Via the Marmot’s Hole it appears that the Uber’s days are number in Korea once Daum-Kakao releases their app that is endorsed by t
South Korea’s leading free messenger service operator Daum Kakao said Wednesday it will launch a taxi service app by the first half of next year as it initiates a new platform of connecting online and offline businesses.
Daum Kakao signed a memorandum of understanding with the Seoul Taxi Association and Korea Smart Card Co. for the service that would link customers with the closest cab through a mobile app. The taxi association has some 255 Seoul-based cab operators as members, and Korea Smart Card is the country’s top transportation payment system provider.
“Daum Kakao has established important grounds for the operation of Kakao Taxi, and we plan to expand cooperation with other taxi operators throughout the country in the future,” the company said in its release. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but the Seoul city government passed an ordinance offering rewards of up to a Million Won to people who report Uber taxis which will set the stage for the Daum-Kakao app to take over this market.
The Samsung heir apparent has cracked Bloomberg’s Top 200 of the world’s richest people:
Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of South Korean tech firm Samsung Electronics Co., made the list of the world’s top 200 richest people for the first time as Samsung Group’s heir apparent raked in big fortunes from successful initial public offerings of its two affiliates, the Bloomberg Billionaire Index showed Tuesday.
The 46-year-old Lee’s listed stock value was estimated at US$7.2 billion to rank 183rd worldwide in the latest Bloomberg index, making him the second-wealthiest person in South Korea after his father, Lee Kun-hee.
The senior Lee, who is recuperating from a heart attack he suffered in May, ranked No. 77, with his listed assets worth $13.1 billion as of early Tuesday, the index showed.
Formerly among the world’s 400 richest people in September, the junior Lee has made a big leap forward as the nation’s most powerful conglomerate listed two of its affiliates — Samsung SDS Co. and Cheil Industries Inc. — in just over a month, in a move seen as preparing for management succession. [Yonhap]
A South Korean defense company will sign a deal with Poland, today, to sell 120 locally developed self-propelled howitzers, a military source said Tuesday.
“Samsung Techwin Co. will sign a contract with Poland’s defense ministry at 7 p.m. in Korea to export K-9 self-propelled howitzers,” the source said, asking not to be identified. “Under the contract, the company will directly supply 24 howitzers by 2017. The remaining 96 will be produced in Poland.”
The total export value is estimated at about $320 million (347 billion won), according to the source.
Samsung Techwin developed the 155-millimeter howitzer for the nation’s armed forces in 1998 to replace K-55 howitzers. Equipped with state-of-the-art firing and mobility systems, the K-9 has a maximum range of 40 kilometers. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but this arms purchase by Poland is definitely aimed at upgrading the country’s defenses in wake of Russian aggression in the region. Samsung Techwin ought to send a big thank you note to Putin for the increased business to the arms market that the South Koreans have been trying to expand for many years.
Via a reader tip comes this news that the daughter of the Chairman of Korean Air decided to have a airplane returned to the gate to boot a stewardess she was unhappy with:
The daughter of Korean Air Lines Co. Chairman Cho Yang Ho ordered a plane back to the gate so she could remove a crew member who gave an incorrect answer to a question on how to serve macadamia nuts, the airline said.
Heather Cho, 40, a vice president of the airline, ordered the head of the service crew on Flight 86 from New York to Seoul to deplane after an attendant earlier had served Cho macadamia nuts without asking, the carrier said. Cho then summoned the purser to ask a question about the airline’s policy on serving nuts. Cho ordered the man to leave the plane when he couldn’t answer. Under the carrier’s rules, passengers must be asked first before serving.
The purser didn’t know the company’s procedures and “kept on making up lies and excuses,” Korean Air said in a separate statement late yesterday.
The aircraft had already left the gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport for takeoff on Dec. 5. It took no more than 2 minutes to return to the gate to deplane the crew member, according to the airline. The flight was 11 minutes late when it arrived in Seoul on Dec. 6.
Korean Air in its statement late yesterday apologized to passengers for the inconvenience the incident caused. It noted the plane was less than 10 meters from the gate at JFK when the decision to return was made. [BusinessWeek]
You can read more at the link, but I can understand her unhappiness because serving nuts for example to a kid without asking could cause an allergic reaction and open the airline to a lawsuit. So I understand where she is coming from, but with that said what gives her the right to turn around a plane? Shouldn’t the pilots due to an emergency be the ones to make that decision? I would not classify this as an emergency and just something that the airline could of took care when the plane arrived back in Korea.
It is anyone surprised the Korean leftists were not out protesting the ROK-China FTA like they were doing with the U.S.?:
Korea and China more or less concluded years of on-and-off talks about a free trade pact on Monday. President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping announced the conclusion of the FTA in Beijing on Monday.
The negotiations began in May 2012.
Once the FTA goes into effect, binding the world’s second and 15th-largest economies, it will create an economic bloc valued at US$11 trillion.
Korea stands to gain greater access to a W5,000 trillion (US$1=W1,085) market with a population of 1.3 billion.
Korea is only the third country along with Chile and Peru to sign FTAs with the U.S., EU and China.
The biggest gain for Korean negotiators is that most of the agricultural market, including rice, remains protected from Chinese imports. China in turn managed to maintain existing tariffs on Korean-made petrochemical products, steel and cars. (Chosun Ilbo)
Those looking to get their hands on the newest offering from Apple won’t have to wait much longer as they have announced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will begin sales on October 31st in 36 additional countries and territories, including South Korea, as well as across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa have been added by the Cupertino, California company in a press statement yesterday.
Pre-orders by Korea’s three mobile carriers — SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ — will begin October 24th. [Busan Haps]
It looks like Samsung and Facebook may be trying to come up with some kind of partnership to take on their business rivals:
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Samsung Electronics Co. headquarters in Seoul on Tuesday, Samsung officials said, in an apparent bid to discuss new business models for the two firms.
A Samsung spokesman said Zuckerberg had visited the headquarters, without revealing other details including people he met with and the purpose of the visit. He is believed to have met with Samsung’s heir-apparent Lee Jay-yong, who was spotted entering the building shortly ahead of the spokesman’s remarks. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if Samsung is trying to better integrate Facebook services into other Samsung products like their TVs or appliances? Anyone have any other ideas on what partnership they could be forging?
I am not sure how this is considered opening the rice market when you put a 513% tariff on imports:
South Korea has notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it will open its rice market in January next year with a 513 percent tariff rate.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Tuesday submitted to the WTO secretariat its plan to revise the country’s tariff rate on rice imports. [KBS World]
