Category: Korea-Business

It is pretty surprising that Samsung’s new foldable phone would have this many problems right before its release:

A number of U.S.-based tech reporters reviewing Samsung Electronics’ potentially game-changing mobile device, the Galaxy Fold, reported faults after just a few days of use.

Reporters from CNBC, Bloomberg and The Verge have each tweeted pictures and videos showing faults with the folding screen of the Galaxy Fold devices they were given this week to review ahead of the phone’s U.S. release on April 26.

Steve Kovach, tech editor for CNBC, tweeted in the early hours of Thursday morning, Korea time, a video of his Galaxy Fold that showed the left hand of the screen flickering and flashing white with a bold black line splitting the screen in two, presumably along the point where the screen folds when it is closed. The video was captioned “After one day of use…”

The Galaxy Fold is designed to open like a book to become a 7.3-inch display tablet. The cover of the phone — the front when it is folded — is a 4.6-inch screen that works like a conventional smartphone. In all three reported cases, it is this internal folding screen that was defective.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

We could be seeing the beginning of the end of Asiana Airlines:

Thirty-one years and two months ago, Asiana Airlines was founded. Very soon, it could be history after its controlling shareholder said it would be selling off the debt-laden carrier.

Asiana Airlines was formed in 1988, the year the Olympic Games were held in Seoul, as Seoul Air International. 

The Chun Doo Hwan government in February 1988 approved the Kumho Group, as it was known at the time, to form the country’s second private airline. The market had been monopolized by Korean Air.

The Summer Games put Korea on the global map, but there was a shortage of flights to transport the visitors. In August 1988, Asiana inaugurated its first service and changed its name in December.

While the airline first operated with a single Boeing 737, it enjoyed the Golden Age of travel in the 1990s along with its competitor as the government lifted the overseas travel ban, and Koreans started going abroad en masse.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more about Asiana Airlines at the link. I like flying Korean Air better than Asiana Airlines, but I still thought it was a good airline. I would rather fly Asiana than any of the major US airlines.

Due to the slow economy more Koreans are turning towards learning trade skills than trying to pursue white collar jobs:

A growing number of people of all ages are learning blue-collar skills like building maintenance and landscaping, even if they have degrees from top universities or have previously worked for big conglomerates. 
The reason is that they feel that blue-collar jobs offer more job security than office work in a recession. 
At the city-run Seoul Institute of Technology and Education, the most popular class just five years ago was cooking, favored by people who wanted to open their own restaurants. But now it is landscaping and grounds-keeping, perhaps because there seems to be a growing appetite from condos and municipalities for clean, well-designed open spaces. 
Building and electrical maintenance are also in high demand. Courses are free and last from six months to a year . 
Choi Sung-cheol, an instructor at the institute, said, “In tough economic times the popular classes are not entrepreneurship but skills that guarantee work past the average retirement age.”

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I think it is good that more people are learning trades. Going to college and working a white collar job is not for everyone and many trades do offer a good income.

With the Moon administration wanting to phase out both nuclear and coal power what is going to power all these electric vehicles?:

Volvo Trucks, the world’s second-biggest heavy-duty truck maker after Daimler Trucks, may consider introducing a zero-emission vehicle in South Korea to meet the demand for environmentally friendly vehicles and to help further cement its leading status in one of its key markets, an executive of the Swedish company said Tuesday.
Volvo Trucks plans to begin producing fully electric trucks for commercial use in some European markets by the end of this year and to roll them out in North America next year.
“We have a number of markets that we are looking at (for the introduction of electric trucks). It is very clear that Korea is a very advanced market with the infrastructure being built up for electrical vehicles, and customers are adopting new technology,” Volvo Trucks International Vice President Anna Müller in charge of global sales operations said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The govt owns the Pension Fund, which invests in stocks. The #MoonJaein administration just used that to involve itself in the management of a company, starting with expelling the CEO. The 1st target of nationalization is Korean Air. #SouthKorea on the way to socialism. https://t.co/Ny1Eo8BlvD

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) March 28, 2019

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