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Hyunjoo Jin
For Hyunjoo Jin's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Tesla Model 3 vehicles are seen for sale at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California, last May.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2024
Tesla scraps low-cost car plans amid fierce Chinese EV competition
The automaker will continue developing self-driving robotaxis on the same small-vehicle platform, the sources said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2024
Musk's warning about Tesla stake raises governance questions
CEOs and directors are prohibited from taking any business opportunity for themselves that belongs to the firm.
A Cruise driverless car operating in San Francisco. On Tuesday, California regulators ordered Cruise, a General Motors subsidiary, to stop its driverless taxi service in San Francisco after a series of traffic incidents.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 25, 2023
California sidelines Cruise's driverless cars, citing safety risk
The U.S. state suspended Cruise's autonomous vehicle deployment, saying the company had "misrepresented" the safety of the technology.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2023
Tesla workers shared sensitive images recorded by customer cars
Some of the recordings caught Tesla customers in embarrassing situations — one ex-employee described a video of a man approaching a vehicle completely naked.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2022
After Elon Musk's ultimatum, Twitter employees start exiting
Musk was meeting some top employees to try and convince them to stay, said one current employee and a recently departed employee who is in touch with Twitter colleagues.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 21, 2022
Elon Musk faces skeptics as Tesla gets ready to unveil 'Optimus' robot
The company is floating ambitious plans to deploy thousands of humanoid robots, known as Tesla Bot or Optimus, within its factories.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 7, 2022
Elon Musk opens door to Tesla talent exodus
The Tesla chief executive's intentions are rooted in what he described as his 'super bad feeling” about the U.S. economy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2022
Elon Musk feels 'super bad' about economy as he announces need to cut 10% of Tesla jobs
The message, titled 'pause all hiring worldwide,' adds to a growing chorus of warnings from business leaders about the risks of recession.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 26, 2022
Funding obscured: The family office behind Elon Musk's $44 billion Twitter buyout
The small family office that is managing the wealth of Elon Musk and is helping put together the largest-ever acquisition to be carried out by one person is shrouded in secrecy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Apr 6, 2022
Elon Musk may add to U.S. regulator's ire with late report about Twitter stake
U.S. securities law requires disclosure within 10 days of acquiring 5% of a company, and in Musk's case the 10-day deadline was March 24.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 8, 2022
Ukraine invasion sets back Elon Musk's dream for cheaper EVs, for now
Rising prices of nickel, lithium and other materials threaten to slow and even temporarily reverse the long-term trend of falling costs of batteries.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2021
Tesla looks to pave the way for Chinese battery makers to come to U.S.
The two biggest economies have many disputes to resolve, and China's regulatory crackdowns in tech could pose another hurdle.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2021
A secret weapon for self-driving car startups: human safety operators
With no end in sight to the technical and regulatory obstacles to free-range, driverless taxis, some companies are accepting the need for human minders and scaling down their ambitions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2021
Elon Musk touts Starlink progress as cost and demand hurdles linger
If the service is successful, it could vastly expand the reach of broadband internet around the world and even provide a new platform for traders and others with exotic internet needs.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2021
Tesla drives on Autopilot through a regulatory gray zone
The fatal crash of a Tesla with no one apparently behind the wheel has cast a new light on the safety of semiautonomous vehicles and the nebulous U.S. regulatory terrain they navigate.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 20, 2020
Why South Korea trounced U.S. in race for coronavirus test
In late January, South Korean health officials summoned representatives from more than 20 medical companies from their Lunar New Year celebrations to a conference room tucked inside Seoul's busy train station.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 14, 2018
South Korea's 'Hyundai Town' faces grim future with idled shipyard, rise in suicides
When Lee Dong-hee came to Ulsan to work for Hyundai Heavy Industries five years ago, shipyards in the city known as Hyundai Town operated day and night and workers could make triple South Korea's annual average salary.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 20, 2018
GM Korea fails to reach wage deal, edging closer to bankruptcy filing
General Motors' South Korean unit and its labor union failed to reach a wage deal by Friday, breaching a deadline set by the U.S. automaker to seek bankruptcy protection for the loss-making unit.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 17, 2017
Hyundai engineer blows whistle on 'chaebol' culture
South Korean engineer Kim Gwang-ho flew to Washington last year to do something he never dreamed he would: report alleged safety lapses at Hyundai Motor Co., his employer of 26 years, to U.S. regulators.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 2, 2017
'Chaebol' reform issue tops South Korean presidential race — again
South Korea's family-run conglomerates are facing calls for a shake-up in their governance from a leading candidate in May's presidential election, following the ouster and arrest of former President Park Geun-hye in a burgeoning influence-peddling scandal.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores