Contrary to popular belief that men outperform women in math and science, a new study claims that both genders tend to show similar achievement, while Asian-Americans are the highest achievers among ethnic groups in the U.S.The study, to be released in the Psychology of Women Quarterly, was conducted on 367 male and female 10th graders, consisting of African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Asian-Americans. The results revealed that male and female students showed similar performances in math a

TechnologyApril 1, 2013

The Korea-Turkey Free Trade Agreement will enter into force officially on May 1, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Monday. “Once the FTA takes effect in May, Korea and Turkey will eliminate tariffs on all industrial goods within seven years,” a ministry official said. The trade deal was officially signed on Aug. 1, 2012, but its implementation had been delayed until its approval by Turkey‘s parliament. South Korea’s National Assembly ratified the bilateral FTA late last yea

April 1, 2013

Land within the Arctic circle is likely to experience explosive "greening" in the next few decades as grass, shrubs and trees thrive in soil stripped of ice and permafrost by global warming, a study said on Sunday.Wooded areas in the Arctic could increase by as much as 52 percent by the 2050s as the so-called tree line -- the maximum latitude at which trees can grow -- shifts hundreds of kilometers north, according to computer simulations published in the journal Nature Climate Change."Such wide

TechnologyApril 1, 2013

South Korea's consumer prices increased at a slower pace in March, keeping its on-year growth in the 1-percent range for the fifth straight month, a government report showed Monday.The country's consumer prices index rose 1.3 percent on-year in March, slowing from a 1.4 percent gain in the previous month, according to the report by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, it dropped 0.2 percent.The on-year figure represents the fifth straight month since November that the price growth has stayed

April 1, 2013

The government plans to announce its first set of measures aimed at reviving the sluggish real estate market on Monday.The comprehensive plan would likely include various tax cuts on housing transactions. The Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport have been drawing up the measures.The government had said that it would announce the housing plan before it devised an extra budget to secure funding for job creation and SMEs. The supplementary budget will likely take

March 31, 2013

Overseas orders won by South Korean builders surged significantly in the first quarter from a year earlier, the construction ministry said Sunday, reflecting a possible recovery in the global construction market.According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, overseas deals signed by South Korean construction companies totaled $12.5 billion in the January-March period, up 56 percent from the same period last year.The ministry noted the figure fell a little short of the five-year

March 31, 2013

CJ Korea Express Corp., South Korea’s largest logistics firm, unveiled an ambitious plan Sunday to become the world’s fifth-largest logistics company by 2020, one day before its scheduled merger with its affiliate and the country’s second-largest logistics company CJ GLS Inc.Company officials said the merger will be completed Monday with Lee Chae-wook, a former chairman of GE Korea, tapped to lead the new CJ Korea Express.“Our country is producing many of the world’s No. 1 products in various in

March 31, 2013

The average price of vehicles shipped overseas by South Korean automakers grew 4.4 percent from a year earlier in the first two months of the year, more than offsetting a drop in the volume of their shipments, an industry group said Sunday.According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the number of cars shipped overseas by the country’s five automakers in the first two months of the year dropped 5 percent to 518,251 units from 545,796 units in the same period last year.The average

March 31, 2013

South Korean stocks are expected to trade higher this week on the back of rising hopes for the government’s envisioned extra budget plan to bolster the local economy, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed up 56.18 points, or 2.88 percent, to 2,004.89 on Friday from the previous week.Earlier last week, the KOSPI advanced on the eased concerns over the eurozone as Cyprus reached a final deal on Monday to receive a bailout worth 10 billion euros ($12.82 billion) to pr

March 31, 2013

Financial authorities plan to bolster supervision of unfair stock trading practices via social networking services.The regulatory policy comes amid groundless rumors that have been rampant lately on social networks including Facebook, Twitter and smartphone applications.To crack down on cyber-based stock manipulation, the Financial Supervisory Service plans to closely coordinate with the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Exchange.An official of the Korea Exchange said the main bourse o

March 31, 2013

Four conglomerate chiefs have quit their posts as chief executive in the past month, raising speculation about the motives behind the series of apparently unrelated events.Doosan Infracore chairman Park Yong-maan, Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction chairman Cho Nam-ho, Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin and Shinsegae Group vice chairman Chung Yong-jin have stepped down from their posts, although they intend to retain their positions as “board members.”The business groups shared the view that

IndustryMarch 31, 2013

The growth of the South Korean market for smartphones will begin slowing down this year and possibly post a negative growth in 2016 due to market saturation, a U.S. market research group said in a report released Sunday.According to the report from Strategy Analytics, the local market for smartphones is expected to grow 8 percent from a year earlier to around 33.1 million units this year.The growth rate will mark a significant slowdown from an explosive 717 percent on-year surge in 2010, as well

TechnologyMarch 31, 2013