The Korea Herald

Merck introduces 2013 Korean art calendar

Merck Korea unveiled its 2013 calendar featuring South Korean art on Monday. The Korean affiliate of the German-based chemical and pharmaceutical company has been making calendars featuring artworks by a local artist every year since 2009. Next year’s calendar features paintings by artist Kim Ji-hye, who gained prominence through her reconstructive work combining today’s sensibility and aesthetic sense with the traditional way of painting that was commonly seen in the Joseon Dynasty. “Both inno

IndustryNov. 5, 2012

Merck introduces 2013 Korean art calendar

Korea’s innovative role in electronics, chemicals is getting bigger: Dow Corning Korea CEO

Korea’s role is being expanded in the chemical and electronics industries, according to a top official at Dow Corning, a world leader in the silicon-making business. “Many innovations are happening in Korea. There are major R&D centers here, great technologies and manufacturers. Dow Corning identifies several megatrends of the world to focus on, and those are truly matching with the innovations happening in Korea,” Eriko Sakurai, president of Dow Corning Korea and Japan, said in an interview wit

IndustryNov. 5, 2012

Korea’s innovative role in electronics, chemicals is getting bigger: Dow Corning Korea CEO

Price war in the skies

Boasting super cheap tickets to woo thrifty Korean customers, foreign airlines are rushing into the local market to compete with their Korean counterparts. Japanese low-cost carrier Peach Aviation launched here in May with a promotion offering one-way tickets from Incheon to Osaka at 30,000 won ($28), all taxes included. The tickets sold out within 48 hours. AirAsia Japan, a joint venture of Malaysia-based LCC AirAsia and Japanese LCC ANA Japan, also launched here last month with the same strat

IndustryNov. 5, 2012

Certain aroma makes people kinder: study

French researchers found that the scent of fresh baked bread makes people act kinder. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern Brittany, suggest that certain smells can trigger a more positive mood, which leads to a greater degree of altruism in strangers. Eight young men and women volunteered to stand outside either a bakery or a clothing boutique, and then stepped in front of a passing shopper and dropped their belongings. The experiment -- which was repeated about 400

TechnologyNov. 5, 2012

Sitting next to the bed helps baby fall asleep

From around six months infants sleep better if one of the parents sits next to the side of its cot, according to the association of German pediatricians.This "camping out" by one of the parents helps to calm the infant and should continue until the baby falls asleep. Then the parent may quietly leave the room.Another method is referred to as "controlled comforting," according to Monika Niehaus, a German pediatrician. In this case, parents react to a crying baby, but at increasing time intervals.

TechnologyNov. 5, 2012

Sitting next to the bed helps baby fall asleep

Mysterious grid patterns in China’s deserts explained

A mysterious pattern in Western China’s sand dunes was recently found in the satellite images. It seems to be produced by the pinpointing of geographical research for nickel mines. A physicist at Italy’s Polytechnic University of Turin, Amelia Carolina Sparavigna discovered a mysterious grid of dots spanning 8 kilometers. In 2010, Sparavigna started investigating Google Earth satellite images of China’s Taklamakan desert to study the textures carved into the sand dunes by the wind. In the proces

TechnologyNov. 5, 2012

Mysterious grid patterns in China’s deserts explained

S. Korean firms’ hiring to plunge in 2013

South Korea’s job market is expected to report sluggish growth next year due to the prolonged economic slowdown, market watchers said Monday.According to the LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI), a total of 280,000 jobs are expected to be added to the local employment market next year, decreasing 34 percent from this year’s estimated 430,000 jobs.The weaker outlook comes as the central bank slashed its 2013 economic growth estimate by 0.6 percentage points to 3.2 percent following the protract

IndustryNov. 5, 2012

S. Korean firms’ hiring to plunge in 2013

Hyundai, Kia apologize for mileage overstatement

Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister carmaker Kia offered a formal apology Sunday following reports that they have overstated gas mileage on roughly 900,000 vehicles sold over the past two years in the United States.The leading South Korean automakers, however, stressed that the overstatement was unintentional."We sincerely apologize for these errors, and our top priority is to make things right for you," Hyundai and Kia said in a full-page statement carried by the Washington Post.The troubled firms

IndustryNov. 5, 2012

Brokerages fined for bond rate fixing

A total of 20 local brokerages were slapped with a combined fine of 19.2 billion won for fixing the bond yield rates they submitted to the Korea Exchange for repurchasing the bonds put up for sale by the public. Six of the brokerages were referred to the prosecution for further investigation and penalties as they traded the largest volume and were in on the rate fixing scheme from the very beginning, the Fair Trade Commission said on Sunday. The companies also were subject to corrective action a

IndustryNov. 4, 2012

Korea ranks 2nd in ICT business R&D investment

South Korea ranked second among Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development economies in terms of research and development investment in the information, communication and technology businesses, a recent report showed. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Internet Economy Outlook 2012 released on Sunday showed that Korean companies in the ICT sectors invested 1.48 percent of the nation’s GDP in R&D. Asia’s fourth-largest economy came in third after Finland, which

IndustryNov. 4, 2012

Korea ranks 2nd in ICT business R&D investment

Apitherapy could cure Parkinson’s

Bee materials such as honey, royal jelly and bee venom have been useful in oriental medicine.Bee venom, especially, is widely known for being used the most in apitherapy, treating patients with arthritis and multiple sclerosis.Local scientists discovered that such bee material could also effectively treat Parkinson’s disease.A team headed by professor Bae Hyun-su of Kyung Hee University’s College of Oriental Medicine said that bee venom could help boost the immune system against the neurodegener

TechnologyNov. 4, 2012

Corporate mergers jump amid economic slump

Mergers among South Korea’s listed companies have surged this year as a growing number of firms tighten their belts to weather a protracted economic slump, the bourse operator said Sunday.A total of 83 mergers were announced on the country’s main and secondary stock markets in the first 10 months of the year, up 51 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the Korea Exchange.The figure has already topped the 71 merger filings recorded in all of last year.Reasons for mergers inclu

Nov. 4, 2012

Exporters face growing origin verification requests

South Korean exporters are being confronted with growing requests to verify the country of origin on their products as major economies toughen import rules amid a prolonged economic slowdown, the customs office said Sunday.According to the Korea Customs Service, 153 such requests from foreign importers were filed this year, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the total 258 requests submitted between 2008 and 2012.In particular, requests from the European Union more than tripled to 135 cases in t

Nov. 4, 2012

SMEC launches new LTE security solution

SMEC, a South Korean communications solution provider, announced the launch of a new Long-Term Evolution security solution. The SP Series LTE Security Solution provides security for wireless data networks such as LTE, picocell, femtocell, and WiFi. It is a carrier-grade solution based on SMEC’s optimized design technology, built using AdvancedTCA platforms. It is designed to enable operators to protect their core networks from data loss and malicious attacks as they upgrade their 3G mobile netwo

IndustryNov. 4, 2012

Asan Nanum launches internship program for U.N. affiliates

The Asan Nanum Foundation said on Sunday it has launched an internship program for U.N. affiliates by forming a partnership with the United Nations Volunteers, or UNV, headquartered in Bonn, Germany. The ANF signed a memorandum of understanding with the UNV on Saturday to offer Korean youths an internship program for international organizations under the United Nations. UNV is a U.N. organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide. Under the agreements with

Nov. 4, 2012

Asan Nanum launches internship program for U.N. affiliates

Shares likely to rebound this week

South Korean shares may gather ground next week as stimulus hopes build up ahead of impending leadership changes in the U.S. and China, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 1918.72 last week, up 1.4 percent from a week earlier, boosted by improved consumer sentiment in the U.S.Foreign investors purchased a combined net 170 billion won ($155.7 million) worth of shares, while institutional investors purchased a net 130 billion won. Individual investors

Nov. 4, 2012

Hyundai tries to contain mileage fallout

Hyundai Motor Group is making all-out efforts to address a possible backlash for overstating the fuel economy of some 900,000 vehicles it sold in the United States over the past two years. On Friday, Hyundai apologized to customers that “procedural errors” in testing had caused inaccurate mileage estimates that were one to six miles per gallon higher than what Hyundai and Kia brand cars were actually capable of. “Given the importance of fuel efficiency to all of us, we’re extremely sorry about t

IndustryNov. 4, 2012

Korea’s debt holdings near $3tr mark

South Korea’s total debt in the private and public sectors neared the 3,000 trillion won ($2.75 trillion) mark in the second quarter of this year, spawning concerns that high indebtedness will undercut economic growth, data showed Sunday.Combined debt held by the government, companies and households amounted to 296,2 trillion won as of end-June, accounting for 233.8 percent of the nominal gross domestic product, according to data.The ratio of such debt to the GDP stood at 231.1 percent as of the

Nov. 4, 2012

Final parting for LG and GS

Two of Korea’s best known family-owned conglomerates ― LG and GS ― have finally severed their ties for good after more than six decades.Last week, LG group’s corporate trading arm LG International, sold off its remaining 11.97 percent stake in GS Retail worth 287.6 billion won ($250 million). The move comes seven years after the two groups went their separate ways by splitting up the affiliates under the names of LG and GS.LG is led by the Koo family, and GS by the Huhs. “It was widely expected,

IndustryNov. 4, 2012

BMW narrows Mercedes’ lead in U.S.

BMW’s U.S. sales rose 21 percent in October, narrowing the lead of Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz in luxury-auto deliveries this year. Sales for BMW climbed to 26,451 vehicles last month, boosted by a 26 percent gain for its 3-Series. Mercedes yesterday reported a 5.9 percent increase from a year earlier to 23,978, helped by updated versions of the C-Class small sedan. Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus rose 9.7 percent to 19,850.The October results trimmed Mercedes’s lead to 2,748 vehicles, from 5,221 at t

MobilityNov. 4, 2012