Category: Korea-Business

#SouthKorean economy contracted. Growth rate in the 1st quarter of 2019: -0.3%. 4th Q 2018:-0.2%. https://t.co/SjrC0sm3Ma

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) April 26, 2019

South Koreans know how to dominate online reactions and this Wall Street Journal reporter is finding that out:

The Wall Street Journal’s “mocking” review of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Fold smartphone has caused a controversy here as some internet users have criticized the U.S. newspaper for posting an “insensitive” video on YouTube.

Critics said Monday the paper’s journalist should have offered a thorough and independent review of Samsung’s latest smartphone in the video rather than focused on ridiculing it.

In February, Samsung unveiled its first foldable smartphone and the device is set to hit the U.S. market April 26, but the phone has been criticized by U.S. reviewers as the top layer of the display easily peels off, which can cause serious damage to the screen. 

WSJ reporter Joanna Stern posted the video review of the Galaxy Fold, Friday (local time). In the three-minute video, the reporter put a sausage inside the screen of the smartphone, showed clips of peeling a banana and orange and folded a colored piece of paper.

The video has gone viral logging more than 570,000 hits as of 3 p.m. Monday, but has generated negative responses from some viewers, recording 22,000 thumbs-downs while having 10,000 thumbs-ups. More than 4,400 people left comments on the video, many expressing anger over mocking the device by putting a sausage and other objects inside the smartphone.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link and view the review below.

This should not be surprising to anyone that rapidly increasing the minimum wage will cause small business owners such as restaurant owners to cut jobs because they cannot afford to pay them:

Restaurant jobs in Korea have been vanishing quickly, according to data released Tuesday.

Analysts say the loss in jobs is largely the result of the rapid increases in the minimum wage over the past two years.

According to the Supplementary Results of the Local Area Labor Force Survey in the Second Half of 2018, the number of people employed by restaurants last October was down 104,000 from the same month a year earlier.

That fall was the largest of all categories in the survey.

Other categories also showing major year-on-year declines included: employment agencies, down 85,000; retailers, with 37,000 jobs lost; and land transport services, with 28,000 fewer jobs. Due to troubles at domestic automakers, employment by auto part manufacturers was down 28,000.

By job types, the number of retail workers decreased by 63,000 in October 2018 year on year, followed by construction workers (at a negative 48,000), drivers (down 40,000) and food and beverage service workers (with a fall of 38,000 year on year).

Analysts believe the rapid rise in the minimum wage is largely to blame.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

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.