The Korea Herald

Oh to end Seoul council boycott

Social affairsJun 19, 2011

After six-month standoff, mayor vows to oppose DP through direct negotiationsJEJU ISLAND ― Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Saturday he would attend the opposition-dominated city council this week, after refusing to attend for more than six months.“I think now is a time to seek reconciliation and dialogue under a new political atmosphere. I will attend the plenary meeting of the city council to persuad
Korea’s public debt soars in first quarter

IndustryJun 19, 2011

Korea’s public debt jumped by more than 50 trillion won ($46 billion) in the first quarter of this year as governments and public corporations increased borrowing to meet their financial needs, data showed Sunday.According to the data by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Bank of Korea, debts owed by the central government, provincial administrations, state-invested companies and social
Cnet picks Samsung’s PDP TV as best TV

IndustryJun 19, 2011

Cnet.com, a major U.S. technology review site, selected Samsung Electronics Co.’s plasma display panel (PDP) TVs as the best TV of the year, industry sources said Sunday.Cnet said the D8000 series, which consists of a string of Samsung’s PDP TV models, outperformed rivals’ products released in the U.S. market this year, according to a Samsung official.Judges of the U.S. review site evaluated desig
Ministry to support small business owners

IndustryJun 19, 2011

South Korea will help small business owners and improve welfare for low-income earners to boost domestic demand, said Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong -yong.Ordinary people have real sentiment over the economy lags economic indices, Yim told reporters in Gwacheon. To narrow the gap, the government will prepare policies to support small- to medium-sized businesses and the service and tourism industri
First Global Green Growth Summit to open in Seoul today

Jun 19, 2011

The first Global Green Growth Summit 2011 will begin in Seoul on Monday. The two-day summit, timed to mark the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Global Green Growth Institute, will be held under the theme of Building Planet-Responsible Civilization. Headquartered in Seoul, the Global Green Growth Institute was launched on June 16, 2010 with the aim of developing a green-growth economic dev
[Herald Interview] Acquity Group eyes partnership with top Korean firms

IndustryJun 19, 2011

BEIJING ― Acquity Group is an unfamiliar name to Koreans, but it promises to fundamentally change the landscape of corporate Korea’s online marketing.Exclusive brands do not want their brand value diluted by uniformly stacking their goods on the anonymous virtual shelves of eBay or Amazon, according to George Lu, chairman of Acquity Group.Acquity Group is a U.S. company Lu founded in 2001 to speci
97 Hyundai Motor union staff caught gambling online at work

IndustryJun 19, 2011

Hyundai Motor Co. said Sunday it found 97 of its unionized workers in Ulsan and Asan factories logging on to Internet gambling games during work hours.The country’s No. 1 carmaker said 62 employees at its Ulsan plant and 35 employees at its Asan plant were involved in cyber gambling, betting as much as 100 million won ($92,000) in some cases, according to company officials.The online gambling was
4G LTE technology to debut next month

IndustryJun 19, 2011

4G mobile phones to be released as early as Sept.The fourth generation telecommunications technology Long Term Evolution is expected to debut next month as two of the country’s mobile carriers are getting ready to launch the service in many cities across the nation.SK Telecom, the country’s top mobile carrier, has announced it will commercialize the technology in Seoul next month by establishing 6
No bid for banking unit of Korea Post: KDB

Jun 19, 2011

KDB Financial Group Inc. denied a news report that the state-owned company plans to acquire banking businesses of Korea Post.KDB officials said Saturday that the company has not reviewed such plan. The report came after the government went against a move by KDB to take over the public-funded Woori Financial Group. KDB has sought to become a “mega” bank in Korea to expand its business overseas.(shi
Seoul bourse to face volatility this week

Jun 19, 2011

The Korean stock market is expected to face volatility this week as eurozone countries are still mired in a deadlock over solutions to the worsening Greek debt crisis, analysts said.The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, shed 0.72 percent, or 14.74 points, to close at 2,031.93 on Friday. Losses in tech and large cap shares led the market declines.Last week, the local share market suffered a sev
U.S. meat imports spike on animal disease

Jun 19, 2011

Korean imports of U.S. pork and beef rose at a far faster pace than those of other overseas meat products this year following the outbreak of a contagious animal disease here, government data showed Sunday.Imports of U.S. pork spiked about 2.5-fold from a year ago to 82,569 tons in the January-May period, with overall pork imports rising 121 percent to 179,985 tons, according to the data by a gove
Local banks’ exposure to Greece tops $500m

Jun 19, 2011

Local bank’s exposure to debt-burdened Greece tops $500 billion but it poses limited impact on the local financial market even in the case of a default, financial authorities said Sunday. The Financial Supervisory Service said the bonds issued by Greek shipping companies were not so large here as of the end of March. The agency did not disclose a bank-by-bank breakdown of the figure but emphasized
[Herald Interview] IMF: Rate hikes should help tame stock volatilities

Jun 19, 2011

IMF, Finance Ministry split on focus of capital control measuresKorea should raise its policy rate faster to discourage volatile capital inflows into stocks and boost the effectiveness of capital barriers currently in place, Subir Lall, Internaional Monetary Fund's Mission Chief for Korea said.The head of the IMF delegation here assessed Korea’s capital flow management “effective,” but said more c
Auto Build selects Morning as best compact

TransportJun 19, 2011

Kia’s MorningAuto Build, the world’s most circulated car magazine from Germany, selected Kia’s Morning as the best compact car in the world, The Hyundai Kia Automotive Group said.In a comparative analysis of the world’s compact cars, the magazine selected Kia’s latest version of Morning city car as the best model for driving comfort, followed by Hyundai’s i10.Other candidate models included Fiat P
China car market to begin recovery in 6-12 months

TransportJun 19, 2011