GM to buy back stake held by KDB

General Motors Co. plans to regain complete control of its Korean unit by buying back a 17.02 percent stake owned by the second-largest shareholder Korea Development Bank, GM Korea chief said Thursday. GM Korea president and CEO Sergio Rocha confirmed in a press conference that he held a meeting with KDB chairman Kang Man-soo together with Tim Lee, head of international operations at GM, last Friday. “We have agreed to progress with this discussion on a confidential basis. We have interests in e

IndustryOct. 25, 2012

Hyundai Group seeks to resume Geumgang tours after election

Hyundai Group is seeking to resume tours to North Korea’s Mount Geumgang, which have been suspended for more than four years, after the Dec. 19 presidential election in South Korea. Hyundai Asan, the sole operator of the inter-Korean business as tourism unit of Hyundai Group, expects that there will be mounting calls from various walks of life in the South to reopen the tour program. The Mount Geumgang tours have been suspended since July 2008 after a South Korean tourist was killed by a North K

IndustryOct. 25, 2012

Oil products top semiconductors to become Korea’s biggest export

ULSAN ― Many might assume that the product Korea exports most would be smartphones or cars, thanks to leading global brands such as Samsung and Hyundai. But the nation’s best selling export item this year is oil products like gasoline and diesel. When it comes to exports by product for the first nine months of this year, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said oil products topped the list, overtaking semiconductor goods. Exports of oil products reached $41.5 billion between January and September,

IndustryOct. 25, 2012

Slap to the face removes wrinkles, claims therapist

A Thailand-trained therapist says anti-aging treatment is possible just by slapping and massaging the face, according to U.S. news sources.Tata Sombuntham, who claims to be the first face-slapping practitioner in the western hemisphere, says she can remove wrinkles and tighten skin with this unusual treatment. She and her husband Mawan run a beauty salon in San Francisco where they charge clients $350 (385,000 won) for each 15-minute session of face-slapping. Sombuntham says this is “ancient Tha

TechnologyOct. 25, 2012

Study: Cat colors can affect adoption rate

 Domestic cats are often judged by color and stereotypes that go with the color, say U.S. researchers looking for a link between cat color and adoption rates.University of California, Berkeley, researchers surveyed 189 people with experience of cats as pets and found they were more likely to assign positive personality traits to orange cats and less favorable ones to white and tortoiseshell animals.And black cats have always had the misfortune to be associated with bad luck and witches.The study

TechnologyOct. 25, 2012

SNU professor finds new role of stem cell protein

Professor Kim V-narry of Seoul National University is once again in the headlines producing research results published in the online version of the leading biological journal Cell for the second time in less than two weeks.In her most recent research, Kim and her team proved that the protein Lin-28A is closely involved in suppressing protein expression in stem cells. Until now, the Lin-28 protein’s only known function was suppression of specific microRNA molecules, which in turn regulate gene ex

TechnologyOct. 25, 2012

Nanotechnology can change color of gold

Gold doesn‘t have to appear gold in color, and in fact a new nanotechnology technique can turn it red or even green, British researchers say.A University of Southampton team has found they can change the color of the world’s most iconic precious metal by embossing tiny raised or indented patterns onto the metal‘s surface that can change the way it absorbs and reflects light, so to the human eye it doesn’t appear “golden” in color at all.The technique, equally applicable to other metals such as s

TechnologyOct. 25, 2012

Carbon market value expands 16-fold in less than decade

The world’s carbon trading market is growing at an accelerating rate, according to financial sources and the World Bank on Wednesday. The volume of the global carbon emission trading market -― a market where companies or individuals buy carbon credit to lower their total CO2 emissions ― reached $176 billion last year, 16 times greater than in 2005 when the Kyoto Protocol went into effect. The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty under the U.N. that set binding obligations on industrialized

IndustryOct. 24, 2012

Bank of Korea chief cornered for taking wife on costly trips

Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong-soo is under fire for spending nearly 120 million won ($109,000) of the central bank’s coffers on six business trips with his wife. Ever since Kim took office in April 2010, Kim’s wife has accompanied him on work trips ― three in 2010, one last year and two this year ― to Basel, Switzerland; the Netherlands; Sydney, Australia; Jackson Hole, a resort in the U.S. state of Wyoming; and Hokkaido, Japan.The BOK spent about 100 million won for air transportation of Ki

Oct. 24, 2012

Naro rocket ready for launch on Friday

Korea has started its countdown for the expected launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, also known as the Naro rocket.There is slight chance of rain on the day of its third attempt to shoot it into space, but officials said the launch schedule remains set for Friday at 3:30 p.m.This will be the first and last launch of Naro using Russian technology including a liquid-fueled rocket engine, should it succeed.Korea has an agreement with Russia in which the latter will provide three engines tak

TechnologyOct. 24, 2012

Asiana raises 7b won through passengers’ donation

Asiana Airlines has raised a total of 7 billion won ($6.3 million) through Change for Good, an in-flight currency donation partnership between UNICEF and the international airline industry.It took the Korean carrier 18 years to collect the money since it joined the program in 1994.Asiana Airlines held a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York Tuesday to mark the collection of 7 billion won through the donation campaign. Guests included United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

IndustryOct. 24, 2012