　“Lotte is nearing a deal to take over the dealership business license for Audi cars from Charmzone Motors,” an industry insider who is close to the matter told The Korea Herald under the condition of anonymity. 　If the deal is sealed as planned, sales of Lotte in car-related businesses (except car insura

Mobility July 19, 2015

Samsung C&T shareholders will go to the polls Friday to decide whether to approve a high-profile merger with Cheil Industries, the de facto holding company of Samsung Group.　Tension is running high, as neither of the two sides -- Samsung’s controlling family or opponent U.S. hedge fund Elliott -- has yet emerged as a clear winner.  　But analysts said Friday’s vote will be remembered as one of the most critical moments in Korea’s corporate history, in that minority shareholders can swing the vote

Business July 16, 2015

Shashi Tharoor　After gaining independence from Britain in 1947, India was something of a poster child for the virtues of democracy -- in stark contrast with China, which became a Communist dictatorship in 1949. Until the 1970s, it was widely argued that, while both countries suffered from extreme poverty, underdevelopment, and disease, India’s model was superior, because its people were free to choose their own rulers.　　With China’s economic boom, however, the counterargument -- that a repressiv

Opinion July 15, 2015

    There have been no prominent success cases of investor activism in the modern history of corporate Japan. 　 Kim Ji-hyunIn recent years, a hedge fund with a 10 percent stake in industrial robot-maker Fanuc Corp. managed to get the firm’s reclusive management to agree to higher returns and dividends. Share prices shot up, handing shareholders some handsome gains. 　But that’s about as far the story goes. 　While Japan did suffer from a so-called “lost decade,” the positive corporate restructurin

Opinion July 15, 2015

    Kia Motors launched the second generation of the K5, its best-selling mid-size sedan, in Seoul on Wednesday, five years after K5’s debut in 2010. 　“The all-new K5 returns with advanced product quality and driving performance, while maintaining the innovative design identity of the first generation,” Kia Motors CEO Park Han-woo said in a press conference at the Coex exhibition hall in southern Seoul.  Models pose next to the all-new K5 sedans at a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. Kia M

Business July 15, 2015

Samsung C&T, the construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, on Friday unveiled detailed new shareholder-friendly policies, including the establishment of a special committee of six experts that will oversee shareholders’ rights, as part of last-minute efforts to win a vote of shareholders on July 17 over the proposed merger with Cheil Industries. Samsung C&T CEO Choi Chi-hun (Yonhap)The committee will be composed of three outside directors and three experts. One of the three outside director

Business July 10, 2015

Porsche Korea on Friday debuts three variants to its full-size luxury sedan Panamera series -- the Panamera Edition, the Panamera 4 Edition, and the Panamera Diesel Edition. The basic price of the new models starts from 117,900,000 won ($104,500). Porsche Korea

Mobility July 10, 2015