The Korea Herald

Corporate Korea efforts for PyeongChang paid off

IndustryJul 7, 2011

The collective effort from the local corporate sector played a pivotal role in giving PyeongChang its long-coveted wish of hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics. ####CaptionIOC member and Samsung Group chief Lee Kun-hee (front) and Bid Committee and Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho visit the Durban Riverside Hotel on Monday, where the Korean delegation is staying to promote PyeongChang’s bid to host t
What brought PyeongChang’s 2018 success?

More sportsJul 7, 2011

New horizons, compact game plan and strong public support convince IOC voters Residents of Gangwon Province cheer with excitement as the IOC announces PyeongChang as the host city of the 2018 Winter Games at the Alpensia Resort in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, Wednesday. (Yonhap News)He was silent, and did not know what to say. Finally, Kim Man-ki, the communication director of PyeongChang 2018 b
PyeongChang wins 2018 Winter Olympics bid

More sportsJul 7, 2011

Korea becomes only the second Asian country to host the Winter GamesThe long battle for the Winter Olympics is over. PyeongChang won the right to host the 2018 Games after winning the majority votes on Wednesday at a International Olympic Committee session in Durban, South Africa.President Lee Myung-bak and members of PyeongChang 2018 bid committee cheer after the IOC officially announced PyeongCh
Four major banks under probe over irregular lending

Jul 6, 2011

The nation’s top financial regulator is investigating four major commercial banks in connection with lending irregularities, banking sources said Wednesday.Kookmin, Woori, Shinhan and Hana banks are suspected of forcing borrowers to buy their financial products including time deposits, pension and insurance in exchange for lending, they said.The Financial Supervisory Service has recently completed
Obama claims progress in deficit talks

World BusinessJul 6, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says back-channel talks with congressional leaders last weekend have produced new progress in advance of a White House session Thursday on deficit reduction.　The president is siding with House Speaker John Boehner in insisting that negotiators resist the temptation to “kick the can down the road” and settle for a makeshift, short-term solution to stave off
SC First Bank punished for illegal metal loan service

Jul 6, 2011

Korea's financial watchdog said it has decided to penalize SC First Bank for its violations of local banking laws such as the illegal handling of metal loan services to corporate customers. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it will impose fines worth 4.5 million won ($4,225) and punish 41 officials of the Korean unit of Standard Chartered Plc after the bank violated regulations on metal
Readers’ Voice

Jul 6, 2011

North Korean dictators are enjoying their luxurious lives through seizing the aid provided to help those on the streets.Even though the South knows that not all the food will reach those in need, South Korea keeps sending food.Just because North Korea is a brother nation does not give them the right to starve the poor. The South should realize the truth and find a better way to help civilians rath
Goldman Sachs faces probe over fraud charges

Jul 6, 2011

Prosecutors are investigating Goldman Sachs Group on allegations that the investment bank defrauded local insurers Heungkuk Life Insurance and Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance.The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday it was taking on complaints by the two insurers that the U.S. investment bank sold a high risk, high yielding investment product known as collateralized debt obli
Evacuated building reopens, but tremors remain mystery

Social affairsJul 6, 2011

Authorities on Wednesday decided to lift the evacuation order on the high-rise office building and its adjacent shopping mall, despite being unable to discover the reason behind Tuesday’s tremors.　“Through emergency inspections for the past two days, we have not found any major issues with the structure of the building,” said Park Jong-yong, vice chief of the Gwangjin district office.“In order to
Four banks under probe over unfair lending

Jul 6, 2011

The nation’s financial regulator is investigating four major commercial banks on suspicion of unauthorized lending, banking sources said Wednesday.The four facing a probe are Kookmin, Woori, Shinhan and Hana, and the Financial Supervisory Service has recently completed its preliminary examination of the banks, the sources said.The unauthorized lending practice refers to banks’ demand that borrower
SK Group’s Chey family hit by series of scandals

IndustryJul 6, 2011

A member of SK Group’s Chey family is once again under the scrutiny of the investigative authorities, adding to the growing list of suspect goings on at the country’s third largest conglomerate.In the latest investigation involving a member of the Chey family, prosecutors have banned vice chairman Chey Jae-won from leaving the country as they look into the allegation that he has slush funds amount
New GNP head says SME help shouldn’t punish large firms

PoliticsJul 6, 2011

The newly-elected chairperson of the ruling Grand National Party Rep. Hong Joon-pyo expressed concerns over the party’s recent outspoken comments on conglomerate policies.“The key point in backing small- and medium-sized businesses is to come up with active measures to help them, not to extort from large businesses,” Hong said in a radio interview on Wednesday.By this, he referred the party’s poli
Ministry considers imposing tax on junk foods, alcohol

Social affairsJul 6, 2011

The government is considering levying health promotion tax on alcohol and junk food in a bid to cut snowballing medical costs for treating chronic illnesses. A Ministry of Health and Welfare committee on Wednesday considered the new tax as a way to extend the country’s disability-adjusted healthy life expectancy to 75 years by 2020. According to the World Health Organization’s definition, the DAHL
Marine held for help in shooting

Social affairsJul 6, 2011

Top military officers salute during the funeral at a military hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday for the four Marines killed in Monday’s shooting rampage. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Bodies of four soldiers laid to rest at Daejeon National CemeteryMilitary investigators on Wednesday morning arrested a Marine private first class on charges of complicity in Monday’s shooting ra
SK Group No. 2 banned from overseas travel

Social affairsJul 6, 2011

Chey Jae-won, SK Group’s senior vice chairman and younger brother of Chairman Chey Tae-won, has been banned from travelling overseas on allegations that he amassed tens of billions of won in illicit slush funds. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which leads the probe, suspects that the younger Chey raised the funds by falsifying the value of transactions between the group’s subsidiar