The local office suit developer Hancom purchased the nation’s largest embedded software provider MDS Technology, according to a company statement on Friday.Hancom acquired the software company for 74.5 billion won ($68.9 million) from international venture capital firm STIC Investments, which had bought MDS Technology in August 2010. The company plans to expand its business beyond its conventional office program into embedded software markets. “Considering the expansion of the domestic embedded

Industry March 21, 2014

U.S. retail sales bounced back in February after suffering a steep decline during a bitterly cold January. Shoppers spent more on autos, clothing and furniture.The Commerce Department says seasonally-adjusted retail sales rose 0.3 percent in February. Spending had fallen 0.6 percent in January and 0.3 percent in December.The increase suggests that consumer spending has started to recover after being tempered by snowstorms and freezing temperatures that blanketed much of the country.Auto sales ro

World News March 13, 2014

Local software provider Rsupport signed a deal with Japan’s leading mobile phone operator NTT Docomo to launch a joint entity named “Mobidoors” on March 25, Rsupport said Wednesday. “Rsupport’s specialized services and NTT Docomo’s global business experiences are expected to create synergy in technology, sales and brand power,” said Seo Hyeong-soo, CEO of Rsupport. Through Mobidoors, Rsupport aims to sell its remote operation and support systems for smartphone users to global mobile carriers in

Industry March 13, 2014

Official figures show the unemployment rate in Greece increased to 27.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 as the economy struggled to emerge from a protracted recession.Thursday's figures from the statistics agency showed the jobless rate increasing from 27 percent in the third quarter of 2013 and from 26 percent in the same three months of 2012.Greece, a country of about 10 million people, has 1.36 million people out of work, the figures showed. Young people are the most severely affected,

World News March 13, 2014

An inter-Korean panel on the arbitration of legal disputes discussed details of arbitration procedures and rules at its meeting held on Thursday, the unification ministry said.The meeting at the jointly run factory park in the North's western border city of Kaesong is the first of its kind since 2000 when the rival Koreas adopted a deal on solving legal disputes through arbitration.The two sides had substantial discussions on the arbitration rules to be applied once the panel starts its business

North Korea March 13, 2014

Japanese police have arrested an engineer who allegedly leaked Toshiba trade secrets to South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, reports said Thursday.Yoshitaka Sugita, 52, was taken into custody over allegations that he copied sensitive research data for Toshiba's NAND-type flash memory and handed it to the rival firm, major Japanese media including public broadcaster NHK reported.In 2008, Sugita was working for Toshiba partner SanDisk where he copied the sensitive data about Toshiba's key technology -

Technology March 13, 2014

German automaker Volkswagen is raising its dividend after turbocharged earnings from its Porsche luxury line offset a slip in revenues from mass-market cars.The automaker said Thursday that 2013 operating earnings, which don't count tax and one-time charges, rose slightly to 11.7 billion euros ($16.3 billion) from 11.5 billion euros last year. That was enough for it to raise the dividend to 4 euros per ordinary share, from 3.50 euros.Porsche, maker of the 911 sports car and Cayenne sport-utility

Mobility March 13, 2014

Japan and North Korean government and Red Cross officials will resume talks next week in China, after holding their first meeting since 2012 earlier this month, officials said Thursday.The upcoming talks, scheduled for March 19 and 20 in the northern Chinese city of Shenyang, will draw foreign ministry officials from the two countries as well as senior members of their Red Cross societies.They will discuss on-and-off visits by Japanese nationals to the graves of family members who died in North

North Korea March 13, 2014