The Korea Herald

SC First Bank faces mass strike

Jun 26, 2011

Bank offers ‘final proposal,’ but union sees no differenceAbout 3,000 unionized workers of Standard Chartered First Bank Korea are poised to go on an indefinite strike this week as they have failed to reach a compromise with management on salary.Despite continued efforts at persuasion and proposals by management, the union still opposes plans from the U.K.-based bank’s Korean unit to introduce a p
Mercedes-Benz introduces new CLS 63 AMG

TransportJun 26, 2011

Mercedes-Benz Korea, the local unit of the luxury car division of Daimler AG, has introduced the second-generation of its passenger vehicle, the CLS 63 AMG, in Korea.The new CLS 63 AMG comes with a new V8 5.5-liter biturbo engine that is smaller than the 6.2-liter engine in the previous version, but generates more horsepower and torque while consuming less gasoline. Mercedes-BenzThe new engine pro
Renault Samsung launches New QM5 crossover car

TransportJun 26, 2011

Renault Samsung Motors on Sunday unveiled its updated QM5 crossover utility vehicle that aims to enhance the carmaker’s image as a quality manufacturer of upper-end cars.The new QM5 is a makeover of the existing vehicle with streamlined exterior lines, rearranged headlamps and a radiator grille that gives it a more “urban” style that could be more attractive to Korean consumers.The company, which
Hyundai-Kia shifts consumer target in U.S.

TransportJun 26, 2011

Portion of small vehicles continues to drop in American sales over a decadeHyundai Motor had been regarded as a minor player in the United States and had focused on finding a niche. Its main target was the small-sized vehicle market.Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors saw small vehicles account for more than half in their North American sales in 2001.But the portion of small cars in Hyundai
Vatican to launch Internet news portal

World BusinessJun 26, 2011

VATICAN CITY (AP) ― The Vatican is taking a leap into the world of new media next week with the launch of a news information portal that Pope Benedict XVI himself may put online with a papal click.Vatican officials said Saturday that Benedict has been following the development of the portal ―www.news.va ― which will for the first time aggregate information from the Vatican’s various print, radio a
RIM upbeat on Asian growth markets

IndustryJun 26, 2011

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is banking on Indonesia and other populous markets for growth in Asia, while it faces intensifying competition worldwide from rivals like the iPhone.The Canadian firm had one of the most prominent stands at the CommunicAsia telecom fair that ended Friday in Singapore, where industry executives gather annually to check out new technology and sea
Peter Falk, TV’s rumpled Columbo, dies at 83

PeopleJun 26, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― The best way to celebrate Peter Falk’s life is to savor how Columbo, his signature character, fortified our lives.Thanks to Falk’s affectionately genuine portrayal, Lt. Columbo established himself for all time as a champion of any viewer who ever felt less than graceful, elegant or well-spoken.Falk died Thursday at age 83 in his Beverly Hills, Calif., home, according to a statement
Students share time with defectors

PeopleJun 26, 2011

A group of high school students has been making regular visits to North Korean defectors who are patients at the National Medical Center, and offering their friendship. The students of the N.K. Aid club of the Seoul Global High School come to the medical center once a week to talk to the defectors, who rarely have visitors as many of them left their families behind in the North. Kim Seung-hyun, a
U.S. scholar explores Asian literature

PeopleJun 26, 2011

An American professor has brought the classical novels of the novelist Park Ji-won of the Joseon period onto the global stage by translating ten short stories into English.Emanuel Pastreich, who goes by the Korean name Lee Man-yeol, recently published two books in English with Seoul National University Press: “The Novels of Park Jiwon” and “The Observable Mundane, a study of Japanese Chinese novel
[Editorial] Rift in ruling camp

EditorialJun 26, 2011

The presidential office is at odds with the ruling Grand National Party, which is abandoning much of its conservative tenet ahead of next year’s elections. But it has few tools to use against the move.Fatigue is settling among presidential aides, who find it virtually impossible to force the party to toe the line, unlike at the outset of President Lee Myung-bak’s administration. They apparently fe
[Editorial] Lee-Sohn talks

EditorialJun 26, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak is meeting Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, on Monday morning. They are set to discuss six agenda items at the breakfast talks, which their aides expect to last for about two hours.The agenda items are: a cut in university tuition fees, a corruption scandal involving savings banks, an early ratification of the Korean-U.S. free trade agreeme
[Vali Nasr] Draw down troops but step up diplomacy

ViewpointsJun 26, 2011

President Barack Obama will want Americans to see his announcement of upcoming U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan as proof that we are defeating the Taliban. But for many, his decision will only confirm that 10 years of war, more than 1,600 American lives and $444 billion of taxpayer money have been wasted. The verdict need not be so dire. It is possible to get to an acceptable outcome, but o
[David Ignatius] Rethinking America’s ‘long war’

ViewpointsJun 26, 2011

WASHINGTON ― Gen. John Abizaid used the phrase “the long war” to describe America’s battle with Islamic extremism after Sept. 11, 2001. When I first heard him say it in the dark days of 2004, as Iraq was spiraling downward, I had the feeling that it would last for most of our lifetimes. Behind this decades-long battle, Abizaid said, was the political modernization of the Islamic world ― the explos
[Max Boot] United States should stay the course in Afghanistan

ViewpointsJun 26, 2011

President Obama announced Wednesday night the size of the withdrawal from Afghanistan after a bruising internal debate within the administration. Proponents of a fast, immediate drawdown have been making essentially two arguments, neither especially compelling.There is the fiscal argument: We can’t afford the cost of the war effort. It’s true that we are facing a budget crunch, but the savings fro
[Glenn Garvin] Doesn’t this president remind you of someone?

ViewpointsJun 26, 2011

Back in 1987, the hot novelty item at the Young Republicans’ national convention was a T-shirt bearing the slogan: “He’s Tan, Rested and Ready. Nixon in ‘88.” The kids were just a little bit ahead of their time; it would take us an additional 20 years before we elected a tan version of Richard Nixon.Barack Obama’s inner Nixon was all over the place as Congress and the national news media finally a