The Korea Herald

SK Group eyes new Chinese oil refinery

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s SK Group is considering starting an oil refinery project in southern China, officials said Thursday, a move that would expand the company’s business in the world’s No. 2 economy.The city of Qinzhou is a potential site of the project, and located near the Pearl River Delta, the main hub of China’s economic growth. The city also established a Free Trade Port Area, which was approved by the State Council in May 2008 as a state-level free trade port area. The

IndustryDec. 8, 2011

Yuhan-Kimberly, a model of joint venture success

Company leads innovation and fosters human resourcesAt a crowded hypermarket in Beijing, the shelves for diapers are filled with Huggies products.Even though their maker Kimberly-Clark has a Chinese branch, all the premium diapers sold in China are produced by Korea-based Yuhan-Kimberly at its Daejeon factory, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul. Yuhan-Kimberly is a joint venture established in 1970 between Korean company Yuhan Corp. and U.S.-based Kimberly-Clark Corp., that entered China’s premi

IndustryDec. 8, 2011

Yuhan-Kimberly, a model of joint venture success

Oriental doctors track...illegal supplements

The Association of Korean Oriental Medicine is collecting cases of illegally distributed dietary supplements. “Amid the growing public awareness of health and well-being, illegal distributors are selling non-authorized or even harmful supplements through a variety of channels,” said Kim Jung-kon, head of the AKOM. The AKOM has established an “anonymous bulletin” on its website, www.akom.org, to receive information. The reported cases will be investigated and compiled into a database to improve t

TechnologyDec. 8, 2011

Diabetes in pregnancy more likely if obese

Obese women are more likely to suffer gestational diabetes, a group of local doctors said Wednesday. According to a study on 2,454 pregnant women by professors Shin Jong-chul and Choi Se-kyung of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, women who were overweight before pregnancy had a 1.58 times as much chance of suffering from gestational diabetes. It went up as high as 4.5 times higher among obese women. The risk of gestational hypertension was 2.2 times higher among overweight women and 2.5 times higher am

TechnologyDec. 8, 2011

Leather pants can cause varicose veins

Leather trousers may be fashion-conscious, but are potentially bad for your health, Hanlim Pharm said Wednesday. The manufacturer of Antoleave, trophedema pills, said wearing leather trousers or skinny jeans that tightly stick to the legs for a long period of time could lower blood circulation. This could further develop into chronic venous insufficiency with swollen legs associated with pain, it said. “In winter, the blood vessels in the leg area contract due to cold weather. In the worst case,

TechnologyDec. 8, 2011

Increase in pancreatic cancer draws concerns

The occurrences of pancreatic cancer and pancreatic cancer-related deaths are increasing notably. This disease, which used to be rare, has become one of the most common types of cancer. It began to draw wider attention when the legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti died of the disease four years ago, as well as Steve Jobs this year.Since the pancreas is hidden behind the stomach, it is more difficult to access, and no medical breakthrough has been yet made to effectively detect pancreatic ca

TechnologyDec. 8, 2011

Increase in pancreatic cancer draws concerns

FDA favors more risk info on birth control pills

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal health regulators are leaning toward adding new information about the risk of blood clots to the labels of widely prescribed birth control pills such as Yaz, in light of growing evidence that the newer contraceptive drugs may be riskier than older drugs.In documents released Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration said there is conflicting evidence about the risk, but that the information should appear in labeling used by doctors and patients.“We believe that, because

TechnologyDec. 8, 2011

Few recall doctor saying child overweight

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Pediatricians are supposed to track if youngsters are putting on too many pounds ― but a new study found less than a quarter of parents of overweight children recall the doctor ever saying there was a problem.Does that mean doctors aren’t screening enough kids, or aren’t frank enough in these tough conversations? Or is the real story parent denial? The research published Monday can’t tell, but makes it clear the message too often isn’t getting through.“It’s tricky to say, and i

TechnologyDec. 8, 2011

Few recall doctor saying child overweight

Advice for year-end drinking

Doctors say hangover drinks have limited effect, suggest spicy soup and juiceDecember is a month of year-end parties. Nights of drinking and dining fill people’s schedules. In Korea, nights out are an important part of socialization, especially at the year’s end. According to Samsung Medical Center, about 30 percent of salaried workers are habitual drinkers.Medical experts are quick to point out the health risks posed by alcohol. Dr. Lee Jung-kwon and Dr. Yoo Joon-hyun at SMC offer useful inform

TechnologyDec. 8, 2011

Yuhan-Kimberly, a proven model of joint venture success

The company sees more business opportunities in ChinaAt a crowded hypermarket in Beijing, the shelves for diapers are filled with Huggies products.Even though their maker Kimberly-Clark has a Chinese branch, all the premium diapers sold in China are produced by Korea-based Yuhan-Kimberly at its Daejeon factory, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul. Yuhan-Kimberly is a joint venture established in 1970 between Korean company Yuhan Corp. and U.S.-based Kimberly-Clark Corp., that entered China’s prem

IndustryDec. 8, 2011

Innovation center helping research and engineering

Yuhan-Kimberly has established its Innovation Center, aiming to implement the company’s core values -- challenge and creativity.The center at Jukjeon, Gyeonggi Province, which opened Oct. 27, is helping the company maximize efficiency in research and engineering.The company said it will increase the number of research and engineering specialists to 72 from the current 50 by 2015.The company had traditionally operated six departments -- “baby & child care,” “family care,” “senior care,” “feminine

IndustryDec. 8, 2011

IBK to offer lowest lending rates: CEO

Industrial Bank of Korea CEO Cho Joon-hee unveiled his business policy to lower the maximum interest rate on loans to below 10 percent next year.Under the CEO’s commitment, the state-run bank is poised to provide the lowest lending rates in the local commercial banking sector.“We are pushing for the loan rate cut as households and enterprises are expected to suffer a heavier financial burden amid gloomy predictions over the 2012 economy,” Cho told reporters.To make up for curtailed profit from t

Dec. 8, 2011

SaKong to discuss global governance in Vienna

SaKong Il, chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, will discuss global governance in politics and the economy with leaders from around the world at a forum in Vienna, the trade agency said Thursday.More than 150 heads of state, policymakers and scholars will take part in the World Policy Conference on Dec. 9-11 hosted by the Institut francais des relations internationales, a leading think tank based in Paris. Participants include Heinz Fischer, president of Austria; Abdullah Gul,

Dec. 8, 2011

SaKong to discuss global governance in Vienna

Income inequality higher among seniors

Financial disparity among those over 65 third highest in OECDKorea had the third-highest income inequality among senior citizens in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report by the organization said.The Gini coefficient ― a measure of income inequality ― of people aged 65 or older in Korea, measured after tax, was 0.409, behind Chile (0.474) and Mexico (0.524). The closer a Gini index is to 1 the greater the income inequality. The Gini coefficient among Koreans aged bet

Dec. 8, 2011

Roadmap for technological standardization

Korea finalized a roadmap for standardization of technologies for smart grids, electric cars, nuclear energy, the 3D industry, cloud computing, smart media, smart logistics and smart medical information.National standardization coordinators and industrial experts worked together on the roadmap for standardization of the nation’s technologies in eight major areas, unveiled by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards under the Ministry of Knowledge Economy on Thursday.In the electric car are

TechnologyDec. 8, 2011

Yuhan-Kimberly Innovation Center revs up competitiveness

Yuhan-Kimberly has established its Innovation Center, aiming to implement the company’s core values ― “challenge and creativity.”The center at Jukjeon, Gyeonggi Province, which opened Oct. 27, is helping the company maximize efficiency in research and engineering.The company said it will increase the number of research and engineering specialists to 72 from the current 50 by 2015.The company had traditionally operated six departments ― “baby and child care,” “family care,” “senior care,” “femini

IndustryDec. 8, 2011

Yuhan-Kimberly Innovation Center revs up competitiveness

Korea freezes key rate for 6th month

The Bank of Korea held the benchmark rates steady for the sixth straight month Thursday, citing the deepening eurozone debt crisis abroad and slowing exports at home. The monetary policy committee led by Gov. Kim Choong-soo unanimously agreed to freeze the rate at 3.25 percent, a move aimed at helping Asia’s fourth-largest economy fight the external risks that threaten its export-oriented growth. “Downside risks to growth are high, due mostly to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and to the pos

Dec. 8, 2011

KT, Softbank open joint data center in Gimhae

KT Corp., the country’s largest fixed-line service operator, said it opened its global data center with Japan’s Softbank in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province on Thursday.The global data center, which opened its doors months after local mobile carrier KT and Softbank announced a joint venture in May, was built on 5,450 square meters of land able to take in 7,000 kilowatts of electricity.The center, which also offers office space for Japanese firms to directly get involved in server management and

IndustryDec. 8, 2011

KT, Softbank open joint data center in Gimhae

LSIS listed among world’s top 100 innovative firms

LS Industrial Systems Co. said Thursday it has been named one of the world’s 100 most innovative companies this year by Thomson Reuters, a leading financial news and information provider.Korea’s largest producer of electrical components was among four Korean firms that made it onto the list. The other three are Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Cheil Industries.“(The award) confirms an organization’s commitment to progressing innovation globally, to the protection of ideas and to the comme

IndustryDec. 8, 2011

College opens way to high-income farmers

Graduates of Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries earned 65.15 million won on average last year, twice as much as other farmers and even higher than the average pay at top 100 conglomerates, the university said Thursday.The government-funded university said almost one in five earned 100 million won in the past year and 71.3 percent of the total took home more than 30 million won.“What differentiates our graduates from other farmers is that every student in their second year of col

Dec. 8, 2011