The Korea Herald

KT, NISA to aid building data center in Brunei

Mobile carrier KT said Thursday that it has signed an agreement with the National Information Society Agency to join a development consulting project to build a state-run National Data Center in Brunei.Through the project, Brunei will be able to establish an information center to hold and process industrial data. The total consulting expenses for building the NDC in the Southeast Asian state amount to about 2.8 billion won ($2.6 million), the mobile carrier said. KT added that the consulting pro

Technology Dec. 20, 2012

Hyundai Hmall slapped with W54.2b tax fine

Home shopping company Hyundai Hmall said on Tuesday that it was slapped with a tax penalty from the National Tax Service for underpayment of sales tax. The fine is worth about 54.2 billion won ($50.5 million), which accounts for about 6.5 percent of the company’s 832.4 billion won in capital. The state-run tax agency imposed the penalty on the company for not following its sales commission tax policy, having paid less tax than other major home shopping firms for the last five years.Hyundai Hmall

Industry Dec. 19, 2012

Tech firms target Christmas shoppers

Electronics companies are eyeing the Christmas shopping season to boost year-end sales. Home electronics firms suggest that an “easy and cozy, yet romantic Christmas” is the new trend for this year’s marketing strategies. People are turning to stylish but performance-oriented items that can make them feel the Christmas atmosphere. As Bang & Olufsen, a high-end TV and musical equipment manufacturer, put it, “Strolling along a street with Christmas decorations can make you feel merry, but having b

Technology Dec. 19, 2012

Carriers brace for heavy election traffic

One day ahead of Wednesday’s presidential election, the nation’s three major mobile carriers stepped up intensive mobile traffic control on Tuesday to prevent possible data traffic surges and cyberterrorism. KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus expect that mobile traffic may be overloaded on election day, as the use of mobile social networking services will likely soar as people use smartphones to check out real-time ballot counts and election results.Their election protection plans include expanding the

Technology Dec. 18, 2012

Homeplus chairman conferred CEO award

Homeplus chairman Lee Seung-han received “2012 Korea’s Excellent Business CEO Award” in a business conference hosted by the Korean Standard Association in Seoul on Tuesday. Lee was presented the award in recognition of his strengths as a business leader in quality management, adherence to shared growth, and supporting corporate social responsibilities, the retailer company said. Upon receiving the honor, Lee said that a corporation needed two things: a business vision based on growth and high ma

Technology Dec. 18, 2012

KT launches business messenger

Mobile carrier KT rolled out “olleh biz talk,” a messenger program specialized for corporate use, on Monday. Combining characteristics of a traditional messenger program and smartphone text-messaging, olleh biz talk provides services including chat, message, fax, phone call, audio and photo message, and group message. Unlike traditional messenger programs, olleh biz talk is accessible both through computers and mobile phones. The contact lists are organized by the company’s structure.The messeng

Technology Dec. 17, 2012

KEB becomes first Korean bank to open branch in Abu Dhabi

Korea Exchange Bank opened a branch in Abu Dhabi, UAE, last week, the first time a Korean financial firm has done so in the Middle Eastern city.The bank said in a statement that the Abu Dhabi branch was an extension of the overseas marketing plans of KEB president and CEO Yun Yong-ro. “KEB Abu Dhabi is expected to play a key role in developing the economy of the UAE and supporting Korean companies to advance into countries with great potential such as (those in) Africa,” said Yun during a speech

Dec. 16, 2012

KEB becomes first Korean bank to open branch in Abu Dhabi

U.S., U.K. oppose Internet supervision

The International Telecoms Union, the United Nations’ agency for information and communications technology, failed to draw consensus on bringing each country’s Internet regulations under the international community’s control. As Internet traffic has far surpassed telephone use, regulatory powers ― including taxation of cross-border cyber traffic, censorship and network neutrality ― have become key issues.The ITU hosted this year’s World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai bet

Technology Dec. 16, 2012

KT chairman Lee joins GSMA board

KT announced Thursday that its chairman Lee Suk-chae would join the 2013-2014 GSMA Board, an association of international mobile operator firms. Scheduled to serve on the 25-member board for two years, Lee plans to strengthen communications among the CEOs of global mobile telecommunications companies and play an active role in the board’s decision making, KT said. South Korean members of the current 2011-2012 GSMA Board include KT president Pyo Hyun-myung and SK Telecom president Ha Sung-min. Ha

Technology Dec. 13, 2012

More 50-60s use smart device than ever

The number of smart device users in their 50s and 60s rapidly increased in 2012 from last year, data showed Thursday.According to research by the Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Internet Security Agency conducted between July 1 and Sept. 15 on some 73,000 participants, the number of owners of smart devices in their 50s increased nearly fivefold in just one year, from 9.5 percent in 2011 to 46.8 percent in 2012. Smart-device users in their 60s steeply increased over the same period

Technology Dec. 13, 2012

Prudential Life Insurance honors CSR legacy

Heart-warming stories about Prudential Life Insurance Co.’s community service tradition trace back to 19th century America. Prudential’s history began with John Fairfield Dryden who created “The Prudential Friendly Society” in 1875 in order to help poorer people. The first U.S. company to make life insurance affordable to the working class, Prudential has supported people shunned by the old social security system ever since.For more active and systematic CSR activities, Prudential Life Insurance

Industry Dec. 12, 2012

Prudential Life Insurance honors CSR legacy

KT may bid to take over Moroccan mobile carrier

Korean mobile carrier KT is considering taking part in bidding for Moroccan mobile carrier Maroc Telecom, according to news reports on Tuesday. Reuters reported that KT may jump into bidding for the 53-percent stake in Maroc Telecom currently held by French conglomerate Vivendi. Citing two people familiar with the situation, the agency reported that the seller, Vivendi, hopes to make about $7.15 billion. But KT officials neither confirmed nor denied the news. “They (decision makers) said ‘no com

Technology Dec. 12, 2012

Koreans lead mobile TV trend: report

Before the advent of TV delivered by Internet broadband, old-fashioned, a-la-carte television was king. In those days, viewers could only choose from limited content, in a limited time and space, on a limited device. But beyond the TVs sitting in living rooms and bedrooms, people now have access to TV content through desktop computers and laptops and even smart devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs.According to ConsumerLab’s annual research in 2012 on TV consumption that was compiled by Er

Technology Dec. 12, 2012

SKC chief gets honorary Ph.D

SKC and SK Telesys chairman Choi Shin-won was conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration from Konkuk University on Wednesday. SKC said that Choi received the recognition for his contributions to raising brand-awareness of SK products and pioneering new major business sectors. Drawing no-imbroglio agreement between the company and its labor union also earned positive review in the business capability assessment from the university, SK Telesys said. In 2003, the chairman created a

Industry Dec. 12, 2012

Mobile carriers battle for edge in iPhone 5 sales

The launch of the iPhone5 on Dec. 7 has sparked a war between mobile carriers KT and SK Telecom, over hegemony in Korea’s Long Term Evolution market. Securing the largest client base is the first priority, the telecommunication firms said, to win a larger share of the smartphone market since the nation introduced LTE. Although reservations for the iPhone5 began before the official launch, not all applicants stuck to their original orders, a KT official said. The first-week iPhone sales will prov

Technology Dec. 11, 2012

Articles by Chung Joo-won