Category: Korea-Business

So much for the free market deciding winners and losers. This decision would be like the DVD rental industry complaining about online streaming services and the government only allowing them to stream at certain times:

The government, Kakao’s mobile transportation service affiliate and the taxi industry clinched a breakthrough agreement on Thursday to allow Kakao Mobility’s carpool service to operate at limited times. 

The successful conclusion of the three-way discussions ends months of bitter disputes that led to the suspension of a beta service and immolations by three taxi drivers, two of whom died as a result.  

Kakao’s new service will be available only during weekday commuting hours between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will not operate on weekends or public holidays. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but judging by the above picture the Kakao Mobility CEO Jung Joo-hwan does not look happy about this agreement. I fully expect this fight between Kakao and the taxi driver union will come up again in the future.

Oh, by the way since I brought up the DVD industry, there is now only one Blockbuster left on Earth.

I guess we will see in a few days of South Korea’s optimism is warranted:

South Korea’s top trade official on Wednesday sounded a cautious note of optimism on his recent sales pitch to key U.S. officials and lawmakers for exempting South Korean cars from possible U.S. tariffs.
Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong said there is neither justification nor actual benefit for the United States slapping tariffs on South Korean cars, as South Korea, a close ally of the U.S., does not pose a threat to U.S. security.
Washington is set to issue a report by Feb. 17 into whether U.S. President Donald Trump should impose tariffs on foreign autos on national security grounds based on Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.
“The U.S. reaction was not bad,” regarding South Korea’s request for an exemption from possible U.S. tariffs, Kim said in a briefing in Sejong, adding that Washington officials praised South Korea’s efforts to revise their bilateral free trade dea

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest update on the status of Kakao’s planned carpooling app in South Korea:

 South Korea’s finance minister said Wednesday that local carpooling services will only get off the ground after an understanding is reached between Kakao Mobility Corp. and representatives from the taxi industry.
The comments by Hong Nam-ki came nearly two weeks after a taxi task force decided to join a social dialogue body meant to resolve disputes over carpooling services.

It remains unclear whether the parties concerned can work out their differences and produce a win-win deal.
In December, heads of four taxi associations boycotted a meeting with the government, the ruling party and Kakao Mobility on how to lay the groundwork for the creation of a social dialogue body.
The taxi associations, which speak for taxi companies and drivers in South Korea, have warned that a hard-won dialogue could collapse if a social dialogue body moves forward on the premise of allowing carpooling services.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but basically the taxi services do not want competition that would force them to provide better service in a competitive market place.

It will be interesting to see if hydrogen fuel cell car technology takes off in South Korea or not:

The government hopes the so-called hydrogen economy will create 420,000 jobs by 2040. 

On Thursday, the government laid out a roadmap to making hydrogen-related technologies a key new growth engine for Korea. 

The government wants to boost the hydrogen economy, which is currently valued at 1 trillion won ($890 million), to 16 trillion won in 2022, 25 trillion won by 2030 and 43 trillion won by 2040. Jobs in the industry are supposed to grow from the current 10,000 to 100,000 in 2022 and 200,000 in 2030. 

At an event in Ulsan attended by President Moon Jae-in, Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo and the Hyundai Motor Group heir apparent and vice chairman, Chung Eui-sun, the government described plans to raise the sales of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (or FCEVs) to 810,000 units in total by 2022. That figure includes 670,000 sold in the local market and 14,000 units exported. This year alone, the government is hoping for more than 4,000 FCEV unit sales. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the big problem with hydrogen fuel cells cars in the fueling infrastructure to support them. It is very expensive to open a hydrogen fuel cell station compared to a gas station or even an electrical vehicle charging station.

Enjoy it while it lasts:

Domestic gasoline and diesel prices continued to drop for the tenth straight week.

According to Opinet, a Web site on oil price information run by the Korea National Oil Corporation, the average price of regular gasoline sold at filling stations nationwide fell an average 20 won per liter to one-thousand-355 won in the second week of January, the lowest in 34 months since March 2016.

The price of gasoline has dropped 335 won in the past ten weeks since late October.

The price of diesel for automotive fuel also fell more than 19 won in just one week to one-thousand-253 won per liter, the lowest since August 2017.

KBS World Radio

The New York Times has taken notice of how progressive policies that have been championed in the US have not worked in South Korea:

INCHEON, South Korea — As President Trump leads a drive to slash taxes and pare back regulation, one major economy is taking a different approach. 
Under President Moon Jae-in, South Korea has raised taxes and the minimum wage in the name of economic growth. So far, it hasn’t worked out as planned.
Growth has slowed, unemployment has risen and small-business owners like Moon Seung are complaining. Mr. Moon, founder of an auto parts maker called Dasung in Incheon, an industrial town near Seoul, says his labor costs were up an extra 3 percent last year after the minimum wage rose to 7,530 Korean won, or about $6.70, an hour. That may not sound like much, but it ate into his razor-thin profit margin and prompted him to stop hiring.

“We can’t take it,” Mr. Moon said. “This is a problem not just for the employers, but for the employees.”

NY Times

You can read the rest at the link.

The technology is kind of cool, but I am not sure why someone would need a rollable television?:

LG Electronics unveiled the world’s first “rollable” television at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019 that launched in Las Vegas, United States, on Tuesday. 

Last year, its affiliate LG Display unveiled a prototype of a 65-inch rollable OLED display panel at the same event. Dubbed the LG Signature OLED TV R9, it uses the same technology, only it comes with an aluminium case at the screen’s bottom that looks like a long tissue box.

A rolling OLED display was possible because unlike TV panels of the past, OLED screens don’t need backlight to show color, but have molecules that let out light on their own. 

The panel can roll itself up and down from the case so that the television set looks more like a long, rectangular table once the screen is completely inserted. LG boasts that the screen can maintain its color definition even as it rolls itself. R9 won the CES 2019 Innovation Awards in the video display sector. 

LG plans to launch global sales of R9 this year, starting from Korea. Its price was not disclosed, but it will be among LG’s premium television lineups.

Joong Ang Ilbo

I am curious to see how durable and useful this foldable smartphone is going to be:

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to launch its first foldable smartphone in March, along with a fifth-generation (5G) network-powered Galaxy S10, industry sources said Monday.

According to the sources, the South Korean tech giant plans to unveil the flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone in February, followed by the presumed foldable Galaxy F and another edition of the Galaxy S10 that runs on the 5G network in March.

The outlook came after Samsung Electronics President Koh Dong-jin, who heads the mobile business, said last week that the company will release a foldable smartphone within the first half of 2019. Koh said the shipment volume of the foldable smartphone will be at least 1 million.

Industry watchers said Samsung is expected to showcase the upcoming foldable smartphone in the Mobile World Congress in February, ahead of the official launch in the following month.

The much-awaited foldable smartphone, however, is not expected to support the 5G network.

While the price of the foldable smartphone has not been decided, industry watchers said it may cost around 2 million won (US$1,770). The steep price is expected to limit sales.

Samsung said the upcoming foldable smartphone will fold inward, and will sport a 7.4-inch screen when unfolded and have a 4.6-inch display like a regular smartphone when folded. [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Along with the sexism here, the problem with so many Korean workplaces is how much they depend on _your_ loyalty for employee retention. That, and the age discrimination that makes it harder for you to find work elsewhere the longer you stay. https://t.co/jdmFTMh5SN

— the oranckay (@oranckay) November 14, 2018

It seems to me that Samsung is getting off pretty cheap on this issue:

Samsung Electronics plans to deliver an official apology on the long-standing dispute surrounding its former workers suffering from diseases apparently related to the working environments at its factories, the mediation committee said Wednesday.

The apology is part of the agreement reached between one of the world’s leading makers of chips and Supporters for the Health and Rights of People in the Semiconductor Industry (Sharps), a group of victims suffering from various illnesses such as leukemia after working on Samsung’s production lines.

Earlier this month, the mediation committee announced the settlement – which Samsung and victims earlier agreed to accept – which included compensation of up to 150 million won ($132,000) per illness.

The mediation committee said the signing ceremony of the settlement will be held on Nov. 23. In July, Samsung and Sharps agreed to accept any decision made by the mediator to end the issue that has been unsettled for over 10 years.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.