The Hankook Tire group, based in Seoul, South Korea is the seventh largest tire company in the world [1]. Established in 1941 as the “Chosun Tire Company”, it was renamed “Hankook Tire Manufacturing” in 1968.
Hankook Tire’s worldwide reputation has largely grown due to its radial tire and bias-ply tire production. The company now supplies tires as original equipment to the Ford Motor Company, General Motors, International Truck and Engine Corporation, and others. In addition to producing about 50 million tires per annum, the company also sells batteries, alloy rims, and brake pads.
Facts and figures
These are quoted from Hankook’s European website.
- Sales: US$ 1,620 million /(approx. € 1,286 million)
- Export portion: US$ 700 million /(approx. € 556 million)
- Earnings before taxes: Won 101,5 billion /(approx. € 96 million)
- Employees worldwide: 4,422 permanent staff
- Market presence: At present, Hankook tires are available in over 170 countries.
- Production locations:
- Geumsan plant, South Korea
- Daejon plant, South Korea
- Jiangju plant, PR China
- Jianxing plant, PR China
- Hungary Plant, Dunaujvaros Hungary (started production in 2007)
Global offices
The company has its main office in Korea, and has
manufacturing facilities in Korea, China, and Europe.
Hankook controversy in Hungary
Hankook received more than $10 million from the Hungarian government to create jobs. Hankook for the second time however breached various parts of the labour law and regulations. They have been fined $40,000 and $80,000.
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SNoW (pronounced: “Snow”, born June 11, 1985 in Tokyo, Japan) is a J-Pop singer. She currently attends Santa Monica College in California. She has grown up in a bilingual environment. Her favorite artists include Ani DiFranco, Iggy Pop, Talking Heads, and Jack Johnson.
Her debut single Yes was released under an indie record label in November 2004. In 2005, she switched labels to Sony Music Entertainment Japan and released Hanabi made Ato Sukoshi (花火まであとすこし - unofficial translation: “A Little Longer Until the Fireworks”) in July. Her third single, Sakasama no Chō (逆さまの蝶 - unofficial translation: “The Inverted Butterfly”), was released on January 25, 2006. Sakasama no Chō was the opening theme of the 2005/2006 anime Jigoku Shoujo (地獄少女), and will be inserted into the movie Humoresque ~Sakasama no Chō~, to be released in February 2006. The opening theme for Jigoku Shōjo’s second season, NightmaRe, was also performed by SNoW, and was released as a single on December 6, 2006.
Albums
初雪(Hatsuyuki) - January 23, 2007
External links
Official websites in Japanese:
- SNoW Official Site
- SNoW - www.sonymusic.co.jp
- Humoresque
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Matanage is a Japanese sport, somewhat akin to dodgeball. The name means ‘throw again’ in Japanese: ‘Mata,’ for’again,’ and ‘nage’ for ‘throw.’ This game is a popular pastime of members of the Unification Church.
Rules
Two teams line up on opposite sides of a designated field (about 50 feet). One team throws off to the other to put the ball into play. The team that throws in the first game can be decided by Janken or any other decided measure. From there, the winning team can throw to the losing team.
The most fundamental rule of matanage is the manner in which the ball is thrown. It must be thrown from between the legs, launching the ball underhand. Also, the team that is throwing the ball can not move their feet.
Once the ball is in the air, the team catching it can advance closer to the throwing team. If the ball is not caught, everyone that moved is out. Teammates must immediately stop moving once the ball has been caught. Each team must try to hit people on the opposing team with the ball, except with throwing in the manner listed above. The team that is catching the ball does NOT want to dodge the ball, but catch it. When the ball is thrown and it is within the reach of members of the opposing team, people who could have caught the ball are out. If a person is hit by the ball, they are out. However, if the ball is not within the reach of any member of the opposing team, the thrower is out. If anyone moves and the ball is not caught, the person moving is out. The ball is thrown back and forth between the two teams until all members of a team are out.
Terms
‘Hang-Time’: When the thrower calls “Hang-time”, the thrower must throw the ball up high enough so it can stay up in the air for three seconds. If the ball hits the ground under three seconds then only the thrower is out. Once the ball is in the air for more than three seconds, the opposing team must catch the ball.
‘Resurrection’: The teammates of people out of play can catch the ball with their hands crossed and hold it in that manner until it is clear they have not cheated by supporting the ball with any other part of their body. This makes all the people who were out of play on the side of the catcher back in play.
It was somehow commonly known that Trimon Lamson was the master. However, the title now resides firmly within the extremely proud North Carolina Moonie community. (Source-pending)
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