The Korea Herald

SPC Group investigated by FTC

IndustrySept 10, 2012

The nation’s antitrust watchdog is considering imposing sanctions against SPC Group, a leading franchise conglomerate that operates bakery chain Paris Croissant and Paris Baguette, for enforcing unfair contract conditions on store owners. The Fair Trade Commission said Monday it has found some 300 Paris Croissant store owners out of the total 3,200 nationwide have been forced to carry out refurbishments every year. For those who cannot afford the cost for expansion or refurbishment, the head off
POSCO, Hyundai Group begin work on logistics park in China

Sept 10, 2012

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s leading steelmaker POSCO and Hyundai Group, known for its business ties with North Korea, broke ground Monday on a logistics park in northeastern China, company officials said. The two South Korean firms started construction of the 1.5-square-kilometer distribution center in the city of Hunchun, located in China’s northeastern Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. The distribution center, expected to have a capacity of 13 million tons by 2020, will handle
NHN Line becomes No.1 mobile messenger

TechnologySept 10, 2012

NHN’s Line has overtaken its close peer Kakao Talk to become the world’s most used mobile messenger.NHN, the operator of Korea’s largest search engine Naver, said Monday that the number of Line users worldwide surpassed 60 million as of Sept. 8.Kakao Talk had 59 million as of Sept. 7.Market watchers say the two sides will have a neck-and-neck competition as Kakao will soon have over 60 million users as it strengthens its overseas operations.NHN has been focusing on marketing Line mostly in Japan
Hyundai’s hydrogen cars gain popularity in Europe

IndustrySept 10, 2012

Hyundai Motor’s futuristic technology in the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sector has highly been acknowledged in more and more European countries.Following its recent advancement into Scandinavian countries, Hyundai Motor has been picked as a business partner for German environmental organizations’ hydrogen automobile project.As the initial supply for the project, the Korean carmaker is poised to provide the country with dozens of the hydrogen fuel cell Tucson ix, a sport utility vehicle, in the c
ITU plans roundtable on global patent litigation

IndustrySept 10, 2012

Samsung vs. Apple patent litigation to become topic of discussionThe International Telecommunication Union said Monday it plans to hold a roundtable session on patent litigation next month to include discourse on the ongoing dispute staged between Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc.“(Patent litigation) is a worrisome trend for us and we’d like this issue to become a discussion so that we can give a set of recommendations,” said Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the ITU, during a press conferen
Foreign IBs downgrade 2012 outlook for Korea

Sept 10, 2012

Major foreign investment banks cut their forecast of Korean economic growth to the mid-2 percent range for this year on faltering exports, a report showed Monday.Ten foreign investment banks forecast the Korean economy to grow an average 2.6 percent this year, lower than their previous estimate of 2.9 percent made in July, according to a report by the Korea Center for International Finance.Their forecast stood in contrast with the central Bank of Korea’s 3 percent growth estimate and the governm
Foreign firms’ hiring to drop by 50% in H2

IndustrySept 10, 2012

Foreign companies in Korea are expected to hire only half the number of new university-graduates in the second half of this year compared to the same period last year, data showed.Of 72 firms recently surveyed by online job search portal Job Korea, about 20 foreign companies, or 27.8 percent, said that they plan to hire university graduates. Among the rest, 63.9 percent answered that they have no plans of new employment and 8.3 percent said it is not decided yet. In the same survey conducted ear
Boost from foreign investment comes with risks

Sept 10, 2012

Renault Samsung accepts voluntary retirement from 14% of workersRestructuring and downsizing are sweeping the foreign business community in Korea following lackluster sales amid the global economic slowdown stemming from the financial crisis in Europe.Korean equities continue to receive increasing attention from foreigners whose large investment, could lead to further volatility in the stock market when the global economy faces another tumble.These market trends show an overall picture of the li
Creditors to pour W200b into Ssangyong E&C

IndustrySept 10, 2012

Ssangyong Engineering and Construction said Monday that its largest shareholder Korea Asset Management Corp. and other creditor banks have agreed to inject 200 billion won ($180 million) to support the troubled builder. A risk management committee at KAMCO recently approved a liquidity support plan, with the first batch of support worth 70 billion won expected to be made on Tuesday. Ssangyong offi
Violent games can ease pain: study

TechnologySept 10, 2012

People may develop a higher tolerance toward pain by playing video games that involve players shooting and killing enemies, British scientists claimed on Friday.According to research by Keele University, playing “first-person shooter” games enabled players to endure pain for 65 percent longer than those who played a non-violent golf game.The 40 participants of the study were asked to play both the violent and non-violent games for 10 minutes and then to place a hand in ice-cold water to test pa
S. Korea unveils 5.9 tln won worth of stimulus measures

Sept 10, 2012

South Korea unveiled an additional 5.9 trillion won (US$5.23 billion) worth of fiscal support Monday as part of its efforts to boost domestic demand amid worries tough overseas market conditions are casting a pall over the country's export-driven economic growth.According to the finance ministry, the government will push for additional fiscal support worth 4.6 trillion won this year and 1.3 trilli
Seoul developing new bullet train for commercial use in 2015

IndustrySept 10, 2012

South Korea is currently developing a new bullet train that has already set a new speed record during its initial test run, the government said Monday.The HEMU-430X is an indigenous express train with an anticipated maximum speed of 430 kilometers per hour (km/h).The train was developed as part of a national research and development project and began its test run in June, according to the Ministry
S. Korea's producer prices rebound in Aug.

Sept 10, 2012

South Korea's producer prices rebounded in August from the previous month as oil costs and agricultural product prices increased, the central bank said Monday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, rose 0.3 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 0.1 percent on-year fall in July, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). July marked the first month in nearl
Korea has one of lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in OECD

Sept 9, 2012

The ratio of South Korea’s national debt to gross domestic product last year ranked 30th among 34 OECD member countries, according to CIA’s World Factbook on Sunday. The nation’s national debt ratio last year marked 33.6 percent, which was down by 1 percent compared to the previous year. Global credit ratings agency Fitch upgraded Korea’s credibility rating a notch on Thursday from “A+” to “AA-” commenting on its financial health. Japan was the OECD country with the highest national-debt-to-GDP
Hyundai Heavy Industries ties up with U.S. firm

IndustrySept 9, 2012

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., South Korea’s top shipbuilder, said that it has sealed a deal to set up a joint venture with a U.S. firm in order to make inroads into the construction equipment engine business.Under the contract with Cummins Inc., the joint venture, Hyundai-Cummins Engine Co., will be located at an industrial complex in Daegu, 302 kilometers south of Seoul, and start mass production from 2014, said the company in a filing.Hyundai Heavy said that the joint venture is expected to po