The Korea Herald

Star Wars slowly becoming a reality?

The hoverbike made famous by the “Return of the Jedi” has been recreated and tested by California firm Aerofex, according to news sources. The vehicle is made from two ducted fans facing the ground. Pilots can move it by controlling the angle of these fans with two control sticks and can control the direction of flight by simply leaning in the desired direction.Initial plans to recreate the hoverbike were called off because of the complex control system. However, Aerofex was able to create a sys

TechnologyAug. 22, 2012

New Ebola outbreak reported in DRC

Digital illustration of the ebola virus. (123rf)A new outbreak of the Ebola virus has been reported in Africa, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 10 people are reported to have died of the disease in Orientale province in eastern Congo, CNN reported. Two cases of the disease have been confirmed and 13 are suspected. Orientale borders the area in Uganda where 16 deaths have bee

TechnologyAug. 22, 2012

Samsung secures over 10 pct share of global semiconductor market

Samsung Electronics Co., the world‘s top memory chip maker, extended its share of the global semiconductor market to more than 10 percent in the second quarter of the year, a U.S. market researcher said Tuesday.According to market information provider iSupply, Samsung accounted for 10.1 percent of the global semiconductor market in the April-June period, or US$7.57 billion, to rank second among the world’s major chip makers.It marks the first time that Samsung‘s global market share has topped th

IndustryAug. 22, 2012

Working-level talks held for Northeast Asia FTA

South Korea, China and Japan on Tuesday held their second round of working-level meetings in the Chinese city of Qingdao to discuss launching free trade talks within the year, Seoul's foreign ministry said. During the talks, trade officials from the three countries agreed to continue efforts for arrangements required for the launch of the trilateral free trade negotiations by the year-end, accordi

BusinessAug. 21, 2012

Toyota strives to placate angry consumers

Consumers preparing to file class action suit over fuel efficiencyToyota Motor Corp.’s Korean unit is grappling to block a possible class action suit by a group of consumers arguing that the automaker fabricated the fuel-efficiency figures of some hybrid cars.This comes as some local owners of eco-friendly vehicles from Toyota and Lexus, the premium brand of the Japanese company, are inviting similar complaints on a website for a joint litigation.The angry consumers claim that the “high fuel-ef

IndustryAug. 21, 2012

Toyota strives to placate angry consumers

Production in Gaeseong park rises

Despite little progress in inter-Korean relations, production in North Korea’s Gaeseong Industrial Complex, which houses South Korean factories is increasing, data showed.According to a report released by the Unification Ministry in Seoul, production in the first half of this year in the GIC located in the border city of Gaeseong soared 23 percent from the same period last year.The number of North Korean workers in the industrial park, which amounted to 46,194 in January last year, rose to 51,31

Aug. 21, 2012

Korea’s external debt hits record high in Q2

Korea’s external debt hit a fresh record high in the second quarter as its short-term foreign debt spiked due to increased overseas borrowing by local branches of foreign banks, the central bank said Tuesday.The country’s external debt totaled $418.6 billion as of the end of June, up $6.1 billion from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.Korea’s foreign debt rose for the third straight quarter in the second quarter. The country’s foreign debt surpassed the $400 billion mark for t

Aug. 21, 2012

Watchdog cracks down on food-product price fixing

The nation’s antitrust watchdog has launched a large-scale investigation into whether local food companies were involved in shady deals before recent price hikes of their key products. The Fair Trade Commission picked some processed food items such as instant noodles, canned tuna, beverages and pre-cooked rice, whose prices rose almost simultaneously in recent weeks. “The market dominance of top players is very powerful within the food industry. Considering their price hikes were carried out wit

IndustryAug. 21, 2012

Chinese firms say technology level on par with Korea

About 40 percent of Chinese companies in Korea believe that Chinese technology has enhanced enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Korean technology, according to a survey released on Tuesday.The survey was conducted by the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, which interviewed 502 Chinese companies doing business in Korea and 320 Korean companies doing business in China from July 19 to July 31.The majority, or about 66.6 percent, of Korean firms in China responded that Korean t

Aug. 21, 2012

KT, Intel to test energy-efficient data center

CHEONAN, South Chungcheong Province ― KT and Intel opened a test bed for an energy-efficient data center for the first time in Korea on Tuesday.The nation’s biggest fixed-line service provider said the two firms have worked together since late 2010 to operate a data center that runs at high temperatures to save energy and lower costs.“The data center in Cheonan is the first one to apply this energy-saving technology and the application will be expanded to other data centers operated by KT nation

IndustryAug. 21, 2012

KT, Intel to test energy-efficient data center

Home prices continue to tumble

Morgan Stanley says downswing will continue for six to 12 monthsApartment prices in the Seoul metropolitan area fell to 10 percent below what they were just before the global financial crisis in 2008, signaling a protracted housing market slump, according to government data.Prices of new apartments plunged some 30 percent in four years and housing transactions plummeted as fewer people moved home, said the report from the Land Ministry released on Tuesday.Despite an increase in the overall popul

Aug. 21, 2012

China 10 years from now and Korea’s corporate response

As China speeds up industrial upgrading, Korea will face more competition in all sectorsThe world’s most populous country, China has set expanding domestic demand as a core engine for mid- to long-term economic growth. To facilitate higher consumption, the government is seeking to improve the distribution of wealth. Major initiatives include urbanization, higher worker wages and social welfare improvements. Urbanization and national land development planning are the main factors in the developme

Aug. 21, 2012

China 10 years from now and Korea’s corporate response

Samsung, SKT picked as best employers

Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Telecom Co. have been chosen as the best workplaces among businesses in Korea in a recent survey.The two companies scored top in their respective sectors of manufacturing and service in the survey of 4,204 workers and human resource experts conducted by the Korean Management Association Consulting for three months starting March.Samsung Electronics has come first four years in a row, and SK Telecom for five consecutive years in the annual KMAC survey.In the manufac

IndustryAug. 21, 2012

Coffee chains expand beyond Seoul

Café-saturated capital and regulations push local coffee brands to find new markets overseasKorean coffeehouse chains are eyeing markets overseas as Seoul becomes oversaturated with coffee shops. The number of coffee shops in Korea increased from about 6,000 in 2008 to 9,400 in 2011 according to research conducted by Samsung Economic Research Institute. The research also showed that some 40 percent of stores run by the top five Korean brands ― Caffe Bene, Hollys Coffee, Ediya Coffee, Angel-in-us

IndustryAug. 21, 2012

NASA announces new Mars mission

This image provided by NASA shows an artist rendition of the proposed InSight (Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Lander. (AP-Yonhap News)WASHINGTON (AP) ― After driving all around Mars with four rovers, NASA wants to look deep into the guts of the red planet. The space agency decided Monday to launch a relatively low-cost robotic lander in 2016 to check

TechnologyAug. 21, 2012

Promise of update spurs Diablo 3 resurgence

Diablo 3’s sagging popularity has rebounded dramatically thanks to news of an upcoming major content and gameplay system update slated for Thursday.Blizzard Entertainment, the developer and distributor of Diablo 3, recently announced the 1.0.4 update plan, which is expected to drastically change the overall game system and upgrade its content. After the announcement, GameNote said the popularity rank of Diablo 3 in Korea jumped to 4th place, climbing 16 steps as of the third week of August. Game

TechnologyAug. 21, 2012

Promise of update spurs Diablo 3 resurgence

Dunkin' Donuts sued over racial bias

A chocolate glazed donut and a cup of coffee are arranged for a photograph at a Dunkin' Donuts Inc. store in West Orange, New Jersey, U.S. (Bloomberg)Dunkin' Donuts discriminates against minority owners through unfavorable business locations, a suit filed Monday in New Jersey state court says.The Massachusetts-based Dunkin' Brands operates nearly 7,000 pastry-and-coffee franchises throughout the c

IndustryAug. 21, 2012

Study: College binge drinkers happier

Binge drinking in college is associated with higher status and binge drinkers appear happier than their abstaining peers, U.S. researchers say.Study co-author Carolyn L. Hsu, an associate professor of sociology at Colgate University, and Landon Reid, a former faculty member at Colgate now attending law school at New York University, said students from higher status groups -- wealthy, male, white, heterosexual and Greek-affiliated undergraduates -- were consistently happier with their college soc

TechnologyAug. 21, 2012

Astronomers describe death of planet

(Casey Reed/NASA)An international team of astronomers says they've seen the first evidence of a planet's destruction as its aging star became a red giant at the end of its life."A similar fate may await the inner planets in our solar system, when the sun becomes a red giant and expands all the way out to Earth's orbit some 5 billion years from now," team member Alex Wolszczan, a professor of astro

TechnologyAug. 21, 2012

Chanel wins lawsuit against Korean bar

A small South Korean bar has been ordered to pay damages to Chanel for infringing upon the value held by the French luxury house, court records showed Tuesday.The Seoul Central District Court ordered the local bar, known as the Chanel Business Club, to pay 10 million won (US$8,800) in compensation to Chanel, saying that the bar inflicted damage to the distinctiveness and reputation attached to Cha

IndustryAug. 21, 2012