S-Oil Corp. has picked Saudi Aramco’s former global refining coordinator Nasser Al-Mahasher as its new chief executive, Korea’s third-largest refiner said in a regulatory filing. The announcement came after meetings of the Seoul-based company’s shareholders and board of directors on Friday. Aramco, the Middle Eastern country’s state-run oil group, is the largest stakeholder of S-Oil. Al-Mahasher will take office immediately, succeeding Ahmed A. Subaey, who will return to the Dhahran headquarters

IndustryMarch 25, 2012

Electric equipment maker expands R&D spending, ventures into green technologiesFrom electronics to steel to shipbuilding, Korean companies have been ramping up efforts in crafting innovative products and spearheading new technologies to stay ahead of ever-fierce competition at home and abroad.With a surging number of homegrown firms going global, they are striving to diversify business portfolios and customer bases to reinforce revenue streams in the face of economic uncertainties stemming from

IndustryMarch 25, 2012

Free trade pacts with EU, U.S. spark heated competition to offer value for moneyKorean and foreign carmakers are battling to lower vehicle prices amid lackluster domestic consumption.Their drive for lower prices is also sparked by the nation’s free trade agreements with Europe and the U.S., which took effect on July 1, 2011 and March 15, 2012, respectively.Hyundai Motor’s discounts range between 200,000 won ($175) and 1 million won.The nation’s largest carmaker is offering a 1 million won discou

MobilityMarch 25, 2012

Korea’s pension fund aims to emerge as a key player on the global financial market Korea’s National Pension Service is stepping up its efforts to globalize its operations and organization, while expanding its investment portfolio into foreign markets. One of the foremost tasks for the NPS was to hire more professionals who could better manage its burgeoning reserves. As part of globalization efforts at an organizational level, the country’s biggest investor on the financial market increased the

March 25, 2012

The world’s fourth-largest pension fund shifts its focus to alternative assets and foreign markets, up systematic risk managementKorea’s National Pension Service is ratcheting up its steps to strengthen and stabilize its portfolio by increasing its holdings of stocks and alternative investment, and making inroads into foreign markets. The move comes as NPS, the biggest investor in the country’s domestic equity and fixed-income market, is witnessing a rapid expansion of its pension fund reserves

March 25, 2012

LG Chem reaffirmed its partnership with the Kazakhstan government involving its ongoing projects in the Central Asia nation, holding a joint event in Seoul on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit on Sunday.The two sides celebrated the book launch of the Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s biography in the Korean language at a hotel in downtown Seoul, hoping to gain from the president’s “can-do spirit.”“When I met President Nazarbayev in Korea in 2010, he suggested we should build

IndustryMarch 25, 2012

Government seeks to export technology as Thai premier visits sites on SundayIn a sign of emerging from the years-long controversy, Korea’s project to revamp its four major rivers is poised to get a boost as several countries express interest in adopting similar schemes. The multi-billion-dollar program is the centerpiece of the government’s green growth initiative, focusing on enhancing water security, flood control and ecological equilibrium in the basins of the Han, Geum, Yeongsan and Nakdong

March 25, 2012

Rivers refurbishment points to ‘green growth’ successGovernment seeks to export technology as Thai premier visits sites on SundayIn a sign of emerging from the years-long controversy, Korea’s project to revamp its four major rivers is poised to get a boost as several countries express interest in adopting similar schemes. The multi-billion-dollar program is the centerpiece of the government’s green growth initiative, focusing on enhancing water security, flood control and ecological equilibrium

March 25, 2012

Passing over better-known candidates, President Barack Obama nominated global health expert and Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim on Friday to lead the World Bank. It was a surprise pick aimed in part at fending off challenges from developing nations eager to end the U.S. monopoly of the top

March 25, 2012

A piece of an old Russian satellite whizzed by the International Space Station on Saturday, forcing its six-member crew to temporarily take shelter in two Soyuz escape capsules, officials said. The International Space Station (AP-Yonhap News)The incident was the third of its kind in more than a deca

TechnologyMarch 25, 2012

Representatives of power companies, international organizations vow stronger cooperation for nuclear security, safetyMore than 200 nuclear industry leaders from 36 countries agreed to enhance nuclear security and minimize the use of highly enriched uranium on Friday at the Seoul Nuclear Industry Summit.The Seoul NIS, given the theme of “The Role of the Nuclear Industry in Enhancing Nuclear Security and Safety,” was held at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel as an auxiliary event of the Nuclear Sec

IndustryMarch 23, 2012

Kim Jong-shin is president and chief executive of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. since 2007. His second term began in 2010. Born in 1945 in Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, Kim began his career at Korea Electric Power Corp. in 1972 as an engineer with a specialty in nuclear power technology. He held several posts at the state-run enterprise and headed the Korea Western Power between 2004 and 2007.In 2008, he received the Legion of Honor from the French government for his commitment to the nucl

IndustryMarch 23, 2012

Anti-nuclear sentiment grows while government pushes for more reactors, bolsters safetyA string of breakdowns, aging reactors and aftereffects of the Fukushima meltdown have come together to trigger the biggest crisis in Korea’s nuclear industry since its birth.With a parliamentary election less than three weeks away, some opposition candidates are joining forces to call for the scrapping of atomic energy plants. The intensifying political onslaught, emboldened by safety jitters among the public

IndustryMarch 23, 2012