Mobile app service provider Kakao said Friday that a total of some 14.59 million users had participated in donation platform “with Kakao” in the 10 years of its operation.In a special webpage dedicated to celebrate the 10th anniversary, Kakao said that it has collected 17.17 billion won ($15.7 million) so far, which would amount to a tower of 1,000 won bills 7.2 times taller than Seoul’s N Tower. (Kakao)First introduced as the Daum fund in 2007, a user can pick and choose an online contribution

Industry Nov. 17, 2017

Businesses that operate industrial facilities and plants near Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, reported no major damage as of 5 p.m. from the magnitude 5.4 earthquake that shook the southeastern city Wednesday afternoon.Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power said all nuclear power plants including Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant maintained normal operations without any shutdown or power reduction.The nearest nuclear power plant to Pohang is Wolsong, which consists of six reactors located some 45 kilometers

Industry Nov. 15, 2017

SK Innovation has donated $50,000 to Rice University in Houston, Texas, to support its Korean programs in the Center for Languages and Intercultural Communication, the company said Wednesday. The donation will also support scholarships for the Rice in Korea study-abroad program as well as Korean cultural programs at Rice University.SK Innovation’s management philosophy of “growing together with the local community” was behind the company’s decision to make a donation to the program, company offi

Industry Oct. 25, 2017

Earlier this month, I did the unthinkable. I went from being an owner of a smartphone with a 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1300 pixels and 3 gigabytes of RAM, to a user of a flip phone with a 3.8-inch display with resolution of 800 pixels and 2 GB of RAM.While my previous phone could take notes and basic voice commands, split the screen for multitasking and make my face Instagram-ready with its own filters, my new phone can make calls and offers a button key to a basic version of KakaoTal

Viewpoints Oct. 25, 2017

Procter & Gamble Korea has signed an agreement with the PyeongChang Organizing Committee to join efforts to promote the Winter Games such as by holding a nationwide cheering campaign, the company said Friday. P&G Korea General Manager Kim Joo-youn (left) and PyeongChang Organizing Committee President and CEO Lee Hee-beom (right) pose for a photo with models to mark their joint campaign launch. (P&G)Under the name “Reply 50 million,” referring to the South Korean population, the company will work

Industry Oct. 20, 2017

Dongbu Group Chairman and CEO Kim Jun-ki resigned from his post on Thursday after being sued by his secretary for alleged sexual harassment two days prior.“Deeming that my personal problem should not burden the company, I resign from the chairman and CEO posts of Dongbu Group,” Kim said in a statement, apologizing to the members, investors, shareholders and customers of the firm.Kim is accused of sexually molesting a secretary, whose name was withheld, regularly between February and July this ye

Industry Sept. 21, 2017

Management in Korea is a regular column written by the members of Egon Zhender Seoul touching on various aspects of Korean enterprises and business leaders and offering management tips.-- Ed.The persistent gender imbalance among Korea’s business leaders is well known. According to one recent study, only 2.4 percent of the executives of publicly listed Korean companies are women, compared with 12.4 percent for the Asia-Pacific region. And in Egon Zehnder’s 2016 Global Board Diversity Analysis, on

Sept. 1, 2017

It is literally impossible to please everyone, yet we constantly make the mistake of believing one should, or can.Imagine trying to please 51,744,948 people. That is what President Moon Jae-in set out to do, vowing to become “everyone’s president” as he was sworn in as the 19th leader of the fastidious crowd three months ago. With the dust of political chaos barely settling down, Moon’s inauguration promise seemed an invitation to criticism. It was comparative to, for instance, former US Preside

Viewpoints Aug. 23, 2017

NEW DELHI (AP) -- At least 48 people have been killed as large swaths of western India have been lashed by heavy monsoon rains and flooding over the last week, officials said Wednesday. In Rajasthan, home to a number of popular tourist destinations, the streets of at least four districts have been turned into virtual rivers, trapping tens of thousands of people on the upper floors of residential buildings. Rescue workers were scrambling to rescue thousands of others whose homes have been flooded

World July 26, 2017

South Korea ranked 24th among 28 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries in terms of the state growth sustainability index, a local think tank said Sunday.The Hyundai Research Institute has developed its own index to measure each state's sustainable growth levels. South Korea scored 0.443, or 81.7 percent of the average of 0.542 for the 28 OECD member states, the institute said in its weekly report released Friday. "For sustainable growth, South Korea b

Economy April 16, 2017

The state-run rail institute developed a rolling stock that can move a greater number of containers at once, officials said Sunday, a development that can greatly reduce freight transport costs.Double-stack rail transport is a form of freight car where containers are stacked two high on flat or well cars. The method has become increasingly common and is used for 90 percent of rail shipments in the country. (the Korea Railroad Research Institute)The Korea Railroad Research Institute unveiled its

Industry April 16, 2017

South Korean duty-free shops' sales fell 19 percent in March from a month earlier due to China's retaliation against the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system here, government data showed Sunday. Overall sales in domestic duty-free stores declined to 1.06 trillion won ($930 million) in March from the previous month's 1.305 trillion won, the Korea Customs Service said in a statement.  (Yonhap)The decline was sparked by China's ban on all group travel to South Korea from March 15 onward amid a

Industry April 16, 2017

South Korea's tax burden, which has steadily risen over the years, still remains among the lowest among the group of developed market economies with high income, data showed Sunday.Data by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that the tax burden ratio of Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 18.5 percent in 2015, which is on par with Slovakia. The ratio takes into account both taxes paid to local and central governments. Corresponding numbers for J

Market April 16, 2017

Vietnam's decision to slap anti-dumping duties on galvanized steel products from South Korea could hurt efforts to expand market presence in the key Southeast Asian country, industry sources in Hanoi said Sunday.According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Vietnam will be levying stiff import duties on South Korean zinc-plated steel products for the next five years starting on April 14. (Yonhap)Posco, South Korea's largest steel mill, will be subject to 7.02 percent anti-dumping dut

Industry April 2, 2017