The Moon Jae-in government has decided to pay 100,000 won (US$88) a month per child younger than 5 years beginning in July next year. The basic pension payment of 200,000 won currently given to low-income (lower 70% of income scale) senior citizens older than 65 years will be increased to 250,000 won from April next year.  The additional expenses for these two items will be 13.4 trillion won for children's allowance and 29.5 trillion won for senior citizen pension payments for the next...

Samsung Engineering said on August 16 that it won two petrochemical power generation projects worth 550 billion won jointly with PTT Public Company Ltd., a Thai state-run oil company. This has been less than a week since the Korean company announced a large-scale oil refinery building project in Oman worth more than 1 trillion won. The project calls for building a petrochemical plant and an electricity generation plant in Rayong, Thailand's largest industrial city 150 kilometers southeast of ...

President Moon Jae-in said on August 17, "The denuclearization bid by the current government is not so radical. It will take more than 60 years for us to reach that goal." In an interview in celebration of the 100th day since taking power, President Moon said, "The design life of nuclear reactors that were launched recently or under construction is 60 years. We plan to close reactors one by one as soon as their design life expires." His remarks are in reponse to criticism that his government'...

Hyundai Merchant Marine is pushing forward with a plan to attract an investment of up to 1 trillion won from BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm. According to investment banking industry and shipping industry sources on August 20, the company is currently in talks with BlackRock to bring in an investment of 600 billion won to 1 trillion won. The investment will be made in the form of BlackRock taking part in a capital increase by Hyundai. Once the deal is successful, the equi...

Samsung Electronics said on August 20 that its Samsung Pay service has surpassed the 10-trillion-won milestone in payment volume within two years since launch. Introduced in August 2015, Samsung Pay exceeded the 1-trillion-won level in August last year. Since that time on, the service volume quadrupled for one year's time. An official with Samsung Electronics said, "The volume of out online transactions has taken off since last year, accounting for 30 percent of the total online transactions....

The volume of home mortgage loans made out by commercial banks is falling at a rapid rate after the government's measure to keep the housing marketing from overheating on August 2. According to figures made public by the nation's top-five banks including Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, KEB Hana, and Nonghyup on August 21, the balance of home mortgage loans as of August 18 was 368,370.2 billion won, up by 1,834.3 billion won from the end of July (366,535.9 billion won). In monthly rate, this is up ...

LG Electronics said on August 23 that it would establish an electric car parts plant in Hazel Park, outside Detroit, Michigan, by investing about US$25 million. The proposed plant will be built in a 215,000-square-meter site within the first quarter of 2018. The company will produce battery packs for electric cars, with plans to expand the line-ups to other electric car components in the future. LG explained that the locational decision was based on the proximity to the Vehicle Components N...

The household debt balance has rapidly increased to approach 1,400 trillion won (US$1.24 trillion) as of the end of June this year. It is estimated the balance may have surpassed the 1,400-trillion-won level by mid-August. As the amount of household debt reaches 90 percent of the gross domestic products (1,637 trillion won at the end of last year), economists began warning the high debt level may pose an obstacle to further growth.According to the Bank of Korea on August 23, the balance of house...

Despite the record-high results, the R&D investment level of the nation's petrochemical industry is still miserably low. According to industry sources on August 28, the amount of R&D investment of Lotte Chemical, which achieved a record-high sales revenue of 7,849.4 billion won in the first half, fell short of 44.5 billion won. This is only 0.57 percent of the total sales. Even last year when the company posted the highest operating profit (2,547.8 billion won) among all petrochemical...

SK Engineering & Construction has won a large-scale petrochemical plant project in Thailand. The company said on August 29 that it clinched a deal worth US$210 million to build polyol plant within the Hemaraj industrial zone in Thailand's Rayong. This followed news that the company signed a $1.6-billion project to modernize an oil refinery in Iran earlier this month. The plant, located 150 kilometers southeast of Thailand's capital Bangkok, is commissioned jointly by PTT Global Chemical, ...

The volume of welfare budget set aside by local governments has surpassed the 50-trillion-won level for the first time in history to 53 trillion won (US$46.9 billion). This is 59 percent higher than what it was five years ago. According to the 2017 Statistical Yearbook published by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on September 4, the aggregate welfare budget of local government for the first six months of the year was 52,601.4 billion won, up 6.2 percent (3,081.7 billion won) from the ...

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering signed on September 4 a contract to build five very-large crude carriers bigger than 300,000 tons with Hyundai Merchant Marine. The price tag for the deal is estimated at 470 billion won, with an option to build five more. At the signing ceremony, Daewoo Shipbuilding CEO Jung Sung-leep and Hyundai Merchant Marine CEO Yoo Chang-Keun were in attendance with other executives. With the latest ship orders, Hyundai plans to upgrade its fleets. Earlier ...

After phone calls with Korean President Moon Jae-in on September 1 and 4, Donald Trump U.S. President said the Korean government agreed to purchase American-made weapons and military equipment worth several billion dollars. The White House revealed the news on September 4 that in phone calls between the two leaders "President Trump approved in principle to lift the weight limit of missile warheads the Korean military can mount." In a September 1 announcement, the White House also said simi...

The negotiation to sell off Kumho Tire to China's Double Star Tire broke apart. The creditors including Korea Development Bank held a shareholders meeting and decided not to accept a request by Double Star to lower the price. A Korea Development Bank official explained, "As Double Star made demands we can't accept including an additional 10-percent discount from the original price of 800 billion won, we had to say no to the offer." In July this year, the Chinese tire maker began making dem...

Moon Jae-in South Korean President and Vladimir Putin Russian President met on September 6 in Far Eastern Federal University in Russia's Vladivostok to discuss issues including the current North Korea nuclear crisis and economic cooperation between Russia and South Korea for 2 hours and 40 minutes. The two leaders agreed that the North's nuclear tests are "unacceptable" but differed in how it must be handled including cutting crude oil supplies to North Korea. President Moon said, "When ...

POSCO Daewoo has opened Lotte Hotel Yangon on September 8 in Myanmar's capital Yangon. The five-star hotel, located near Inya Lake in the central business district of the city, consists of a 15-story hotel building (343 rooms) and a 29-story long-term serviced apartment building (315 rooms). POSCO Daewoo is responsible for the overall management while Lotte Hotels and Resorts taking charge of daily management. On the opening day, Myanmar Minister of Hotels and Tourism Ohn Maung, Chief Ministe...

As international coal prices are on the rise, Hanwha Chemical's prospect is getting brighter. That's because the Korean company uses naphtha to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC) while its rivals in China are largely based on coal, which will make it more price competitive vis-a-vis the Chinese chemical producers. According to Korea Resources Corp. and chemical industry sources on September 10, the freight-on-board (FOB) price of bituminous coal out of the Chinese port of Qinhuangdao was US$95....

Central bank governors of three East Asian countries including China, Japan, and Korea will get together and discuss issues such as debt and macroeconomic soundness. But the issue of the Korea-China currency swap deal which will expire on October 10 won't be one of the official agendas in the meeting. Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will meet in Incheon's Songdo for two days on September 13-14 in th...

The youth unemployment rate has hit a record-high level in August since the Asian financial crisis. As for the number of net job increase, it fell to a low of 54 months. Even though the government is doing everything it can to create jobs, jobs-related figures won't budge. According to a report "August 2017 Employment Trend" published by the National Statistical Office on September 13, the jobless ratio of those aged between 15 and 29 was 9.4 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from a year ago. ...

The government is pushing forward with a plan worth US$8 million to help out vulnerable people in North Korea. Meanwhile it won't raise a lawsuit against China with the World Trade Organization in relation to the latter country's retaliatory measures after Korea's decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile defense system in its soil. Baek Tae-hyun, spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, said on September 14, "We are reviewing a plan to give $8 milli...

The Daesan petrochemical industrial zone in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, will transform into an advanced chemical industrial complex. The nation's major petrochemical companies may invest up to 10 trillion won in this area. On September 14, S-Oil, Lotte Chemical, Hanwha Total, South Chungcheong provincial government, and Seosan city gathered in Lotte World Tower and signed a memorandum to create a Daesan specialized industrial complex. Currently the area is home to large petrochemical ...

Private-sector power generators are complaining mightily about the government's pressure on them to switch coal-fired power plants they are building into ones based on liquefied natural gas. That's largely because the government is mum about the sunk cost and other costs to retrofit the plants estimated to be as high as 2.6 trillion won. According to private-sector power generation industry sources on September 17, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy requested to POSCO Energy, SK Gas,...

Chief executives of the nation's leading companies like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and LG Display have made a request to the government to relieve the problem of labor shortage in the area of semiconductor and display. Kwon Oh-hyun, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, said on September 18 in a discussion session held in Kensington Hotel in Seoul's Yoido presided over by Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Baek Woon-gyu, "Skilled workers are in short supply in fast-growing industries...

The approval rating of the Moon Jae-in government has hit a low of 67.1 percent largely due to North Korea nuclear issues. The rating has fallen for three consecutive weeks. As for the approval rating of the ruling Minjoo Party has declined for four weeks in a row to 49.3 percent. Pollster Realmeter said on September 18 that a survey commissioned by CBS-TV revealed that the ratio of those who thought positively about the way the current government has performed was 67.1 percent, down by 2.0 p...

As the government pronounced illegal on the practice of companies relying on subcontract workers for a long time such as the cases in Paris Baguette and Mando-Hella, the whole industry in shock. This is not just restricted to manufacturers but is spread to services and the food franchise industry as well. The corporate sector expected on September 24 that companies like Tous Les Jours, Samsung Electronics service centers, and LG U+ will likely face the same problem any time soon after the Min...

POSCO, Korea's largest steel maker, has completed on September 22 the construction of a steel wire service center in Jeffersonville, Indiana, with an annual capacity of 25,000 tons. The plant will supply steel wire goods to be used for bolts, nuts, and bearings to auto parts companies. Started in April last year, the service center cost the company US$20.9 million to build. The high-quality steel materials produced in the new plant will be supplied to companies like Simplex Korea, Taeyang M...

Beachgoing is not just for the summer. Nothing is romantic than walking on the beach with a loved one. What about the beach in the autumn? Walking on the beach on a cool breeze and sitting in a café with an ocean view may be something you don't want to miss.   If you long for a place where you can see the autumn sea and uninhabited islands, all you need to do is take the Airport Train from Seoul station or Gimpo Airport station. Within one hour, it will take you to Yeongjo...

Hdac Technology AG(Hdac) together with Dream Global Partners (DREAMChain), held a business agreement ceremony on August 16th establishing the foundation of a comprehensive partnership to expand and incorporate blockchain-based real estate enterprises world-wide.The ceremony was held on the 3rd floor of Hdac office building, with Hdac Technology Korea CEO, Michael Yoon, Dream Global Partner’s President, Pietro A. Doran, and Dream Global Partner’s co-founder/Chief Crypto-Economics Officer, Samson ...

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Stock Exchange”) is conducting further public consultation on the listing of companies from emerging and innovative sectors.  The consultation paper published on 23 February 2018 (the &l...

On 19 March 2018, a draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU was published. The Agreement’s objective is to set out the arrangements for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. Amongst these arrangements are the transitional provi...

“Not a Dirty Word”: ESMA revisits the impact of its Opinion on delegation for UK managers if there is a “hard” Brexit In the wake of the draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, a speech by Steven Maijoor, th...

Background The new Prospectus Regulation came into force on 20 July 2017 and is similar to the current Prospectus Directive (2003/71/EC) but there are some relaxations to the regime which will be helpful to traded companies and whilst the majority o...

Employers, the leasing industry, professional advisers and many government departments including the DTI, were taken by surprise when withdrawal of the tax relief on computers supplied to employees was announced in the recent Budget. Numerous re...

Government plans to ensure that workers don't have to take Bank Holidays as part of their annual leave will see the UK start to catch up with its European counterparts in terms of holiday provision. Currently up to two million workers in the UK hav...

In a somewhat timely judgment, bearing in mind the May bank holidays, the Court of Session (the Scottish Court of Appeal) has clarified that it is not necessarily unlawful for an employer to not provide alternative leave days for part-time workers w...

Gordon Brown has announced that the Government plans to introduce legislation giving new rights to agency workers and working parents in the next parliamentary session.  In addition, all workers are to be given the right to ask for time off wor...

The Government has today announced that from next April, the right to request flexible working will be extended to all parents of children aged up to 16 years. It is estimated that an additional 4.5 million parents will benefit from the right. Sinc...

If you have not yet responded to the Eversheds survey as to the likely impact of the changes to agency worker rights upon your business and would like to do so by 13 June, please click here.   Main body The topics of equal rights for age...

After what has already proved a busy week for employment law news, the Government has published its consultation response to the second round of consultation on Agency Worker Regulations, which closed in December last year. The...

Introduction The Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011 (“the Bill”) was published on Friday 16 December 2011. The Bill is intended to give effect to an EU Directive (Directive 2008/104/EC) on...

As Russia prepared for scaled-down Victory Day ceremonies, coronavirus infections rose fast and Moscow's mayor suggested the real numbers may be much higher than the official count.

Together with the German Marshall Fund and its Frontlines of Democracy Initiative, RFE/RL experts spoke about the amplified challenges now facing Putin and the Kremlin and the potential consequences for Russia’s future.