Well it looks like it was worth President Park wearing a headscarf during her trip to Iran because she was able to sign a number of agreements that could lead to multi-billion dollar construction projects in Iran:
President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday South Korea and Iran can produce a win-win situation if they work together in infrastructure projects in the Islamic Republic. Iran is pushing to rebuild an economy and modernize its infrastructure after the U.N. lifted sanctions in a follow-up to a landmark deal reached with the United States and five world powers over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
“I am here to pursue the path of common prosperity with old friend Iran,” Park said in a forum attended by some 450 South Korean and Iranian business executives and leaders in the Iranian capital. On Monday, Park and her Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani observed the signing of nearly 20 out of 66 memorandums of understanding worth up to US$45.6 billion after their summit. Seoul hopes the MOUs could pave the way for South Korean companies to eventually win massive infrastructure projects under way in Iran. [Yonhap]
Good news for Mexico because obviously the ROK leadership views their country as one worthy of seeking investment in:
More than 100 business executives plan to travel to Mexico this week along with President Park Geun-hye, officials said Monday, in an apparent effort to try to forge new business opportunities with the large North American country.
Park is set to meet with her Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto next Monday to discuss how to boost cooperation in a wide range of issues between the two countries.
The trip follows Park’s visit to Washington for the Nuclear Security Summit with U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders set to be held on Thursday and Friday.
A total of 108 companies, including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, plan to send their senior executives to Mexico on the occasion of Park’s visit to try to explore new business opportunities.
It marks South Korea’s largest business delegation ever to Mexico. In 2010, only a dozen business executives traveled to Mexico with then-President Lee Myung-bak. [Korea Times]
Here is the latest in the never ending Samsung versus Apple patent infringement case. This likely won’t be the last you hear of the as Samsung plans to further appeal the payout amount:
Samsung Electronics Co. agreed to pay Apple Inc. the $548 million a court ordered but that doesn’t mean they’ve come to a final resolution of their long-running patent battle over smartphones.
Samsung said in a court filing Thursday that it’s only paying the money because an appeals court refused to block a judgment ordering it to pay.
The South Korean device maker said it will pursue reimbursement for at least some of the money if the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidates the patents and if the U.S. Supreme Court takes up its request for review.
It’s been almost five years since Apple first accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying the iPhone, setting off a global patent battle that has shrunk in size but not in vitriol. The two tech behemoths have dropped all non-U.S. cases, leaving two main disputes that still have a way to go in court. [Korea Herald]
Unless they ban job interviews this bill probably will not have the desired effect:
An opposition legislator has proposed a bill to eliminate discrimination during the recruitment process of companies based on appearance.
Rep. Han Jeoung-ae of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) proposed on Wednesday a revised bill aimed at prohibiting companies from asking job applicants to specify information unrelated to their capabilities and skills in their resumes.
The proposed bill stipulates that requiring information such as a job applicant’s photo, properties owned or parents’ profession will result in a fine of up to five million won, or roughly 44-hundred U.S. dollars. [KBS World Radio]
I don’t see too many Jeeps in Korea so it will be interesting to see if their marketing strategy works:
FCA Korea president Pablo Rosso talks to The Korea Herald at his office in Seoul. (Chung Hee-cho/The Korea Herald)
The boxy and powerful Jeep sports utility vehicles have appealed to tough, adventure-seeking motorists with rather masculine exteriors for more than seven decades.
And despite the global trend for family-friendly and female-friendly SUVs, Jeep has no intention of changing its image, the U.S. carmaker’s Korea head told The Korea Herald.
“If I start selling Jeep as a family car, we would lose our personality, and believe me, we will lose sales,” Pablo Rosso, Korean market president at Fiat-Chrysler APAC, said in a recent interview.
“What people like about Jeep is that dream, that muscularity, that passion and authenticity of the dream of adventure. So that is the value that we stand for.”
And as a part of that authentic Jeep image, the company is highlighting its masculine and daring side with its newest compact SUV, the Renegade.
The boxier design creates a stark comparison to its predecessor Cherokee’s fluid and modern exterior, and is seen as a declaration from the carmaker of a retro direction.
Rosso thinks this masculine look appeals to women who defy norms and want powerful cars. [Korea Herald]
You can read the rest at the link but since being offered for sale in September, the Jeep Renegade sold 300 vehicles that month.
That is what is being claimed in the below article to explain the reduction in subsidies that all the cell phone carriers in South Korea implemented for the release of the new iPhone 6S which has increased the overall cost of the smartphone:
Prospective buyers of iPhone 6s line up in front of the KT headquarters in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, on Friday. The increased cost of the new phones wasn’t enough to deter these anxious buyers who lined up for the latest Apple release. [KANG JUNG-HYUN]Apple’s latest iPhone 6s made headlines earlier this week when preorder sales sold out in a record seven minutes. But the smartphone and the larger iPhone 6s Plus are being sold with a subsidy that is roughly 40 percent less than the previous model that went on sale a year ago.
The new phones are also 20,000 won ($18) to 30,000 won more expensive than the earlier release.
The nation’s three mobile carriers – SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ – unveiled on Friday the subsidies and price of the latest Apple smartphones as they started official in-store sales of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
The mobile carriers set the maximum subsidies on both models between 120,000 won and 130,000 won – much less than the subsidy provided on the iPhone 6 last year, which was in the 100,000 won to 200,000 won range. In the case of KT, the maximum subsidy it provided on the iPhone 6 last year was 250,000 won.
The slashed subsidies went against earlier market expectations of substantial subsidies on Apple’s new smartphones due to keen competition among mobile carriers to hijack one another’s customers.
Mobile carriers and the Korean manufacturer gave different answers for reasons why subsidies have been slashed almost in half.
“It was largely the result of Samsung Electronics’ influence to keep Apple in check,” said a mobile carrier official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The mobile carriers said the Korean smartphone maker made an unofficial request to limit the subsidies on iPhones, and the mobile carriers can’t refuse because Samsung Electronics is the biggest smartphone supplier. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
It is a bit amazing how popular the Apple iPhone continues to be in the land of arch rival Samsung:
Despite a price tag as much as $100 higher than previous models, the popularity of Apple’s latest iPhone 6s and 6s Plus appears hotter than ever in Seoul.
The country’s three major mobile carriers said on Monday that preorders of the entire first batch of the two mega-popular phones, with guaranteed shipping on Oct. 23, ran out in less than 10 minutes after they were made available on the carriers’ respective websites at 9 a.m. on Monday.
Top player SK Telecom presold the latest iPhones in two groups, using the date customers are guaranteed to receive the phone and launch a subscription – on Oct. 23 and on Oct. 24.
The first batch sold out in seven minutes and the second in half an hour, according to an SK spokesman. He refused to disclose the number of phones the company released on preorders.
The seven-minute record is the fastest for any iPhone model, given iPhone 6’s first preorder in October last year was done in nine minutes and its predecessor 5s, in 10 minutes in October 2013. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
It looks like the South Korean government is looking to increase taxes even further on imported cars:
Taxes on luxury imported cars are likely to go up, with lawmakers and the government seeking a law revision to impose taxes based on prices instead of engine displacement.
Rep. Shim Jae-chul from the ruling Saenuri Party proposed a revision of the law earlier this week, saying the current system was unfair and did not reflect technology advances.
“The current volume-based tax system could be unfair,” he said. “With the development of technology, car owners with lower engine displacement, higher performance and higher price pay less tax than drivers with lower priced, low-performance cars.”
According to the current law, 80 won per cubic centimeter (cc) is imposed for cars with displacement less than 1,000 cc, 140 won for cars with displacement between 1,000 and 1,600 cc, and 200 won for cars with displacement over 1,600 cc.
For example, BMW 520d owners pay almost the same amount of vehicle taxes as those driving such local brands as Hyundai Motor’s Sonata midsize as they are in the same segment in terms of engine displacement. The price of the German vehicle is about three times higher than the Korean car.
Also, many lavish cars nowadays are designed with smaller displacements to burn less fuel or run a hybrid engine. Shim said a growing number of electronic cars are another factor to consider. [Korea Times]
