The Korea Herald

Malaysia: Abductors want $11.3M for Chinese woman

Gunmen have demanded a ransom of 500 million pesos ($11.3 million) for the release of a Chinese tourist abducted last week from a Malaysian resort off Borneo island, a Malaysian minister said Thursday.The gunmen, believed to be Abu Sayyaf militants, kidnapped a 28-year-old Shanghai woman and a 40-year-old Filipino woman from the Singamata Reef Resort in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah on April 2.Philippine authorities believe the women were taken to the island township of Simunul in Tawi-Ta

World News April 10, 2014

Japan consumers shun luxury goods after tax hike

Japanese consumers are keeping their wallets firmly closed after the first sales tax rise in 17 years, with luxury items and appliances suffering as one major department store reported a 25 percent drop in sales.The precipitous plunge comes after millions of shoppers made a last-minute dash to stores before the national levy rose to 8.0 percent from 5.0 percent on April 1, a rise that sparked fears of a drop in consumer spending in turn derailing Japan's nascent economic recovery.Like many retai

World Business April 10, 2014

India offers visa on arrival for S. Korean tourists

India will offer visa-on-arrival (VOA) to South Korean tourists at its major airports for their convenience starting from next week, its embassy in Seoul said Thursday.The decision was made during South Korean President Park Geun-hye's state visit to India in January to improve ties between the two nations, the Indian embassy said. Korean visitors will be able to apply for a single entry tourist visa available for one month on arrival at eight airports for a fee of US$60 or the equivalent amount

Foreign Affairs April 10, 2014

Ex-MLB closer Kim Byung-hyun traded to hometown club in KBO

Former Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Kim Byung-hyun was traded to his hometown club in the top South Korean league on Thursday.The Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) shipped the 35-year-old submarine pitcher to the Kia Tigers, in exchange for 23-year-old left-hander Kim Young-gwang.The Tigers are based in Gwangju, a metropolitan city about 330 kilometers south of Seoul. Kim was born and raised in the city, before entering a college in Seoul and signing with the Arizona

Baseball April 10, 2014

SMEC displays new machinery tools in Seoul

SMEC, a local machinery and communications network provider, is scheduled to attend a machine tool show in Seoul to unveil its new products. The Seoul International Machine Tool Show, one of four global machine tool shows, opened Wednesday. The event is expected to draw 800 companies from 30 nations, along with more than 90,000 visitors. At the show, SMEC plans to unveil various new products including its 5-axis machining center for high precision and high productivity, and 9-axis multitasking m

Industry April 9, 2014

Samsung Electronics to see slight dip in profit

Samsung Electronics is expected to post a slight dip in profit in the first quarter of this year. The company said Tuesday its operating profit was estimated to be 8.4 trillion won ($7.9 billion), a drop of 4 percent from a year earlier, while its sales forecast remains flat at 53 trillion won. The decline is due largely to lackluster smartphone sales, which are expected to bring the electronics giant 6 trillion won in operating profit, a decline from 6.5 trillion won from a year earlier despite

Industry April 8, 2014

Samsung Electronics to see slight dip in profit

국내 디스플레이 업체 애플 iTV용 샘플 패널 개발

6일 업계에 따르면 국내 한 디스플레이 업체가 애플 iTV를 위한 샘플 패널을 개발 중이며, 올해 하반기에 출시될 것으로 알려진 애플 iTV는 내년에 양산 될 전망이다. IBK증권의 이승우 연구원에 따르면, 현재 이 업체는 애플 iTV용 65인치 OLED 패널을 제작 중이며, 해당 패널은 테스트용으로 채택 여부는 확실하지 않다고 전했다. 익명을 요구한 다른 업계 관계자는 “애플 iTV는 올해 하반기 65인치, 77인치 LCD 패널로 2백만 대를 생산할 계획이었지만, 지난 10월 애플이 해당 업체에 방문해서 양산계획을 내년으로 연기했다”고 전했다. 지연된 이유에 대해 애플 TV의 콘텐츠 수급뿐만 아니라, 애플이 OLED 패널 생산을 고려하고 있기 때문이라고 전했다. “재팬 디스플레이와 샤프의 OLED TV 양산 능력이 아직 부족해서, 국내 업체가 수급하게 될 것”이라고 이 관계자는 밝혔다. 신한투자증권의 소현철 연구원은 “현재까지는 OLED TV의

한국어판 April 6, 2014

Samsung steps up home appliance marketing

Samsung is ready to join the world’s largest furniture expo ― armed with home appliances, not smartphones ― to seek fresh profit sources amid the slowing growth of its smartphone sales.Samsung Electronics is scheduled to join the Milan Furniture Fair in Italy, which opens next Tuesday, to unveil its new smart home appliances including washing machines, televisions and refrigerators. Its CEO Yoon Boo-keun is also expected to attend the event. This is the first time for Samsung to display its home

Industry April 4, 2014

Samsung steps up home appliance marketing

Samsung pushes for major restructuring

Samsung Group has pushed forward with internal restructuring of its key petrochemical units to boost competitiveness and efficiency, with the market expecting more deals involving Korea’s largest conglomerate.The latest Samsung General Chemicals’ acquisition of Samsung Petrochemical was seen as part of chairman Lee Kun-hee’s succession process for his three children.This merger, which was announced on Thursday, is said to be for the sake of Lee’s daughter Lee Boo-jin, in the view of market obser

Industry April 3, 2014

[Newsmaker] Samsung-Apple battle enters second round

The second round of a raging patent war between the world’s top two technology companies, Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc., resumed in a U.S. court in California on Monday. This time, Google’s Android mobile operation system has come into the spotlight, with a celebrated former Google executive ― Andy Rubin, who oversaw the development of the Android operating system ― expected to step up as a witness for both Samsung and Apple.What a coincidence. Two battling companies calling in the same wit

Industry April 1, 2014

[Newsmaker] Samsung-Apple battle enters second round

SK Telecom sees little sales boost from Galaxy S5

SK Telecom failed to see a significant rise in mobile-service subscribers through Samsung Electronics’ new smartphone Galaxy S5 despite pushing for an early roll-out.As the nation’s largest mobile carrier is due to begin a business suspension on April 5 for doling out excessive handset subsidies, the company reportedly pushed Samsung to move up the release date to March 27 from the initial launch on April 11. However, the launch of the Galaxy S5 did not seem to positively affect sales. The numbe

Industry March 30, 2014

Korea may see first disaster relief robot

The chief executive of Korean robot company Robotis hopes his firm will develop the nation’s first humanoid robot capable of disaster relief operations. And THOR-MANG, the Tactical Hazardous Operations Robot, is his biggest hope. The humanoid robot took part in the U.S Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Robotics Challenge in December 2013 as part of a collaboration between Robotis and Virginia Tech, the University of Pennsylvania and Harris Corporation, coming ninth in the semifinals. T

Industry March 27, 2014

Korea may see first disaster relief robot

KT offers big benefits

KT, the nation’s second-largest telecom company, is providing diverse telecommunications services at a discounted price for its users to better enjoy KT’s Internet and voice call services. KT said for two months starting in March it will offer free Internet data and a smart set-top box for those who subscribe to “Olleh Internet” and “Olleh TV.”Customers who sign on for a three-year contract with Olleh Internet will automatically receive a three-month free Internet trial service. Those who sign u

Industry March 27, 2014

LG unveils rapid-cooling air conditioner, dehumidifier

LG Electronics on Tuesday unveiled its latest Whisen air conditioner and a dehumidifier to showcase the most up-to-date technology in home appliances.At a press event, LG said the air-conditioning speed of its new Whisen Victory is 20 percent faster than the previous products. The product also has an Ice-cool Power function, which quickly lowers room temperature with winds that are colder than existing models.Ice-cool Power also puts the new Whisen’s air-conditioning speed at 65 percent faster t

Industry March 25, 2014

LG unveils rapid-cooling air conditioner, dehumidifier

LG to commercialize glasses-free 3-D TV

LG Electronics, the world’s No. 2 TV maker, is expected to mass produce glasses-free 3-D TVs by 2017, much later than the government’s initial commercialization plan. “It will take at least three years, given the current level of technology,” said Bang Young-woon, the head of LG Electronics’ TV products and planning division after a UHD conference last Thursday. He added that the glasses-free 3-D TVs on the market cannot be called fully glasses-free as they offer 3-D vision only when viewed stra

Industry March 24, 2014

Articles by Shin Ji-hye