Bird-like wings carry man 330 feet

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

Google customers sue over changes to privacy policy rules

Google Inc. (GOOG) customers sued the company over claims they were deceived by its new privacy rules merging separate policies for about 60 services into one. The suit seeks to represent in a group, or class action, people who held Google accounts and mobile phones powered by its Android operating

TechnologyMarch 22, 2012

One-person, single-parent households surge: stats

The number of single-parent homes and single-person households grew to almost half of the country’s total family units, reflecting demographic changes that came with more people living alone and divorces, Statistics Korea said Wednesday. More than 48 percent were households with one or two occupants in 2010, up from 29.6 percent in 1995. The average number of occupants per household dropped to 2.69 for 2010, from 3.4 in 1995.“The sharp increase can be attributed to the rise in single adults and

March 21, 2012

Seoul to curb unfair pricing that undermines free trade pacts

South Korea will crack down on unfair pricing practices in the distribution sector that undermine free trade pacts with its trading partners, top economic policymakers said Wednesday.Officials including Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said in a weekly economic review meeting that Seoul will closely examine the consumer prices of products that have benefited from free trade agreements.If there is a wide gap between import and consumer prices, which can be a sign of excessive profit taking, the gove

March 21, 2012

Top 10 firms suffer decline in 2011 profits

South Korea’s top 10 business groups saw their earnings decline in 2011 on the economic downturn and rising costs of raw materials, data showed Wednesday.According to the data compiled by Chaebol.com, a corporate information provider on large businesses, the combined net profit of 81 listed companies affiliated with the country’s top 10 conglomerates reached 35.8 trillion won ($31.8 billion) last year, a drop of 19 percent from a year earlier.Their operating income also declined 13.3 percent to

March 21, 2012

E-Mart promises greater support for suppliers

E-Mart, the country’s largest supermarket chain, said Wednesday that it will provide support funds worth 300 billion won ($260 million) to its partner firms as part of its shared growth plan.In a press conference that invited 100 chiefs of its partner firms, E-Mart chief executive Choi Byung-ryul announced four major directions for shared growth including developing products together with its partners and giving greater financial support to smaller firms.The other two are expanding the number of

IndustryMarch 21, 2012

Korea discusses cooperation with developing countries

About 50 investment authorities and high-level officials from 32 developing nations attended a forum in Seoul on Wednesday to explain their development plans and meet with Korean officials and businessmen. The Korean government spelled out its policy for industrial and resource cooperation as well as official development assistance plans for developing countries at the Global Industry Cooperation Forum hosted by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.About 30 foreign diplomats in Seoul and

March 21, 2012

Gori-1 unit chief decided not to report power loss: NSSC

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission on Wednesday said the chief of the Gori-1 nuclear power plant had decided not to report a power outage at the unit on Feb. 9 to higher authorities.The panel last week launched a probe into the temporary power failure at the Gori-1 unit in Busan and why it was only reported to the head of the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. more than a month later.“The chief of the Gori-1 unit entered the main control room during the power loss and decided not to repor

IndustryMarch 21, 2012

KNOC to join group for El Paso assets

Korea National Oil Corp., South Korea’s state energy developer, said it will join an Apollo Global Management LLC-led group that agreed to buy El Paso Corp.’s oil and gas exploration business for $7.15 billion.The group, which includes Riverstone Holdings LLC and Access Industries Inc., will probably make the acquisition in the first half, the Anyang, South Korea-based company, known as KNOC, said on Tuesday in an e-mailed statement, without giving a value or details of its proposed holding.“The

March 21, 2012

RBS to shut down some units in Korea

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain’s biggest state-owned lender, will wind down some operations in South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore, retreating from an earlier plan to sell them.The U.K. lender is to close the cash equities, equity capital markets and corporate finance units in Korea, as well as the cash equities operations in Indonesia and Singapore, Yuk Min-hui, a spokeswoman for RBS in Hong Kong, said in an e- mailed response to queries. About 70 people will be affected, she said.R

March 21, 2012

Shares drop on China, global political worries

Korean stocks finished 0.73 percent lower Wednesday as worries about China’s growth prospects and North Korea dampened investor appetite for risks, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI declined 14.92 points to 2,027.23. Trading volume was moderate at511 million shares worth 5.1 trillion won ($4.53 billion) with losers leading gainers 542 to 273. “The local bourse underperformed against other stock markets in Asia,” said Lee Young-won, an analyst at H

March 21, 2012

Korea’s labor productivity grows in Q4

Growth in South Korea’s labor productivity accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2011 from three months earlier, helped by solid export gains, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the labor productivity index for all industries in the three month period increased 3.3 percent on-year to 112.6, up from 109.0 tallied a year earlier.The on-year growth rate of labor productivity sank to 1.1 percent in the third quarter of last year after re

March 21, 2012

FSC faces dilemma over new card firms

Financial regulator under fire for approving only KB Kookmin, Hana-SKThe Financial Services Commission is being seen as inconsistent in its policy to approve businesses of new credit card firms.After KB Financial Group launched a stand-alone credit card firm, named KB Kookmin Card, in March 2011, other financial groups and banks have been striving to follow suit.Among them are Woori Financial, Nonghyup Financial, Korea Development Bank and Standard Chartered Bank Korea.In January, FSC chairman K

March 21, 2012