The Korea Corporate Governance Service (KCGS), which provides advice regarding voting rights for the National Pension Service (NPS), took Hyundai Motor Group’s side, saying that Elliott Management Corp.’s outside director appointment-related proposal and excessive demand for dividends could hamper t

Hyundai Motor Group is striking back at U.S.-based activist fund Elliott Management Corp. which has been pressuring the Korean automotive group to change its governance structure and shareholder return policy.Market watchers say Hyundai Motor has a greater chance of winning a proxy contest with Elli

Hyundai Mobis Co. officially announced on March 7 that it opposes U.S. activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp.’s shareholder proposals concerning dividends, nomination of independent directors and audit committee members, and increasing the number of board members.In regard to the demand for di

Samsung Electronics ranked seventh, classified as Excellent, in this year's Harris Poll Reputation Quotient with a score of 80. For reference, Samsung ranked 35th with 77.56 in that survey last year. In this year’s survey, Sony climbed from 31st to 10th and 21st Century Fox climbed from 74th to

Shareholder activism is changing the corporate landscape in Korea. It has triggered the introduction of a stewardship code by the National Pension Service, Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI)’s attempt to participate in the management of Hanjin KAL, and the abolishment of the shadow voting

Unionized Korea Development Bank (KDB) workers have decided to make an attempt to introduce a worker director system for the second time in the local banking industry following Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK).The unionized workers can exercise more influence on the management of their bank once the w

Lotte Group is expected to resume its stalled push for governance reform as group chairman Shin Dong-bin has recently been named as the CEO of Lotte Holdings, the holding company of Lotte companies in Japan.Shin restored his control of Lotte’s Japanese operations as he resumed the CEO post of Lotte

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has expressed its concern about KEB Hana Bank president Ham Young-joo being selected for the third consecutive term.The financial regulator met with three outside directors of Hana Financial Group on Feb. 26 with regard to the group’s selection of candidates f

South Korea’s small and medium-sized firms are reducing the number of foreign workers due to a spike in labor costs from a minimum wage increase and slowed business.The Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) released the findings on Feb. 25 after conducting a survey of 1,178 small and medium-sized manufact

SK Group issued 7.9 trillion won (US$7.03 billion) worth of corporate bonds last year, according to investment banking (IB) industry sources on Feb. 20. The figure represented a record high in the group’s history. It showed a large gap compared with No. 2 Lotte Group with 3.7 trillion won (US$3.29 b

Hanjin Group claimed that Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI) is not qualified to exercise its shareholder proposal rights. It noted that the Commercial Act requires a shareholder to own a 0.5 percent or larger take for over six months to exercise shareholder proposal rights, when the comp

A South Korean court has suspended the first sanctions that the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) under the Financial Services Commission (FSC) imposed on Samsung BioLogics Co. for a failure to disclose important information. Previously, the company obtained a court injunction to suspend the S

Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) is expected to post 2.4 trillion won (US$2.13 billion) in operating loss this year. Accordingly, the company has hastily come up with emergency plans to cut costs by 1.7 trillion won (US$1.51 billion).KEPCO’s “Emergency Management Plans” released on Feb. 12 estimat

The stock prices of Doosan Group’s listed affiliates plunged as they failed to meet market expectations last year. The stock prices of Doosan Bobcat Co. and Doosan Corp. dropped by 7.53 percent and 7.52 percent, respectively, on the benchmark KOSPI market on Feb. 13. Doosan Infracore Co. also skidde

The upcoming general shareholders' meeting of Hanjin KAL Corp. in late March will determine the fate of Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho’s family. Private equity fund Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI) and the National Pension Service (NPS), which are both a major shareholder of the

A civic organization has accused Kim Jung-ju, chairman of NXC Corp., the holding company of Nexon Group, of evading taxes.Specwatch Korea, which monitors speculative capital, said in a press conference at the Seoul Central Prosecutor's Office on Feb. 12 that it would file a petition with the pro

South Korean gaming firm Netmarble Corp. has formed a consortium with Chinese internet services provider Tencent and domestic private equity fund (PEF) MBK Partners to acquire NXC Corp., the holding company of Nexon Group. Netmarble joined hands with Tencent as a strategic investor and MBK Partners

Whisky sales in Korea have been on a continuous downturn over the past decade mainly due to changes in lifestyle of Koreans. The domestic sales of the spirit recorded some 1.49 million boxes (a box containing 500ml bottles) in 2018. Industry watchers attribute it to the reduced chances of get-togeth

Hyosung will work with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers to find new business models based on innovative technologies. This is one of Hyosung’s efforts to foster future growth engines in line with the philosophy of technology-based management by Hyosung Group chairman Cho Hyun-

Chaebol family members are becoming corporate executives at a younger age than before.The number of chaebol children who were born after 1970 and have become executives at major business groups is estimated at 130. Three major business conglomerates are run by a chairman in his 40s and others have e