The Korea Herald

Korean carmakers record 10.8% sales rise in March

TransportApr 3, 2011

Sales of five automakers in Korea rose 10.8 percent in March from a year earlier on strong demands for new vehicles in both domestic and overseas markets, the companies said Friday.The combined sales of the automakers came to 649,994 units, compared with 586,561 units sold in March 2010. Domestic sales rose 8.1 percent on-year to 133,273 units in March with overseas sales also soaring 11.5 percent
[Meet the CEO] Renault Samsung to enter mini car market

TransportApr 3, 2011

CEO says carmaker will boost cooperation with Samsung GroupNow in its 11th year, Renault Samsung Motors Co. has grown rapidly to become a major automobile exporter with the aid of its parent Renault S.A. of France.While the company has expanded its presence at an unprecedented rate, with exports growing 600-fold from 2000 to 2010, Renault Samsung is now eyeing bigger things in the future. In an in
Obama pushes for clean energy work

IndustryApr 3, 2011

Shifting from imported oil to cleaner forms of energy will help boost job creationWASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama says shifting the U.S. away from imported oil and toward cleaner forms of energy will add momentum to a trend that has led to 1.8 million new jobs in the past 13 months.Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to promote his ideas for bringing down gasoline pr
U.S. unemployment falls to 2-year low

World BusinessApr 3, 2011

Economists expect stronger hiring, producing a net gain of about 2.5m jobsWASHINGTON (AP) ― The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in two years in March, and the outlook is brightening as major companies plan to add more jobs.Increased hiring cut the unemployment rate to 8.8 percent ― an encouraging sign for the unemployed and for President Barack Obama’s re-election prospects.
Ex-BOK Gov. Park gives W500m to school

PeopleApr 3, 2011

Park Seung, former governor of the Bank of Korea, has donated 500 million won to the elementary school he went to in Gimje, North Jeolla Province.The small elementary school that he graduated from in 1948 has used the money to build a library.The 75-year-old Gimje native gave 400 million won in May to start the construction of the library, and recently sent an extra 100 million ahead of its openin
Quake victim is standing tall again in Haiti

PeopleApr 3, 2011

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti ― She can climb stairs and hike blocks to a bus stop. The beat-up wheelchair is gone.Sounlove Zamor, who lost both legs below the knee in Haiti’s earthquake, is walking again.The young woman, who had been caught in a collapsed house, was fitted with prosthetic legs in Israel after benefactors read about her in the Los Angeles Times. Now she’s back in Haiti and walking on new
A blood donation Hall of Famer

PeopleApr 3, 2011

Sohn Hong-shik on way to become the first Korean to donate blood 600 timesRetiree Sohn Hong-shik has a long-cherished habit that he says freshens him up like having a haircut or taking a bath, but may sound freakish to others: having a needle stuck in his arm and blood pumped out of it.For Sohn, 61, blood donation has been an almost once-every-two-weeks ritual for the past 27 years. He has donated
Wireless traffic jam and quest for bandwidth

ViewpointsApr 3, 2011

The rapidly increasing demand for smartphones and mobile bandwidth has prompted some analysts and regulators to warn of a looming wireless traffic jam ― an irritant that some iPhone users in major cities have already experienced. Now, AT&T is proposing what it says is the fastest way to boost the capacity of its wireless network: buying T-Mobile. The $39-billion purchase would eliminate one of the
[Editorial] Parts supply

EditorialApr 3, 2011

A disruption in the supply of one key part or component of a product may halt operations at assembly lines. A case in point involves the microcontrollers Korean companies import from Japan.Microcontrollers are systems, each with a processor, memory and peripherals, that are embedded in a wide range of home appliances and other sophisticated products. Samsung, LG, Daewoo and other Korean companies
[Editorial] Strong won

EditorialApr 3, 2011

The Korean currency is strengthening fast, pushing the exchange rate to below the level of 1,100 won per U.S. dollar. In the past, such a rapid gain would have invited intervention immediately. A strong won was an anathema to top Korean economic policymakers, who wanted to generate high rates of growth by promoting exports.But the government does not even hint at intervening in the market, be it v
[Scott Martelle] The collapse of Detroit

ViewpointsApr 3, 2011

Imagine for a moment that every single person living in the city of San Jose, Calif., plus an additional 150,000 or so, just up and left. Vanished. Poof. Gone. Leaving their homes, business buildings and factories behind.That is, in effect, what has happened to the city of Detroit, according to 2010 U.S. Census data. The city that boasted 1.8 million residents in 1950, and was the nation’s economi
[Joel Brinkley] Economy key to quelling China unrest

ViewpointsApr 3, 2011

For a burgeoning world power with the planet’s second-largest economy, China may be the most paranoid nation on earth.Chinese leaders, utterly terrified of their own people, are taking every possible step to avert an uprising like those under way in the Middle East ― even though the only signs of fomentation so far have been vague musings on obscure blog posts.The anonymous calls for peaceful demo
[Meghan Daum] Phyllis Schlafly: alive and back on the attack

ViewpointsApr 3, 2011

This may come as a surprise, but Phyllis Schlafly, legendary conservative and leader (that is, victor) in the battle against the Equal Rights Amendment, is alive and well and still publishing books. At 86, she just collaborated with her 43-year-old niece Suzanne Venker on “The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know ― and Men Can’t Say.”If you’ve heard about this book, it might be becau
[Guy Sorman] The hard right of France’s National Front goes soft

ViewpointsApr 3, 2011

PARIS ― The central paradox of French politics was confirmed once again on March 27. In a nationwide vote to select local authorities (the so-called Conseiller Gnral), the far-right National Front gained 11 percent of the votes cast, but secured only 0.1 percent of the seats.This discrepancy between the National Front’s popular strength and its actual representation has been a permanent feature of
[Frida Ghitis] We’ll remember 2011

ViewpointsApr 3, 2011

Stop for a moment. Look around you and make a note of this time and place, because years from now you will want to remember where you were when 2011 happened.Moving along the path of human events, we have reached a fork in the road, a turning point in history. We don’t know what lies ahead.As this is written, the United States has ― most reluctantly ― entered another war in the Middle East, ostens