Doctors are changing paper records to electronic health records, but data systems are not sophisticated enough for new types of data, U.S. researchers say.The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said as data becomes cheaper and more available to healthcare providers the ability to store large-scale raw data -- “big data” -- for future reference with patients is critical, and current EHRs are not up to the task.For example, genome sequencing -- the complete DNA se

TechnologyApril 3, 2013

North Korea's bellicose rhetoric has highlighted geopolitical risks but stopped short of undermining South Korea's credit fundamentals, Moody's Investors Service said Wednesday.It cited defense commitments by the U.S. and optimism over South Korea's new government in terms of economic policy."North Korea's rhetoric highlights long-standing geopolitical event risk which, however, has not had material, adverse affects on market sentiment in Seoul or on South Korea’s economic fundamentals -- this i

April 3, 2013

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves stayed almost flat in March from the previous month as higher investment profits overshadowed the lower dollar conversion value of non-dollar assets, the central bank said Wednesday.The country's foreign reserves reached US$327.41 billion in March, up $10 million from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).The FX reserves reached $327.4 billion last month, the first fall in nine months after hitting a record high of $328.91 billion in Jan

April 3, 2013

Korea’s economic dependency on top conglomerates has continued to rise, posing a challenge to the incumbent President Park Geun-hye administration seeking to restructure the country’s economic landscape.A report by Korea’s Fair Trade Commission showed that sales generated by the top four private conglomerates, or chaebol, accounted for more than 53 percent of the total in the first quarter of this year, up from 52 percent a year ago.The top four industrial groups sanctioned by the antitrust watc

IndustryApril 2, 2013

Trade continued to surpass 100 percent of Korea’s gross national income for the third straight year, making the country vulnerable to external macroeconomic factors.Trade in proportion to GNI, the total value of income generated by Korean nationals domestically and abroad, stood at 112.7 percent in 2012, similar to 112.9 percent in 2011, according to data by the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.In 2010, the ratio reached over 105 percent.This led to Korea becoming the

April 2, 2013

Commercial banks are cutting interest rates on deposit products, reportedly betting that the Bank of Korea will cut the monthly benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 2.5 percent next week.Amid their recent rush to lower the rates, there are few savings products that offer rates of 3 percent or more to depositors.The nation’s two largest banks ― KB Kookmin and Woori ― decided to conduct the policy starting April 1.Woori Bank has lowered the rates on 16 deposit products by 0.1 percentage point. As

April 2, 2013

Hyundai Rotem, a local train maker affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group, said Tuesday that it recently won India’s largest-ever train project worth about 1 trillion won ($900 million). The company is to deliver a total of 636 trains by 2017 to the state-run Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for the city’s two new subway lines, Nos. 7 and 8. The competition to win the lucrative deal was fierce, with global big names such as Canada’s Bombardier, France’s Alstom and Germany’s Siemens heating up the race.

IndustryApril 2, 2013

Ssangyong Engineering & Construction narrowly escaped total capital impairment status but should improve its financial condition by the end of the second quarter to avoid shutdown by the local stock market, company officials said Tuesday.The troubled builder said through a public announcement on Monday that it submitted a report to the nation’s stock trader Korea Exchange, proving that it was bailed out of its capital impairment.Boosted by the creditors’ debt-to-equity swap program, the company’

IndustryApril 2, 2013

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said Tuesday that it held its first international meeting in preparation for the plenipotentiary conference of the International Telecommunication Union in Busan in 2014.The meeting, attended by 100 representatives from 38 member countries in the Asia-Pacific region, was the initial step to gain global ICT leadership, according to ministry officials. It was also recorded to be the first global gathering organized since the launching of the new min

TechnologyApril 2, 2013

Hyundai Oilbank, the nation’s fourth-largest oil refinery, was the best performer among its competitors in the first quarter of this year, data from the Financial Supervisory Service said Tuesday. According to the data, operating profit of Hyundai Oilbank, an affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries, fell 43.3 percent to 307 billion won ($269 million) from the same period a year ago. At a glance, the company seems to be seeing an earnings shock, but three other top oil refineries ― SK Innovation, G

IndustryApril 2, 2013

Foreigners and multicultural families residing in South Korea are likely to become eligible to receive the same benefits as South Korean citizens under the government’s new debt restructuring program, an official at the nation’s financial regulator said Tuesday.“The National Happiness Fund wouldn’t reject applicants based on nationality,” said an official at the Financial Services Commission, adding that, “our program will not discriminate against foreign debtors simply because of their country

April 2, 2013

Overseas investors’ net buying of shares of KOSDAQ-listed companies recorded an 8-moth high in March the Korea Exchange said Tuesday. Foreigners’ net purchase of KOSDAQ shares continued for three consecutive months, from January to March 2013, the public stock exchange’s data showed. The foreigners’ net purchase particularly shot up between January and February, from 26 billion won ($23.4 million) to 348.7 billion won. Both the new government’s expanded subsidiary budget for small and medium exp

April 2, 2013

Samsung Corning Precision Materials handed out stock dividends that were almost double the net profit of the company last year, industry sources said this week.In 2012, the maker of display and electronics materials recorded an annual net profit of 1.35 trillion won, down by almost 40 percent from the previous year. Sales were at 3.2 trillion won, down approximately 30 percent on-year. Despite the sluggish performance, shareholder dividends for last year stood at 2.1 trillion won, double the net

IndustryApril 2, 2013

The city of Moscow is seeking to attract Korean investors and corporate partners in constructing and managing transportation hubs in a large-scale project aimed at solving the city’s longstanding traffic problem.The Moscow city government is planning to build a network of 55 transportation hubs, dubbed the “Transportation Interchange Hub,” in partnership with the country’s largest transport carrier OJSC “RZD” (Open Joint Stock Co. “Russian Railways”).Each TIH will house transportation infrastruc

IndustryApril 2, 2013

Concerns are rising that low global economic growth will persist for a long time. Even if a lengthy trough does not materialize, a robust rebound cannot be expected soon. Under these circumstances, corporate management is under heavy pressure to keep costs in check, raise productivity and secure new growth engines. For Korean companies, where labor productivity is just 49 percent of that of the U.S., these tasks are especially challenging. To succeed, they will need to reshape how they handle th

April 2, 2013