An appeals court on Friday handed down a four-year prison term to a former Navy chief for taking bribes from local firms in return for business favors while in office.The Seoul High Court convicted retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun for pocketing kickbacks from two former affiliates of STX Group in 2008, but said the amount he received cannot be calculated.A lower court previously sentenced him to 10 years in jail for receiving 770 million won (US$636,000), which was transferred to the bank account of hi

Korea, with its locomotive for growth hurt by a prolonged global economic slump, is likely to see a stronger wave of corporate downsizing in 2016. From shipbuilding, steel and airlines to banking, companies are moving to increase efforts to cut costs through jobs cut, branch closures and outsourcing, while selling off noncore assets, industry officials and experts said. (Yonhap)In financial districts, one of the buzzwords for this year is “voluntary early retirement,” as companies seek to reduce

 Former STX Group chairman Kang Duk-soo said Wednesday that he would think about rebuilding the troubled conglomerate whose some of its major affiliates suffering liquidity shortages and mounting debts.Kang made the remarks after being released from prison in the day following a higher court's decision to give a suspended sentence to him for embezzlement and negligence of duty. The Seoul High Court sentenced the business tycoon, who headed the group from 2003 to February 2014, to three years in

South Korea's financial regulator said Friday it will charge a leading bad asset management firm with overhauling debt-laden companies in an effort to speed up the country's corporate restructuring program.   The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said it scrapped its earlier plan to establish an independent company that specializes in corporate restructuring, funded by two policy lenders and commercial banks.   Instead, the FSC said it will assign the role to United Asset Management Company (U

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has put its plans to acquire STX France on the back burner, the shipbuilder’s CEO Jung Sung-leep said Thursday. DSME CEO Jung Sung-leep. DSMEDSME had considered acquiring 66 percent stake in STX France upon request by its largest shareholder, state-run Korea Development Bank. KDB, which is also STX Group’s main creditor, has been pushing to sell off STX France and STX Finland as part of its efforts to restructure the defunct shipbuilding conglomerate. Spe

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering is reviewing plans to acquire the defunct STX Group’s French cruise-ship maker. According to news reports, DSME was planning to acquire a two-thirds stake in STX France.The company, however, downplayed the reports, saying that the plans were in their early stages. “The company has received a proposal regarding the acquisition of STX France, (but) so far nothing has been decided,” the company said in the statement. STX France is a subsidiary of STX Offsh

State investigators said Tuesday they have added another count of bribery against a former Navy chief already indicted for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from a troubled defense firm while in office seven years ago.Retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun, who served as the Navy Chief of Staff from 2008 to 2010, received 60 million won ($54,000) from a company that brokers sales of German-made communications equipment in 2009, a government anti-corruption task force said.Jung had rewarded

A former Navy chief was indicted Tuesday on charges of receiving bribes from the head of a troubled defense firm when he was in office seven years ago, state investigators said.Retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun, who served as the Navy Chief of Staff from 2008 to 2010, allegedly asked for 770 million won ($699,000) in bribes from two affiliates of STX Group in September 2008, a government anti-corruption task force said.Investigators believe Jung offered the companies Navy contracts to build a high-speed

Major Korean stockbreeder Harim on Thursday said it has acquired maritime transportation operator Pan Ocean for 1 trillion won ($900 million), aiming to become a global agricultural product distributor. According to the company, Harim Group and its partner JKL signed a deal to take over 58 percent of Pan Ocean after the Seoul Central District Court gave its approval in December. The chicken processor and stockbreeder said there would be a capital increase of 850 billion won through the issuance

Reelected chairman Huh Chang-soo of the Federation of Korean Industries, the nation’s top business lobby group, expressed opposition to raising corporate tax. Huh, chairman of GS Group, said in his acceptance speech Tuesday that doing so would go against the global trend of low corporate taxes.His comments came at a time when political circles are debating whether to increase corporate tax to fund the government’s welfare programs.Huh is the fourth FKI chairman to serve three consecutive terms.

A former head of the Navy was arrested Thursday over allegations that he took bribes from a shipbuilding conglomerate when he was in office seven years ago.Retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun allegedly took bribes from STX Group, a now financially troubled shipping and shipbuilding conglomerate, in the form of sponsorship to a yacht event in October 2008, a government anti-corruption task force said.The group's two subsidiaries, which produce high-speed vessels and engines for naval vessels, paid 770 mill

The son of a former Navy chief was arrested Wednesday over allegations that he and his father took bribes from a shipbuilding conglomerate four years ago, investigators said.Retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun and his son allegedly took bribes from STX Group, a now financially troubled shipping and shipbuilding conglomerate, in the form of sponsorship to a yacht event in October 2008, a government anti-corruption task force said.The group's two subsidiaries, which produce high-speed vessels and engines fo

A former Navy chief is under investigation over suspicions that he took bribes from a now troubled shipbuilding conglomerate four years ago in return for business favors, state investigators said Tuesday.Sources at a government anti-corruption task force said they were investigating whether retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun played any role in STX Group’s provision of 700 million won ($648,000) to a yacht company in a sponsorship deal in October 2008.The group’s two subsidiaries, which produce high-speed

A former Navy chief is under investigation over suspicions that he took bribes from a now troubled shipbuilding conglomerate four years ago in return for business favors, state investigators said Tuesday.Sources at a government anti-corruption task force said they were investigating whether retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun played any role in STX Group's provision of 700 million won (US$648,000) to a yacht company in a sponsorship deal in October 2008.The group's two subsidiaries, which produce high-spe

Former STX Group chairman Kang Duk-soo was sentenced to six years in prison for incurring huge losses to business units, financial firms and investors by rigging the conglomerate’s financial statements and pocketing company funds.The Seoul Central District Court ruled on Thursday that Kang, 64, took the initiative in committing the debt-ridden group’s irregular bookkeeping worth 584.1 billion won ($556.2 million) and embezzlement worth 67.9 billion won.The figures were much smaller than the char