The Korea Herald

Korea culls 1.3m livestock to combat FMD epidemic

Korea has ordered the culling of 1.34 million livestock since late November to stem its severest foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in history, the government said Monday.The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said quarantine officials ordered the culling of 107,500 heads of cattle, just under 1.23 million pigs and over 3,700 goats and deer on 3,300 farms in the past 40 days.The e

Jan. 10, 2011

Low-cost carriers fare well in 2010

Korea’s low-cost airlines showed improved performances last year thanks to a surge in demand for air travel and expanded routes, industry data showed Monday.The country’s biggest discount carrier Jeju Air Co. posted 158 billion won ($143 million) in sales last year, up 80 percent from a year earlier, data showed. It did not post its operating profit, but its operating loss came to a smaller-than-e

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

Seoul shares decline on Q4 earnings jitters

Korean stocks finished 0.26 percent lower on Monday as investors stepped to the sidelines amid jitters over fourth-quarter corporate earnings and the expiry of options later this week, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 5.39 points to 2,080.81, after setting a fresh record close of 2,086.2 on Friday. Trading volume wa

Jan. 10, 2011

KEB union files injunction to block Hana’s deal with Lone Star

The labor union of Korea Exchange Bank filed a court injunction Monday to block U.S.-based Lone Star Funds’ plan to sell its controlling state in the bank to Hana Financial Group. In its filing with Seoul Central Court, the unionized workers called for KEB executives named by Lone Star, including bank CEO Larry Klane, to suspend the scheduled share selling.Lone Star signed a contract with Hana Fin

Jan. 10, 2011

Eco-friendly crude ship built by Hyundai

Hyundai Heavy Industries has delivered the world’s first crude oil carrier fitted with equipment for treating ballast water, the firm announced Monday. Empty vessels are balanced by ballast water, which is then emptied out when cargo is loaded at ports. This practice can transport non-indigenous organisms to waters across the world, damaging foreign ecosystems.With the International Maritime Organ

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

GS Group to invest W2.2tr, aim for W55tr sales

Energy, retail giant plans to hire 2,800 new employeesGS Group plans to increase its investments 10 percent to more than 2.2 trillion won ($1.9 billion) this year to strengthen its core businesses of energy, retail and construction and expand overseas activities. Korea’s seventh largest business group said on Monday it aims to post 55 trillion won in sales, up 5.7 percent from last year. “While fo

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

GS Group to invest W2.2tr, aim for W55tr sales

Korea to tighten inspection of capital flows

Korea’s financial regulator said it plans to tighten inspections of capital flows this year to improve the soundness of its foreign-currency market.“There are persisting destabilizing factors in the global financial markets following the Group of 20 meeting, such as volatile capital movements and currency wars among major countries,” the Financial Supervisory Service said Monday in an e-mailed sta

Jan. 10, 2011

Multinational drug makers bet on young CEOs

Multinational drug companies are installing young and aggressive leaders to head their Korean operations in an increasingly competitive local market. Ranga Welaratne, 38, was appointed on Jan. 3 as the new head of the Korean branch of Sanofi-Pasteur, Sanofi-Aventis group’s vaccine division, becoming the latest CEO in their 30s to 40s to lead a multinational pharmaceutical firms’ Korean branch. Hav

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

Multinational drug makers bet on young CEOs

Conglomerates sign up for Yeosu Expo facilities

Seven conglomerates including Samsung Group, Hyundai Motors Group, and SK Group signed up to participate in the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu, its organizing committee said.Other participating business groups include LG, Lotte, Posco and GS. The fact that leading local conglomerates decided to participate in the Yeosu Expo shows that expectations for the event are very high, organizers said. The expo i

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

Shinsegae store tops W1tr in turnover

Shinsegae Department Store announced Monday that its Gangnam branch became Korea’s second retail outlet to surpass the threshold of 1 trillion won ($894.1 million) in sales last year. The branch store in southern Seoul registered 1.09 trillion won in revenue, about 18 percent up from 920 billion won in 2009, the company said.Korea’s retail industry is estimated to have grown 7-8 percent in 2010 as

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

Korea Express eyes W2.35tr in sales

Korea Express Co., Korea’s largest logistics firm, said Monday that it is seeking to post 2.35 trillion won ($2.09 billion) in sales this year, up around 10 percent from last year.The company is also targeting an operating income of 157 billion won in 2011.Last year, Korea Express was estimated to have logged an operating income of 130 billion won on sales of 2.16 trillion won.Major shareholders o

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

Samsung to reveal new phones, tablets in Feb.

Electronics bellwether aims to sell 60 million smartphones this yearLAS VEGAS ― Samsung Electronics plans to unveil in February its next generation of smartphones running on an upgraded operating system and a dual core processorThe new phones to be revealed at the Mobile World Congress will run on the Gingerbread operating system ― an upgraded Android platform ― with a super AMOLED plus display fo

Jan. 10, 2011

Samsung to reveal new phones, tablets in Feb.

China's mobile phone users top 850 mln in 2010

HONG KONG -- The number of mobile phone subscribers in China exceeded 850 million last year as more Chinese people began to consider mobile phones everyday necessities, a government report showed Monday. The net addition of Chinese mobile users reached a record high of more than 100 million in 2010 alone, according to the report from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

W790 coffee touches off price war

A fresh price war among coffee vendors looms as a domestic franchised shop began to sell its standard product at close to one-fifth the market price last week.Manoffin, owned by popular local pizza franchise Mr. Pizza Corp., offers Hawaiian Kona coffee, one of the most popular brands here, at 790 won ($0.70) per cup. This price is far lower than its peers from Starbucks, Coffee Bean and other bran

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

Samsung heir supports father’s pledge on change

LAS VEGAS ― Samsung Electronics’ heir apparent Lee Jae-yong on Friday strongly supported his father Lee Kun-hee’s drive for challenge and change. “(Chairman Lee) is someone who is constantly mounts new challenges,” Lee said from Las Vegas where he was attending the Consumer Electronics Show, the largest electronics tradeshow in the world. “Also, the chairman has DNA that makes it unbearable for hi

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

Samsung heir supports father’s pledge on change

Time to get back to basics: LGE chief

Koo pledges to create ‘tougher work culture’LAS VEGAS ― Koo Bon-joon’s distress over his new charge, LG Electronics, was palpable throughout the brisk speech he delivered on the sidelines of the world’s largest electronics fair. “Our basics have been significantly undermined,” Koo, vice chairman of the company, said at a briefing to the Korean press while attending the Consumer Electronics Show. R

IndustryJan. 10, 2011

LG Chem technology not leaked in Renault case

LG Chem Ltd. said on Sunday that its battery technology was not part of information suspected to have been leaked by Renault SA officials. An official at the Korean company said that the three officials at the French carmaker who are accused of leaking Renault's secrets didn't have access to LG Chem's battery technology. "The officials are not involved in the LG Chem-related business and Renault'

IndustryJan. 9, 2011

Korea battles renewed AI, foot-and-mouth

Korea confirmed three new cases of bird flu on Sunday as the outbreak that began last month further hits farmers who are also battling the nation’s worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.The Agriculture Ministry confirmed three new cases of the highly contagious virus at duck farms in the southwestern county of Yeongam, bringing the total number of cases to seven since Dec. 31.At least 396,

Jan. 9, 2011

Korea battles renewed AI, foot-and-mouth

Tablets crowd CES, chasing iPad’s tail

Working with high-speed data network may be key to success in the tablet spaceLAS VEGAS (AP) ― Big tablets and small tablets, white ones and black ones. Cheap ones and expensive ones. Brand names famous and obscure are at the starting line of a race where the iPad is already a speeding dot on the horizon.It’s impossible to walk the floor at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show witho

IndustryJan. 9, 2011

Fed sees slow return to normal jobless rates

Bernanke: 4-5 years to reach normal unemployment; $600b support program still neededWASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sketched a more optimistic view of the economy Friday but said the Fed’s $600 billion bond-buying program is needed because unemployment will likely stay elevated for up to five more years.Bernanke told the Senate Budget Committee that there’s rising evidence

Jan. 9, 2011

Fed sees slow return to normal jobless rates