South Korea and Paraguay reached an open-skies accord on Tuesday to meet future two-way demand for passengers and cargo, the Seoul government said.Under the agreement, South Korean airlines will be allowed to fly an unlimited number of times to the South American country, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said. At present, there are no direct flights linking the two countries.At the talks held in Seoul, both sides concurred that the pact will help fuel personnel exchange and f

The government said on Wednesday it will push to extend tax breaks and incentives to spur corporate investment in research and development through 2015.Tax credits worth 2.3 trillion won ($1.96 billion) last year for R&D investment to develop new growth engines and core technologies, special exceptions in taxation (worth 92.1 billion won) for state endowments related to R&D and tax credits (106 billion won) for investment in R&D facilities are set to expire this year.The government said it will

South Korea should focus on cultivating software talents and relax regulations on the information and communication industry if it wants to survive in the fast-changing global IT industry, a presidential council reported Tuesday.The President’s Council on National ICT Strategies made the suggestions during a report to President Lee Myung-bak, stressing that South Korea, once considered an IT power due to its advanced hardware technologies, is fast losing ground in what is now a software-centered

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Google closed Tuesday its $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility, a key manufacturer of smartphones and other devices that puts the Internet giant in head-to-head competition with Apple.“The acquisition will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing,” the California-based Internet giant said in a statement.Chief executive Larry Page said Google was acquiring “a great American tech company, with a track record of ov

Desperate jobseeker in the United Kingdom has resorted to begging for a job in the streets after being rejected 15,000 times in the past 10 years, according to news reports.Robin Norton, who reportedly has a masters degree in history along with several National Vocational Qualifications, walks down a road wearing a sandwich board that says “Hire me, plese?!”“Wearing the sign is a last-ditch attempt for me to get work,” says 40-year-old Norton. He says he is willing to work at any full-time job.N

California's Senate passed a bill to create guidelines for autonomous vehicles' -- self-driving cars -- to be tested and operated in the state, officials said.The bill will now go to the state Assembly for consideration next month, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.The passage in the Senate comes as Google Inc., Caltech and other groups are busy developing vehicles that use radar, video camera

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday that South Korea’s economy will slow to 3.3 percent in 2012 from 3.6 percent in 2011 due to the deepening European debt woes.But the OECD said in its economy outlook report that the Korean economy will pick up next year to achieve 4 percent growth.In terms of global recovery, the Paris-based OECD said that it is slowly regaining momentum and that the world economy will grow by 3.4 percent in 2012 and 4.2 percent by 2013. It w

Samsung C&T Corp., one of South Korea’s leading construction and trading companies, said Tuesday it has won three overseas orders worth $726 million.The company said it secured a high-rise development and building remodeling project worth a combined $534 million in Singapore, and a $192 million hotel construction project in Mongolia.The two orders in Singapore involve construction in the Marina Center region in the city state’s central business district.The company is already engaged in 12 other

LG Electronics Inc.’s 2012 Cinema 3-D smart TVs have received excellent reviews from European information technology media outlets, industry sources said Tuesday.Sources said that Britain-based CNET media named the South Korean consumer giant’s 47-inch LM960V model its “Editor’s Choice” for its precise contrast, viewer-friendly recreation of vivid colors and smart functionality as well as three-dimensional picture quality.It added that the very thin bezel enhances the overall refinement of the T

Hyundai Motor Group dismissed the rumors that Hyundai Steel and Hyundai Hysco, two of the conglomerate’s seven subsidiaries, will merge.In their regulatory filing on the Korea Exchange, the two Hyundai units also denied the merger rumors, respectively. They said the news was “groundless.”Stock prices of the two companies fluctuated during the trading session on Tuesday, hit by the speculation that steel producer Hyundai Steel and steel sheet products manufacturer Hyundai Hysco were pushing for b

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency announced on Tuesday that it had launched the largest-ever exhibition of Korean products in Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates. Titled “Made in Korea UAE 2012,” the exhibition takes place at Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company. The three-day exhibition introduces a wide variety of products ranging from healthcare equipment to excavator. Infopia Company, IR Electric Company, Doosan Infracore Company, Caravan Engineered Structures Inc., Korea