The Korea Herald

Samsung founder’s commemoration event tainted by family discord

IndustryNov 19, 2012

YONGIN, Gyeonggi Province ― The late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull’s 25th commemoration ceremony was marred on Monday by family discord caused by an inheritance lawsuit.Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee and his family members including heir apparent Lee Jay-yong, and about 100 Samsung senior executives paid their respects to the founder at around 11 a.m. at the family burial ground in Yongin.Hong Ra-hee, chairman Lee’s wife and chief of Ho-Am Art Museum, and Lee’s two daughters Boo-jin
Seoul shares start higher on U.S. gains

Nov 19, 2012

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as investor sentiment was boosted by last week's gains on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 13.77 points, or 0.74 percent, to trade at 1874.60 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics increasing 0.84 percent and leading carmaker Hyundai Motor adding 0.46 percent. Top builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction climbed 1.15
Overseas construction orders top $50 bln for 3rd year

IndustryNov 19, 2012

Overseas orders won by South Korean builders surpassed $50 billion for the third straight year in 2012, due to increased demand from the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, data showed Monday.Local builders signed deals worth $51.6 billion during the January-November period, up 13 percent from the same period last year, according to the data released by the International Contractors Association of Korea.Still, industry officials said it remained unclear whether the companies could achieve the
Economy, election force companies to slim down

IndustryNov 18, 2012

Companies downsize on slow economy, anti-chaebol election pledges
Black box-installed cars to get insurance discount

IndustryNov 18, 2012

South Korea’s insurance companies are to offer a maximum 5 percent discount on insurance for cars equipped with black boxes, according to industry sources on Saturday. Local insurers including Dongbu Insurance, Meritz Insurance, Hanwha General Insurance, LIG Insurance, AXA Direct and Hyundai Hicar Direct decided to give a discount of 5 percent; Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance 4 percent; and Green Non-life Insurance and Ergo Daum Direct 3 percent. The discount for black-box equipped cars was only
Korean e-procurement system booming worldwide

Nov 18, 2012

With soaring demand from developing countries, KONEPS draws attention from EU members
Procurement agency leads transparency and digitalization

IndustryNov 18, 2012

Public Procurement Service chief promises more progress in ‘smarter’ era
Samsung: Apple must reveal HTC settlement over patents

Nov 18, 2012

Samsung Electronics Co. asked a court to force Apple Inc. to turn over a copy of its settlement with HTC Corp., saying it’s “highly relevant” to Apple’s request for an order blocking sales of Samsung smartphones.It’s “almost certain” that Apple’s settlement with HTC covers some of the patents at issue in its dispute with Samsung, according to a filing Firday by the Suwon, South Korea-based company in federal court in San Jose, California. The agreement may undermine Apple’s claim that Samsung’s
Higher won dents small exporters’ biz sentiment

Nov 18, 2012

Almost nine out of 10 of the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises believe the rising local currency against the U.S. dollar will result in a weaker bottom line, data showed Saturday.According to a survey of 112 local SMEs by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, 88.2 percent replied the higher won will have an adverse impact on their earnings.The local currency closed at 1,092.20 won against the greenback on Friday, remaining below the 1,100 won mark since Oct. 25, when the
LGE spends 6% of sales in research

Nov 18, 2012

South Korean handset maker LG Electronics Inc. said Saturday it spent more than 6 percent of its earnings on research and development through September of this year in a bid to develop high-end products.The company said it had allocated 2.26 trillion won ($2.08 billion), or 6.06 percent of its sales of 37.4 trillion won earned during in the January-September period, up 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier.Market watchers said South Korea’s No. 2 tech giant increased its research fund to dev
Shares likely to stay flat this week

Nov 18, 2012

The South Korean stock market is likely to be stagnant this week as uncertainties over the U.S. fiscal cliff continue to dent investor sentiment, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 1,860.83 this week, down 2.29 percent from the previous week, as shares lost ground across the board.Foreign investors went on a selling spree, unloading a net 520 billion won ($476 million) on the main bourse, with retail investors scooping up a net 80 billion won. Institutions pu
Korea’s exports to Middle East rise 14.1% by October

Nov 18, 2012

South Korea’s exports to the Middle East rose 14.1 percent in the first 10 months of the year from a year earlier thanks to strengthened consumption power in the oil-rich region, customs data showed Sunday.According to the data by the Korea Customs Service, shipments of South Korean products to Middle East countries rose 14.1 percent to $30.3 billion in the January-October period, compared with last year’s annual volume of $32.8 billion.However, shipments to the European Union and Japan shrank 1
Homeplus faces backlash for duplicity

IndustryNov 18, 2012

Homeplus, one of the nation’s biggest retailers, faced public criticism as it was found to have registered to open a new store on the day it promised small and medium-sized merchants to refrain from opening new stores. The retailer registered to open a large store in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 22, the same day it announced plans to create a win-win consultation body with small-and medium-sized merchants and other large retailers including E-Mart and Lotte Mart. The Osan city government app
Samsung Electronics takes largest global TV market share

TechnologyNov 18, 2012

Samsung Electronics held the biggest share of the global television market in the third quarter this year, U.S. marketing research firm NPD DisplaySearch said Sunday. The affiliate firm of American market research company NPD Group Inc. said that Samsung Electronics rated No. 1 in the July-September quarter by taking a 25.2 percent share in the global flat-screen TV market. According to the same analysis, four types of Samsung TVs ― liquid crystal display, light-emitting diode, plasma display pa
Starbucks sees Korea as first priority in Asia

IndustryNov 18, 2012

China may be the all-important market for future growth of Starbucks, which is intensifying expansion there. But for now Korea is most important in Asia, said Darrel Kim, director of Channel Business Development Asia Pacific at the world’s biggest coffee chain. “Starbucks senior leadership, starting with CEO Howard Schultz, look at Korea with a very high priority. We have so much growth aspiration here,” the Asian chief of Starbucks Global Consumer Products Group said in a recent interview with