Among a total 7.54 million tax payers in South Korea, 8.3 percent earned over 80 million won (about $73,000) per year and most of them work at local conglomerates or foreign companies, according to Payopen (www.payopen.co.kr), an annual salary website. According to the website’s analysis of a report on the 2011 national tax statistics released by the National Tax Service, the average annual income of high-paid workers was 119 million won. Among foreign companies, those in the finance, electrics,

June 4, 2012

First came Miami: the case of a naked man eating most of another man's face. Then Maryland, a college student telling police he killed a man, then ate his heart and part of his brain.It was different in New Jersey, where a man stabbed himself 50 times and threw bits of his own intestines at police. They pepper-sprayed him, but he was not easily subdued.He was, people started saying, acting like a

TechnologyJune 4, 2012

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves shrank in May from a record high reached in the previous month as a weaker euro and a softer British pound reduced the conversion value of non-dollar assets, the central bank said Monday.The country’s foreign reserves reached $310.87 billion at the end of last month, down $5.97 billion from April, according to the Bank of Korea. In April, the country’s foreign reserves reached an all-time-high of $316.84 billion.Asia’s fourth-largest economy first saw its

June 4, 2012

Among a total 7.54 million tax payers in South Korea, 8.3 percent earned over 80 million won (about $73,000) per year and most of them work at local conglomerates or foreign companies, according to Payopen (www.payopen.co.kr), an annual salary website. According to the website’s analysis of a report on the 2011 national tax statistics released by the National Tax Service, the average annual income of high-paid workers was 119 million won. Among foreign companies, those in the finance, electrics,

June 4, 2012

South Korean stocks fell sharply Monday, following last week's disappointing economic data from the United States and China, analysts said.The benchmark KOSPI dropped 2.60 percent, or 47.63 points, to 1,786.88 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics dived 2.84 percent, with top automaker Hyundai Motor also plunging 2.52 percent.The local currency was trading at 1,1

June 4, 2012

South Korea plans to use various state-run funds to help stimulate its economy that has been affected by the general global slowdown this year, a top economic policymaker has said.In a meeting with reporters over the weekend, Minister of Strategy and Finance Bahk Jae-wan said the country has made headway toward economic stability in the past year, but there is a need to fuel vitality and growth.He

June 4, 2012

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves shrank in May from a record high reached in the previous month as a weaker euro and a softer British pound reduced the conversion value of non-dollar assets, the central bank said Monday.The country's foreign reserves reached US$310.87 billion at the end of last month, down $5.97 billion from April, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). In April, the country

June 4, 2012

Despite two previous failures, Korea is gearing up to launch the country’s first rocket from its own territory in October, a top government official confirmed.Minister of Education, Science and Technology Lee Ju-ho said on Friday that the first stage of the KSLV-1 launch vehicle has been completed and will be delivered from Russia to Korea before the end of August. Lee made the comment after visiting Russia’s Khrunichev Space Center in Moscow, which designed and assembled the lower part of the s

TechnologyJune 3, 2012

The world needs a green transition. That is crucial to our children’s and grandchildren’s welfare and well-being. In 2030, the world will have 3 billion more middle-class consumers than today, which will put massive pressure on the Earth’s resources and place serious strain on the climate and environment. There is no way around a new growth strategy. We need a smart new growth strategy where we create jobs through commercial solutions to the Earth’s resource problems. Smart growth can only be cr

TechnologyJune 3, 2012

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korean plasticware maker Lock & Lock Co. aims to set up 1,000 franchise stores in China by 2015 as it continues to expand in the world’s No. 2 economy, company officials said Friday.Lock & Lock plans to boost the number of its Chinese franchise stores by 50-fold in three years from the current 20, the officials said. The number is expected to reach 100 by the end of this year.Sales in China have recently made up 45 percent of the South Korean firm’s total revenue.

June 3, 2012

YEOSU (Yonhap News) ― More than 1 million people have so far flocked to the World Expo in South Korea’s southern coastal city of Yeosu, organizers said Sunday.The Yeosu Expo has attracted 1.03 million people as of Saturday since the 93-day fair opened on May 12, the organizers said.If the current trend continues, the visitor turnout is expected to reach about 5 million, only about half of what South Korea had hoped to attract.The organizers hope that vacationers and school students will visit th

June 3, 2012

Foreign language institutes for precollegiate students have eclipsed those for adults in sales, as many of them franchised themselves, a report by a think tank affiliated with KB Financial Group showed.Revenue of foreign language hagwon for preschoolers, elementary, middle and high school students such as Cheongdahm Learning, JLS and Avalon, increased 22.4 percent on average annually from 137.5 billion won in 2006 to 378.6 billion won last year, according to the industry analysis.This contrasts

IndustryJune 3, 2012