The Korea Herald

Household loans grow by most in 4 months

South Korean banks’ household loans grew by the most in four months in October on a rise in mortgage lending, the central bank said Thursday, complicating the government’s efforts to curb growing household debt.Local banks’ household loans, including home-backed and credit loans, reached 451.8 trillion won ($398 billion) as of the end of October, up 3.2 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The October monthly growth marked the largest expansion since such loans in

Nov. 10, 2011

Alert issued against arterial embolism

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on Thursday issued a warning over arterial embolisms, which have increased 34 percent in the past five years. The U.S. National Library of Medicine defines an arterial embolism as a sudden interruption of blood flow to an organ or body part due to a clot (embolus). The clots often occur in the legs and feet. Some may occur in the brain, causing a stroke, or in the heart, causing a heart attack. Less common sites include the kidneys, intestines,

TechnologyNov. 10, 2011

KCDC warns of humidifier-sterilizers again

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention once again advised people to refrain from using humidifier-sterilizers. The advice was issued after a civic group claimed that 18 people died of a lung disease believed to have been caused by disinfectants in the machines. The authorities asked supermarkets and retailers to recall the products in August, and is issuing the warning again to raise public awareness of the health threat. More information on the relationship between humidifier disi

TechnologyNov. 10, 2011

GE introduces new anesthetic device

GE Healthcare launched Aisys ET Control, an anesthetic device with an upgraded control function. According to the health care equipment maker, anesthetic equipment is controlled by doctors in operating theaters, but the device helps automatically control the amount of drugs inhaled, preventing patients from falling into hypoxia.(baejisook@heraldm.com)

TechnologyNov. 10, 2011

Fatty liver

Fatty liver is a disease where fat, and especially the neutral fat (triglyceride), is accumulated in the liver cells and takes up more than 5 percent of the liver weight. Liver is a chemical factory in human body and plays many different roles including processing fat. And if fat from the food is not properly processed, it can cause fatty liver. Cause and symptomsAlcohol is one of the most well-known causes of fatty liver. Alcohol lowers many metabolic functions of the liver, especially by reduc

TechnologyNov. 10, 2011

Skin transplant gives patients new lease of life

DETROIT ― Adil Siddiqui was reluctant to go out in public because he thought everybody was staring at the patches of white skin on his face.Siddiqui suffers from vitiligo, an autoimmune skin disease that affects about 2 million Americans. The white patches appear when pigment cells, called melanocytes, are attacked and destroyed by the body’s immune system. The reason is a mystery.The white patches, which are called lesions, developed after Siddiqui graduated from Novi High School in 2006.“It’s

TechnologyNov. 10, 2011

Skin transplant gives patients new lease of life

Study stirs debate over transplants for alcoholics

CHICAGO (AP) ― Some gravely ill alcoholics who need a liver transplant shouldn’t have to prove they can stay sober for six months to get one, doctors say in a study that could intensify the debate over whether those who destroy their organs by drinking deserve new ones.In the small French study, the vast majority of the patients who got a liver without the wait stopped drinking after their surgery and were sober years later. The study involved patients who were suffering from alcohol-related hep

TechnologyNov. 10, 2011

Study stirs debate over transplants for alcoholics

Using your lunch break to get in shape

More office workers use free time during their workdays for exerciseIf your hectic work schedule is stressing you out and you cannot squeeze in time for exercise, it might be time to consider taking advantage of your lunch break. More people are now investing their lunch time in exercise, from simply taking a walk to weight training. Kim Ji-hye, a 35-year-old office worker at a financial institution, started to take half hour walks after quickly grabbing lunch.“A sandwich and coffee is fine. My

TechnologyNov. 10, 2011

Private lending market faces major overhaul

Regulator moves to punish lenders for breaching rules on interest ratesA major disruption is expected to hit the private lending market dominated by Japanese firms as Korea’s financial regulators threaten to suspend leading players for violating rules.Amid growing public outcry over the high interest rates charged by private lenders, the initial salvo came on Nov. 6 from the Financial Supervisory Service, which confirmed it was considering suspending major lenders including No. 1 player A&P Fina

Nov. 10, 2011

Private lending market faces major overhaul

Producer price growth sinks to 10-month low

South Korea’s producer prices grew at the slowest clip in 10 months in October as crude oil prices posted more modest gains, which helped offset the local currency’s depreciation to the dollar, the central bank said Thursday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, rose 5.6 percent in October from a year earlier, down slightly from a 5.7 percent on-year gain in September, according to the Bank of Korea.Last month’s data marked the slowest growth since the 5.3 percent g

Nov. 10, 2011

Producer price growth sinks to 10-month low

Gold prices near 7-week high amid Italian woes

Gold prices on both the international and South Korean markets are expected to continue rising as renewed worries on the eurozone, sparked by Italy’s financial woes, prompt investors to scurry for safer assets, data showed Thursday.On Tuesday, the contract for December delivery hit $1,799.2 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, hitting a near seven-week high. The price closed slightly lower on Wednesday but continued to hover near the $1,800 level.Demand for t

Nov. 10, 2011

Earnings

NCsoft’s Q3 net dives 29% on weak overseas salesNCsoft Corp., a leading online game developer in South Korea, said Thursday its third-quarter income plunged 29 percent from a year earlier on lower revenues from overseas markets. Net profit reached 27.88 billion won ($24.92 million) in the July-September period, compared with 39.5 billion won on year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales fell 6 percent on-year to 147.6 billion won in the three months, while operating profit slumped 3

IndustryNov. 10, 2011

Hyundai rush on U.S. demand boosts airline

Hyundai Motor Co.’s race to meet U.S. demand for Elantra and Sonata cars is helping South Korean air-cargo carriers withstand a global freight slump.Korean Air Lines Co., the nation’s biggest carrier, boosted U.S. auto-part shipments 16 percent in the first 10 months as Seoul-based Hyundai and affiliate Kia Motors Corp. ramped up U.S. production because of surging sales. Second-ranked Asiana Airlines Inc. has also seen a pick-up in component shipments that has slowed an overall decline in volume

IndustryNov. 10, 2011

Money supply growth quickens in September

The growth of South Korea’s money supply picked up in September from the previous month as bank lending to companies expanded and the current account surplus widened, the central bank said Thursday.The country’s M2, a narrow measure of the money supply, reached 1,729.5 trillion won ($1.52 trillion) in September, up 4.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.The M2 in September quickened from the 4 percent on-year expansion tallied in August and marked the fastest growth sinc

Nov. 10, 2011

Nation’s first renewable energy compound completed in Busan

The country’s first compound for testing and producing parts and technologies for renewable energy sources was completed on Thursday.Work on the complex in Buan County, North Jeolla Province, began in 2004, and cost 100 billion won ($88 million), the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.The compound is divided into a research and testing complex, industrial complex and a complex for experiencing and learning about related technologies. According to the ministry, three state-run research organizati

Nov. 10, 2011

Samsung donates ‘smart classroom’

Samsung Electronics has established a “smart classroom” and donated it to Nohwa Elementary School on Wando in South Jeolla Province, the company said Thursday.The smart classroom offers an electronic board and dozens of Galaxy Tab 10.1, a tablet PC manufactured by Samsung.The establishment of a smart classroom is part of Samsung’s efforts to boost the learning environment for children living on remote islands in Korea. The digitalized classroom works by connecting students’ Galaxy Tabs and an el

IndustryNov. 10, 2011

NEXON to join venture with China game firm

BUSAN ― NEXON announced Thursday that it will set up a joint venture in Korea with Chinese online game developer Perfect World Co.NGL, an abbreviation of Next Game Life, will be headed by NEXON’s Cho Sung-won and will be given priority when choosing among a pool of the Chinese developer’s games to service, Cho said at a press conference held on the sidelines of G-Star 2011.“NGL will be in charge of localizing the contents of games chosen to release by NEXON along with its operations and customer

IndustryNov. 10, 2011

NEXON to join venture with China game firm

In Myeong-dong, mobile phones replace credit cards

Telecom operators, credit cards, KCC team up to provide mobile payment systemThe nation’s busiest shopping street in Myeong-dong has been designated as a trial zone for near field communication-based mobile payments from Thursday for three months. It is unprecedented in the world, said the Korea Communication Commission’s Choi See-joong during the launching event held at the popular tourist spot in central Seoul. Visitors who have cell phones with a NFC chip will no longer need to carry their cr

IndustryNov. 10, 2011

In Myeong-dong, mobile phones replace credit cards

Korea braces for winter power shortage

The government on Thursday mapped out a set of measures to ensure stable electricity supply for this winter including mandatory usage cuts for large firms and maximum temperature limits for commercial buildings.The package is aimed at coping with demand spikes during the winter months and averting the recurrence of nationwide blackouts that battered Korea in mid-September amid an unseasonable heat wave. Knowledge Economy Vice Minister Kim Jung-gwan said his agency will be struggling to maintain

IndustryNov. 10, 2011

Hyundai, Kia U.S. car sales to top 1m mark this year

U.S. sales of vehicles made by Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. are expected to surpass the 1 million mark for the first time this year, fueled by a surge in consumer demand, the carmakers said Thursday.The two companies, part of the world’s fifth-largest automaker Hyundai Motor Group, said their combined sales in the U.S. market jumped 26 percent on-year to 950,411 units in the first 10 months of this year.Hyundai, South Korea’s largest carmaker, said it sold 545,316 cars in

MobilityNov. 10, 2011