The Korea Herald

LG phone wins top rating from German magazine

A smartphone produced by LG Electronics Inc., the world’s No. 3 handset maker, has been chosen as the best model by a German trade magazine, industry sources said Friday. The tech giant’s LG Optimus 4X HD, first introduced to the European market in May, topped the September review of six smartphone models in the Germany-based consumer magazine Connect. The LG Optimus 4X HD, with a 4.7-inch True HD IPS display, is powered by a quad-core processor and runs on Google Inc.’s Ice Cream Sandwich opera

IndustrySept. 7, 2012

EUCCK closes to launch new entity

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea said on Friday it decided to shut down after it was slapped with fines and overdue taxes worth 4.5 billion won, and launch as a new organization in cooperation with the Korean tax office.“What the EUCCK has been doing was very important, so it will be replaced by a new institution in the coming weeks,” Andre Nothomb, EUCCK vice president and head of Solvay Korea, told The Korea Herald.“It will have a new name but the same objective for the members.

IndustrySept. 7, 2012

Hyundai not modifying sales goal despite slump

Hyundai Motor Group has decided to keep its yearly sales target of 7 million vehicles at home and abroad untouched, despite the union’s partial strike in August and weak domestic demand.Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors suffered a production drop by 130,000 units compared to a monthly average due mainly to the labor dispute last month.The two automakers also saw sales in the local market fall by 30 percent from the previous year.“Though we’ve suffered difficulties, we are pinning hopes

IndustrySept. 7, 2012

Hyundai not modifying sales goal despite slump

Apple’s move to reduce Samsung parts to have limited impact

Apple still chooses to go with the Korean tech giant on application processorsSamsung Electronics is unlikely to suffer heavily Apple’s alleged move to pressure the Korean tech firm by cutting down its orders for components in its iPhone 5, which is expected to be released next Wednesday, analysts here said on Friday.According to industrial sources, Apple is on the move to depend less on its biggest rival Samsung as the U.S.-based firm did not put in orders for some of its parts such as the mob

IndustrySept. 7, 2012

Apple’s move to reduce Samsung parts to have limited impact

KB set to take over ING Life Korea

Two sides reach ‘virtual’ settlement over terms of price: sourceKB Financial Group will soon take over the Korean insurance unit of ING Group, with the two sides having almost settled pending issues, financial sources in Seoul said on Friday.Negotiations between KB Financial, the nation’s second largest financial group and the sole contender in the bid for the Netherlands-based insurance group’s Korean arm, are in the final phase and they will soon conclude the deal, according to the sources inv

Sept. 7, 2012

Nokia caught faking TV ad

ESPOO (UPI) -- Finnish phone company Nokia admitted that it had been caught red-handed faking a television ad for its new Lumia 920 mobile phone.An article in The Verge called Nokia on the ad after spotting a reflection of a camera filming for the advertisement that was said to be an example of how great the phone‘s video technology looked.Nokia was touting the phone camera’s “PureView” capability, which makes it possible to film a moving object from a moving platform.The Los Angeles Times repor

TechnologySept. 7, 2012

Non-alcoholic wine lowers blood pressure

BARCELONA (UPI) -- Men at high risk for heart disease had lower blood pressure after drinking non-alcoholic red wine for four weeks, researchers in Spain say.Gemma Chiva-Blanch of the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona and colleagues studied 67 men with diabetes, or three or more cardiovascular risk factors, who ate a common diet plus one of the following drinks -- about 10 ounces of red wine, a similar amount of non-alcoholic red wine or about 3 ounces of gin.All of the men tried each diet/beverage c

TechnologySept. 7, 2012

Green tea good for the memory

The chemical properties of green tea affect the generation of brain cells, providing benefits for memory and spatial learning, researchers in China say. Professor Yun Bai of the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China, and his team focused on the organic chemical epigallocatechin-3 gallate, known as EGCG, an antioxidant in green tea. "Green tea is a popular beverage across the worl

TechnologySept. 7, 2012

Study: Death of dinosaurs was second event

The dying of dinosaurs 65 million years ago may have been the second of two extinction events, following one that killed marine life, U.S. scientists say.The extinction of dinosaurs is thought to be due to an asteroid at least 6 miles in diameter slamming into Mexico‘s Yucatan Peninsula, but new evidence shows life on the seafloor was already perishing at the time of the impact because of the effects of huge volcanic eruptions on the Deccan Plateau in what is now India.Researchers at the Univers

TechnologySept. 7, 2012

Study: Death of dinosaurs was second event

IT ventures suffer manpower shortage: poll

South Korean information technology ventures are suffering from manpower shortages as fewer skilled people enter the field, a poll showed Friday.According to the survey on 1,800 small and mid-size tech firms conducted by the Korea Venture Business Association, 44.6 percent of respondents said they are suffering from a lack of skilled labor.They also cited financial strains, a sales slump, slow progress in research and development and stiff competition as business difficulties.The survey noted th

IndustrySept. 7, 2012

Vietnam Agent Orange victims get Scientology 'detox'

Dozens of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange on Thursday embarked on a controversial detoxification treatment plan developed by the Church of Scientology, a Hanoi hospital director said.US aircraft sprayed chemical defoliants such as Agent Orange over vast swathes of jungle during the Vietnam War in an attempt to flush out Viet Cong communist guerrillas by depriving them of tree cover and food.Th

TechnologySept. 7, 2012

Vietnam Agent Orange victims get Scientology 'detox'

Q2 growth revised down to 0.3%, rate cut expected

Korea’s economy grew at a slower pace than earlier estimated in the second quarter of this year due to weaker demand and sluggish exports, data showed on Thursday.The Bank of Korea said Korea’s gross domestic product grew by a revised 0.3 percent in the second quarter compared to the previous three months, down from an earlier estimate of 0.4 percent.The slower growth is expected to mount pressure on the central bank to cut interests rate again to spur growth. The central bank froze the key rate

Sept. 6, 2012

Fitch upgrades Korea

Fitch Ratings upgraded South Korea’s sovereign credit rating by one notch on Thursday.This is is the first time in 15 years that Korea has regained the “AA-” rating, which is on par with Saudi Arabia and a step higher than China and Japan.The global rating firm cited its continued economic and financial stability as well as the government’s fiscal discipline.Fitch raised Korea’s government bond rating to “AA-” from “A+”, roughly 10 months after changing the outlook to “positive” from “stable.”It

Sept. 6, 2012

Shares up ahead of ECB meeting

Korean stocks closed 0.38 percent higher on Thursday as investors pinned hopes on the upcoming European Central Bank meeting, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 7.21 points to 1,881.24, snapping a two-session losing streak.Trading volume was heavy at 733.7 million shares worth 4.2 trillion won ($3.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 448 to 345.“There were concerns that Germany would be opposed to EC

Sept. 6, 2012

AmorePacific opens shop in Singapore

AmorePacific Corp., South Korea’s leading cosmetics manufacturer, has opened its first “Sulhwasoo”brand outlet in Singapore as it steps up efforts to make inroads into the Southeast Asian market, company officials said Thursday. The outlet in a department store in Singapore’s popular Orchard Road shopping district sells the company’s top-of-the-line brand, which uses traditional herbal treatments. It is Amore Pacific’s 18th overseas outlet. The company also has Sulhwasoo brand stores in such cit

Sept. 6, 2012

BMW Korea first in Asia to announce new 7 Series

BMW Korea unveiled on Thursday the new BMW 7 Series, the facelift models of the latest fifth generation of the German carmaker’s flagship luxury line. The Seoul launch was the first in Asia. “We plan to import some 600 new 7 Series vehicles this year. Of them, reservations for 500 have already been made,” said BMW Korea CEO Kim Hyo-joon at a launching event held in southern Seoul. Despite their expensive prices hovering at 130-180 million won ($110,000-150,000) here, the 7 Series models have bee

IndustrySept. 6, 2012

SC Bank Korea halves dividend payout after public criticism

Standard Chartered Bank Korea bowed to public criticism and decided to pay out a total of 100 billion won ($88.2 million) in interim dividends, half of the originally planned amount.The Korean unit of the British banking group, which had been under fire for its planned payments of a high dividend, made the decision at a board meeting on Thursday.“The dividend amount was determined with consideration to our responsibility to the shareholders to remit a regular dividend flow, but also the local ec

Sept. 6, 2012

Public firms’ assets largest in OECD, but debts alarming

When it comes to public firms’ net asset value, Korea is No. 1 in the OECD with a total of $177.7 billion, according to data from the organization. Korea was followed by France ($157.7 billion), Norway ($131 billion) and Italy ($105.4 billion).Despite their growing, crucial roles in the nation’s economy, however, there are also concerns that their bigger size may undermine the nation’s fiscal stability because their debts are growing at an alarming level.The combined debts of 286 state-run firms

Sept. 6, 2012

Public firms’ assets largest in OECD, but debts alarming

Samsung hits 20 million Galaxy S3 sales

Tech giant’s products to ‘come out strong’ despite legal challenges with Apple, analysts saySamsung Electronics, the world’s largest tech company by revenue, saw record sales of its flagship Galaxy S3 in a short period of time, despite recent difficulties over legal issues with its rival Apple.The company said Thursday that it sold more than 20 million Galaxy S3 smartphones globally in 100 days since its introduction in late May.In the first 50 days, Samsung sold 10 million Galaxy S3 smartphones

TechnologySept. 6, 2012

Tick-borne virus, new to Americas, identified in Missouri

Federal scientists have isolated a virus in ticks that has never before appeared in the Western Hemisphere and are calling on other scientists to look for evidence of the disease-causing pathogen.Virus hunters from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the virus causes an illness nearly identical to ehrlichiosis, a tick-borne disease that is caused by a bacterium.The newfound pathogen, known as a phlebovirus, was isolated in 2009 in two Missouri men who doctors knew had been bitten

TechnologySept. 6, 2012

Tick-borne virus, new to Americas, identified in Missouri