LG refrigerator survives tornado in South Africa

LG Electronics said Tuesday that its refrigerator was strong enough to survive a tornado in Deneysville, South Africa, last month.With the tornado causing one death and 14 injuries, local resident Mark Louw was devastated to see his roof less house and highly damaged car but was surprised to find out his LG-made refrigerator working as usual, said LG officials. He later sent an email to the Korean firm with a picture of the refrigerator attached to the message and applauded the company’s manufac

IndustryJuly 10, 2012

Galaxy S3 picked as top smartphone by Consumer Reports

Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy S3 smartphone has been chosen as the best smartphone by a well-known U.S. magazine in its latest handset survey, industry sources said Tuesday.Consumer Reports recommended the Galaxy sequel as the best smartphone pick for subscribers of three major mobile carriers in the United States. The smartphone received the top scores in the categories of voice calls, usability, messaging and others.The Galaxy S3 rolled out by AT&T Inc. received the highest score among smar

July 10, 2012

Mirae Asset launches joint venture in China

Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group Co. said Tuesday it has launched a joint venture with two Chinese counterparts as part of an effort to expand its asset management business in Asia. Mirae Asset owns 25 percent of Mirae Asset Huachen Fund Management Co. with Chinese Huachen Trust Co. and Tiantu Capital Co. owning 40 percent and 35 percent, respectively.The joint venture was established with an initial capital of 200 million yuan ($31.4 million).The joint firm will offer various mutual funds to

IndustryJuly 10, 2012

BOK faces mounting pressure to reduce key interest rate

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Korea’s central bank is facing mounting pressure to ease its monetary policy as the global economy continues to struggle, several investment banks said Tuesday.“A potential downward revision to growth forecasts by the Bank of Korea would strengthen the case for monetary easing,” said Ronald Man, economist at HSBC. To sustain the country’s growth, Seoul policymakers must do more to support domestic demand, since international trade, which has traditionally fueled the eco

July 10, 2012

Korean brokerages’ foreign units see losses widen in 2011

Korean securities firms saw losses at their foreign operations widen in fiscal 2011 from a year earlier, due mainly to increased deficits in their Hong Kong businesses amid worsening offshore market conditions, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The 93 foreign units of 19 local brokerages saw their combined net loss reach $93.8 million during the year that ends on March 31 2012, compared with a loss of $62.6 million a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The firms clo

July 10, 2012

IT exports shrink 5.2% in first half

Korea’s exports of information technology products sank 5.2 percent on-year during the first half of the year, mainly due to weak demand from European consumers gripped by protracted eurozone debt problems, data showed Tuesday.The country shipped $73.27 billion worth of IT products during the January-June period, down from $77.32 billion a year earlier, according to the data released by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.During the same period, South Korea also saw its IT imports drop 6.5 percent

TechnologyJuly 10, 2012

Eurozone crisis to weigh down on industrial conditions in H2: KCCI

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced Tuesday that industrial conditions will worsen in the latter half of this year due to the economic crisis occurring in the eurozone.In research conducted with 11 different organizations, the second-half forecast for the information and telecommunications and machinery sectors is on the bright side with a slightly mixed outlook for semiconductor, automobile and petrochemical businesses.But outlooks for the steel, oil refinery, clothing and cons

IndustryJuly 10, 2012

KEPCO proposes 10.7% hike in electricity charges

The board of directors of Korea Electric Power Corp. agreed to propose a 10.7 percent increase in electricity charges to the government, the state-run energy supplier said on Tuesday. KEPCO insisted that the proposal is inevitable to stabilize living costs and meet rising production costs. “Electricity is a precious shared resource that is produced at only 40 percent efficiency from 100 percent imported carbon-emitting energy sources, such as oil, coal and liquefied natural gas,” said Lee Gi-pyo

July 10, 2012

Seoul shares down 0.36 percent on eurozone woes

South Korean stocks closed 0.36 percent lower on Tuesday as investors' sentiment was undermined by fruitless European meetings and pessimistic Chinese economic data, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 6.68 points to 1,829.45. Trading volume was light at 363.9 million shares worth 3.3 trillion won ($2.89 billio

July 10, 2012

‘Irreplaceable’ dinosaur fossil destroyed

An “irreplaceable” dinosaur fossil destroyed at a dig in western Canada is the fourth fossil to be damaged in the last two months, a paleontologist says.The skeleton of a duck-billed Hadrosaur was discovered in Alberta June 15 by paleontologist Phil Bell and a team from the University of Alberta, CBC News reported.At that time, the fossil was partially uncovered by the team and then reburied so it could be removed from the site in mid-July.When Bell visited the site Thursday, he discovered the 3

TechnologyJuly 10, 2012

13 South Korean companies on Fortune’s Global 500

Thirteen South Korean companies made the ranks of Fortune Magazine’s Global 500 list on Monday. According to the magazine’s online edition, Samsung Electronics Co. was ranked 20th in terms of sales in 2011. SK Holdings, which was 82nd in 2011, climbed to 65th this year. However, Hyundai Motor Co. slid from 55th to 117th.Samsung Electronics Co. was also 32nd on the Most Profitable list, which was first place among South Korean corporations.Royal Dutch Shell, the Netherlands-based energy company,

July 10, 2012

Math anxiety higher in girls than in boys?

More girls than boys are likely to experience math anxiety that may hurt their classroom performance in the subject, British researchers say.High math anxiety was a stronger predictor of poor test performance for girls than for boys, researchers from Cambridge and Oxford Universities said -- and could keep girls from persisting with their math education and pursuing careers that require quantitati

TechnologyJuly 10, 2012

Sitting less may extend American lives: study

American adults may boost their life expectancy by two years by sitting for fewer than three hours a day, researchers said Tuesday, while admitting this was a tough task.Reducing television viewing to under two hours a day could similarly add1.4 years, the U.S. team said in a paper in the online journal BMJ Open.A recent study found that U.S. adults spend about 7.7 hours per day engaged in "sedent

TechnologyJuly 10, 2012

Seoul shares open higher on foreign buying

South Korean stocks started higher on Tuesday as foreign investors scooped up shares of local heavyweights, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.02 points, or 0.22 percent, to 1,840.15 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed 0.36 percent and its smaller rival LG Electronics rose 0.33 percent.Shipbuilders also lent sup

July 10, 2012