AIDS recedes as home-grown funding exceeds international aid

Spending on AIDS by the countries hit hardest by the disease exceeded foreign aid for the first time last year, as developing nations lessened their dependence on rich countries that curbed donations to battle deficits.Low- and middle-income countries have doubled spending on AIDS to $8.6 billion since 2005, compared with international funding for the disease that stalled at $8.2 billion last year, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS, said in its annual report on the epidem

TechnologyNov. 20, 2012

Donga Pharmaceutical under probe for slush fund

The Seoul prosecution service said Tuesday that it was investigating allegations that South Korea's largest drug manufacturer, Donga Pharmaceutical Co., has created slush funds by buying and selling gift cards.Donga Pharmaceutical is suspected of buying tens of million dollars of gift cards by corporate credit cards and resold them to secure cash, prosecution officials said.A gift card is exchanged for cash at a discount at the local black markets.Prosecutors said they were trying to find out th

IndustryNov. 20, 2012

Samsung gets second bite at Apple ITC case

Samsung Electronics has won another chance to convince a U.S. trade agency that Apple Inc.’s flagship products such as the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 have infringed the firm’s patents.The U.S. International Trade Commission announced on Monday that it will review “in its entirety” its initial determination by Judge James Gildea in September that Apple violated none of the four Samsung patents in question.“Having examined the record of this investigation, including the initial determination, the petiti

IndustryNov. 20, 2012

Daewoo wins $239.9 mln deal from Saudi Arabia

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., a major South Korean shipbuilder, said Tuesday that it has won a $239.9 million deal to build industrial tank farms in Saudi Arabia.Under the deal with Sadara Chemical Co., Daewoo E&C will construct chemical storage tanks and other facilities for Saudi Arabia's new tank farms at the Jubail petrochemicals complex on the Persian Gulf coast, the company said in a filing.Sadara Chemical is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical Co. of the United

IndustryNov. 20, 2012

Shares gain on optimism over U.S. fiscal cliff

South Korean stocks closed 0.64 percent higher Tuesday on abated concerns over the U.S. fiscal cliff and improving economic data, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 12.08 points to finish at 1,890.18. Trading volume was light at 367.0 million shares worth 3.62 trillion won ($3.34 billion) with advancers outnumbering decliners 481 to 330. “Political reassurance gave a boost to investor sentiment, though it’s likel

Nov. 20, 2012

Korean economy to grow over 3% next year: JPMorgan

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― The South Korean economy will likely grow more than 3 percent in 2013 from this year amid improving external and internal macro environments, JPMorgan said Tuesday.The U.S. investment bank predicted South Korea’s real gross domestic product will recover to the 3 percent level next year, compared to an estimated 2.3 percent in 2012, with exports to rise and fiscal policy to turn more supportive.“On a quarterly basis, real GDP growth has slowed for three straight quarters

Nov. 20, 2012

Seoul to develop technology to store spent nuke fuel rods

Korea will work to develop indigenous technologies needed to store or process spent nuclear fuel rods, along with its first permanent facility to store spent fuel, the government said Tuesday.The move comes as the Korea Atomic Energy Promotion Council recommended the government start looking for candidate sites for a spent fuel storage facility at least from 2016 for completion of construction in 2024.Currently, spent fuel rods are stored in temporary storage facilities at the country’s nuclear

Nov. 20, 2012

New European Chamber of Commerce opens

A new European Chamber of Commerce in Korea opened in Seoul on Tuesday upon government approval.Promoters of the new organization said the Ministry of Knowledge Economy informed the chamber of its permission on Monday.The ECCK replaces the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea, known as EUCCK, which shut down in September after being slapped with fines and overdue taxes worth 4.5 billion won ($4.2 million).ECCK members said the new organization’s basic role of developing industrial relatio

Nov. 20, 2012

Korea toughens car mileage regulations

The government has decided to reveal the official gas mileage estimates of all vehicles from next year and include a driving resistance test in the individual testing procedures of carmakers, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Tuesday. The ministry unveiled new toughened regulations to better control the discrepancy in the official and actual fuel economy of vehicles marketed here amid confusion following Hyundai Motor Group’s mileage overstatement scandal in the U.S. and Canada. The governm

IndustryNov. 20, 2012

Korea projected to benefit most from three-way FTA

South Korea, China and Japan on Tuesday declared the kickoff of the official negotiations for a trilateral free trade agreement early next year.In Phnom Penh, commerce ministers from the three Asian countries announced the launch of FTA talks, which would create one of the world’s largest economic blocs.Economists say the deal would be comparable to the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement as the collective gross domestic product of the three countries will reach $12 trilli

Nov. 20, 2012

Samsung institute moves to serve group better

Samsung Economic Research Institute appears to be shifting its activities to more exclusively serve its parent group, given the latest changes within the think tank. As Samsung Group’s arm for conducting macro and microeconomic research, SERI, with over 300 employees, ranks as one of Korea’s largest privately run economic think tanks. The institute, however, will no longer be releasing macroeconomic figures, including annual economic growth forecasts, starting next year. It also will discourage

IndustryNov. 20, 2012

Korea’s growth potential halves since 1997 crisis

South Korea’s growth potential has been almost cut in half since the economy survived the Asian financial crisis, data showed Tuesday, sparking concerns over the lack of drivers for future growth.The potential growth rate of Asia’s fourth-largest economy is estimated at an annual 3.7 percent as of this year, compared with 6.1 percent tallied just before the outbreak of the financial turmoil, according to data by the Bank of Korea, Statistics Korea and the Financial Supervisory Service. The figur

Nov. 20, 2012

Asia-Pacific to launch trade pacts amid tensions

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Asia-Pacific nations will launch negotiations for two giant free trade pacts Tuesday that diplomats say may foster warmer ties at a time of deep tensions over multiple territorial rows.China, Japan and South Korea, embroiled in maritime disputes that have frayed diplomatic ties, were due to start talks for a free-trade agreement when their trade ministers met on the sidelines of an Asian summit.Negotiations for a separate Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership involving t

Nov. 20, 2012

Alcohol during pregnancy found to hurt IQ

Moderate drinking by a pregnant woman -- six drinks a week or fewer -- can affect a child‘s IQ, researchers in Britain say. Dr. Ron Gray of the University of Oxford and colleagues at the University of Bristol used data involving more than 4,000 mothers and their children in the Children of the 90s study -- which tracks health and development of the parents and their children over a generation. The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found four genetic variants in alcohol-metabolizing genes

TechnologyNov. 20, 2012