The Korea Herald

Korea to conduct nuclear disaster drill

Social affairsJul 11, 2011

South Korea will carry out a disaster drill on a nuclear power plant on the east coast this week to check updated emergency protocols on damage control and evacuation, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said the drill will be carried out at the Wolsong station, located 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Tuesday and Wednesday. The plant currently has fou
Mahindra vows to regain Ssangyong’s brand image

TransportJul 11, 2011

Ssangyong Motor CEO Lee Yoo-il (right) poses with Mahindra and Mahindra CFO Bharat Doshi (center) and the Indian firm’s president for automotive and farm sector Pawan Goenka at a press conference in Seoul last March. (Ssangyong Motor Co.)Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., the majority shareholder of Ssangyong Motor, has continued to reiterate that it would invest in the automaker on a long-term basis devel
Ssangyong’s new Chairman W targets VIPs

TransportJul 11, 2011

The new Chairman WCompany offers unprecedented seven-year care service plan to customersSsangyong Motor Co., which launched the new Chairman W in the local market last week, is to provide consumers with a long-period guarantee service.The service, dubbed “W Promise 715 program,” offers customers free-of-charge car inspections for seven years, the automaker said in a statement on Monday.Customers
Global pension fund chiefs discuss investment in Seoul

IndustryJul 11, 2011

Big players in global pension funds have gathered in Seoul to discuss future investment plans at the International Pension Conference, which opened here on Monday. Some 40 heads of 37 public and private pension agencies worldwide have been invited to the three-day event. The asset value of participating pension funds totaled at 3,620 trillion won ($3.4 trillion).One of the participants is Takahiro
SKT, STX shares slide on Hynix bid

IndustryJul 11, 2011

With little effect expected from acquisition of Hynix Semiconductor, SK Telecom shares fell to the lowest this year on Monday.On Friday, SK Telecom and STX Group submitted letters of intent to acquire the world’s second-largest chip maker Hynix. The 15 percent stake in the chipmaker is expected to fetch around 2.5 trillion won ($2.4 billion). Hynix closed at 26,450 won, down 0.56 percent from Frid
Lee welcomed as victorious Olympian

IndustryJul 11, 2011

Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee (center) on Monday poses with a bouquet presented by Samsung employees who welcomed him back to work after his trip to South Africa. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)Samsung Group owner Lee Kun-hee on Monday was greeted with a warm welcome from Samsung employees for his role in helping PyeongChang City win the bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.Around 500 e
KT&G market share nears 60%

IndustryJul 11, 2011

KT&G Corp. said Monday that its share in the local market has risen for the second quarter in a row to nearly 60 percent, thanks to robust sales of its new products and price hikes by rival tobacco firms. Korea’s top cigarette manufacturer said its 55.7 percent stake in the fourth quarter last year climbed to 58 percent in the first quarter this year, then to 59.8 percent in the second quarter. It
Foreign debt nears $400b

Jul 11, 2011

The level of foreign debt is poised top $400 billion, complicating Seoul’s capital control efforts increasingly watched by major credit rating agencies abroad. Foreign debt in the first quarter May made the steepest hikes in three years, reaching $381.9 billion at the end of March. Noting an increase of $21.9 billion in just three months from December, the Finance Ministry predicted the figure to
Reins tightened on savings banks

Jul 11, 2011

Regulator pushes banks to improve capital adequacy ratiosKorea’s financial regulator said Monday it will further toughen the standards used to assess savings banks’ fiscal soundness in a bid to accelerate the cleanup of the troubled sector. “The planned assessment of 85 savings banks has started, and banks with BIS capital ratio of less than 8 percent as of late June are now required to submit sel
Korea to sell W2tr in Treasury bills

Jul 11, 2011

Korea will sell 2 trillion won ($1.89 billion) in Treasury bills this month as part of efforts to secure money to cover possible shortfalls in government operation funds, the Finance Ministry said Monday.Treasury bills are intended to raise money for the government so it can cope with short-term financial shortfalls. They are generally sold with a maturity of less than one year.The July debt with
Korea may conduct FX smoothing: Minister Bahk

Jul 11, 2011

South Korea’s finance minister said Monday that the government could carry out smoothing operations if the local currency fluctuates sharply against the U.S. dollar.“If there are steep fluctuations in currency rates, our basic stance is that we could implement smoothing operations to ease the herd behavior in the market,” Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan told reporters after a meeting with financial
SC First Bank temporarily closes 43 branches

Jul 11, 2011

SC First Bank, the Korean unit of Standard Chartered Plc., said Monday it had temporarily shut down operations at 43 branches in a bid to minimize the impact of a prolonged labor strike. A customer stands in front of the shuttered SC First Bank in Ankuk Station in central Seoul on Monday. (*Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Unionized workers at SC First Bank launched an indefinite strike on June 27 i
Porsche supercar seen reviving sales

IndustryJul 11, 2011

A Porsche 911 GT2 RS automobile is released to the media on Friday. (Bloomberg)Porsche AG may develop a supercar positioned higher than the 911 GT2 RS to broaden its line-up and sustain growth as orders cool from record deliveries last year. The car could be combined with additional variants of the Cayman and Boxster as well as extended-wheelbase and convertible versions of the Panamera four-door
Aussie firms whinge about carbon tax

IndustryJul 11, 2011

Australia’s largest airline says the tax will cost as much as $123 million in 2013Macarthur Coal Ltd., BlueScope Steel Ltd., and Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. led declines in Australian trading Monday after the government unveiled the country’s first levy on greenhouse-gas emissions. Polluters will pay AU$23 ($24.74) per metric ton of carbon emissions, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Sunday in Canbe
IMF chief calls on U.S. to raise borrowing limit

World BusinessJul 11, 2011

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde conducts a press conference in Washington, D.C. on July 6. (AFP-Yonhap News)WASHINGTON (AP) ― The International Monetary Fund’s new chief foresees “real nasty consequences” for the U.S. and global economies if the U.S. fails to raise its borrowing limit.Christine Lagarde, the first woman to head the lending institution, said in an interview broadcast Sunday