The Korea Herald

Nam takes helm of KT Capital

Nam Byung-ho, former general director of KT’s synergy development unit, took office as the head of KT Capital Co. on Wednesday.An affiliate capital firm of KT Group, KT Capital said that Nam was selected in recognition of his rich experience as a finance specialist. A Seoul National University graduate, Nam has served in the public sector since 1994, and built his career in major finance-related government agencies, including the Fair Trade Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service and the F

TechnologyJan. 2, 2013

Antidepressants don't raise pregnancy risks: study

The use of antidepressants during pregnancy is not linked to a higher overall risk of stillbirth and death in newborns, a study said Tuesday, confounding a long-held opposing view of such drugs.The Swedish study of more than 1.6 million births in five Nordic countries included nearly 30,000 women who had filled in a prescription for an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) during pregnancy.The researchers found that the 1.79 percent of mothers exposed to an SSRI had higher rates of still

TechnologyJan. 2, 2013

Antidepressants don't raise pregnancy risks: study

Apple Japan exec to lead Apple Korea: source

Apple’s California headquarters is unlikely to pick a new general manager for Apple Korea for the time being amid reports that Apple Japan’s operating executive will be leading Korean operations.Industry sources said that Colin Greene, senior director of operations of Apple Japan, will be overseeing Apple Korea, and that this proxy system may continue indefinitely. Greene reports to the Cupertino headquarters of Apple, as is the case for most operation executives at regional offices. Apple Korea

TechnologyJan. 2, 2013

Apple Japan exec to lead Apple Korea: source

LG rolls out 55-inch OLED TV on home turf

South Korean home appliance giant LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it has started receiving orders for its 55-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs in South Korea.Consumers can apply for pre-orders of the 11 million won ($10,319) TV at 1,400 retail outlets across the country, with delivery set to start in early February, the company said in a press release.LG plans to expand sales to major markets in Asia, Europe and the U.S. in the first quarter, an LG spokesman said, without further e

TechnologyJan. 2, 2013

Mom-and-pop shop protection bill passed

A revised bill to put limits on operations of large supermarkets passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.Under the ruling named the Retail Industry Development Act, aimed at protecting mom and pop shops, chains of large supermarkets, including E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus, have to stop their operations between midnight and 10 a.m. The ruling also forces supermarket chains to close their shops two days a month, including a Sunday. It is the first bill to limit operations

Jan. 1, 2013

Half of new businesses disappear in two years

Only about half of new firms in the country survive through their first two years, data from Statistics Korea showed.The smaller they were the faster they perished. Only three out of 10 businesses run by individuals with zero regular employees carried on after five years, whereas those with at least one regular employee showed a higher survival rate of 45.2 percent.Accommodation and restaurant businesses, many of which are run on a shoestring, showed the lowest survival rate of 17.9 percent afte

Jan. 1, 2013

Half of new businesses disappear in two years

[Power Korea] Corporate Korea keeping the fires burning

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles titled Global Brand as part of the first installment of Power Korea. Korea’s success story is a 60-year-old tale written by not one, but many who worked to build one of the world’s most powerful nations from the ashes of war. This Global Brand series is designed to honor those who made this Korean Dream come true. This is the first part of the Global Brand series. ― Ed.South Korea’s rags-to-riches tale is an epic spanning some six decades, star

IndustryJan. 1, 2013

[Power Korea] Corporate Korea keeping the fires burning

Trade surplus narrows to $2b in Dec.

South Korea’s trade surplus shrank from a year earlier as exports dropped at a faster rate than imports, the government said Tuesday.The country’s trade surplus came to about $2.03 billion last month, compared with a $4.48-billion surplus in November and $3.8-billion surplus in October.The drop comes mainly from a large reduction in exports, which dropped 5.5 percent from that of December 2011 to some $45.1 billion. Imports shrank 5.3 percent on-year to $43.07 billion, according to the Ministry

Jan. 1, 2013

Consumer prices grow 1.4% on-year in Dec.

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s consumer prices grew at the slowest pace in four months in December, indicating that the country is keeping inflationary pressure under control, a government report showed Monday.The country’s consumer prices index rose 1.4 percent in December from a year earlier, slowing from a 1.6 percent on-year gain in the previous month, according to the report by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, it grew 0.2 percent.The on-year figure marked the slowest growth sin

IndustryJan. 1, 2013

LG Optimus Vu sales top 1 million in Korea

LG Electronics Inc., which has been ramping up efforts to regain a presence in the mobile phone industry, has sold more than 1 million Optimus Vu phones locally, the company said Monday.The Optimus Vu series, which includes the Optimus Vu and the Optimus Vu 2 phones, features a 4:3 display that was designed to enhance readability of Web pages and e-books.LG Electronics locally released the Optimus Vu in March and Optimus Vu 2 in September. The handset maker has rolled out the Optimus VU in Asia,

Jan. 1, 2013

Hyundai Heavy unit wins 331 billion won ship order

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., a South Korean shipbuilder, has clinched a 331 billion won ($311 million) deal to build 10 vessels, the company said Monday.Under the deal with an American shipping firm, Hyundai Mipo will deliver the vessels carrying petrochemical goods by June 2015, the company said in a regulatory filing.Hyundai Mipo, a unit of South Korea’s leading shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., did not identify the name of the buyer.Hyundai Mipo said it targets orders worth $3.2 billion

Jan. 1, 2013

POSCO acquires stake in Canadian mining firm

POSCO, South Korea’s leading steelmaker, said Tuesday it has acquired a stake in a Canadian mining company as part of its efforts to diversify its profit source. A consortium that includes POSCO has secured a 15 percent stake worth $1.1 billion in ArcelorMittal Mines Canada, the company said in a statement. POSCO will invest $270 million, with China Steel, the largest steelmaker in Taiwan, to pay $540 million for the deal, it said. The remainder needed for the acquisition will be raised from ins

Jan. 1, 2013

Tech firms battle for OS supremacy

Global tech titans are expected to stage a fierce competition for the dominant operating system for smart devices this year, as Samsung and Microsoft seek to reenter the market with “Tizen” and “Windows 8,” respectively, and Apple and Google are expected to bring forward the launch dates for new products. The world’s bestselling smartphone maker Samsung will launch smartphones with the new operating system “Tizen” in January in Japan, a local report said, citing Samsung officials. OS giant Intel

TechnologyJan. 1, 2013

Hyundai-Kia’s overseas output surpasses local for first time

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors saw their production of vehicles in the overseas market outstrip their domestic performance for the first time in 2012.In particular, the carmakers’ factories in the BRIC ― Brazil, Russia, India and China ― market significantly fueled their overseas manufacturing capacity, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.KAMA data showed that Hyundai-Kia’s vehicle production in the four fast-growing economies surpassed 2 million units for the first 11 mont

IndustryJan. 1, 2013

SK Group’s exports reach all-time high

SK Group said Tuesday that it posted record exports of more than $60 billion (64.8 trillion won) last year.The group said the ratio of exports to its total earnings reached 74 percent. Main exporters of its business units included SK Innovation, SK Energy, SK Global Chemical, SK Hynix, SK Lubricants and SKC.The figure means SK supplied more than 10 percent of the nation’s total exports in 2012, according to estimates by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.In particular, four petrochemical-related

IndustryJan. 1, 2013

Income tax change may affect investment

The “comprehensive financial income” tax, which used to be imposed on interest and dividend incomes of more than 40 million won, will now be applied to such incomes of more than 20 million won under a revised income tax bill passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday.The revision is expected to raise the popularity of tax-saving financial products such as inflation-indexed sovereign bonds and Brazilian bonds.Fixed deposits and installment savings at banks which incur interest and general equity-

Jan. 1, 2013

Consumers in the smart era: Turning ‘complaints’ into ‘trust’

Starting with 8,063 in 1987, the number of consumer complaints registered with the Korea Consumer Agency has surged by 96-fold in the past 25 years. In particular, the figure increased from 309,545 in 2006 to 778,000 in 2011, a 2.5-fold increase that coincided with the introduction and explosive use of smartphones, social networking services, online sales channels, etc. The arrival of the smart era has fundamentally altered the scale, scope, speed and potential impact of consumer complaints. Thi

Jan. 1, 2013

Consumers in the smart era: Turning ‘complaints’ into ‘trust’

CEO educator to launch model entrepreneurship academy

Family-controlled South Korean conglomerates, better known as chaebol, still dominate the nation’s corporate world, but the number of venture firms has continued to grow despite the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2001. Over the past decade, some star start-ups, including Mirae Asset, Naver and NCSoft, have become big business groups and these successes have expanded the base of entrepreneurs. “To see more Steve Jobs-type innovative CEOs in Korea, I believe that it is more important to support ne

Jan. 1, 2013

CEO educator to launch model entrepreneurship academy

Most sleep on their sides, forget dreams

Most U.S. adults sleep on their sides, forget their dreams in the morning and often sleep with someone who snores, a survey of 3,700 indicates. A survey for home furnishings retailer Anna's Linens to coincide with National Sleep Foundation found 74 percent of U.S. adults said they wear pajamas to bed, 8 percent said they slept naked, 74 percent said they failed to recall their dreams in the morning, 74 said they sleep on their sides and 47 percent said they shared a bed with someone who snored.

TechnologyJan. 1, 2013

Comet heads our way for celestial show

A newly discovered comet could be the celestial spectacle of a century and light up the skies as bright as a full moon in 2013, its Russian discoverers say.Amateur Russian skywatchers Artyom Novichonok and Vitali Nevski observed the object dubbed Comet ISON in September, Discovery.com reported."The object was slow and had a unique movement," Novichonok wrote on a comet-hunting blog."But we could not be certain that it was a comet, because the scale of our images are quite small and the object wa

TechnologyJan. 1, 2013