British chamber’s labor law workshop

The British Chamber of Commerce will hold a workshop in Seoul on Jan. 17 to discuss reforms of the retirement pension and severance rules for all employees.Patrick J. Monaghan, senior foreign legal consultant at Kim and Chang law firm, will speak about outsourcing and expansion of the discretionary working system and leveling the playing field between large corporations and small and medium enterprises.Monaghan is a member of the firm’s labor and employment practice and advises both foreign and

Jan. 12, 2012

School to lecture on business innovation

IE Business School will offer a free lecture and networking evening with as guest lecturer, the school’s chair of the Entrepreneurship Management Department.Pablo de Holan is a popular professor of strategy at IE Business School and will present the school’s 4th lecture in a series on global business innovations on Jan. 13 from 7 p.m. at the COEX Convention Center Hall C room 318 A in southern Seoul.Titled “The Giant Within: How Businesses Grow Thru Entrepreneurship and Innovation, A review of r

Jan. 12, 2012

Conglomerates agree to expand investments

The Federation of Korean Industries on Thursday pledged to make aggressive investments and hire more workers this year despite a gloomy outlook for the global economy. The seven members of the lobby for big businesses, along with FKI chairman Huh Chang-soo, held their first meeting this year at the Lotte Hotel Seoul in central Seoul on Thursday. The nation’s top 30 conglomerates agreed to continue investments this year. In 2011, they had planned to invest 11.5 trillion won and hire 1 million new

IndustryJan. 12, 2012

Seoul suspected of inflating oil development deal with UAE

The South Korean government is suspected of having exaggerated an oil development deal with the United Arab Emirates, which it earlier claimed would “guarantee” participation by South Korean companies, informed sources said Thursday.The government had claimed its memorandum of understanding, signed with the UAE early last year, would entitle the country to a production-sharing-agreement at one of the Middle Eastern country’s six production mines with more than 1 billion barrels of oil in confirm

Jan. 12, 2012

Web surfing overtakes voice calls for smartphone users

Korean smartphone users preferred using their handsets for Web surfing rather than for voice calling and text messaging, a government survey found Thursday. The Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Internet and Security Agency questioned 4,000 smartphone and tablet PC users aged between 12-59 in November. According to the survey, 42.4 percent of respondents cited the Internet and mobile apps as their main purpose of smartphone use, while voice calling and text messaging make up 39.3 per

IndustryJan. 12, 2012

Medical fees to go down at designated clinics

The government has decided to discount medical fees for people who designate neighborhood clinics as their primary care facilities, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday. The new system comes into effect starting in April.Currently, 70 percent of outpatient medical expenses are covered by the national health insurance program, but for those who register a nearby clinic as their primary care unit the coverage will be increased to 80 percent, leaving only 20 percent up to the patients,

TechnologyJan. 12, 2012

Court says 16 airlines fixed fuel surcharge price

An appeals court here ruled on Thursday in support of the local fair trade watchdog's decision to fine 16 airlines for fuel surcharge price fixing.The Seoul High Court rejected Thai Airways International's demand that the Fair Trade Commission withdraw its 2.1 billion won ($1.8 million) penalty impo

IndustryJan. 12, 2012

Korean cosmetics maker Genic to start operation in China this year

HONG KONG (Yonhap) -- South Korean cosmetics maker Genic Co. is set to begin operations in China this year in a bid to tap into the world's fastest growing cosmetics market, officials said Thursday.Genic recently obtained approval for a hygiene permit from the Chinese Ministry of Health in order to

IndustryJan. 12, 2012

Mobile app provides instant nutrition information

If you are at a supermarket, wondering if a food item will make you fat, a new smartphone app by Korea Food and Drug Administration can tell you.The newly released application, New High-fat and Less Healthy Food Alert-e, contains information about the nutritional value of nearly all popular snacks, candies and ice creams. By simply scanning the barcodes on snack packages, the app will automatically tell whether the food is healthy or not. And by inputting a product name or a main ingredient, con

TechnologyJan. 12, 2012

Women with larger breasts suffer backaches: hospital

Women with larger breasts are more likely to suffer backaches than those with smaller breasts, TnTn Hospital said Monday. According to Cho Tae-yeon, chief of the network hospital specializing in spinal health, larger breasts could pull the torso forward and in the worst case cause a herniated disk. A herniated disk is a condition when the disk between two bones in the spine presses on the nerves around the backbone.“One additional kilogram on the torso, especially in the chest area, could amplif

TechnologyJan. 12, 2012

NPS to invest $300 million in Chinese stocks

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Korea’s state-run pension fund is seeking to invest as much as $300 million in Chinese stock markets as it looks to diversify assets worth nearly $300 billion, officials said.The National Pension Service said earlier this week that it received the status of “qualified foreign institutional investor” from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.The pension fund service expects to receive a quota ranging from $100 million to $300 million, equivalent to 0.1 percent or l

Jan. 12, 2012

Money supply grows at same pace in Nov.　

The growth of Korea‘s money supply remained at the same pace in November of last year as the previous month although it picked up from a year earlier, the central bank said Thursday. Korea’s M2, a narrow measure of the money supply, totaled 1753.3 trillion won ($1.5 trillion) in November 2011, up 4.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.The growth speed of November M2 remained unchanged from a 4.4 percent on-year expansion tallied in October, which marked the sharpest grow

Jan. 12, 2012

Eurozone woes to impact Korea: HSBC

Uncertainties stemming from the eurozone debt crisis are likely to impact the Korean economy, Asia‘s fourth-largest, by sapping overseas demand for local products, HSBC Bank Plc said Thursday.“The uncertainties may have dampening impacts on (Korea’s) export mechanism ... If consumers are cautious, they will buy less goods,” Steven Major, Global Head of HSBC‘s Fixed Income Research, told reporters in a media session.Major said Germany may be an exception that could help offset weakening demand in

Jan. 12, 2012

Korean fund market dips below 300 trillion won in 2011

Korea’s fund market suffered a setback last year, with its aggregate amount of money parked for stock and bond investment shrinking amid heightened global growth risks and wobbly financial markets, data showed Thursday. According to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association, the total amount under management of local funds stood at 298.5 trillion won ($257.4 billion) as of the end of December, down 6.3 percent from 318.8 trillion won a year earlier. The latest figure marked the fi

Jan. 12, 2012