Most Popular
-
1
Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
-
2
Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
-
3
New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
-
4
Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
-
5
[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
-
6
Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
-
7
Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
-
8
Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
-
9
Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
-
10
KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
-
Pantech CEO offers to resign
Pantech CEO and vice chairman Park Byeong-yeop said Tuesday that he will resign from the top post by the end of this year, citing health issues. “I’ll step down from Pantech management on Dec. 31,” he said in an urgent press conference at the company’s headquarters in northern Seoul. “Over the past five years since the company came under a debt management program, I have worked without holidays and can no longer bear the chronic fatigue.” Pantech and its affiliate have been under a debt reschedu
IndustryDec. 6, 2011
-
Samsung begins full operation of Austin plant
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-biggest semiconductor maker, said Tuesday it has begun full production at its new Austin semiconductor plant earlier than planned, at a time when demand for smartphones and tablet PCs is booming. The company’s new plant in Austin, Texas, reached its target capacity of 40,000 wafers per month in October, a month prior to its initial target, Samsung said in a statement. Samsung produced the first silicon wafer in May on the S2 line in Austin, an automate
IndustryDec. 6, 2011
-
S. Korean workers most vulnerable to unemployment risk in OECD bloc
South Korean workers turned out to be most vulnerable to an economic crisis compared with their counterparts in other OECD countries, due to the country's extraordinarily low levels of unemployment benefits, a report showed Tuesday.Local labor authorities provided unemployed workers with financial a
Dec. 6, 2011
-
Scientists find monster black holes, biggest yet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) _ Scientists have found the biggest black holes known to exist _ each one 10 billion times the size of our sun.A team led by astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, discovered the two gigantic black holes in clusters of elliptical galaxies more than 300 mi
TechnologyDec. 6, 2011
-
Planet in sweet spot of Goldilocks zone for life
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A newly discovered planet is eerily similar to Earth and is sitting outside Earth's solar system in what seems to be the ideal place for life, except for one hitch. It is a bit too big.The planet is smack in the middle of what astronomers call the Goldilocks zone, that hard to fin
TechnologyDec. 6, 2011
-
S. Korean economy grows revised 0.8 pct in Q3
The South Korean economy grew slightly faster than previously estimated in the third quarter on sustained exports, but the growth momentum slowed from three months earlier amid global economic uncertainty, the central bank said Tuesday.Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of ec
Dec. 6, 2011
-
State agency advised to halt lottery sales
The gaming industry’s government supervisor has advised the lottery issuing authority to stop sales of lottery tickets to stem the boom brought on by the launch of pension-style lottery payments in July, officials said Monday. The National Gaming Control Commission has appealed to the Korea Lottery Commission, the lotto-operating agency under the Finance Ministry, to consider halting sales of all tickets out of concern that the government could be seen as instigating gambling. But the KLC will n
Dec. 5, 2011
-
KT acquires video search firm Enswers for W45b
KT Corp. said Monday that it has bought Enswers Inc., a Seoul-based video search technology provider, for 45 billion won ($40 million) to shore up its cloud computing business. The acquisition, one of the largest deals in South Korea’s technology startup history, will help the company release a new multimedia service for purchasing, storing, managing and browsing online video content, KT said in a statement. KT, South Korea’s dominant fixed-line operator and No. 2 mobile carrier, has been seekin
TechnologyDec. 5, 2011
-
Australian water experts look to take page from Korea
A group of young Australian experts in water resources management said they could take a page from Korea’s book to tackle water crises in their country during a visit to Seoul on Sunday.Ten public officials, academics and private experts from Australia are participating in the Next Generation Leaders program hosted by the Australia-Korea Foundation. The two countries set a theme and exchange a team of young professionals over two years to help them develop leadership in the field.This year, the
IndustryDec. 5, 2011
-
KEB union threatens walkout against merger
Unionized workers of Korea Exchange Bank have mapped out a plan for a general strike, calling on Hana Financial Group to scrap its preliminary deal with Lone Star Funds.Their plan comes after Hana Financial signed a revised preliminary deal to take over KEB from Lone Star over the weekend.Despite the two parties’ recent agreement to lower the takeover price, the KEB union said it is against Hana’s move to pay Lone Star huge management premiums.“According to the situation, we could choose to stag
Dec. 5, 2011
-
Bibigo aims to be McDonald’s of bibimbap
CJ’s strategy chief stresses ‘motherly leadership’ at creative companyCJ Group, a local food giant, launched the bibimbap restaurant chain Bibigo in May 2010, targeting global customers from the beginning.Noh Hee-young, a celebrated tastemaker and the strategist behind the brand, believes this will be different from other numerous failed attempts to globalize Korean cuisine.“I have no doubt that Bibigo will become a global brand like McDonald’s within a few years,” the executive director of CJ’s
IndustryDec. 5, 2011
-
Central bank head rules out eurozone support
South Korea’s central bank currently has no plans to tap into its foreign exchange reserves to help the eurozone tackle its debt crisis, the bank’s chief said Monday.“First, it is necessary to watch whether Europe can handle its problems by itself,” Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo told reporters on the sidelines of an international conference, stressing a wait-and-see approach on possible support measures for the debt-mired region.Kim’s remarks come after China announced it will not use its am
Dec. 5, 2011
-
Korean LED lamps to be installed in Vancouver
Korean-made light-emitting diode lamps will illuminate Vancouver next year, as the Canadian city seeks street lights that are brighter and more durable, as well as energy-efficient, officials said Monday.Yuyang DNU, a Korean LED producer, will supply 20 units of 50-watt and 80-watt lights without charge to Vancouver and nearby Langley in southwestern Canada for a test operation, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. The deal is to be signed Wednesday.The two cities plan to in
IndustryDec. 5, 2011
-
Korea’s trade tops $1tr for first time
South Korea’s annual trade volume passed $1 trillion for the first time Monday, making it the ninth country in the world to break the mark. Only the United States, Germany, China, Japan, France, Britain, the Netherlands and Italy have logged an annual trade volume of over $1 trillion so far. Two of them ― Britain and Italy ― failed to maintain it last year.The eight countries account for half of the world’s total trade, and excluding China, they are all advanced economies with per capita income
Dec. 5, 2011
-
Bank loan delinquency ratio rises at fastest pace
South Korean banks’ loan delinquency rate rose at the fastest clip in 15 months in October due mainly to increased defaults by construction firms and shipbuilders, the financial watchdog said Monday.The overall delinquency rate of bank loans to companies and households reached 1.28 percent as of the end of October, up 0.24 percentage points from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The rate is measured based on loans that are overdue for more than one day.The rise
Dec. 5, 2011
-
Listed firms’ interest coverage ability retreats with earnings slipped
South Korean listed firms’ ability to cover their interest costs with earnings slipped in the third quarter of this year from a year ago due to lackluster performances, a report showed Monday. The average interest coverage ratio of 612 firms listed on the local main bourse came to 5.11 times in the July-September period, compared with 6.01 times posted a year earlier, according to the report by the Korea Exchange and the Korea Listed Companies Association. The ratio measures a firm’s operating p
Dec. 5, 2011
-
Cardif Korea offers life insurance with lower cancellation penalty
Cardif Korea, a local insurance unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas, on Monday launched a variable life insurance product with higher returns than industry norms after cancellation, even within a year of contract.“We’re launching i plus VUL through nationwide branches of Shinhan Bank today. The strong point of the product is that it guarantees more flexibility and value to customers by increasing the cash surrender value even if policyholders cancel at an early stage of contract,” the compa
Dec. 5, 2011
-
Foreigners lead high frequency trading
Concerns rise over greater volatility generated by high frequency trading in KoreaForeign investors dominate high frequency trading in the Korean stock market, data showed on Monday, a practice regulators say fuels volatility. According to the report by the Korea Capital Market Institute, which tracked trading patterns of KOSPI 200 futures and options products that matured in December 2010, foreign investors made up 75.6 percent of high frequency traders in the local options market and 98 percen
Dec. 5, 2011
-
Samsung denies collecting Galaxy owners’ data
Samsung Electronics on Monday denied privacy invasion claims after local media reported mobile applications uploaded on the Galaxy S were capable of collecting personal data.“Samsung Electronics doesn’t gather or use our smartphone users’ personal data. We also confirm that all mobile apps provided by Samsung aren’t equipped with the function or code that’s capable of data collection,” the company said in a statement.“The fact that it showed the apps could sneak into our customers’ information w
IndustryDec. 5, 2011
-
8.39 million Koreans pay no income tax: report
Four out of every 10 Korean workers and self-employed residents did not pay taxes on their income last year as a result of increased tax credits and reductions, data showed on Monday.Of the 20.39 million people subject to taxation on their earnings in 2010, 8.39 million, or 41.1 percent, paid no income tax to the government, the National Tax Service said in a report.The figure marked an increase of 270,000 people who are exempt from income taxes from 2009, raising the issue of whether the Korean
Dec. 5, 2011