The Korea Herald

Defense acquisition agency to retire 13 senior officials early

DefenseJun 28, 2011

Thirteen senior officials of the state weapons acquisition agency will take early retirement later this month as the agency strives to slim-down its organization and improve its efficiency, officials said Tuesday.The personnel reorganization was the largest in scale since the establishment of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in January 2006, they said.Most of the officials who chose
Red Cross officials of two Koreas may meet in Beijing in July

North KoreaJun 28, 2011

Red Cross officials of the two Koreas are expected to meet for the first time in nearly four months at an international meeting in China in July, a Seoul official said Tuesday. The two Koreas, who have not been talking since their last round of Red Cross talks in March, will send delegations to the “East Asian regional Red Cross leadership meeting” which will be held in China’s Ordos City from Jul
DP blocks Assembly panel over TV fee bill

PoliticsJun 28, 2011

Opposition lawmakers occupy committee room to thwart bill’s passageAmid the elevating conflicts over the state-run broadcaster KBS’ fee hike, opposition lawmakers boycotted the parliamentary culture committee’s general meeting on Tuesday in order to stop the ruling party from passing the related bills.The meeting was to start at 2 p.m. but lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party took ove
Chinese boy fuels Korean language boom in Harbin

Social affairsJun 28, 2011

The latest strand of the Korean wave isn’t coming from the usual pop culture, but Chinese parents sending their children to learn Korean. Leading the boom is 10-year-old Liu Ming-feng who took home the gold from the Homtamin Cup Korean Chinese Children’s Broadcasting Culture Festival, in the category for narrating children’s stories in Korean. The seventh contest held by China Radio International
Army, university to create cyber defense course

DefenseJun 28, 2011

The Army signed an accord with Korea University on Tuesday to establish a department for nurturing cyber warfare specialists as South Korea strives to bolster its capabilities to deal with North Korean cyber attacks.The ceremony to sign the agreement was attended by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Kim Sang-ki and Korea University President Kim Byung-chul.It is the first time for the military to establish
Gangnam subway station area never sleeps

Social affairsJun 28, 2011

Crossroads near Exit No. 6 busiest part of SeoulFor Oh Byung-kook, a 30-year-old office worker, the area around Gangnam subway station in southern Seoul is always the first consideration for a night out with his friends.“The area is a traffic point with easy access from anywhere in Seoul. It has everything from movie theaters and shops to restaurants and karaoke,” Oh said. “Among other things, I l
Oh having another bout with city council over waterway

PoliticsJun 28, 2011

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has been engaged in another wrangle with the opposition-dominated council over a project to build a waterway linking downtown Seoul to the western port city of Incheon.Oh initiated what he termed the “Seohae (West Sea) Waterway Project” as part of his campaign pledges for the 2006 mayoral election, saying it would bring in a larger number of tourists from Japan and China by
Full employment of most precious resources

Jun 28, 2011

The most valuable economic resources are human resources, and Korea needs to improve its use of its most precious assets. A survey released last week reported that the average worker in Korea retires in his or her mid-50s. This is much earlier than their Western European OECD counterparts, who usually retire at 65 or older, and for whom even early retirement is usually 60 or older.The survey resul
Seoul mayor casting himself as ‘antipopulism warrior’

PoliticsJun 28, 2011

Vote on school meals to be watershed for Oh’s political future, welfare competitionAgainst the backdrop of a pile of boxes containing what he had awaited for months, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stood before a crowd of reporters at City Hall on June 16.“The upcoming referendum will be a watershed to decide whether to expand or put an end to welfare populism,” said Oh. He hoped the judgment to be made by
LG smart appliances attract crowds

IndustryJun 28, 2011

LG Electronics, the world’s leading household appliance maker, is poised to push up the quality of appliances by several notches with the introduction of savvier smart appliances.“Smart appliance” has become one of the industry’s new buzzwords, quickly picking up on the growing demand from consumers to live smarter and more economically at not just the office, but at home.LG Electronics, as the in
POSCO begins works on third FINEX plant

IndustryJun 28, 2011

POSCO began construction on its third FINEX steel mill at its steelworks in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province on Tuesday.The new FINEX plant, which will have an annual production capacity of 2 million metric tons, is scheduled for completion in 2013.The company said the construction budget for the new FINEX plant is 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion), equal to that used in building the second FINEX p
CJ named Korea Express bidder

IndustryJun 28, 2011

Samsung Group denies involvement in bidding processCJ Group was selected Tuesday as the preferred bidder in the controversial race to acquire a sizeable stake in logistics company Korea Express. If all goes smoothly, the conglomerate will be on its way to achieving its long-term goal of creating Asia’s largest logistics company by 2015. Korea Express is likely to fetch up to 2 trillion won ($1.8 b
Current account surplus hits 7-month high

Jun 28, 2011

Korea’s current account surplus rose to the highest level in seven months in May on solid exports and decreased dividend payments to foreign investors, the central bank said Tuesday.The current account surplus reached $2.26 billion in May, up from a revised $1.28 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The May su
LG CNS plans global data center in Busan

IndustryJun 28, 2011

LG CNS on Tuesday signed an agreement with Busan to build the country’s first global data center as a joint effort between the private and public sector in the port city. The “Global Cloud Data Center” will be erected by December 2012 within Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone and will go down as the largest such facility, covering 133,000 square meters. “By combining the high-quality cloud services o
STX shipbuilder fund to support suppliers

IndustryJun 28, 2011

STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Co. on Tuesday set up a 3.8 billion won ($35 million) fund to give low-interest loans to suppliers in collaboration with two local banks.The new shared-growth fund will be used to extend loans to STX Offshore and Shipbuilding’s suppliers at rates between 1.9 percentage point and 2.5 percentage points lower than the benchmark rates, the company said.The fund was establ