The Korea Herald

Seoul City to offer employment subsidies to foreign-invested firms

Social affairsAug 11, 2011

Seoul City government will pay employment subsidies to foreign-invested firms that have contributed to creating jobs and revitalizing the local economy, city officials said.The subsidies that amount to 1 billion won ($918,000) will go to companies in Seoul that have more than 30 percent of shares co
Oh may put his seat on line over free school meals vote

PoliticsAug 11, 2011

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon hinted Thursday that he may put his mayorship on the line in the upcoming plebiscite on a free school meal program. “It is projected that if I put my mayorship on the line, the voter turnout will go up by 5 percentage points. I am tempted,” Oh said in an interview with local m
Acupuncturist fights for recognition

Social affairsAug 11, 2011

Court bars Kim from practicing despite large following, experienceThe Oriental medical field is abuzz over whether to acknowledge Gudang, the pen name of Kim Nam-su, as a medical practitioner. Is the widely hailed acupuncturist who is not acknowledged by the orthodox circle a persecuted guru or a co
Secretary-General Ban kicks off model U.N. conference

Social affairsAug 11, 2011

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday kicked off a U.N. conference where students from some 60 countries will discuss global warming and other pending issues.“You are an important part of the solution. The world needs your active engagement,” the 67-year-old diplomat told those attending th
Lee stresses importance of foreign press briefings

Aug 11, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak has instructed the Finance Ministry to notify foreign investors of Korean financial markets’ capability to weather the European debt crisis, government officials said Thursday.Lee called for officials to carry out the mission by holding press conferences for foreign media dur
Is Korea’s ‘open’ market a curse?

Aug 11, 2011

Officials concerned about greater volatility from structural problemsOpenness in financial markets is supposedly a positive thing. But this rule does not exactly apply to Korea’s “open” stock market that has been fluctuating in a way deemed more volatile than that of its peers in Asia and elsewhere.
U.S. downgrade may hurt IT, auto exports: report

Aug 11, 2011

The U.S. credit rating downgrade is feared to hurt exports of South Korean-made information technology products and automobiles, a report by a private economic think tank said Wednesday.The Hyundai Research Institute report said last week’s move by Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services to cut its cre
Ministry denies report on fuel import from Japan

IndustryAug 11, 2011

Officials at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy denied news reports that the government is considering importing petroleum products including gasoline from Japan in a bid to slash fuel prices.“We have no knowledge of petrol imports or any examination underway,” a ministry official told The Korea Hera
Ticket Monster sale signals shift in industry

IndustryAug 11, 2011

The selling of No. 1 social commerce giant Ticket Monster is signaling massive restructuring for the local fast-growing market, experts said Thursday. “This incident is deemed to become the beginning of an industrial restructuring,” said Ryu Han-seok, executive director of the TLC Institute, who is
SK Comm. under fire for poor security

IndustryAug 11, 2011

Company to unveil additional plan to counteract recent security breachSK Communications said Thursday it is getting ready to release its second set of countermeasures as early as this week, following the country’s worst security breach.On Thursday, police confirmed that a hacker used an Internet Pro
Hyundai’s Genesis, Equus overtake Lexus in U.S. market

IndustryAug 11, 2011

South Korea’s leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co. is fast catching up with its rivals in the large luxury car market in the United States, already overtaking Lexus, the luxury brand of Japan’s Toyota Motor Co., a U.S. online magazine said Thursday.In June, Hyundai Motor sold 3,370 units of its Genes
Korean firms sweep global DRAM market

IndustryAug 11, 2011

Samsung Electronics Co. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s two largest makers of computer memory chips, dominated the global market for dynamic random access memory chips in the second quarter despite a looming global economic slowdown, a report showed Thursday.According to the report by Taiw
SKT, KT introduce new monthly payment plans

IndustryAug 11, 2011

Two leading mobile carriers ― SK Telecom and KT Corp. ― are engaged in a price war as both introduced new monthly telecom service payment plans on Thursday, which they claim offer cheaper than existing smartphone service rates.The monthly smartphone payment plans enable customers to choose the numbe
Illegal capital outflow almost triples: data

IndustryAug 11, 2011

Illegal capital outflow has almost tripled here over the past five years, a lawmaker revealed Thursday citing the data from Korea Customs Service. A total of 22 cases of assets moving abroad illegally were confirmed last year, up from six in 2006, according to Rep. Kwon Kyoung-seok of the ruling Gra
Greek economist warns on Korea’s ‘welfare populism’

Aug 11, 2011

A prominent Greek university professor and economist has warned South Korea not to repeat his country’s economic mistakes, calling the plan to give free school meals to all students “irresponsible.”“Is it a matter of equality? Of course not. Why middle class Seoul citizens, maybe with no children, s