The Korea Herald

Hyundai Veloster picks up where Sonata left off

TransportSept 25, 2011

Hyundai Motor Co.’s bet on edgier styling to distinguish its vehicles from competitors has paid off with two straight years of record U.S. sales. Building on those gains is about to get tougher. Emboldened by the success of cars such as the Elantra and Sonata that helped lure customers from Toyota M
Ford vows to revamp ‘beefy’ image in Asia

TransportSept 25, 2011

Ford, the world’s fifth-largest carmaker, is set for a major image makeover aimed at burying the brand’s beefy, gas-guzzling image as it tries to lure smart, fuel-conscious consumers in Asia, said Andrew Frick, vice president for Ford Export and Growth Operations.“I think perception of Ford here is
Groupon says sales half earlier figure, loses COO

World BusinessSept 25, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Groupon Inc. chopped its stated revenue by more than half in an updated SEC filing Friday as it corrected the way it accounts for money it receives selling coupons. The online deal site also said that its chief operating officer, Margo Georgiadis, has gone back to Google, where
UBS CEO resigns over rogue trading loss

World BusinessSept 25, 2011

Gruebel resigns over $2.3b rogue trading loss; bank to restructure investment unitGENEVA (AP) ― UBS chief executive Oswald Gruebel has resigned over a $2.3 billion loss caused by rogue trading at its investment division, which is to be restructured now to prevent similar incidents in future, the Swi
Rev. Moon Ik-hwan’s wife dies

PeopleSept 25, 2011

Late Rev. Moon Ik-hwan’s wife Park Yong-gil died on Sunday of a chronic illness. She was 93. Born in Suan-gun in Hwanghae Province, Park from a theological school in Yokohama, Japan. She married Rev. Moon in 1994 and with her husband suppoted in the pro-democracy movement. Park Yong-gilShe cal
Author of legendary English textbook dies

PeopleSept 25, 2011

Song Sung-moon, the author of the Sung Moon Comprehensive English Grammar book, so called “the bible of English grammar,” died from liver cancer last Thursday (Sept. 22) at the age of 80. The book has been a steady seller since it was published in 1967 and sold over 10 million copies in over 40 year
Rain completes last concert tour before his military service begins

MusicSept 25, 2011

Rain on Sunday finished his last nation-wide concert tour ahead of entering military service on Oct. 11.The last set of concerts, titled “Rain the Best Show,” was held at the Gymnastics Stadium in Olympic Park, Seoul on Saturday and Sunday, each attracting more than 10,000 fans.Prior to the Seoul co
[Editorial] Trade currency settlement

EditorialSept 25, 2011

In May, the finance ministers of Korea, China and Japan agreed to study the feasibility of using their own currencies to settle transactions among the three countries. The agreement, reached on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank’s annual conference in Hanoi, drew attention as using local cu
[Editorial] University reform drive

EditorialSept 25, 2011

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has put five state-funded universities on the chopping block, demonstrating its resolve to reform domestic universities, regardless of whether they are private or public. The ministry’s action followed the selection earlier this month of 43 poorly ma
[Peter Goldmark] Flickers of freedom across the Balkans

ViewpointsSept 25, 2011

BELGRADE, Serbia ― Most Americans, myself included, know very little about the Balkans ― except, perhaps, that last week’s men’s U.S. Open champ, Novak Djokovic, is from Serbia. I’m visiting now, and the headline is: Countries in the Balkans are groping their way out of centuries of bloodshed and op
[Nouriel Roubini] How to prevent a depression

ViewpointsSept 25, 2011

AMSTERDAM ― The latest economic data suggests that recession is returning to most advanced economies, with financial markets now reaching levels of stress unseen since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. The risks of an economic and financial crisis even worse than the previous one ― now involv
[William Pesek] Underwear model shows an economy how to grow

ViewpointsSept 25, 2011

So this is what it has come to for Japan Inc.: a future in underwear instead of cars, color TVs or industrial robots. Long before 2010, when China surpassed it to become Asia’s biggest economy and Apple Inc. unleashed the iPad, Japan fancied itself a nation fated for global primacy. Its technology w
Why identifying a bubble is so much trouble

ViewpointsSept 25, 2011

We seem to be surrounded by “bubbles” ― tech stocks, real estate, and now maybe sovereign debt. You might expect that any textbook would have a precise definition of this phenomenon; some set of characteristics that distinguish sensible high prices in good times from prices that are “too high” or in
[Marc Flandreau] Getting to yes (again) with Germany on euro crisis aid

ViewpointsSept 25, 2011

GENEVA ― Europe’s slow-motion sovereign-debt crisis may appear unique, but it is not. Just a few decades ago, Europe had the Exchange Rate Mechanism, which collapsed during a crisis very much akin to the one afflicting Europe today. Will the outcome this time be different?The ERM was an arrangement
In Myanmar, living in fear of army

World NewsSept 25, 2011

LOI TAI LENG, Myanmar (AP) ― The soldiers arrived unexpectedly in 15-year-old Sai Noom Mong’s village in eastern Myanmar with a brutal message: Leave your homes, they told hundreds of startled residents, or we’ll burn them to the ground.Fearful of their fate but too frail to flee themselves, the tee