The Korea Herald

‘If Korean women like it, it’s a success’

Head of Estee Lauder’s local unit says Korean women have become more independent and adventurousKorea is a paradise for cosmetics, according to Herve Bouvier, the head of Estee Lauder Companies Korea, and a trendsetter for international cosmetic companies. “BB cream is an example. Started out in Korea, the products became a hot sale in the U.S. and Germany, and European and American global companies started to sell them,” the representative director and general manager of global cosmetics conglo

IndustryOct. 15, 2012

‘If Korean women like it, it’s a success’

Redface launches new TV commercial

The Redface, the nation’s first homegrown outdoor wear brand, unveiled last week its new television advertisement, which it said features a man overcoming a blizzard using its technology.The company said it has manufactured various outdoor wear products using the innovative water-proof material named “Contra-Tex” with its own technology.With its bold investment in research and development, the Redface aims at winning 160 billion won in sales this year after achieving its goal of 130 billion won

Oct. 15, 2012

Gov’t building arson highlights dispute on ’evolution in textbooks’

An arsonist who torched a government office room and fell off a building to his death on Sunday had criticized the government in the past for “trying to remove the theory of evolution from textbooks,” highlighting a year-long feud between evolutionists and creationists in South Korea.The 61-year-old man, identified only by his surname Kim, claimed in his personal blog that the Education Ministry “had taken sides” with the Society for Textbook Revise, a group of mostly Christians which seeks to d

TechnologyOct. 15, 2012

Scientists: Moon not bone dry

(123rf)The moon is covered with soil containing a water substructure created by the constant stream of charged particles coming from the sun, U.S. researchers say.The substructure, known as a hydroxyl, consists of one atom of hydrogen and one of oxygen, or OH, rather than two of hydrogen and one of oxygen, or H2O, the researchers from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, University of Michiga

TechnologyOct. 15, 2012

Apple to pay Swiss for copying clock

Apple's iOS 6 app on the left, the Swiss Federal Railways SBB clock on the right. (UPI)Apple, which has spent a fair amount of time in courts over copyright issues, says it will pay up rather than contest a claim it copied an iconic Swiss clock.Swiss railway operator SBB took the California company to task last month for allegedly copying its famously accurate rail station clocks for the design of

TechnologyOct. 15, 2012

Moms-to-be stress linked to depression

NEW ORLEANS (UPI) -- Chronic stress during pregnancy prevents brain benefits of motherhood in rats, a finding that suggests a link to postpartum depression, U.S. researchers say.Lead author Benedetta Leuner of Ohio State University in Columbus said the study showed an increase of dendritic spines in new mothers‘ brains was associated with improved cognitive function on a task that requires behavio

TechnologyOct. 15, 2012

Study: Brain reacts to unpleasant sounds

Increased activity between two separate parts of the brain explains why the sound of chalk on a blackboard is so unpleasant, British researchers say.Newcastle University scientists said the interaction between the region of the brain that processes sound, the auditory cortex, and the amygdala, which is active in the processing of negative emotions, is heightened when people hear unpleasant sounds.The amygdala modulates the response of the auditory cortex and the amplified activity provokes our n

TechnologyOct. 15, 2012

World Bank to open office in S. Korea next year

The World Bank said Monday that it will open its office in South Korea next year in order to deepen joint efforts between the two sides in finding development solutions for emerging countries.The Seoul government also agreed to launch a $90 million fund with the global lender to step up cooperation in supporting emerging countries for their development, according to heads of the two sides.The "Kor

Oct. 15, 2012

Local team identifies new step in RNA synthesis

A team of Seoul National University scientists discovered a previously unknown step in the process of producing a type of RNA molecule.The team, led by professor Kim V-narry of Seoul National University who is a well-known name in biochemical circles, discovered a new step in the process of producing a specific type of microRNA known as let-7. The findings were published in the online edition of the biological journal The Cell. In 2008 she was awarded the L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Award, a

TechnologyOct. 14, 2012

KEB wins banking award from finance magazine

Korea Exchange Bank was selected as the best emerging market bank in Korea by an international financial magazine on Saturday. Global Finance, a U.S.-based financial magazine, awarded KEB in the World’s Best Emerging Market Banks in Asia 2012’s Korea category at the awards ceremony held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo, Japan. The magazine awards banks in different countries every year to time with the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting. Global Finance gave highest points to KEB in the as

Oct. 14, 2012

World Bank to open office in Korea

South Korea will sign a memorandum of understanding with the World Bank this week on the establishment of the global lending agency’s office in Seoul, the Finance Ministry said Sunday.The MOU will be signed between World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan during their breakfast meeting to be held in Seoul on Monday, the ministry said.Both sides will also ink a deal on the establishment of a bilateral cooperation fund and discuss ways to strengthen collaboration,

Oct. 14, 2012

Eximbank obtains $100m from UAE

The Export-Import Bank of Korea announced Sunday that it had obtained $100 million from the National Bank of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Eximbank CEO Kim Yong-hwan and NBAD head Michael Tomalin signed the loan facility agreement on Friday in Tokyo, Japan. The contract was concluded in a favorable condition for Ex-Im Bank as international credit rating agencies including Moody’s and S&P recently upgraded their credit ratings for South Korea. “We were able to down the interest rate an a

Oct. 14, 2012

Shares expected to rebound this week

South Korean stocks are expected to move upwards this week, with investors awaiting the result of the European Union’s summit scheduled for later in the week, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 1,933.26 last week, down 3 percent from a week earlier.It sank into negative territory as the International Monetary Fund provided a gloomier outlook for South Korea, while a lackluster forecast on third-quarter performances of large caps in the U.S. weighed on investo

Oct. 14, 2012

Woori Finance set to apply for card unit spinoff

South Korea’s top banking group Woori Finance Holdings Co. plans to apply for regulatory approval next week for the spinoff of its credit card unit, sources said Sunday.The state-run bank holding company will likely submit an application to the Financial Services Commission, the country’s financial watchdog, after next Tuesday to get the nod for the separation, according to the sources.“We have already completed preparations for the application,” said an official at Woori Finance Holdings. Once

IndustryOct. 14, 2012

No. of credit card delinquents jumps by 30 percent

The number of delinquent card loan borrowers reached near 500,000 over the past three years in 2011 as the economic slowdown turned such lending sour, data showed Sunday.The number of credit card loan borrowers on default stood at 176,000 in 2011, up 29.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The total number of such people reached some 488,000 following the 2008 global financial crisis in 2011, leading the value of loans overdue to reach 2.51 trillion won (

Oct. 14, 2012

Samsung Heavy to build 84 MW wind farm off coast of Jeju

Samsung Heavy Industries has won a construction order for an 84 megawatt offshore wind farm from Daejeong Offshore Wind Power Co., the company said Sunday. However, the company did not reveal the value of the deal. To build the wind farm, Samsung Heavy will construct 14 turbines with a capacity of 7 megawatts by the end of 2014 in shallow waters off the coast of the island’s Daejeong County. Commercial operations of those wind power plants will start in 2015.“The power farm on Jeju Island will b

Oct. 14, 2012

SK Innovation targets W290tr sales by 2020

SK Innovation, the nation’s top oil refiner, has reaffirmed its goals toward becoming a technology-driven global energy company by pledging 290 trillion won ($260 billion) in sales and 14 trillion won ($12 billion) in operating profits by 2020. The company’s new growth vision was stressed by SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won in his congratulatory remarks to 2,700 employees and executives participating in a ceremony held in Daejeon on Friday. “SK Innovation, which started as the nation’s first oil

IndustryOct. 14, 2012

SK Innovation targets W290tr sales by 2020

SKT launches IT platform to enter ‘big data’ market

SK Telecom, one of the nation’s top three mobile communications operators, aims at penetrating the “big data market,” or numerous online responses on market products, with a new analytic platform.“Smart Insight 2.0,” the new analytic IT platform, analyzes online reviews and SNS postings such as tweets, blog postings and online news reviews, which are then processed into management information, SK Telecom said Sunday. “Online ‘big data’ gives helpful implications in numbers that are incomparable

TechnologyOct. 14, 2012

Record wheat prices fan inflation

Starting December, Korea projected to face serious ‘agflation’Inflationary pressures are mounting in Korea amid spiking global agricultural product prices as the nation heavily depends on imports for its grain consumption.The rising possibility of “agflation,” where the rise in agricultural products leads to inflation, is due mainly to the spike in prices of wheat and corn from climate change effects in major exporters, according to the Korea Rural Economic Institute.The institute predicted that

IndustryOct. 14, 2012

Ford board said to deliberate on Mulally successor

Ford Motor Co.’s board discussed a succession plan for chief executive officer Alan Mulally at its monthly meeting on Friday, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The board is preparing to promote Mark Fields to chief operating officer from president of the Americas as part of a plan to have him eventually succeed Mulally, said the person, who asked not to be named revealing board deliberations. Such a move would make clear the succession plan at the second-largest U.S. automaker

MobilityOct. 14, 2012

Ford board said to deliberate on Mulally successor