The Korea Herald

Seoul shares fall 1.37 pct on Spain, Greece woes

Jul 25, 2012

South Korean stocks hit a yearly low on Wednesday as worries over debt-mired Spain and Greece further weighed on investor sentiment already dampened by a worsening global economy, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 24.62 points to 1,769.31, the lowest close for the year.Trading volume was moderate
France to request surveillance of EU-Korea free trade deal

Jul 25, 2012

France is to ask the European Union to put its Free Trade Agreement with South Korea under surveillance as part of a recovery plan for its auto sector, according to elements of the plan obtained by AFP.The plan, to be presented to cabinet Wednesday, will also boost purchasing bonuses for buying environmentally friendly cars and see the government committing to 25 percent of its new vehicles being
Apple‘s ‘Mountain Lion’ has been released

TechnologyJul 25, 2012

Apple's new mac OS X 'Mountain Lion' has been released on Wednesday.When Apple releases its quarterly earnings report at the end of the business day Tuesday, Mac users can also anticipate the official release of the upgraded operating system, dubbed Mountain Lion.“We’re thrilled with record sales of 17 million iPads in the June quarter,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “We’ve also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion on Wednesday and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are
BOK sees weakening growth momentum of Korean economy

Jul 25, 2012

South Korea’s central bank said Wednesday that the recovery pace of the local economy is weakening as exports are losing steam, hit by the eurozone debt crisis and China’s slowing growth.The Bank of Korea (BOK) delivered a surprise rate cut to 3 percent on July 12, underscoring its urgency to shield the local economy from bitter impacts of the eurozone debt problems. Market players bet on an addit
Seoul shares open sharply lower on eurozone fear

Jul 25, 2012

South Korean stocks began sharply lower Wednesday, as signs of a worsening debt crisis in Spain and Greece unnerved investor sentiment, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 28.60 points, or 1.59 percent to 1,765.33 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares lost ground across the board, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics slumping more than 2 percent and
Banks under fire for improper profits

Jul 24, 2012

Local banks are increasingly under public criticism for their alleged improper profiteering from loan interest rates. A 50-something living in Seoul vented anger, saying that she recently failed to reimburse her loan because the bank informed her anew that there are penalties when paying back in advance. “The bank offered a low interest rate when I first went to get a loan, but the rate got higher later even though I once changed it to a interest rate, seeing the economic situation worsening. Th
Residents demand resumption of whaling

IndustryJul 24, 2012

Claim whales are depleting fish stocks; meat already traded based on murky rulesULSAN (Yonhap News) ― When South Korea announced plans earlier this month to resume scientific whaling, the decision caused a rush of domestic and international criticism. But in one small city, a party was thrown. Residents of Ulsan, a coastal city 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul, gathered to celebrate a move they hoped might bring back some of the city’s former glory as a hub of whaling. “We welcomed the news,” s
Kia’s Soul expands small car market dominance in U.S.

TransportJul 24, 2012

The box-type compact Soul of Korea’s Kia Motors Corp. is strengthening its stranglehold in the U.S. market as its Japanese rivals are suffering sluggish sales, industry data showed Tuesday.Kia sold 63,635 units of the Soul in the first six months of the year in the U.S., with a market share of 82 percent in the segment, beating other boxes like the Nissan Cube and the Scion xB of Toyota, according to the data.During the same period, 10,206 units of the Scion xB were sold, while sales of the Cube
SK Innovation, Continental ink car battery deal

IndustryJul 24, 2012

SK Innovation and German automotive parts supplier Continental have teamed up to develop batteries for electric vehicles through a joint venture scheduled to begin within the year in Berlin, Korean company officials said Tuesday. Under an agreement signed on Monday at Continental’s headquarters in Frankfurt, the two companies agreed to invest a combined 270 million euros ($330 million) into the joint venture in the coming five years. SK Innovation, a flagship unit of SK Group, will hold a 51 per
Pension fund blocks Visteon’s Halla buyout

IndustryJul 24, 2012

Visteon Corp.’s attempt to buy the remaining 30 percent of Halla Climate Control Corp. is being blocked by Korea’s National Pension Service, the country’s biggest institutional investor. The pension service, which owns 8.1 percent of Halla, rejected Visteon’s offer after reviewing Halla’s future value and growth potential, the pension fund said in a statement in Seoul on Tuesday. Visteon needs approval from shareholders representing 95 percent of Halla’s stock for the offer, which closes Wednesd
LG to release English voice recognition tool in 2013

IndustryJul 24, 2012

LG Electronics said Tuesday its newly-named proprietary intelligent voice recognition app “Q Voice” will be ready in English by the first half of next year.While competing with other personal assistant voice tools like Apple’s Siri, Samsung’s S Voice and Google, the company also said it will launch the app in European and other Asian countries following its release in English, said Sohn Jin-ho, head of LG’s Future IT and R&D Lab.“Korea is the nation that is leading the trend, which is why we wil
Oracle pursues continuously charging Java license fees

IndustryJul 24, 2012

Oracle president Mark Hurd said Tuesday that the firm would continue to charge Java license fees, saying that Java is its key technology.In a press conference marking Hurd’s first visit here to kick off the Oracle Optimized Data Center event series, he emphasized the importance of the firm’s Java development platform.“(Java) is the core development platform for our middleware platforms and applications,” he told reporters. “Java has very exciting prospects for the future and we have over 9 milli
Import car brands wary of FTC probe

IndustryJul 24, 2012

Antitrust watchdog poised to dispatch inspectors to officesSix import car brands in Korea are paying close attention to the antitrust regulator’s ongoing investigation into foreign carmakers on suspicion of price-fixing and irregular practices with dealerships.According to the Fair Trade Commission, the brands under investigation are BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi, Toyota Motor and Lexus. Mercedes-Benz Korea recently enhanced its public relations in a move to prevent misinformation from be
Shares close 0.25 percent higher on bluechip gains

Jul 24, 2012

Korean stocks finished 0.25 percent higher Tuesday led by gains in large-cap shares on positive earnings outlooks, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.After swerving in and out of negative territory, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index moved up 4.49 points to finish at 1,793.93. Trading volume was moderate at 481.6 million shares worth 4.09 trillion won ($3.57 billion), with decliners far outstripping gainers 538 to 274.“Market heavyweights led the index’s
Galaxy Tab ranked No. 2 tablet PC in China

TechnologyJul 24, 2012

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Tab claimed the No. 2 position among tablet PCs in China but trailed far behind its archrival Apple Inc.’s iPad, a poll showed Tuesday. According to the poll by market researcher Searchina Shanghai Co., the Galaxy Tab gained 16.6 points in terms of consumer preference, ranking second among 10 tablet PCs manufactured by multinational and local Chinese firms.The iPad was a distinct leader, garnering 53.6 points. Sony’s Tablet ranked third