The Korea Herald

S. Korea's fertility rate edges up in 2012

South Korea's fertility rate is expected to have risen slightly last year but is still far from a safe level, a government commission said Friday.According to the presidential commission on birth rate and aging society, the country's fertility rate is believed to have risen to 1.3 children per woman in 2012.The fertility rate is the average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime. The rate needs to be at over 2.01 for the population to grow, but South Korea's fertility rate has re

TechnologyJan. 25, 2013

Seoul shares fall 0.91 pct on foreign selling

South Korean stocks fell 0.91 percent Friday as foreign investors dumped large caps amid poorer corporate earnings and a gloomy outlook for this year, analysts said. The local currency fell sharply against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 17.79 points to finish at 1,946.69. Trading volume was light at 395.9 million shares worth 4.97 trillion won (US$4.63 billion) with losers outnumbering winners 497 to 308."The poorer-than-expected fourth-quarter earni

Jan. 25, 2013

Online game ‘ArcheAge’ to advance into N. America, Europe and Oceania

Massively multiplayer online role-playing game “ArcheAge” will be launched in the North American, European and Oceanian markets.XLGAMES, developer of the title, announced on Friday that it made a contract with Trion Worlds, an online game developer and publisher based in North America. The contract will allow the publisher to operate the “ArcheAge” game service in Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and North America.“’ArcheAge’ is one of the most anticipated game titles in North America and

TechnologyJan. 25, 2013

Online game ‘ArcheAge’ to advance into N. America, Europe and Oceania

Mars rover snaps first nighttime photo

NASA says its Mars Curiosity rover has taken its first nighttime photos of the Red Planet's surface, using both white and ultraviolet lights of its instruments.Scientists used the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager instrument for a close-up nighttime look at a rock target called "Sayunei," in an area where Curiosity's front left wheel had scuffed the rock to provide fresh, dust-free materials to examine, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., reported Thursday.The Curiosity science tea

TechnologyJan. 25, 2013

Study: Good grammar makes bad passwords

Good grammar may be important, but when used to concoct a long computer password, grammar -- good or bad -- undercuts its security, U.S. researchers say.Computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University said a password-cracking algorithm they developed that took into account grammar was tested against 1,434 passwords containing 16 or more characters.The grammar-aware cracker surpassed other state-of-the-art password crackers when passwords had grammatical structures, a university release reporte

TechnologyJan. 25, 2013

Women slim down more slowly than men

With the same exercise program, it’s easier for men to slim down and get healthier than women, a recent study has found.The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri on 75 obese people for 16 weeks.The researchers asked the participants to do aerobics exercises and observed each person’s weight loss and health improvement. The level of exercise was adjusted individually as 65 percent of their health improvement was measured by the recovery time after exercise.After 16 week

TechnologyJan. 25, 2013

Seoul shares down 1.26 pct in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks traded 1.26 percent lower late Friday morning due to losses in large-cap exporters, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 24.77 points to 1,939.71 as of 11:20 a.m.Big-cap tech names led the decline, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics plunging 1.86 percent and its smaller rival LG Electronic moving down 1.63 percent. Flat panel giant LG Display lost 2.98 percent.Carmakers also traded in negative territory, with No. 1 industry player

Jan. 25, 2013

LG Uplus to introduce first unlimited LTE data plan

Korean telecommunication company LG Uplus announced that it will introduce a new subscription plan which provides unlimited Long Term Evolution data transfer for the first time in local industry.LG Uplus announced on Friday that the new LTE data plan will be released on Jan. 31 and will temporarily invite subscribers for three months. Whether the subscription will be available after three-month period will be later decided, considering the number of customers, the company said.The new unlimited

TechnologyJan. 25, 2013

LG Uplus to introduce first unlimited LTE data plan

Seoul shares open lower on exporters' losses

South Korean stocks started lower Friday due to exporters' losses caused by the Japanese yen's sharp drop against the U.S. dollar, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.56 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,959.92 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Hyundai Motor tumbled 3.61 percent after its announcement of last year's stellar performances on Thursday. Samsung Electronics also dipped 0.07 percent despite its record-high fourth-quarter earnings.The local currenc

Jan. 25, 2013

Samsung posts record Q4 earnings

Samsung Electronics said Friday its 2012 fourth-quarter operating profit jumped 89.4 percent from a year before on strong exports of its Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 smartphones. Its net profit grew 75.6 percent on-year to 7.04 trillion won ($6.59 billion) in the three months to December, the company said in a regulatory filing.The world’s top smartphone maker achieved its largest-ever quarterly sales of 56.1 trillion won, up 18.51 percent from a year earlier, and operating profit of 8.84 trillio

IndustryJan. 25, 2013

IMF lowers global growth outlook

The International Monetary Fund forecast a global growth rate of 3.5 percent this year, down from its initial 3.6 percent estimate in October.The IMF said the slow recovery in the eurozone and uncertainties concerning the U.S. fiscal cliff pose downside risks to the world’s economic growth.The U.S. is expected to post 2 percent growth, and Japan will grow 1.2 percent due to its stimulus programs.China would maintain growth above 8 percent, but the eurozone would shrink 0.2 percent, it said.South

Jan. 24, 2013

Naro space rocket launch set for Jan. 30

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Thursday it has set Jan. 30 as the launch date of the country’s space rocket Naro-1.The ministry and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute held a meeting Thursday on how to monitor the weather conditions and possibility of collision with space debris on the day of the launch. The ministry said the exact time of the launch will be announced at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday after taking into consideration the weather and space conditions on the

TechnologyJan. 24, 2013

Korea develops new flexible electrode using silver nanowire

A group of South Korean scientists has developed a new transparent, flexible electrode with silver nanowires instead of expensive and hard-to-find indium, paving the way for the development of better and cheaper display panels, the science ministry said Thursday.Transparent electrodes are a key component of organic light-emitting diode panels, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.Conventional electrodes or transparent conducting films use indium, a rare earth material t

TechnologyJan. 24, 2013

IVI appoints new chairman, sets new vision

The International Vaccine Institute, a Seoul-based multinational organization on vaccine development, has appointed Dr. Adel A. F. Mahmoud as its new chairman and Dr. Viveka Persson as vice chairman. Mahmoud will replace professor Ragnar Norrby of the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, who has held the post since 2006, the IVI said in a statement Thursday.It has also set a new vision to “discover, develop and deliver safe, effective and affordable vaccines for the world’s developi

TechnologyJan. 24, 2013

Chung-Ang Univ. Hospital hosts forum on heart disease

Chung-Ang University Hospital will hold an international symposium in collaboration with the U.S.-based Mayo Clinic on Feb. 1-2 in Seoul to share information on the latest technology in cardiovascular care. Leading cardiologists and cardiac surgeons from Korea and overseas will give lectures on treating patients with different types of heart disease, the hospital said.Doctors will discuss eight topics, including “clinical debates on the timing of surgery,” “catheter-based therapy” and “cases of

TechnologyJan. 24, 2013

How to have a healthy heart

With a Westernized lifestyle and diet, and an aging society, we live in a time of increasing cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The classic symptoms of heart disease include chest pain, palpitations, and shortness of breath. Many people with heart disease are unaware of any symptoms, so some people can suddenly develop symptoms having previously thought they were healthy. Therefore, if you have any symptoms related to the heart, it is highly recommended that a cardiologist examine you. Even if

TechnologyJan. 24, 2013

Women have caught up to men on lung cancer risk

Smoke like a man, die like a man.U.S. women who smoke today have a much greater risk of dying from lung cancer than they did decades ago, partly because they are starting younger and smoking more ― that is, they are lighting up like men, new research shows.Women also have caught up with men in their risk of dying from smoking-related illnesses. Lung cancer risk leveled off in the 1980s for men but is still rising for women.“It’s a massive failure in prevention,” said one study leader, Dr. Michae

TechnologyJan. 24, 2013

New implant technique reduces pain, improves results

A 53-year-old patient was once again on the operating table last month to get another dental implant for his upper right tooth. He found himself trembling with fear when thinking of the past surgeries that caused excruciating pain. But this time, it was different. After only two hours of surgery at S-Plant Dental Hospital in Seoul, the patient felt less pain, bleeding and swelling. He was even able to have dinner on the day of the surgery. All this was possible because Kim received a dental impl

TechnologyJan. 24, 2013

New implant technique reduces pain, improves results

Brokerages’ overseas losses narrow sharply

South Korean securities firms saw their losses at their foreign operations narrow sharply in the first half of fiscal 2012 from a year earlier as they ramped up cost-cutting efforts to weather the persisting global downturn, the financial regulator said Thursday. The combined net loss of 92 foreign units owned by 19 local brokerage houses reached $2.8 million in the March-September period, compared with a $40.9 million net loss the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. T

Jan. 24, 2013

LG Display swings to black in Q4

South Korean panel giant LG Display Co. said Thursday it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, boosted by strong demand for its lucrative products.Net profit reached 319.7 billion won ($299.1 million) in the October-December period, compared with a loss of 6.3 billion won a year earlier, LG Display said in a regulatory filing. Revenue jumped 32.3 percent on-year to 8.7 trillion won in the quarter, while the company posted an operating profit of 587.3 billion won, a sharp t

Jan. 24, 2013