Panel cites too broad sampling scope, need for presumption of innocenceA law permitting the collection and storage of DNA samples from those convicted of or arrested for violent crimes may infringe on their human rights, the nation’s top human rights watchdog said Tuesday. “The commission ruled that the law on the use and preservation of personal genetic information may infringe upon the affected

The Cabinet authorized the implementation of a revised ethics code for government officials Tuesday that bans retired officials working for private firms from seeking favors from their former colleagues and handling issues they directly dealt with while in office.The revision, set to take effect after a three-month notification period, came after a series of former financial regulators were arrest

Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. and its three subsidiaries plan to spend 880 billion won ($837 million) by 2014 to scale up their production lines in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province the companies said Tuesday.The deal reflects the firms’ efforts to meet surging demand for their materials, which are used in automobiles and consumer electronics. When completed, Kumho Petrochemical will be able to churn o

LG Electronics has received certification from the U.S. for producing carbon-free goods. making headway in the field of environmentally friendly technology, said the Seoul-based company on Tuesday.The certification was from Carbon Fund, one of the leading institutes in the U.S. that provides certification for carbon-free products. LG Electronics is the first Korean company to receive the credentia

KT Corp.’s resubmitted plan to end services for feature phone users by September is again stirring up controversy as the number of owners remains high.“I truly hope KT is aware of the fact that even a single customer was a loyal one using its services for a minimum of a few months to a number of years,” said a Seoulite who wished to only be identified by his surname Jung. The Korea Communications

Hyundai Heavy Industries on Tuesday signed an agreement with the state of Rio de Janeiro and the city of Itatiaia to set up a plant producing construction equipment in the Brazilian city.For the plant, the company will invest $150 million and the Brazilian government will provide support in building gas and water supply lines, and other infrastructure, Hyundai Heavy said.The company plans to compl

The number of cattle in South Korea hit a record high in June and is expected to grow further for a couple of years, helping stabilize beef prices, the government said Tuesday. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that the country had 3.05 million heads of hanwoo beef cows as of last month, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier and the largest ever. Despite 110,883 heads of

LG Chem, South Korea’s leading chemical maker, said Tuesday that it has clinched a $10 million contract to develop a lithium ion battery for U.S. automakers.Under the deal with U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium, LG Chem will develop a high-powered, high-capacity lithium-ion battery for plug-in electric vehicles by 2013, the company said.The consortium is composed of the U.S. Department of Energy an

The largest shareholders at Korea’s listed firms have reaped huge profits through gifted stocks in the past five years, taking advantage of fluctuations in the financial markets, a local source revealed Tuesday. According to Chaebul.com, which tracks news and data on Korea’s conglomerates, gifted stocks or inheritance by the largest shareholders amounted to 3.3 trillion won ($3.1 billion) in the p

With no immediate end in sight for a prolonged strike, the labor and management of SC First Bank appear to be playing a game of chicken over its pay system, which could end up in a no-win situation for both sides, analysts said Tuesday.Irked by a management plan to adopt a novel merit pay system, about 2,900 unionized workers at the seventh-largest lender in South Korea have been striking for the

South Korea will produce vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease next year to protect livestock after the country suffered the worst outbreak of the disease earlier this year, a government agency said Tuesday.The Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency said it plans to import FMD antigens from foreign vaccine manufacturers and get local companies to learn production knowhow so the