Samsung Electronics Co. will be fined up to 1 million won ($923) for belatedly reporting last week's fatal hydrofluoric acid gas leak at its chip plant that killed one worker and injured four others, police said Wednesday.   Police said they plan to impose the fine on Samsung and its subcontractor, named STI Service, for violating the Toxic Chemicals Control Act that stipulates the firms to notify the authorities promptly when such an incident breaks out.   Up to 10 liters of diluted hydrofluor

Social Affairs Jan. 30, 2013

President Lee Myung-bak hailed South Korea's first successful launch of a space rocket on Wednesday as the first step toward opening an "era of space science" for the country, his spokesman said.   The launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, better known as "Naro," marked Seoul's third attempt to join the global space club after its two earlier attempts in 2009 and 2010 ended in failures.The rocket blasted off at 4 p.m., reached its target altitude and put a science satellite into orbit.   "

Politics Jan. 30, 2013

The following is a chronology of major events related to South Korea's development of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, which is set to blast off from the country's Naro Space Center later Wednesday.   March 2001 - South Korea joins the Missile Technology Control Regime, an informal international association that oversees the proliferation of unmanned delivery systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction.   August 2002 - South Korea and Russia confirm plans to develop the Korea Spac

Technology Jan. 30, 2013

 Outgoing President Lee Myung-bak is expected to issue a special presidential pardon this week, a senior aide said Sunday, despite opposition from the transition team of his successor Park Geun-hye that it is wrong for an outgoing president to issue pardons for corrupt people.   The justice ministry has recently completed its review of a special pardon proposal and the issue is likely to be tabled at a Cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday, the official told Yonhap News Agency.   "What is left i

Politics Jan. 27, 2013

 South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. sold more than 400 million mobile phones last year, outstripping Nokia Corp. as the world's leading handset vendor, an industry report showed Sunday.   According to the latest report by International Data Corp., Samsung's shipments of smartphones and other handsets jumped 22.7 percent on-year to 407 million in 2012, taking up 23.7 percent of the global cellphone market.   In comparison, last year's top global vendor Nokia saw its sales tumble 19.5

Technology Jan. 27, 2013

South Korea's listed heavy industry companies saw their market capitalization plunge by 34 trillion won ($32 billion) in the last four months, hit by the Japanese yen's rapid descent, industry data showed Sunday.    The combined market cap of local heavy industry firms, including automakers and shipyards, tumbled 19.2 percent to 142.8 trillion won as of last Friday, compared with the 176.8 trillion won tallied on Sept. 17, 2012, the highest number recorded for the second half of last year, accor

Industry Jan. 27, 2013

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his firm intention to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures," state media reported Sunday, a remark seen as referring to a nuclear test.   Kim made the statement in a national defense meeting with top military and party cadres as tensions are running high after Pyongyang threatened to conduct its third nuclear test in response to a U.N. Security Council resolution punishing the regime for its Dec. 12 rocket launch.   The North has

North Korea Jan. 27, 2013

 Singer Rain will break his silence and appear at a military event over the weekend as he seeks to restore his tarnished image after being disciplined for dating a top TV actress during service, military officials said Friday.    The singer, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, was grounded in his unit earlier this month as punishment for dating actress Kim Tae-hee during military service. The 31-year old now serves in a media broadcast unit, which promotes the military, in order to fulfill his mand

Performance Jan. 18, 2013

 Nearly 100 doctors will be scrutinized for allegedly receiving illegal kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies, sources said Friday.   The doctors are accused of accepting money or other kickbacks, known as "rebates," worth more than 3 million won (US$2,840) each, from drug makers in exchange for prescribing their products, prosecution officials and pharmaceutical industry sources said.   Some of them were already notified to appear before prosecutors for questioning, according to the officials

Social Affairs Jan. 18, 2013

기아자동차가 K시리즈에 스포티한 중형세단을 추가할 예정이고 그 모델명은 "K8"이 유력한 것으로 알려졌다. "기아가 이미 납품업체들에 K8생산에 필요한 부품을 요청한 상태이다. 제네시스급의 스포티한 세단인것으로 알고 있다"고 최근 업계 관계자가 코리아 헤럴드에 밝혔다.그는 기아의 첫 럭셔리세단 K9의 판매가 부진한 가운데 K8은 허를 찌르는 마케팅으로 K시리즈 판매에 새로운 돌파구가 될 수도 있을 것이라고 예측했다. "현대가 1995년 아반떼를 처음 출시할 때만해도 소나타와 엑센트의 중간모델이 필요한가에 대한 회의적인 시선이 있었다. 하지만 결과적으로 아반떼는 현대의 베스트셀링카가 됐다"고 그 관계자는 전했다. 정확한 출시 일정 등은 아직 알려지지 않았다. K시리즈는 일요일 현대기아차의 디자인총괄로 임명된 피터슈라이어 사장의 역작으로 현재 K3, K5, K7, K9이 출시된 상태다. (코리아헤럴드 이지윤 기자)Sporty new ’K8’ may spice up Kia's K seri

Podcast Jan. 13, 2013

   The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Sunday that it will reevaluate all of its existing fiscal spending plans from scratch to come up with the necessary funds needed to meet President-elect Park Geun-hye's campaign pledges, sources from the presidential transition team said Sunday.   Park, who takes office as the country's first woman chief executive on Feb. 25, has said she will need 134.5 trillion won(US$127.3 billion) over the next five years to follow through on the various promises

Jan. 13, 2013

  South Korea is expected to try again to launch its space rocket later this month after successfully conducting experiments to check if all systems are working properly, a government source said Sunday.   The official said South Korean and Russian researchers are expected to discuss results of repairs made to the rocket late last year and touch on the present state of the Naro-1 rocket. He added Seoul successfully carried out combustion tests on the kick motor on the locally built second stage

Technology Jan. 13, 2013