German health authorities and researchers have come out swinging recently against the Taiwanese drink bubble tea, warning that the popular dessert beverage presents a choking hazard to children and may contain cancer-causing chemicals.The warnings, released separately, come as Europe, and Germany in particular, begin to catch on to the bubble tea trend which has already swept major urban centers

TechnologySept. 4, 2012

The number of women who gave birth in their 40s or older has almost doubled over the past decade, according to a government report on Monday.Mothers in their 40s and 50s gave birth to over 10,600 babies last year, according to Statistics Korea. The figure is the largest-ever since 1981. Even taking into account twins, at least more than 10,000 mothers older than 40 gave birth last year, said the government agency. The number of these older mothers has been increasing for six consecutive years. I

Sept. 3, 2012

Facebook Inc.’s struggle continues with no end in sight, especially after its stock prices hit a record low and marketers expressed skepticism whether Facebook ads were really working.Shares of the world’s largest social network operator plummeted 5.4 percent to close at $18.06 in New York on Friday, the lowest amount since it went public on May 17 with $38 per share.The fall of the company’s stock to half of its initial value is a shameful outcome, while its earlier projection of stock prices w

TechnologySept. 3, 2012

Ruling in Netherlands seen crucial as it will likely affect other European courtsAside from Samsung Electronics’ multibillion dollar patent suit against Apple Inc. in the U.S., the two are expected to stage another battle at a court in the Netherlands this Friday.According to Samsung, the two parties are set to face off again in Europe, starting at a court in The Hague on Friday.Earlier in June, the court in The Hague handed the first victory to Samsung by claiming Apple violated the Suwon-based

IndustrySept. 3, 2012

Korea’s consumer prices grew at the slowest click in over 12 years last month amid government efforts to keep inflationary pressure down, a report showed Monday.The country’s consumer price index rose 1.2 percent from a year earlier in August, compared with a 1.5 percent on-year gain the previous month, according to the report by Statistics Korea.August’s reading marks the slowest gain since May 2000 when consumer prices rose 1.1 percent on-year. August also marks the second month in a row the c

Sept. 3, 2012

Local unit chief: LG aims to edge over Samsung to become top TV brand in 2013BERLIN ― LG Electronics has been seeing fast growth in Germany’s television market over the past year, despite the economic slowdown in the region stemming from the eurozone crisis.The Korean tech company saw its share in Germany, which accounts for 25 percent of EU demand, rise to 10 percent from 7 percent last year.With Japanese TV makers such as Sony, Sharp and Panasonic having gone through restructuring and lacklust

TechnologySept. 3, 2012

Hanwha Engineering and Construction said Sunday that it would sponsor the Iraqi national soccer team while they are in Seoul in preparation for a World Cup qualifying match against Japan later this month. The Iraqi squad arrived in Korea on Saturday and the construction unit of Hanwha Group plans to fund all expenses during their stay here, officials said. Hanwha has built a friendly relationship with Iraq as it signed an $8 billion contract in May to build a housing complex in Bismayah, a plann

IndustrySept. 3, 2012

Hanwha Engineering and Construction, one of Korea’s leading builders, is seeking to cement business cooperation with Iraq, hoping to lead the “second Middle East boom” as the Mideast country rebuilds after war.For Korean builders, the Middle East has been a major construction market since 1965, when Korea started doing construction overseas. Since then, Korean builders have secured a combined $500 billion in overseas construction orders as of June. Behind Korea’s surprise performance, there may

IndustrySept. 3, 2012

Citibank Korea opened its first private wealth management service center in Seoul last month. Citigold Private Client Center, opened in Gangnam Finance Center in southern Seoul on Aug. 17, targets top-tier clients of the bank who have a minimum total balance of 1 billion won ($882,000), half of which is in investment assets. The new center is part of the bank’s move to separate clients who require professional investment advice to provide unique, differentiated products and research backed by to

Sept. 3, 2012

Family-friendly foreign companies help employees ‘connect the dots’ in child careKoreans have associated foreign companies with a public image of workplaces with a democratic decision-making process and advanced welfare policies. Different foreign companies offer different degrees of financial support for children’s education. But they have similar parent-friendly welfare policies, particularly on paid maternity leave, paternity leave ― often shorter than maternity leave ― and half-day policies

Sept. 3, 2012

Adidas Korea announced Tuesday it will hire Korean girl group 2NE1 as new models for its “All Originals Represent” advertisement campaign in Asia. In addition to the four-member K-pop group, hip-hop artists Nicki Minaj and Big Sean, NBA player Derrick Rose and Adidas fashion designer Jeremy Scott will show up in the advertisement. Scheduled to be first aired on YouTube, the advertisement clip shows an interesting episode which takes place on crosswalks of multiple nations in Asia, the Americas a

Sept. 3, 2012

Ruling in Netherlands seen crucial as it will likely affect other European court verdicts　Aside from Samsung Electronics’ multibillion dollar patent suit against Apple Inc. in the U.S., the two are expected to stage another battle at a court in the Netherlands this Friday.According to Samsung, the two parties plan to face off again in Europe, starting at a court in The Hague on Friday, local time,

IndustrySept. 3, 2012