The Korea Herald

Diageo begins sales of Smithwick’s ale

Diageo Korea said Sunday it began official sales of Smithwick’s, an Irish red ale with a 300-year tradition.The modern craft beer was launched in Korea for the first time in the Asian market in a bid to rev up sales of premium beers, the company said.Smithwick’s has won seven gold medals from the Monde Selection, a top quality institute that tastes and tests consumer products, for its rich ale flavor and refreshing taste.Unlike lager, which uses only carbonic acid, Smithwick’s uses what is calle

IndustryApril 15, 2012

Samsung to launch new OLED TV at IFA

DUBROVNIK, Croatia ― Samsung Electronics announced Saturday that it would unveil a differently-designed OLED television at the upcoming IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin in August.Michael Zoeller, Samsung’s European marketing director, said that it will showcase an “OLED TV with improved design,” stating that it would be different from the one already shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.“We will show another OLED TV that has a pretty new design concept,” he

IndustryApril 15, 2012

LG to open Silicon Valley R&D center

LG Group said Sunday that it will open a new research and development center within Silicon Valley, California, on Monday, aiming to maximize synergy among its tech affiliates and expand its North American presence. With the new location in the U.S., the group said that it has completed R&D bases in all key markets, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States. According to the group, the LG Technology Center of America will accommodate some 20 researchers

IndustryApril 15, 2012

Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo to share food security info

South Korea, China and Japan agreed Sunday to share information on food security and to enhance their trade of agricultural products.The agreement was made at a trilateral meeting on the southern resort island of Jeju attended by agriculture ministers of the three neighboring Northeast Asia countries, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a statement.Agriculture Minister Suh Kyu-yong and his Chinese and Japanese counterparts agreed to conduct joint studies of agricul

April 15, 2012

Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo to share food security info

Hyundai Motor sets up electronic control system firm

Hyundai Motor Group said Sunday it completed the registration of a newly established electronic control systems company named Hyundai Autron, which will design electronic control software and semiconductors.Hyundai Autron aims to secure its own technologies for designing automotive electric and electronic systems, non-memory semiconductors, software, electromagnetic controllers and telecommunication standardization.Korean carmakers have depended on imports for electronic control systems and auto

IndustryApril 15, 2012

Stocks to hover around 2,000-points this week

South Korean stocks are expected to hover around the psychologically important 2,000-point mark range this week as the market waits on key economic data from the United States and Europe, local analysts said.The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, closed at 2,008.91 on Friday, down 0.99 percent from a week earlier. The numbers represent a 1.12 percent or 22.28 point gain from the previous session. The bourse’s weekly loss reflected weak employment numbers in the United States, concerns over sl

April 15, 2012

Bahk calls for global efforts to tackle soaring oil prices

South Korea’s finance minister has urged members of the Group of Twenty to jointly tackle soaring global crude prices that can hurt economic growth.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Bahk Jae-wan sent letters to finance ministers and central bankers of other G-20 members ahead of an upcoming group meeting scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Washington. In the letters, the policymaker said that in order to settle the current problem, the G-20 must show resolve and secure assurances from o

April 15, 2012

Samsung Electronics to pay 851 billion won in dividends

South Korea’s listed firms will begin paying dividends Monday with Samsung Electronics Co. taking the lead with 851.8 billion won ($751 million), the Korea Securities Depository said Sunday.More than 300 companies will pay 4.8 trillion won ($4.2 billion) of dividends by Friday, the KSD said in a statement.SK Telecom comes second with 678.3 billion won, Hyundai Motor third with 504.7 billion won and SK Innovation fourth with 262.5 billion won.As many as 149 firms listed with the main bourse KOSPI

April 15, 2012

U.S. auditor overseer vows to keep rigorous audit monitoring

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a U.S. auditor overseer, said it will continue to enforce a rigorous monitoring system over audit firms to see whether they are doing their jobs effectively as part of efforts to boost investor protection.Its major responsibility includes imposing disciplinary measures and penalties and issuing alerts if the agency finds a trend of possible malpractice among auditing firms or any companies listed or seeking fund-raising in the U.S. capital market.PC

April 15, 2012

U.S. auditor overseer vows to keep rigorous audit monitoring

Korea needs new strategy to stay ahead of China: ministry

South Korea needs to set up a comprehensive competitive strategy to stay ahead of China in high-end products, the Finance Ministry said Sunday.In a policy review outlining recent developments taking place in the world’s second largest economy, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Chinese products are already competing with South Korean goods in markets around the world.It said Beijing is pushing to produce more value-added products and making inroads into emerging markets, fueling the need

April 15, 2012

Brokerages allowed to handle more foreign exchange services

South Korea’s financial authority said on Sunday it would allow local brokerages to expand their foreign exchange business while sharing more currency data among state-run watchdogs. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said dozens of changes to foreign exchange regulations would come into effect on April 30, striking a balance between deregulation and enhanced market monitoring. Securities houses will be allowed to handle a variety of currency-related services concerning working capital of fund

April 15, 2012

Post-election outlook for finance bills murky

Regulators rush to get lawmakers to work on crucial bills on consumers, savings banks, capital marketFollowing the surprising general election, eyes are now trained on long-delayed financial bills that could have a huge impact on South Korea’s financial sector. Three finance-related bills, among others, attract particularly keen attention: the Financial Consumer Protection Act, the Capital Market Act and the Depositor Protection Act.The bills, if passed, are expected to reshape the country’s fi

April 15, 2012

Post-election outlook for finance bills murky

Lexus sedan to battle BMW 520d, Benz E300

Toyota-Lexus may overtake Volkswagen, Audi to become Korea’s third-largest car importerLexus, the premium brand of Toyota Motor, has launched all-out efforts to regain its once-high share in Korea’s import automobile market.Though Lexus was vying for the No. 1 spot in the import car industry with BMW seven or eight years ago, it yielded its position to other competitors in the wake of the record recall incident in the U.S.The Japanese brand recently slashed the price of the New GS350 sedan by ab

MobilityApril 15, 2012

Lexus sedan to battle BMW 520d, Benz E300

China car sales beat estimates, easing demand concerns

China’s passenger-car sales rose 4.5 percent in March, beating analyst estimates, as dealerships increased discounts to attract buyers amid record fuel prices. Deliveries of passenger automobiles, including multipurpose and sport-utility vehicles, climbed to 1.4 million units last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said today in a statement. Sales were projected to increase 3.9 percent, according to the average estimate of a Bloomberg News survey of eight analysts. The rebo

MobilityApril 15, 2012

Renault set to build cars in China

PARIS (AFP) ― French automaker Renault has signed a preliminary agreement to produce cars in China with domestic partner Dongfeng, a source close to the matter told AFP on Friday.The deal marks “the end of an initial step ahead of an agreement,” the source said, and would provide Renault with its first factory in the world’s biggest car market.Renault, which declined to comment on the information, said last year that it would begin to build cars in China after 2014.The French group has already e

MobilityApril 15, 2012

KLM signs footballer as PR ambassador

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has signed a contract with soccer player to be the new celebrity promoter of the Netherlands’ flag carrier, according to a press release.Lee, who was part of Korea’s national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, is currently playing for the English Premier League side Bolton Wanderers.KLM said that Lee is a frequent user of its airline, which has Korean crew and serves Korean meals when directly connecting between the Netherlands’ main hub Amsterdam Airport S

April 15, 2012

Intelligence and worrying may have co-evolved: study

A recent study by U.S. researchers suggests that intelligence may have co-evolved with worrying, Science Daily reported Thursday. Brain activity during the intellectual process involves depletion of the nutrient choline in the sub-cortical white matter, which is also true of the process of worrying, Dr. Jeremy Coplan from SUNY Downstate Medical center and his colleagues found. This suggests that excessive worrying, which is generally viewed as a negative trait may actually be a beneficial trait

TechnologyApril 15, 2012

Intelligence and worrying may have co-evolved: study

Korea imported no oil, gas from its overseas fields: inspection board

South Korea has imported no oil or natural gas from any of the overseas fields it controls, despite having poured a total of 16 trillion won ($14.1 billion) to secure these assets, the country's audit and inspection agency said Saturday.The Board of Audit and Inspection announced, after reviewing the status of 17 overseas crude and gas production operations up till July 2011, that the country imp

IndustryApril 14, 2012

BOK rate-setting committee seat to be filled after 2-year vacancy

President Lee Myung-bak plans to soon appoint a new member of the Bank of Korea’s monetary policy committee that decides the nation’s key interest rate.The appointment will fill a panel seat that has been left empty for nearly two years. Under the law governing the central bank, the interest rate-setting panel is composed of seven members. But since April 2010, the committee has been led by six members, inviting criticism that the presidential office has been dragging its feet on filling the vac

April 13, 2012

‘Korean economy forecast to grow 3.4% this year’

South Korea’s economic growth is expected to slow to 3.4 percent in 2012 due to a sluggish global economy that may hurt investment and domestic demand, the Asian Development Bank said Friday.The growth forecast for Asia’s fourth-largest economy is lower than Seoul’s official growth projection of 3.7 percent expansion for this year and last year’s 3.6 percent expansion, according to an ADB report.The report analyzed economic conditions of 45 Asian countries.The summary of the report was distribut

April 13, 2012