The Korea Herald

Banks expand overseas, credit card firms to follow

Credit card issuers are grappling to find a new growth engine in a saturated local financial market by mapping out projects to make inroads into foreign countries.Their movement, however, faces deadlock amid protectionist stances in China and some Southeast Asian countries, officials in the non-banking industry said Thursday.A Lotte Card official stressed that the credit card business is one of the hardest sectors to expand overseas.“Major card firms with excellent products and services have fai

Jan. 10, 2013

Firms’ entertainment spending continues to rise

Companies have increased their spending on entertainment despite the prolonged economic slump. A total sum of 460,614 companies’ annual entertainment spending in 2011 surpassed 8 trillion won ($7.5 billion), according to data from the National Tax Service. The figure is about 9 percent up from in 2010. By sector, finance and insurance spent the most, about 16 times more than that of the farm and fisheries sectors.The NTS added that firms with weak sales generally spent more money on entertainmen

Industry Jan. 6, 2013

Firms’ entertainment spending continues to rise

Shops halt interest-free card installment plans

Big retailers stopped offering sales based on interest-free monthly installments, as a protest against the revised laws which would burden both credit card firms and card settlement membership stores for additional costs. Despite customers’ complaints due to the unexpected halt of the zero-interest installment sales, retail chains including E-mart, online shopping mall G-market, Shinsegae Department Store and other retailers decided to ban the zero-interest installment promotions.The long-standi

Industry Jan. 6, 2013

Korea may attain $30,000 per capita GDP around 2017

Korea may attain the goal of per capita gross domestic product of $30,000 by around 2017, analysts predicted on Thursday. Surpassing the $30,000 mark is widely regarded as a yardstick to determine if a country is advanced. But the analysts said whether the nation will be able to attain the feat depends on sustained economic growth and the pace of the local currency’s gain.Analysis has it that the Korean currency should appreciate about 33 percent to the U.S. dollar from the current level. The In

Jan. 3, 2013

Korea may attain $30,000 per capita GDP around 2017

LG starts sales of world’s first 55-inch OLED television

LG Electronics launched the world’s first 55-inch high-definition television with organic light-emitting diode display, or OLED high-definition television, in Seoul on Wednesday, and began receiving pre-orders.Model 55EM9700 is 4 millimeters thick ― thinner than a smartphone ― and weighs about 10 kilograms. With anti-reflection technology, the contrast stays consistent regardless of the viewing angle or lighting. The device is priced at 11 million won, or about $10,000.In contrast to traditional

Technology Jan. 2, 2013

LG starts sales of world’s first 55-inch OLED television

Nam takes helm of KT Capital

Nam Byung-ho, former general director of KT’s synergy development unit, took office as the head of KT Capital Co. on Wednesday.An affiliate capital firm of KT Group, KT Capital said that Nam was selected in recognition of his rich experience as a finance specialist. A Seoul National University graduate, Nam has served in the public sector since 1994, and built his career in major finance-related government agencies, including the Fair Trade Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service and the F

Technology Jan. 2, 2013

Tech firms battle for OS supremacy

Global tech titans are expected to stage a fierce competition for the dominant operating system for smart devices this year, as Samsung and Microsoft seek to reenter the market with “Tizen” and “Windows 8,” respectively, and Apple and Google are expected to bring forward the launch dates for new products. The world’s bestselling smartphone maker Samsung will launch smartphones with the new operating system “Tizen” in January in Japan, a local report said, citing Samsung officials. OS giant Intel

Technology Jan. 1, 2013

BossPack wins global packaging award

Packaging company BossPack Co. has been selected as next year’s winner of the WorldStar Packaging Award, presented by the World Packaging Organization, for inventing unique water-absorbing package film, the company said on Thursday. To be presented in May at an award ceremony in Australia, the 2013 WorldStar Packaging Award is conferred to globally competing firms that demonstrated innovative packing technologies in seven sectors: electronics, household, pharmaceutical and medical, health and be

Technology Dec. 27, 2012

Water-absorbing vacuum cleaners see success

Vacuum cleaners that can both dust and “wash” the floor have been gaining popularity in online stores, offline home appliance shops and on TV home shopping channels. Demand for hydro vacuum cleaners is ever rising, said chief executive Park Myung-duk of Chung Lim Aqua Co., a manufacturer specializing in cleaning equipment and agents. “The vacuum cleaner market operates on one of the fastest-changing trends both at home and overseas,” Park emphasized. In less than a decade, the global trend of va

Technology Dec. 27, 2012

Water-absorbing vacuum cleaners see success

Sony in talks to sell battery unit

Sony Corp. is in talks to sell its battery business to Japan’s state-backed investment fund, said a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations. Innovation Network Corp. of Japan hasn’t made an offer for the acquisition, said the person, who declined to be identified as the information isn’t public. Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract maker of electronics, has also shown interest in the buyout, the Nikkei newspaper reported Dec. 22. Sony’s Chief Executive O

Technology Dec. 26, 2012

Online music costs to double in 2013

The monthly fee for freely listening to music online is expected to more than double next year.The nation’s largest online music service portal Melon has decided to raise its current 3,000 won monthly plan, which provides unlimited access to listen to its music, to 6,000 won, sources said. The price of Melon’s monthly plan to download up to 150 songs will also rise, from 9,000 won to 15,000 won, according to the sources. LOEN Entertainment Inc., which runs Melon, said on Tuesday that the new rat

Technology Dec. 26, 2012

Air France offers ‘art of French living’

Renowned for its high standard of attentive service, Air France’s business class has evolved along with customers’ changing taste to present the art of French living. From its cabin amenities to its exquisite meal service, the airline company stresses refinement, modernity and comfort in its services. Operating more than 1,500 flights per day, the French carrier launched its new business class seats in 2011 that is now available on flights to more than 25 destinations. Spacious, comfortable and

Dec. 25, 2012

Air France offers ‘art of French living’

Three major mobile carriers slapped with suspension, fines

The Korea Communications Commission decided Monday to slap business suspension penalties and fines on the nation’s three telecoms for having offered excessive subsidies to attract customers.The state telecom regulator agreed on Monday during a general meeting to penalize the three mobile carriers ― SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus ― which gave out more financial subsidies to the customers than entitled by the law, despite the regulator’s continued warnings.Starting from Jan. 7, the business ban will

Industry Dec. 24, 2012

Kakao Talk use triples in 5 months

Kakao, the developer of mobile messenger app “Kakao Talk,” said Sunday that its now 70 million users spend almost triple the time using the app on average as they did five months ago. The average weekly use of Kakao Talk reached 302 minutes, nearly triple the 107 minutes of the first week of July. In other words, Kakao Talk users run the app for about 43 minutes every day on average. The phenomenon indicates that existing Kakao Talk users rely heavily on the app to send mobile messages, Kakao sa

Technology Dec. 23, 2012

Show hosts buttress of TV home shopping

TV home shopping has basked in a sales surge in the nation’s retail industry thanks to its appeal to many Korean shopaholics with its price competitiveness and entertainment quality. The beginning of this prosperous industry and culture followed in the steps of the Western home shopping advertisements that are more informative than entertaining. Even the pioneer show hosts of major Korean home shopping channels still say that, back then, they were not sure why home shoppers would order clothes w

Industry Dec. 21, 2012

Articles by Chung Joo-won