POSCO, the nation’s top steel giant, launched an English-language corporate blog (globalblog.posco.com) Monday to strengthen two-way communication with global stakeholders, the company said. POSCO developed the English version of Hello POSCO, the first corporate blog run in Korean from September last year, in a bid to update corporate news and activities globally and to open communication with visitors from around the globe. The steel giant also established a corporate page on Linkedin.com, a U.

Industry Jan. 28, 2013

An international consortium, including Korea Gas Corp., or KOGAS, signed a joint exploration and production contact with the Cyprus government to search for gas in three offshore blocks, KOGAS said. “The consortium is composed of KOGAS and Italy’s ENI. KOGAS secures a 20 percent stake in the consortium, while ENI holds the remaining 80 percent stake,” a KOGAS official said Friday. “Operations for gas search on blocks 2, 3, 9 off the east Mediterranean island will be led by ENI for the next three

Industry Jan. 25, 2013

The recent sharp fall in Japanese yen’s value poses a threat to local small and medium exporters to Japan, due in part to a lack of currency hedging strategy, the Korea International Trade Association said Thursday.“SME exporters tend to be more vulnerable to currency fluctuation than conglomerates simply because local SMEs have made little investment in developing a strategy to lower risk caused by currency volatility,” a KITA official said. “Most conglomerates have dozens of personnel who deal

Jan. 24, 2013

LSIS, a leading cable company in Korea, said Wednesday it was selected as a preferred bidder to manufacture a high-voltage direct current system, an advanced electric power transmissions technology, for KEPCO-Alstom Power Electronics System. KEPCO-Alstom Power Electronics System is a joint venture firm between state-run KEPCO and France-based Alstom for electricity-related businesses. The deal will transfer the HVDC technology to LSIS and support the company to tap into the lucrative, high-end e

Jan. 23, 2013

South Korea’s trade policies, including free trade agreements, are expected to undergo a drastic overhaul under the new government as the presidential transition committee has decided to transfer trade issues from the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Strategy and Finance over to the Knowledge Economy Ministry.Under the government reorganization plan, the Knowledge Economy Ministry, currently in charge of policies on industries, will absorb nearly all functions related to trade while the Foreign

Jan. 23, 2013

The nation’s drive to increase electricity generation from renewable energy sources is facing rough sailing as a number of power and utility companies failed to meet their green energy production targets in 2012. The targets were set by the government under a regulation called the renewable portfolio standard, or RPS.RPS, which was introduced in January last year, is an annual renewable energy development quota for state-run and private power and utilities companies with more than 500 megawatts

Jan. 22, 2013

The first reactor of the Uljin nuclear power plant in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, suspended its operations due to a technical malfunction, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power said Thursday. The breakdown in a power measurement instrument in the reactor stopped operations, but the reactor is safe and without signs of radiation leakage, the KHNP said. The 25-year-old first reactor of the Uljin nuclear power plant, which has the power generation capacity of 950 megawatts, has raised safety concerns

Jan. 17, 2013

In response to rising demand for electricity, the government plans to expand the nation’s electricity generation capacity to 110 million kilowatts by 2027, up 37.5 percent from the current 80 million kilowatts, officials said on Wednesday. The officials from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the plan will be included in the upcoming Sixth Basic Plan on Electricity Demand and Supply to be published by the ministry at the end of this month.The report, which has been released every two years s

Jan. 16, 2013