Samsung Electronics is expected to build its second overseas NAND Flash manufacturing plant in Xian, Shaanxi province, after signing an agreement with the regional government late Wednesday.Samsung, the world’s top memory chip maker, will hold working-level talks with the government of Xian, which the Korean IT behemoth picked as its preferred candidate city, after getting the green light from the Korean government to construct a memory chip plant in China last December.Samsung currently has one

IndustryMarch 22, 2012

Korea’s central bank should raise its policy rate to help cement its commitment toward price stability in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a state-run think tank said Thursday.The Korea Development Institute said the Bank of Korea should “normalize” its rate policy in a bid to secure market trust, and needs to deliver a signal to the market that price stability is its top priority.“The authorities are urged to normalize macroeconomic policies and need to guard the economy against growing uncertain

March 22, 2012

Korean stocks finished almost unchanged on Thursday as the absence of new momentum and upcoming events such as the nuclear summit put investors on the sidelines, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. After moving in a narrow range, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended at 2,026.12, down 0.05 percent, or 1.11 points. Trading volume was moderate at 534 million shares worth 5.22 trillion won ($4.62 billion) with losers leading gainers 569 to 265. “The big p

March 22, 2012

SK Group said the prosecution’s claims of embezzlement by its chairman Chey Tae-won and his younger brother are largely based on misunderstanding and exaggeration. “Foreign investors are worried about the group owner’s risks, but many of the prosecution’s allegations are not based on facts,” said SK spokesman Lee Man-woo. “We are confident that all the facts will be clarified in court.”SK Group, one of the country’s biggest conglomerates, is grappling with bad publicity stemming from the prosecu

IndustryMarch 22, 2012

Foreign investment banks projected the South Korean economy would expand 3.3 percent in 2012, slowing from last year’s 3.6 percent gain, as growth momentum weakens amid uncertainties stemming from the eurozone debt crisis and slowing global economic expansion, a report showed Thursday.But the average growth projection by a total of 10 overseas investment banks is 0.1 percentage point lower than the 3.4-percent expansion estimate for Asia’s fourth-largest economy made in January by nine global in

March 22, 2012

Analysts predict improved sentiment, foreign investment to push market upEquity analysts projected Seoul shares to continue their rally for the next few months with improving business sentiment and earnings expectations, especially as capital injections continue from advanced countries.Oh Tae-dong, a strategist at Taurus Investment & Securities, forecast the benchmark KOSPI to reach up to 2,300 by the end of June, before it fluctuates more heavily in the second half due to policy risks and possi

March 22, 2012

The Dental Department of Ewha Womans University Medical Center will offer free treatment for gum disorders from 1 p.m. through 3 p.m. on March 28.The free event will be held at the hospitals’ grand meeting room in Mok-dong in eastern Seoul. The doctors will not only examine patients’ gums and treat them free of charge, but also give lectures on how to maintain dental health. Participants can take home toothpaste or toothbrushes provided after the event. For more information, call (02) 2650-2679.

TechnologyMarch 22, 2012

The prevalence of waterborne or food-related diseases is on the rise, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The center also called for extra care in personal hygiene as the weather grows hotter. The number of such diseases reported between Jan. 1 and March 14 this year was 32, up from 24 cases a year earlier. The number of patients increased to 780, up from 492 over the same period.Norovirus, which causes gastroenteritis, took the lion’s share with seven cases, follow

TechnologyMarch 22, 2012

SACRAMENTO, California ― A lifetime of wear and tear on his joints caused Dick Pryor, a 77-year-old retired landscape architect, to undergo not one but two surgeries to replace his knees.Neither slowed him down for long.“With one knee replacement, I was back skiing three months later,” said Pryor, a Sacramento, Calif., resident who began skiing a half-century ago. “I could have gone skiing sooner, but the snow wasn’t any good.”Like Pryor, many of his 130 fellow members of the Sacramento, Calif.,

TechnologyMarch 22, 2012

A number of high-profile nuclear industry officials will attend the two-day Nuclear Industry Summit starting Friday aimed at bolstering international cooperation to enhance nuclear safety and security.Co-chairs of the NIS International Advisory Committee such as John Ritch, director general of the World Nuclear Association; Roger Howsley, president of the World Institute for Nuclear Security; Laurent Stricker, chairman of the World Association of Nuclear Operators; and Marvin Fertel, president o

IndustryMarch 22, 2012

Electricity consumption by South Korea’s industrial sector gained 9.7 percent from a year earlier last month, fueled by solid export growth, the government said Thursday.Sales of industrial electricity reached 21.09 billion kilowatt-hours in February, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The increase represents a rebound from 0.6 percent minus growth tallied in the first month of the year when the country recorded a trade deficit caused by weak exports.Industrial electricity sales ser

March 22, 2012

The first study to look at methamphetamine’s potential lasting effects on children whose mothers used it in pregnancy finds these kids at higher risk for behavior problems than other children.The behavior differences - anxiety, depression, moodiness - weren’t huge, but lead researcher Linda LaGasse called them “very worrisome.”Methamphetamine is a stimulant like crack cocaine, and earlier research showed meth babies have similarities to so-called “crack babies” - smaller in size and prone to dro

TechnologyMarch 22, 2012

A Dutch man said he completed a flight of about 330 feet using homemade wings based on those of a bird. Jarno Smeets, 31, an engineer, said he controlled the 55-foot wings using two Nintendo Wii controllers, the accelerometers from an HTC Wildfire S smartphone and Turnigy motors when he took off Sunday at a park in The Hague and flew for about a minute. "Ever since I was a little boy I have been inspired by pioneers like Otto Lilienthal, Leonardo da Vinci and also my own grandfather," Smee

TechnologyMarch 22, 2012