Current account surplus hits 1-year high in October

South Korea’s current account surplus rose to the highest level in one year in October as exports declined on-month at a slower pace than imports, the central bank said Tuesday.The current account surplus reached $4.23 billion October, up from a revised $2.83 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The October reading marked the largest surplus since $5.49 billion tallied in October last year.The current account

Nov. 29, 2011

Volunteer work highlights KEPCO’s social services

Volunteering has been at the core of Korea Electric Power Corp.’s efforts to fulfill its social responsibility as the nation’s sole supplier of electricity.KEPCO launched its social volunteer corps in May 2004 under the slogan “Light to the World, Love to the Neighbors” for systematic and specialized volunteer services for the underprivileged. About 19,600 KEPCO employees in 272 volunteer groups across the nation take part in a variety of programs for social contribution.The focus of their lates

IndustryNov. 29, 2011

Daelim to upgrade refinery in Philippines

Daelim Industrial Co., Korea’s fifth-largest builder, said Tuesday it recently won a $2 billion contract to upgrade a crude refining plant in the Philippines.Under the deal with Petron Corp., the Southeast Asian country’s largest refiner, Daelim will be in charge of engineering, procurement and construction of the factory in Limay, 150 kilometers southwest of Manila, by early 2014.When completed, the facility will be able to churn out more profitable petrol products by converting heavy distillat

IndustryNov. 29, 2011

Global IT gurus search for Korean partnerships

Top executives of U.S. companies make successive visits for cooperationNovember has been an especially busy month for the local IT industry with a number of IT gurus from the U.S. visiting Korea, intending to devise business plans for next year.The visits started with Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google Inc., who arrived for the second time in Seoul since 2007, followed by Qualcomm chairman Paul Jacobs and Microsoft International’s president Jean-Philippe Courtois later in the month.The government,

TechnologyNov. 29, 2011

Kim nominated to head life insurers’ association

Kim Gyu-bok, a former chairman & CEO of the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, has been nominated as the only candidate for chairman of Korea Life Insurance Association.The 60-year-old, who is expected to replace the current KLIA chairman Lee Woo-chul, will be appointed to the post on Dec. 5, according to the life insurance lobby.Born in 1951 in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Kim graduated from Seoul National University and University of Pennsylvania.He had mostly served in government as a public

Nov. 29, 2011

Hyundai charity to back startup hopefuls

Asan Sharing Foundation, a charity founded by Hyundai Heavy Industries and its affiliates, launched an institution on Tuesday in Seoul to help nurture young entrepreneurs.The institution is the maiden project for the charity, which was set up last month by Hyundai Heavy’s largest stakeholder, Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Grand National Party, and chiefs of the shipbuilder’s affiliates with 500 billion won ($435.8 million). Asan is the pen name of late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung.Lo

IndustryNov. 29, 2011

Hanwha Pharma awarded “Best Family Friendly Management” by gender ministry

Hanwha Pharma Co. was recognized as a “Best Family Friendly Management” company by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Affairs on Nov. 22.The company is the first small to medium-sized pharmaceutical firm to be awarded such an accreditation.The “Best Family Friendly Management” award is given

TechnologyNov. 29, 2011

First CJD death reported in Korea

  (Yonhap News)The Korea Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention on Tuesday confirmed the first death from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease here.Authorities stressed that the strain of the disease was different from variant CJD, which is known to spread to people who eat beef infected with bovine

TechnologyNov. 29, 2011

Kindle sales quadrupled on Black Friday: Amazon

 Online retailing giant Amazon said Monday that sales of its Kindle e-readers and tablets quadrupled on Black Friday over the previous year's annual pre-Christmas national shopping orgy.The company gave no specific data on Kindle sales last Friday, but said its new tablet computer, the Kindle F

TechnologyNov. 29, 2011

Samsung rolls out Galaxy Note

Samsung Electronics rolled out the new smart device Galaxy Note, which has characteristics of both smartphones and tablet PCs, in Seoul on Monday.The local electronics giant also unveiled two other gadgets in its Galaxy series ― the Galaxy Nexus smartphone and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE.The gadgets were previously introduced at global events like the IFA electronics trade show in Berlin, but the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 released here could run on the fourth-generation communicatio

IndustryNov. 28, 2011

Korea braces for electricity shortage

Lee leads drive to avert possible blackouts in winterPresident Lee Myung-bak on Monday stressed the need for public participation in the government’s drive to save electricity as the nation braces for power shortages this winter.He urged Koreans to lower thermostat settings, switch off unneeded lights and install energy-efficient appliances in their homes and offices. “Although the government has drawn up measures to cope with the looming electricity crunch, I’d like to make an urgent request fo

Nov. 28, 2011

Amore Pacific to build new facilities in Shanghai

Amore Pacific on Monday held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new production and research facilities in Shanghai, which the company said will boost its efforts to expand Chinese business. The cosmetics company says it plans to renovate its existing production center, which opened in 2002, and build new facilities on the 92,788 square-meter site in Jiading District, northwestern Shanghai. When construction is completed in March 2013, the facilities will be the largest in China established by a K

IndustryNov. 28, 2011