The Korea Herald

Builders expect boom in orders after Gadhafi’s death

Oct 21, 2011

South Korean construction companies said Thursday that they expect a boom in construction business with the death of Moammar Gadhafi, which could end the civil war in the North African country.The death of the former Libyan leader, announced by Libya’s National Transitional Council, could mean the s
Latin America base for Korea to access U.S.

Oct 21, 2011

Korean construction and telecommunications companies have been growing business opportunities in Latin America to use the region as a strategic base to access the U.S. market, said the head of Inter-American Development Bank.“Logistics, and cost of transportation will come to play an important role
POSCO Q3 sales, profits increase

IndustryOct 21, 2011

POSCO’s consolidated net profits for the third quarter of the year fell 78.4 percent from a year to 233 billion won ($203 million), the steelmaker said Friday.Over the same period, POSCO’s consolidated sales and operating profits respectively increased by 51.5 percent and 5.2 percent.The company att
SC First sets out on early retirement

Oct 21, 2011

Lay-off may be extended to non-executive posts as bank struggles with extended strikeStandard Chartered First Bank Korea began speeding up its manpower restructuring, as unionized workers’ long-running walkout failed to garner wide support from the public.This week, the bank launched one-on-one talk
Shinhan Bank opens first branch in western China

Oct 21, 2011

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) – South Korea's second-largest lender Shinhan Bank said Friday it has opened its first branch in the western region of China, amid rapid economic growth recently witnessed in China's less developed region.Shinhan Bank said its twelfth Chinese branch opened in Changsha,
Hyundai Motor buys local life insurer

IndustryOct 21, 2011

Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea's second-largest family-owned conglomerate, bought a local life insurer as it moves to expand in financial sector portfolio, business sources said Friday.Financial sources said that Hyundai secured Green Cross Life Insurance for 228.3 billion won ($198.3 million) fro
No link to cancer in large-scale mobile phone study

TechnologyOct 21, 2011

PARIS (AFP) - The largest study of its kind found no link between long-term use of mobile phones and increased risk of brain tumours, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) reported on Friday.Danish researchers found no evidence of enhanced risk among more than 350,000 mobile-phone subscribers whose heal
Samsung trumps Apple in Q3 smartphone sales

TechnologyOct 21, 2011

(Yonhap News)Samsung Electronics Co. outpaced Apple Inc. in the global smartphone market by more than 10 million handsets during the third quarter of the year, industry data showed Friday.According to the data, Samsung Electronics sold about 27 million smartphones during the July-to-Sept. period, wh
FTC to step up antitrust probe on large retailers

IndustryOct 20, 2011

The Fair Trade Commission plans to intensify its crackdown on major department stores for alleged irregularities in transactions with smaller vendors, its top regulator said Thursday, exerting further pressure for retailers to cut commission fees.“We intend to look into details of dealings between d
KOGAS finds large-scale gas deposit in Mozambique

IndustryOct 20, 2011

The state-run Korea Gas Corp. said Thursday it has discovered a natural gas deposit off the coast of Mozambique with a supply sufficient for the country’s needs for a year.The deposit was found at one of four wells in an offshore block in northern Mozambique waters and estimated to hold 15 trillion
GM Korea recalls nearly 100,000 cars worldwide

TransportOct 20, 2011

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., is recalling nearly 100,000 cars globally for a faulty fuel hose in its certain model year diesel that could cause leaks and the vehicle to come to a sudden halt, the Seoul government said Thursday.In South Korea alone, 32,618
Korea’s business environment ranks 8th in 2011

Oct 20, 2011

South Korea’s global ranking for its business-friendly environment leapt this year thanks to government streamlining of regulations, catapulting the country into the top 10 for the first time, a report showed Thursday. “Doing Business 2011,” an annual report prepared by the World Bank, ranked South
Hyundai Motor unveils revamped i30 hatchback

TransportOct 20, 2011

Hyundai Motor Co., the country’s largest automaker, will begin selling a revamped version of its i30 compact car this week to help the vehicle better compete against cars such as the Volkswagen Golf, the company said Thursday.Hyundai Motor said it aims to sell 215,000 units of the i30 hatchback next
Design Korea explores trends and future of design

IndustryOct 20, 2011

High school students take pictures of a wooden miniature of a concept car during their visit to Design Korea on Thursday. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)Exhibits include breathing system for firefighters, LED desk lampThe ninth annual Design Korea event is under way at the COEX exhibition center i
Regulator poised to curb big bank dividends

Oct 20, 2011

South Korea’s financial regulator is moving to draw up measures to put a lid on local banks’ excessive dividend payouts that have caused a public outcry, officials said Thursday.“Measures are on the drawing board to require banks to cut the amount of profits available for dividends,” said an officia