Japanese Pharmaceutical Stocks Slide as TrumpRx.gov Launch Sparks Market Concerns 
Gold Prices Slide Below $5,000 as Strong Dollar and Central Bank Outlook Weigh on Metals 
Silver Prices Plunge in Asian Trade as Dollar Strength Triggers Fresh Precious Metals Sell-Off 
Vietnam’s Trade Surplus With US Jumps as Exports Surge and China Imports Hit Record 
Asian Stocks Slip as Tech Rout Deepens, Japan Steadies Ahead of Election 
Baidu Approves $5 Billion Share Buyback and Plans First-Ever Dividend in 2026 
Nintendo Shares Slide After Earnings Miss Raises Switch 2 Margin Concerns 
Dow Hits 50,000 as U.S. Stocks Stage Strong Rebound Amid AI Volatility 
Anthropic Eyes $350 Billion Valuation as AI Funding and Share Sale Accelerate 
Australia’s December Trade Surplus Expands but Falls Short of Expectations 
Oil Prices Slide on US-Iran Talks, Dollar Strength and Profit-Taking Pressure 
Nvidia Nears $20 Billion OpenAI Investment as AI Funding Race Intensifies 
Nasdaq Proposes Fast-Track Rule to Accelerate Index Inclusion for Major New Listings 
Instagram Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Users 
Rio Tinto Shares Hit Record High After Ending Glencore Merger Talks 
SoftBank Shares Slide After Arm Earnings Miss Fuels Tech Stock Sell-Off 
Sony Q3 Profit Jumps on Gaming and Image Sensors, Full-Year Outlook Raised 
Mercedes-Benz has promoted an executive from its Korean unit to become the customer service chief in its U.S. office. Kim Jee Seop was assigned to the role, and this is the first time that the German luxury vehicle company has ever appointed a Korean executive for a key role at its base in the United States.
Prior to his promotion, Kim worked as the vice president of Mercedes-Benz Korea’s customer service unit. Now, he will be moving to the U.S. to assume his new job post and help with the business operations there.
According to The Korea Economic Daily, becoming the first Korean executive to be promoted to a high-ranking role in one of the company’s major global bases is quite remarkable. It was mentioned that this event also made Kim’s climb on the corporate ladder even more dramatic.
For his new job at the Mercedes-Benz office in the U.S., the newly-appointed customer service chief is expected to supervise both the vehicle maintenance and customer service divisions. He is a veteran of the company as he has been working at Mercedes-Benz Korea since 2002 via the Mercedes-Benz Global Asia Management Associate Program. In 2003, he also worked at the Daimler Australia-Pacific regional headquarters and at the company’s Germany HQ in 2004.
At Mercedes-Benz Korea, Kim Jee Seop was the vice president who was in charge of customer services since 2015. As the leader of this unit, he launched the customer assurance program at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world in March 2020.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz U.S. also announced the appointment of two other key executives, and they are Melody Lee, who was named the new chief marketing officer and Heike Scheuble, who was promoted to managing director post at Mercedes-Benz Vans.
Commenting on the new leadership assignments, Dimitris Psillakis, Mercedes-Benz Cars North America and CEO of MBUSA’s head of marketing and sales, said in a statement, “I am incredibly excited to further strengthen our U.S. executive leadership team with the broad expertise that Melody, Heike and Jee-Seop will bring to Mercedes-Benz USA. With these new appointments, we are poised to accelerate our path to become the most desired luxury electric brand in North America, and reinforce our commitment to our customers and dealer partners.”
Photo by: Jesper Brouwers/Unsplash
