The Korea Herald

Korea's rank as int'l conference destination rises to 6th

South Korea became the sixth most popular conference destination in the world in 2011, moving up two places from its ranking the previous year, the government said Tuesday, citing global industry data. The number of international meetings held in South Korea last year was 469, about 4.6 percent of the total number of such conferences worldwide, according to the report by the Union of Internat

IndustryJune 5, 2012

Euro crisis may hit shipbuilding, IT, automobiles

Korean won continues to lose ground against U.S. dollarThe eurozone fiscal crisis is likely to deal a severe blow to Korea’s export-oriented industries such as shipbuilding, automobile and information technology, local think tanks forecasted.In particular, the nation’s shipbuilding companies’ exports to the European Union are equivalent to 19.7 percent of their total production, according to a report of the Hyundai Research Institute.Exports account for about 85 percent of the total sales for th

IndustryJune 5, 2012

Import car firms continue to break sales records

Import car brands broke the all-time high record in vehicle sales for the third consecutive month so far this year.After attaining record figures in March and again in April, foreign carmakers saw their combined sales come to a fresh high of 11,708 units in May, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said Tuesday.“The record-breaking streak for three months in a row is noteworthy because the former record before March 2012 was the figure posted a year before (10,290 units in

MobilityJune 5, 2012

Import car firms continue to break sales records

Kiribati leader gets honorary doctorate

Pukyong National University on Tuesday awarded an honorary doctorate to Kiribati President Anote Tong in recognition of his contributions to maritime affairs and nature conservation. Tong, who is currently serving his third term in office, received an honorary doctorate of engineering at a ceremony held on campus grounds in Busan on Tuesday. Officials said that Tong has been active in promoting maritime affairs between Korea and the small Pacific island of Kiribati, and has also been a strong su

June 5, 2012

Cheap electricity returns as political hot potato

Experts agree on need to raise charges to the level of cost, call for linking to fuel pricesKorea Electric Power Corp. asked the government on April 26 to raise electricity rates by an average of 13.1 percent. The firm increased charges twice last year, in August and December.The root cause of repeated requests to hike electricity rates is that KEPCO sells electricity below cost. Inflation fears have led the government to apply tight price controls on rates, even as rising international oil pric

IndustryJune 5, 2012

Cheap electricity returns as political hot potato

Merck and LG Chem honored at SID Display Week 2012

Two of the world’s top liquid-crystal display producers, Merck and LG Chem, will receive a prestigious industry award on Wednesday for their joint development of a new cutting-edge display component called “3-D FPR.”The U.S.-based Society for Information Display, or SID, will award the companies with the silver in the display component category at the SID Display Week 2012, which opened last Sunday in Boston, Massachusetts. Also known the 3-D Film-Patterned Retarder, the device incorporates liqu

June 5, 2012

European fiscal crisis ‘worse than Depression’

KDB Financial chief says IPO does not mean privatization of his groupKDB Financial Group chairman Kang Man-soo said Tuesday that the current European economic condition is a more difficult situation than the Great Depression and would last longer.Speaking at a meeting with reporters, the former finance minister also said the Korea Development Bank will only go for Initial Public Offering this year, stressing that privatization is a matter that should be decided in the next government. “An IPO is

June 5, 2012

European fiscal crisis ‘worse than Depression’

Samsung Electronics opens Korea’s largest day care center in Suwon

Samsung Electronics said that it has opened Korea’s largest day care center in Suwon, about 30 km south of Seoul. The center, which opened Tuesday, measures about 9,240 square meters in total and has a maximum housing capacity of 600 people. As a large-scale expansion of a childcare center that first opened in 1996, this new building is about six times the size of the original and is expected to help ease the burden of childcare costs.Female company employees with children aged 1-5 are eligible

June 5, 2012

Samsung Electronics opens Korea’s largest day care center in Suwon

Intel unveils second-generation ultrabooks through Samsung, LG

Intel on Tuesday unveiled its new lineup of ultrabook devices powered by the third generation Intel Core processors as it aims to add a touch of innovation to the existing personal computer industry.Labeled second generation ultrabooks, a total of eight manufacturers, including Samsung, LG Electronics as well as Sony, rolled out their upgraded PCs to consumers at an event in southern Seoul.Popular girl group 2NE1 showed up at the launch event to release its song “Be Mine” for the first time as p

IndustryJune 5, 2012

Intel unveils second-generation ultrabooks through Samsung, LG

Apple denied Galaxy Tab ban

Apple Inc. was denied its renewed request for a ban on U.S. sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer while the case is still before a federal court of appeals.U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, said Monday that she does not have jurisdiction to issue a preliminary injunction because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington has not issued a mandate yet. The judge said Apple can renew its request once the court in Washington issue

TechnologyJune 5, 2012

Carriers upset by free mobile call plan

Experts call for clear guidelines before Kakao launches serviceTension between Korea’s leading mobile carriers and Kakao, a mobile messenger tech firm, is growing as the latter will introduce a mobile telephone service in the latter half of this year.Kakao Talk has begun offering a test version of its mobile Voice over Internet Protocol, named Voice Talk, to over 4 million worldwide users wishing to try its new service either on their iPhones or Android-based smartphones. Voice Talk will be free

IndustryJune 5, 2012

Creditors’ sale of Kumho Industrial imminent: sources

Kumho Asiana Group’s unit has undergone tough restructuring for more than 2 yearsCreditors of Kumho Industrial Co. will soon finalize the takeover deal under which a consortium led by IBK Securities is set to acquire a large portion of Kumho Asiana Group’s transportation unit.The imminent sale comes more than two years after Kumho Industrial was placed under joint-management by creditors including Woori Bank for business normalization in late 2009.Both sides are likely to reach a final consensus

IndustryJune 5, 2012

Outside directors to make up half of boards

More than half of financial company boards will be made up of outside directors who meet stricter qualifications, according to a new bill. The government reviewed and approved on Tuesday a proposal regarding the governance structure of financial companies at a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Lee Myung-bak. If the bill passes into law, financial companies will have to fill more than 50 percent of their boards with directors that come from outside the company. The role of the board will

June 5, 2012

Korean name for Standard Chartered CEO

Richard Hill, chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank Korea, obtained the Korean name “Koo Je-il” last week.Industrial Bank of Korea chief executive Cho Jun-hee suggested the name after Standard Chartered Bank’s former name “Jeil,” which means “first,” during a dinner meeting of the chiefs of 14 banks on May 29.“Koo” is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese character for “hill.” Cho presented the Korean name to Hill in appreciation of the British CEO’s constant efforts to understand the Kor

June 5, 2012

KOTRA vows to act as global business platform

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said on Tuesday that it will seek to become a “global business platform” for Korean companies wishing to operate in business overseas.Speaking to reporters at an event to mark the 50th anniversary of KOTRA, its president Oh Young-ho said KOTRA’s ultimate goal is to become a global business platform. “The globe is shifting toward globalization. Korean small and medium-sized firms need a ‘platform’ to get on the express train called globalization, and we

June 5, 2012

Moody’s: No big change in Korea’s outlook

Credit rating agency says its outlook for Korea’s banking system remains stableThere have been no fundamental changes in Korea’s economic prospects since Moody’s Investors Service raised its outlook for the country in April amid the European debt crisis, a senior vice president for the company in Asia said Tuesday.“Nothing fundamental has changed since we raised the outlook,” Tom Byrne, senior vice president of Moody’s sovereign risk group for Asia, told reporters here.“The drop in demand from E

June 5, 2012

Merck and LG Chem honored at SID Display Week 2012

Two of the world’s top liquid-crystal display producers, Merck and LG Chem, will receive a prestigious industry award on Wednesday for their joint development of a new cutting-edge display component called “3-D FPR.”The U.S.-based Society for Information Display, or SID, will award the companies with the silver in the display component category at the SID Display Week 2012, which opened last Sunday in Boston, Massachusetts. Also known the 3-D Film-Patterned Retarder, the device incorporates liqu

IndustryJune 5, 2012

2NE1 unveils new music video with Intel

Intel on Tuesday unveiled its new lineup of ultrabook devices powered by the third generation Intel Core processors as it aims to add a touch of innovation to the existing personal computer industry.Labeled as the second generation ultrabooks, a total of eight device manufacturers, including Samsung and LG Electronics as well as Sony, rolled out their upgraded PCs to consumers at an event in south

TechnologyJune 5, 2012

Seoul shares open higher on bargain hunting

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on big-cap bargain hunting following the previous day's tumble and speculations that Europe will agree on a new debt plan to preserve the currency union, analysts said.The KOSPI moved up 0.82 percent, or 14.63 points, to 1,797.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading. (Yonhap News)Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.42 percent, with top automaker Hyu

June 5, 2012

Seoul shares open higher on bargain hunting

Predatory birds may have ended era of giant insects

U.S. scientists have found that the evolution of birds may have triggered the extinction of gigantic insects, according to a report on Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz studied the fossil records dating back to Carboniferous period, and found that high oxygen levels of the time allowed species like dragonfly-like Meganisoptera to have wingspans of up to 71 centimeters around 300 million years ago. Further study showed that m

TechnologyJune 5, 2012

Predatory birds may have ended era of giant insects