Hyundai Motor’s cumulative sales in U.S. top 8 million

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s leading automaker, said Friday that its cumulative sales in the U.S. surpassed the 8 million mark in February, 27 years after its made inroads into the world’s second-largest automotive market.Hyundai Motor began selling cars in the U.S. in 1986, with a single model, the Hyundai Excel. In that year, some 168,00 Excels were sold.Hyundai Motor, now the world’s fifth-largest automaker along with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp., achieved the 5 million sales mark in th

March 8, 2013

Korea’s effective jobless rate hits 5.8%: report

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s jobless rate for 2012 could rise to 5.8 percent if “underemployed” people and other at-risk populations were counted, a report showed Friday, showing a large gap with the government’s official figures.According to the report compiled by the Woori Finance Research Institute, the country’s effective jobless rate could rise sharply if counting such people deemed to face almost the same tough working conditions as those technically remaining out of work.The rate

March 8, 2013

Homeplus mulls merger with Homeplus Tesco

Homeplus Co., the South Korean unit of British retail giant Tesco Plc, is considering merging its unit Homeplus Tesco Co. to increase its sales volume, industry sources said Friday. Homeplus, the second largest discount retailer in South Korea, bought a whole stake in Homever, the country’s No. 4 discount chain operator in May 2008 from E-Land Group, a local fashion retailing group which acquired the discount chain from French retailer Carrefour SA in 2006.“After the acquisition, Homeplus has op

March 8, 2013

Female CEOs scarce among listed firms

The ratio of female CEOs at local listed firms reached 0.7 percent, data showed Friday, raising concerns over the severe gender imbalance in the country’s business world.Among the country’s 1,787 companies listed on the main bourse and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market, only 13 women currently serve as CEOs at 14 firms, according to the data compiled by research firm CEO Score.The number hovers far below 4.2 percent posted by the world’s top 1,000 companies tallied by the U.S. business magazine Fortu

March 8, 2013

KORAIL to support Yongsan project to avoid bankruptcy

State-run rail operator KORAIL has decided to inject 6.4 billion won ($5.9 million) of emergency funds into the faltering massive project to develop Yongsan in a desperate effort to avoid bankruptcy.KORAIL officials said Friday that the financial support will be made in the form of an advance payment guarantee on part of the 25.7 billion won compensation the project developer Dream Hub is supposed to receive from the Korea Post.Dream Hub, led by KORAIL and Lotte Tour, had faced bankruptcy as its

March 8, 2013

ITC delays ruling on Samsung-Apple case

The U.S. International Trade Commission has postponed to next week its ruling on patent infringement claims filed by Samsung Electronics Co. against Apple Inc., a decision that may lead to an import ban on iPhones.The ITC was originally scheduled to rule Thursday, but said it would delay its decision until March 13, according to its website.In June 2011, Samsung Electronics filed a complaint with the U.S. government agency, claiming Apple products infringed on four of its technology patents, inc

TechnologyMarch 8, 2013

Korea to streamline distribution of farm goods

The government will step up efforts to streamline the country’s distribution structure for farming products in a bid to ease their price hikes and keep inflation under control, the Finance Ministry said Friday.South Korea’s consumer prices remain quite stable, but fresh food and other daily necessity costs have been rising in recent months, hurting the livelihoods of the ordinary working-class population.In a move to induce price cuts, the government plans to shorten the overall distribution pro

March 8, 2013

Korea, China, Japan to launch free trade talks this month

Korea, China, and Japan will kick off their official negotiations on a trilateral Free Trade Agreement in Seoul this month, said officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.The trade pact, if properly effectuated as planned, would become the first one to be clinched by the new Park Geun-hye administration. It would also form the world’s third-largest economic bloc, following the North American Free Trade Agreement and the European Union.President Park received related reports from the

March 8, 2013

Escalating N.K. threats may sway stocks and currency markets

Local financial policymakers said that the stock and foreign exchange markets may be swayed by the recent situation involving the intentional community’s disciplinary measures against North Korea.As the U.N. Security Council decided to impose additional sanctions Thursday on North Korea for its Feb. 12 nuclear test, Korea’s financial regulators and economic policymakers have embarked on closer monitoring of the financial market.Though provocative actions from the North had minimal impact on the

March 8, 2013

Price hike likely to accelerate drop in smoking rate

South Korea's smoking rate has steadily declined over the years, indicating that a large price increase currently sought by the government may help significantly cut the rate, government and market sources said Friday.According to the health ministry and the statistics service, the amount of money spent on tobacco by each household of more than two persons came to an average of 18,351 won (US$16.91) per month last year, or 0.75 percent of the average income of such households.The proportion drop

March 8, 2013

British court rejects Samsung patent claim against Apple

A British court Thursday rejected a claim by Samsung Electronics that Apple stole its technology, in the latest round of a global legal battle over patents between the smartphone giants.The district court in London ruled that Samsung has no rights over technology that transfers data over the third-generation mobile network, which has been adopted by some of Apple's smartphones, according to Samsung officials.Similar lawsuits were heard in Japan, the United States and South Korea, with the Japane

TechnologyMarch 7, 2013

Korea strong-arms retailers in war against inflation

The government summoned executives from three major discount franchises on Thursday to discuss how to improve the distribution system and stabilize prices of manufactured goods.Executives of E-mart, Homeplus and Lotte Mart met with officials at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy at a time when the public is voicing concerns over rising gasoline prices and public utility fees.“We asked the retailers about the factors affecting the pricing of manufactured goods such as the distribution system and p

IndustryMarch 7, 2013

Physicists on Higgs hunt: Nearly there but not yet

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Physicists in Italy said Wednesday they are achingly close to concluding that what they found last year was the Higgs boson, the elusive “God particle.” They need to eliminate one last remote possibility that it’s something else.The long theorized subatomic particle would explain why matter has mass and has been called a missing cornerstone of physics. With new analyses, scientists are closer to being certain they found the crucial Higgs boson. But they want to be 99.9 percent

TechnologyMarch 7, 2013

Electrodes implanted in brain treat anorexia

PARIS (AFP) ― Scientists said Thursday they had, for the first time, helped women with severe anorexia through electrodes implanted into their brains.The technique is in an experimental phase and only some patients had improved, but the treatment showed promise, they wrote in the Lancet medical journal.After nine months, three of the six patients in the trial had put on weight and appeared to be in a better state of mind, said the team of specialists from the United States and Canada.For the thr

TechnologyMarch 7, 2013