Overcoming growing pains for Italian chamber

Many challenges for companies working outside their cultureThe economic crisis in European countries raised the awareness of possible business opportunities in Korea for Italian companies, but still, even with the free trade agreement between Korea and the EU, the divide seems to be as far as both countries are geographically.To build bridges in the business world, the Italian Chamber of Commerce is organizing activities such as trade visits with the hope that companies in both countries will ge

March 5, 2012

New design for The One Impact

KT&G Corp., Korea’s largest tobacco producer, said it plans to release a repackaged version of its The One Impact cigarettes starting Monday. The renewed One Impact, the latest in its six-variety range, comes in sky blue packaging and gives a rich flavor despite lower levels of tar, the Seoul-based manufacturer said. Introduced in March 2011, the product contains 1 milligram of tar and 0.1 milligram of nicotine. It costs 2,500 won ($2.2) per pack. (heeshin@heraldm.com)

IndustryMarch 5, 2012

LG releases 5-inch smartphone Optimus Vu in Korean market

LG Electronics on Monday released the five-inch smartphone Optimus Vu on the local market, which was unveiled first during the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona last week. The company said that the Long Term Evolution device comes with a 5-inch, 4:3 aspect display ratio, which is rare among phones, but widely adopted by PCs, e-Book readers and Apple’s iPad for readability. Another distinctive feature is the “quick memo” button that enables users to take notes with a capacitive stylus or fi

TechnologyMarch 5, 2012

‘Hynix to benefit from market consolidation’

Brokerages draw up positive earnings outlook for the Korean chipmakerHynix Semiconductor, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, is likely to see its earnings improve in step with market consolidation and stronger DRAM prices, analysts said. “As the DRAM industry is going through a phase of restructuring, the prices of DRAM are on the rise, which will help Hynix swing to a profit,” said Song Jong-ho, an analyst at Daewoo Securities. Song predicted that the world’s DRAM market will be recon

March 5, 2012

Maersk benefits from Korea’s economic ascent, e-commerce boom

Chief of Korea unit forecasts up to 6% growth for 2012While spiraling oil prices, falling rates and the oversupply of ships cast a blight over many shipping companies at home and abroad, Maersk Korea Ltd. appears rather bullish. A growing thirst for Korean products around the world, coupled with a global e-commerce boom, is helping keep the world’s largest shipping line afloat amid the industry’s biggest crisis in years. Yet, this drift will only continue in the coming years, the chief of the Da

IndustryMarch 5, 2012

Hana Financial names top figures

Hana Financial Group selected the group’s new president, the No. 2 figure in the group, and its flagship Hana Bank’s CEO, the No. 3 figure.The group’s move comes after its ad hoc committee picked incumbent Hana Bank CEO Kim Jung-tai as the new chairman, the No. 1 post, following its takeover of Korea Exchange Bank.Choe Heung-sik, CEO of Hana Institute of Finance, was nominated as a candidate for group president to replace Kim Jong-yeol, who expressed his intention to resign in January.“I will t

March 5, 2012

Hyundai, Kia, BMW to provide vehicles for nuclear summit

Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors will help support the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, slated for March 26-27.The two companies delivered 262 vehicles, produced for protocol and guard of the global leaders, to the preparation committee for the summit on Monday.The vehicles included the Equus limousine by Hyundai Motor and the Starex van from Kia Motors, which will be used for the figures from more than 50 countries.The automakers will also run a maintenance team of 70 experts fo

March 5, 2012

New teaching software can sense human emotions

Teaching software that recognizes cognitive and emotional states of its users has been developed by U.S. scientists, Science Daily reported Friday. “AutoTutor” is an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) that simulates the teaching and motivational strategies of human tutors. It gauges the students’ knowledge by asking questions and analyzing the answers, proactively identifying and correcting students’ misconceptions. As it interacts with the students, the program senses their frustration or boredo

TechnologyMarch 5, 2012

Korea signs contract to develop three oil fields in UAE, eyes production in 2014

Korea on Monday signed a deal to develop three oil fields in the United Arab Emirates which are expected to produce up to 43,000 barrels of crude oil a day from as early as 2014.A consortium of the Korea National Oil Corporation and GS Energy inked a 30-year contract with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for joint exploration of one offshore and two onshore oil fields, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said. Korea became the fifth country after the United States, Britain, France and Japan to d

IndustryMarch 5, 2012

Mystery light excites British

(123rf image)A mysterious bright light seen by thousands of people in the night sky over northern Britain caused a ruckus this weekend, authorities say.Some observers called police, others quickly hit the Internet to broadcast tweets about what they saw, The Sunday Telegraph reported.“UFO invasion?!

TechnologyMarch 5, 2012

Chinese handset makers on the rise

Korean tech firms admit gap is fast narrowingBARCELONA, Spain ― Amid the absence of the world’s largest smartphone maker Apple, Korea’s Samsung and LG ― the market No. 2 and 3 respectively ― were dominant players during the Mobile World Congress that ended Thursday in Barcelona.But the companies that made a real impression at the industry’s largest trade show this year were Chinese vendors such as ZTE and Huawei.Huawei rebranded itself as a high-end handset maker, touting its quad-core phone Asc

IndustryMarch 4, 2012