This will be a big change for the job hiring process in South Korea if this bill gets implemented, but it seems that face to face interviews will be the way for employers to get around the intent of this bill:
Rep. Han Jeoung-ae of the main opposition Democratic Party (Yonhap)
The South Korean parliament’s labor committee on Monday approved a bill which bans employers from requiring job seekers to provide a headshot and information such as their weight and height.
It also seeks to prohibit the “discriminatory” practice of requiring information about an applicant’s birthplace, religion, marital status, assets and family details on application forms.
Violators will be slapped with fines of up to 5 million won (US$4,275) under the bill proposed by Rep. Han Jeoung-ae of the main opposition Democratic Party.
The proposal calls for punishing acts of requesting and offering illegal favors, exerting undue influence and giving and taking gifts or cash in the recruitment process with fines of up to 30 million won. [Yonhap]
This is probably a good decision because I can’t remember the last time I remember seeing a Grandeur on the road in the US:
Hyundai Motor Co. is considering suspending the sales of the Grandeur sedan, exported under the name Azera, in the United States, industry sources said Sunday, due to its sluggish sales there.
While Hyundai announced the launch of the sixth-generation Grandeur earlier in November, sources said the company would not introduce the model in the U.S. If South Korea’s top automaker makes that decision, it would mark the first time in 16 years for the Azera to leave the U.S. market.
Industry watchers said although the Grandeur stands as a major high-end sedan in the South Korean market, it failed to grab enough attention in the North American market, losing out to the popular Sonata and the premium Genesis models. [Yonhap]
I don’t see how South Korea can be considered a low cost manufacturing country especially considering the KORUS FTA has made it cheaper for them to manufacture in the US compared to South Korea:
Trump hasn’t spelled out how he wants to rearrange NAFTA, but the basic idea is to encourage or compel more production in the United States, which would mean less production in places like Mexico. But that would be highly disruptive and would penalize American automakers more than their foreign rivals. Trump could probably rewrite the rules in a way that limits Mexican imports to the United States, for instance. But that doesn’t mean automakers would simply move Mexican factories north of the border. They might look for other low-cost countries instead, such as South Korea, India or China. The Trump administration could pursue trade restrictions on those countries as well, but that becomes a game of free-trade whack-a-mole in which the government is trying to tell multinational companies where to invest their money—hardly the lightly regulated pro-growth environment Trump says he wants to create.
If Trump tries to stop US automakers from producing in Mexico, that doesn’t mean he can stop foreign automakers from operating there. So the government would essentially be raising costs for American firms by forcing them out of Mexico, but not for their global competitors. [Yahoo Finance]
I can’t remember anything like this happening before with a major manufacturer stopping production of an electronic device due to safety reasons:
Samsung has permanently halted production and sales of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after failing to correct a problem that was causing the devices to burst into flames.
The loss of one of its flagship smartphones is a major embarrassment for Samsung , which was forced to recall 2.5 million Note 7s shortly after the device went on sale in August.
The South Korean firm attempted to fix the problem by switching battery suppliers and updating the smartphone’s software. Company executives issued a slew of apologies.
But when replacement phones were issued, a number of customers reported that those devices also caught fire, including one aboard a passenger jet.
Samsung on Monday advised all customers to stop using the phones, sending its shares tumbling by 8% in Seoul. The world’s biggest smartphone maker said Tuesday it was killing off the phone entirely. [CNN]
Here is the latest on the Apple versus Samsung copyright battle:
Overturning an earlier decision, a U.S. appeals court on Friday reinstated a lower-court verdict that Samsung Electronics pay Apple US$120 million for violating three iPhone patents.
In February, a three-member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled that Samsung did not infringe upon the patents on “quick links,” “slide-to-unlock” and “auto-correct” technologies, and therefore does not need to pay $120 million ordered by a lower court.
Apple appealed that decision, arguing that the panel relied on extra-record evidence “none of which, it said, was of record and that the panel appears to have located only through independent research,” according to court records.
On Friday, a full panel of judges at the same court accepted Apple’s appeal in a 8-3 decision. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but for Apple the $120 million is probably enough to pay their lawyer fees considering how long this fight has been going on.
Here is an update on the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy, the Korean government is trying to get Hanjin’s former chairwoman to cough up more personal funds to help cover some of the bankruptcy costs:
Choi Eun-young, former chairwoman of Hanjin Shipping, kneels and cries during a parliamentary hearing Tuesday. [NEWSIS]Choi Eun-young, former chairwoman of Hanjin Shipping, refused at a parliamentary hearing late Tuesday to cough up additional funds from her personal assets to help save the world’s seventh-largest container carrier.
On Sept. 12, Choi vowed to provide 10 billion won ($9.1 million) in private funds to cash-strapped Hanjin help tide the company over during the ongoing crisis. She knelt in front of lawmakers at the hearing at the Sejong Government Complex Tuesday, when Park Wan-joo, a lawmaker with the opposition Minjoo Party, berated her.
“You dragged up Hanjin Shipping’s debt ratio from 155 percent to 1,445 percent during your term and now you are saying you cannot donate your own assets because [Hanjin Group] Chairman Cho Yang-ho has been in charge since 2014?” Park asked. “Do you think you have served your responsibility? You are supposed to be sincere when making apologies.”
“I am sorry if I appear I am not properly apologizing. I apologize from the bottom of my heart,” she said, falling to her knees and sobbing with her head down for half a minute. “But [coughing up more of my fortune] would be difficult because it may wreak havoc with the management of Eusu Holdings.”
She currently is chairwoman of Eusu Holdings, which was split when she gave up oversight of Hanjin Shipping in May 2014. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but according to the article she is worth anywhere from $40-$180 million dollars.
It sounds like the critics of the Hanjin bankruptcy think the Korean government should have bailed them out like the US did the too big to fail banks in 2008:
A container terminal is shown above in Singapore, Sep. 3, containing seized cargo from Hanjin Shipping. Analysts say that Hanjin’s court receivership could be just the tip of the iceberg for the shipping industry as the long-running global economic downturn has left it drowning in excess capacity. / AFP-Yonhap
Hanjin Shipping’s filing for court receivership is inflicting far larger-than-expected negative impacts both at home and abroad as major routes for trade are being suspended.
The government and creditors are facing growing criticism that they are responsible for having thrown global ports and traders into confusion.
About half of Hanjin’s fleet is stuck in ports around the world as the authorities there fear the shipper whose assets have been frozen is unable to pay fees.
The government will not be able to avoid criticism for underestimating the fallout of the bankruptcy of the world’s seventh largest shipper.
It is still pondering over contingency plans to contain the backlash, creating a task force to ensure there are no delays in the flow of cargo.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will lead the task force along made up of ranking officials from nine related ministries and agencies.
“The government will make sure that the fallout from Hanjin Shipping doesn’t lead to chaos in logistics or a transmission to the real economy including exports,” said Oceans and Fisheries Minister Kim Young-suk, after an emergency meeting held Sunday.
“We will closely cooperate to support damaged industries, taking all possible policy measures,” he said.
However, officials from the shipping industry criticize the government for allowing the shipper to go bankrupt without having drawn up proper countermeasures.
The most urgent problem is that exports may fail to arrive at their final destination on time as 68 of Hanjin Shipping’s vessels are stranded at sea worldwide as of Sunday. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it is pretty amazing that a huge company like Hanjin has gone into bankruptcy. It seems like the simple answer is that another company buys Hanjin and then restarts operations with a fresh cash flow to pay the various port fees that are currently delaying shipping.
Samsung Electronics suspended sales of the Galaxy Note7 and promised to replace sold phablets with new ones at the request of customers, which could lead to the largest ever recall in the smartphone industry.
The decision came nine days after the first Galaxy Note7 melted spontaneously due to a defect in its lithium-ion battery. More instances were reported in the following days.
“We apologize for the concerns inflicted on customers due to the inconvenience caused by the burning incidents not long after the new product was released,” said Koh Dong-jin, Samsung Electronics’ mobile business president on Friday.
“As of Sept. 1, 35 cases have been reported to [Samsung] service centers in Korea and abroad. This is 24 defective units out of 1 million units. In our analysis of the cause, we have found that the problem was in the battery cell.”
The free exchanges of new Galaxy Note7s are expected to start on Sept. 19. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Lotte Group Vice Chairman Lee In-won was found dead on a hiking trail in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi, Friday morning, a few hours before he was to be questioned by prosecutors investigating corruption in the group.
The 69-year-old vice chairman was often described as the second-in-command of Lotte Group after Chairman Shin Dong-bin, or Shin’s right-hand man. He was the most powerful figure in the group outside the Shin family, managing all operations at some 90 Lotte affiliates.
Lee’s body was discovered lying on the ground next to a tree by a man in his 60s taking a morning walk, who called the police. It was around 7:11 a.m. and Lee was already dead when the man found him, according to police.
Police concluded Lee hanged himself on the tree using a tie and a scarf, but that the tree branch snapped.
“There is no extraordinary external injury, other than his neck showing signs of being hanged,” police said. “No signs that would point to possible murder or homicide.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
![Choi Eun-young, former chairwoman of Hanjin Shipping, kneels and cries during a parliamentary hearing Tuesday. [NEWSIS]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/jmnet/koreajoongangdaily/_data/photo/2016/09/28212843.jpg?resize=320%2C340)
