A federal judge and lawyers for the world's two biggest smartphone makers began picking a jury Tuesday to determine how much Samsung Electronics owes Apple for copying vital iPhone and iPad features.The retrial to determine damages is underway in San Jose, California.A previous jury had awarded Apple $1.05 billion after determining 26 Samsung products had infringed six Apple patents. But a judge found the jury miscalculated $400 million in damages for 13 products and ordered a new trial to deter

Technology Nov. 13, 2013

South Korean President Park Geun-hye was to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday with a focus on increasing economic cooperation, such as a Russian-led project to develop a North Korean border port as a gateway for exports.Putin arrived earlier Wednesday on a one-day visit for his second summit with Park. They first met in September on the sidelines of a Group of 20 major economies meeting in Russia's second-largest city of St. Petersburg.Like the September summit, We

Foreign Affairs Nov. 13, 2013

South Korea's jobless rate inched up in October from a month earlier but job creation accelerated, raising hopes that labor market conditions are improving, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 2.8 percent last month, up from 2.7 percent in September.The jobless rate adjusted for inflation remained unchanged at 3 percent over the cited period.Job creation is picking up speed. The number of employed people was 25.54 million in

Nov. 13, 2013

A U.S. decision to relax its own restrictions on beef imports is expected to affect South Korea and other nations with regulations on American beef, a U.S. official said Tuesday."We anticipate these changes could convince other countries to remove any remaining restrictions on U.S. cattle and cattle products," Lyndsay Cole, the official at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), told Yonhap News Agency.In early November, the agency affiliated with the Department of Agriculture (U

Nov. 13, 2013

South and North Korea are unlikely to make headway in the issue of foreign investment in an inter-Korean factory park during their upcoming working-level talks on revising the rules on the zone, a Seoul official said Tuesday.The source, who declined to be identified, said setting a new date for an investor relations (IR) event scheduled for Oct. 31 that was called off is not really on the agenda at talks slated for Wednesday and Thursday."It is not something that we expect to accomplish (this ti

North Korea Nov. 12, 2013

North Korea slammed President Park Geun-hye Tuesday for fueling tensions with provocative anti-Pyongyang remarks made during her recent trip to Europe.The North's Korean Central News Agency, citing a statement issued by an unidentified spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), referred to Park by name and accused her of being a hypocrite and only focused on maintaining a confrontational stance with the DPRK. The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic o

North Korea Nov. 12, 2013

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers finished fourth in the voting for the National League Rookie of the Year award, ballots showed Tuesday.The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), whose members cast votes for the top rookie honors, released the results of the balloting on its website. Ryu, the South Korean left-hander, earned 10 third-place votes for 10 points.Ryu went 14-8 with a 3.00 ERA in 30 starts in his first Major League Baseball season. He struck out 154 and walked 49 in

Baseball Nov. 12, 2013

South Korea's financial watchdog has beefed up its inspections of the four major local banks in an effort to root out alleged irregularities in the banking sector, sources said Tuesday. In a rare move, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has started its probe into Kookmin Bank, Hana Bank, Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank all together in a bid to look into whether they might have been involved in suspected illegal activities."Suspicion over irregularities related to the four banking groups has con

Nov. 12, 2013

South Korean game makers' income from royalties paid by foreign firms rose 19.3 percent in 2012 from a year earlier on the back of popularity of the country's pop culture overseas, data showed Tuesday.Local game makers earned US$680 million from receiving fees on their intellectual property last year, up from $570 million tallied in the previous year, according to the data by the central bank.Such earnings compared with a combined income of $120 million logged by other companies dealing with Kor

Industry Nov. 12, 2013

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on the back of an improved industrial data from China, the country's largest trading partner, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.14 points, or 0.72 percent, to 1,991.44 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics adding 0.98 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor rising 0.61 percent. Top steelmaker POSCO added 0.62 percent.Logistics firms

Nov. 12, 2013