Samsung Group said it promoted Samsung Electronics chief operating officer Lee Jay-yong to vice chairman of the group’s flagship in its yearly personnel reshuffle of group CEOs on Wednesday.The promotion of Lee, the only son of Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee, has widely been predicted in the market amid the ongoing power transition process in the nation’s largest conglomerate. In a statement, the group said the 44-year-old nominee “has made great contributions to the sectors of smartph

IndustryDec. 5, 2012

Card usage, whether credit or debit, is on the rise to replace cash as Korea’s main payment method. It is no longer rare to find people live their daily lives without cash. A recent survey of 1,000 card holders on their preferred payment method, conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency, found that credit cards are the most preferred, followed by debit cards and cash. If credit or debit card usage are combined, 9 out of 10 prefer to pay with plastic. As the nation’s financial authority plans to int

Dec. 5, 2012

Samsung’s heir-apparent Lee Jay-yong has taken the next crucial step toward inheriting the Samsung empire. His promotion to vice chairman of Samsung Electronics was widely expected, as the younger Lee has quickly gone through a number of high-ranking posts in recent years, including the position of president. Explaining the move, a Samsung press release said the junior Lee was “recognized for his leadership in building Samsung into one of the world’s most loved brands and creating shareholder va

IndustryDec. 5, 2012

S-Oil, one of top three oil refineries in Korea, has strengthened socially responsible activities for its sustainable future. S-Oil takes a strategic approach to CSR activities. It developed the integrated CSR program, dubbed the “sunshine sharing campaign,” by adopting sharing as one of its core corporate values. Under the campaign, the company runs three support programs for heroes, the environment and local community.  One major target of the “hero support program” is firefighters who are wil

IndustryDec. 5, 2012

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has been active in meeting with Korean heads of banking, energy and construction businesses to secure more investment to Pakistan during his stay here.The Pakistani president had meetings on Wednesday with leaders of GS Engineering & Construction Corp., Doosan Group, Daelim Industrial Co., KCC Corp. and Sambu Construction Industrial Co. to encourage them to participate in major projects in Pakistan, industry sources said. In a meeting with Doosan Group chairm

Dec. 5, 2012

Richard Hill, chief executive of Standard Chartered Korea and Standard Chartered Bank Korea, was reelected by both firms’ board of directors on Wednesday to serve a second consecutive term as the head of the holding company and the bank.His second three-year term will begin on Dec. 17, SC Bank said.Having started his career in Korea as executive vice president, chief financial officer and head of strategy of SC First Bank in January 2008, Hill became president and CEO of SC Korea and SC Bank Kor

Dec. 5, 2012

Korail, the state-run railroad operator, said Wednesday that its five KTX-Sancheon bullet trains have been in operation without accident for 100 consecutive days as of Dec. 2. The KTX-Sancheon, the successor to the French-made KTX, is the nation’s first high-speed train developed and manufactured with Korea’s own technology. Korail said it plans to present a certificate to the manufacturer, Hyundai Rotem, on Friday for the train’s accident-free record. Korail started operating the first 19 KTX-S

IndustryDec. 5, 2012

As the smartphone has become a necessity regardless of gender, mobile games have successfully pegged the female gaming culture now prevalent among working women. “In the past when online games were dominant, excellent female gamers would be stigmatized as game-addicted hermits,” said NHN Hangame spokesman Hwang Hyun-don, saying that female gamers had unfairly suffered from a negative, androgynous image. “Nowadays, all men and women can play games without damaging their personal image and style.”

TechnologyDec. 5, 2012

One of the most-watched legal decisions in IT history is due in the United States as early as Thursday (local time) when a trial hearing is scheduled to rule on whether Samsung Electronics really did infringe Apple Inc.’s crucial designs for its smart devices and must pay Apple over $1 billion for the damages inflicted. The case has dragged on for over a year, and in August, a California court reached a verdict for Samsung to compensate Apple for patent infringement. Both the amount and implicat

IndustryDec. 5, 2012

You are confronting an opponent in front of you and the opponent has his or her legs apart in a steady stance as shown in the pictures below.Here is how you can quickly overtake the situation with this self-defense technique.1. Cover your face with both hands while lowering your body to level up with the opponent’s lower body. Be careful not to look at the ground, but to look forward to watch the opponent’s movements. If the opponent attacks with the knees or feet, be prepared to immediately def

TechnologyDec. 5, 2012

Recent research from the University of Granada in Spain found that people’s emotions could be detected through thermographs, especially when they lie. The team claimed that when people lie, their nose and the orbit muscles around the eyes show a higher temperature than other parts of the face. The insula (a part of brain that is in charge of consciousness, detection and regulation of body temperature) may have some link to this temperature difference. In addition, the team has discovered that th

TechnologyDec. 5, 2012

Turkish research suggested that men who suffer from serious periodontitis are likely to have erectile dysfunction.The study, published in Journal of Sexual Medicine, selected 80 men from the age of 30 to 40 with erection problems. The control group was composed of 82 men of the same age. Other possible factors such as BMI or income and education level were controlled for. Among those with erectile dysfunction, 53 percent had inflamed gums. Only 23 percent of the control group had dental problems

TechnologyDec. 5, 2012