<The Korea Times> Nov. 23, 2020
Companies raise guard against fallout of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down in Korea as the number of daily new cases has continued to grow. In response, company officials said they would expand the scope of their work-from-home policies, and also fully prepare for the possible implementation of even stricter social distancing policies by the administration.
Many companies report they are trying to minimize the number of business meetings, business trips, and after-work get-together to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Companies said they have been responding flexibily to the recent hike in infections as it has been months since they implemented various measures to minimize potential risks.
A Samsung Electronics official said the company resumed a partial remote working program last week.
A Hyundai Motor Group official said the company's automotive manufacturing lines are currently unaffected by the virus spread as there have been no infections at its factories. "We have seen no disruptions in our manufacturing lines so far. For office employees, we are offering work-from-home on a voluntary basis," the official said.
SK Group has allowed more employees to work remotely and restricted access to its headquarter offices in Seoul.
LG Group also said it has carried out tougher quarantine measures inside its office building and begun implementing expanded remote working measures, letting more than 30 percent of its office staff work from home.
오늘의 단어
- raise guard : 경계하다, 주의 깊게 준비하다
- fallout : 악영향, 좋지 않은 결과
- respond flexibily : 유연하게 대응하다
- disruption : 분열, 붕괴, 혼란
- on a voluntary basis : 자발적으로, 자기 의사에 따라
Biden transition gets government OK
Trump at last relents but still refuses to concede
The federal government recognized President-elect Joe Biden as the "apparent winner" of the Nov.3 election on Monday, formally starting the transition of power after President Donald Trump spent weeks testing the boundaries of American democracy. He relented after suffering yet more legal and procedural defeats in his seemingly futile effort to overturn the election with baseless claims of fraud.
Trump still refused to concede and vowed to continue to fight in court after General Services Administrator Emily Murphy gave the green light for Biden to coordinate with federal agencies. But Trump did tweet that he was directing his team to cooperate on the transition.
오늘의 단어
- relent : (거부하다가 마침내) 동의하다, 수그러들다, 누그러지다
- concede : 인정하다, 수긍하다 (=admit, accept, acknowledge)
- futile : 헛된, 소용없는
- overturn : 뒤집다, 번복시키다
- baseless : 근거 없는 (=unfounded)
New US security team unlikely to adopt hardline stance against North Korea
Given his past hardline stance against North Korea, many predict that the nominee for U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, may favor putting more pressure and sanctions on Pyongyang to drive the country toward denuclearization under the upcoming Joe Biden administration.
"Blinken was a champion of the Iran nuclear deal, showing he does not have a problem dealing with rogue states that have nuclear ambitions that Washington wants to negate. The challenge, of course, is that Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons, while North Korea not only has nuclear weapons but now ICBMs that can kill millions of Americans, and that could very well mean he won't use the same strategies."
오늘의 단어
- hardline : 강경한 태도, 강경책
- stance : 자세, 입장, 태도 (=position)
- Given ~ : ~를 고려해볼 때
- favor : 뒷받침하다, 확증하다; …의 가능성을 예상케 하다
- sanction : (국제법 위반에 대한) 처벌, 제재 / 허가, 승인 (=authorization)
- rogue : 흉포한, 악당 같은
- negate : 무력화하다, 무효하게 만들다. 부정하다. (=invalidate, nullify)
Coronavirus impact on multinational firms
The coronavirus pandemic that has tipped the world into recession isn't affecting all multinational firms equally, according to a study by Italian bank Mediobanca. While most are losers, there are some huge winners from the crisis.
1. Winners
(1) Internet
The study found that internet firms were the biggest winners. Sales for the sector - of which online retailers including Amazon account for about a third - jumped by 18.4 percent and net profits by 21.8 percent. Food delivery services saw a boom, with sales jumping 47 percent. Sales of video games soared 40 percent and online retail rose by 33 percent. On the other hand, online travel sales tumbled by 52 percent.
(2) Retail
Large retailers saw their revenues climb by 8.8 percent and net profits jump by 19.2 percent. Many have been pushing into online sales, which soared by 80 percent, helping their overall performance. Consumers are showing a preference for local shops, as well as hard discounters and small grocery stores compared to large supermarkets.
(3) IT
Another winner is the IT industries, which benefitted as the pandemic pushed firms to accelerate a shift toward digital operations and cloud-computing.
오늘의 단어
- tip into : ~~쪽으로 기울이다, 젖히다, 밀어넣다
- a third : 3분의 1
- jump by : ~까지 급등하다
- see a boom : 붐을 일으켰다.
- soar : 급증하다, 치솟다. (=rocket, rise)
- tumble : 폭락하다, 폭삭 무너지다, 굴러 떨어지다. (=fall, drop)
- hard discounter : 할인점, 할인샵
2. Loser
(1) Energy sector
Energy firms were battered thanks to the drop in oil prices and demand for energy, with revenues tumbling by 32.3 percent, and many posted net losses.
(2) Transportation
Manufactures in the transport sector also suffered. Aircraft manufactures, who get paid when they deliver aircraft, saw revenues tumble 30 percent and posted losses.
(3) Fashion
"2020 looks like it will be the most difficult year ever for the fashion industry," said Mediobanca. Revenues fell by 21.3 percent despite double-digit rises in online sales, pushing firms into the red.
(3) Pharmaceuticals
Even if net profits fell by 10.1 percent, the pharmaceutical sector managed a 3.1 percent increase in sales.
오늘의 단어
- batter : 쳐부수다, 때리다, 난타하다 (=beat, strike, hit, pound)
- tumble : 굴러 떨어지다, 폭삭 무너지다, 빠르게 하락하다, 폭락하다 (=fall, drop)
- push into the red : 적자로 만들다