Samsung Electronics confirmed Sunday that the planned CEO-level meeting between the company and Apple will take place in a San Francisco court house on May 21-22. A Samsung spokesperson contacted by The Korea Herald refused to elaborate further on the issue, though. The Suwon, Gyeonggi Province-based company said earlier on April 18 that its vice chairman Choi Gee-sung will meet Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook following a court order for a settlement conference. On April 17, U.S. Judge Lucy Koh

U.S. aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. will build a flight training center in western South Korea for pilots working for local low-cost carriers, the land ministry said Sunday.Under an agreement signed Friday with Incheon International Airport Corp., Lockheed Martin will invest $15 million in the envisioned training center, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.The training center will be located near Incheon International Airport, about 40 kilometers

Korea is seeking to lower its debt by more than 4 percent to below 30 percent of its gross domestic product by 2015 to boost fiscal soundness amid spiraling household borrowing and social spending. The latest roadmap for the debt sustainability of Asia’s fourth-largest economy was unveiled Saturday at a strategic meeting for national finance at Cheong Wa Dae, presided over President Lee Myung-bak and attended by ministers, other cabinet members and private experts. To that aim, the government pl

More companies are turning their eyes on social entrepreneurism aimed at promoting a fairer society by helping the underprivileged, industry observers said.They said social entrepreneurism will be further emphasized as a major trend for corporate growth in the future.Most big companies have focused on engaging in corporate social responsibility activities by providing financial and other support to the poor and underprivileged. According to a report by the nation’s largest lobby group, the Feder

South Korean stocks are expected to track developments in eurozone countries and global and domestic economic data this week, local analysts said.The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, closed at 1,975.35 on Friday, a dip of 0.1 percent from a week earlier, mainly due to North Korea’s geopolitical risk, and persistent eurozone woes fueled by the downgrading of Spain’s long-term credit rating by two notches. Concerns fiscal instability may spread to the Netherlands and France further affected t

South Korean banks saw their net income decline sharply in the first quarter from a year earlier, but gross income rose slightly, the country’s financial watchdog said Sunday.The combined net profit of local banks was an estimated 3.5 trillion won ($3.09 billion) for the January-March period, down 1 trillion won from a year earlier but up 4.1 trillion won from the previous quarter, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.Their gross income, however, increased by around 100 billion won to

Chief regulator shows confidence in attracting competitive bidderThe Public Fund Oversight Committee will put up the state-controlled Woori Financial Group for auction again on Monday.In a statement on Sunday, the PFOC said it would attract preliminary bidders for the nation’s largest financial group by July 27 after making official notification of the sale on April 30.The new sale project comes after financial authorities failed to attract a preferred bidder for Woori Financial several times be

Europe’s biggest car maker, said Thursday that profits raced ahead in the first three months of this year, driven by strong demand worldwide for all of its brands.VW said in a statement it booked net profit of 3.186 billion euros ($4.222 billion) in the period from January to March, an increase of 86 percent from a year earlier. Underlying earnings, as measured by operating profit, revved up 10.2 percent to 3.209 billion euros, as the auto giant sold 11.3 percent more vehicles ― 2.26 million wor