The Korea Herald

U.S. unlikely to pass Korea FTA in August: minister

Jul 26, 2011

The Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement is unlikely to be passed by the U.S. Congress in August, Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said Monday.Kim said that the negotiations for raising the U.S. government debt-ceiling, and difficulties surrounding the process, have taken center stage making it unlikely that the trade pact with Korea will be processed within the next month. Korean Trade Minister Kim
Kumho Petrochemical to invest W880b in Yeosu

IndustryJul 26, 2011

Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. and its three subsidiaries plan to spend 880 billion won ($837 million) by 2014 to scale up their production lines in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province the companies said Tuesday.The deal reflects the firms’ efforts to meet surging demand for their materials, which are used in automobiles and consumer electronics. When completed, Kumho Petrochemical will be able to churn o
LGE receives U.S. certification for slashing carbon emissions

IndustryJul 26, 2011

LG Electronics has received certification from the U.S. for producing carbon-free goods. making headway in the field of environmentally friendly technology, said the Seoul-based company on Tuesday.The certification was from Carbon Fund, one of the leading institutes in the U.S. that provides certification for carbon-free products. LG Electronics is the first Korean company to receive the credentia
Seoul to support M&As among brokerage firms

Jul 26, 2011

FSC to benchmark U.S. tolaunch another stock exchangeThe financial authorities have moved again to establish a Korean version of Goldman Sachs and launch another stock exchange in the local securities market.Though Korea had pushed ahead with the project to set up several big investment banks, the 2008 global financial crisis discouraged the nation from promoting mergers and acquisitions among bi
KT resubmission of plan to halt 2G services blocked

IndustryJul 26, 2011

KT Corp.’s resubmitted plan to end services for feature phone users by September is again stirring up controversy as the number of owners remains high.“I truly hope KT is aware of the fact that even a single customer was a loyal one using its services for a minimum of a few months to a number of years,” said a Seoulite who wished to only be identified by his surname Jung. The Korea Communications
Hyundai Heavy to build plant in Brazil

IndustryJul 26, 2011

Hyundai Heavy Industries on Tuesday signed an agreement with the state of Rio de Janeiro and the city of Itatiaia to set up a plant producing construction equipment in the Brazilian city.For the plant, the company will invest $150 million and the Brazilian government will provide support in building gas and water supply lines, and other infrastructure, Hyundai Heavy said.The company plans to compl
Record cattle numbers to keep beef prices stable

Jul 26, 2011

The number of cattle in South Korea hit a record high in June and is expected to grow further for a couple of years, helping stabilize beef prices, the government said Tuesday. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that the country had 3.05 million heads of hanwoo beef cows as of last month, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier and the largest ever. Despite 110,883 heads of
LG Chem reels in $10m battery order

IndustryJul 26, 2011

LG Chem, South Korea’s leading chemical maker, said Tuesday that it has clinched a $10 million contract to develop a lithium ion battery for U.S. automakers.Under the deal with U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium, LG Chem will develop a high-powered, high-capacity lithium-ion battery for plug-in electric vehicles by 2013, the company said.The consortium is composed of the U.S. Department of Energy an
Transfer of wealth via stock gifts rises

Jul 26, 2011

The largest shareholders at Korea’s listed firms have reaped huge profits through gifted stocks in the past five years, taking advantage of fluctuations in the financial markets, a local source revealed Tuesday. According to Chaebul.com, which tracks news and data on Korea’s conglomerates, gifted stocks or inheritance by the largest shareholders amounted to 3.3 trillion won ($3.1 billion) in the p
SC First labor, chiefs still poles apart on pay

Jul 26, 2011

With no immediate end in sight for a prolonged strike, the labor and management of SC First Bank appear to be playing a game of chicken over its pay system, which could end up in a no-win situation for both sides, analysts said Tuesday.Irked by a management plan to adopt a novel merit pay system, about 2,900 unionized workers at the seventh-largest lender in South Korea have been striking for the
Korea to make foot-and-mouth vaccine

Jul 26, 2011

South Korea will produce vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease next year to protect livestock after the country suffered the worst outbreak of the disease earlier this year, a government agency said Tuesday.The Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency said it plans to import FMD antigens from foreign vaccine manufacturers and get local companies to learn production knowhow so the
IT industry too dependent on smart devices

IndustryJul 26, 2011

Electronic dictionaries, MP3 players, navigation being used less frequentlyThe smart device boom may be a blessing for many who now have instant access to everything from emails to the nearest restaurant serving their favorite foods, but smart products also are making electronics companies increasingly lazy. The local IT industry is apparently too heavily dependent on smart devices such as smartph
Kakao sweet for S. Korean smartphone users

IndustryJul 26, 2011

South Korean student Hwang Jin-Joo no longer sends text messages to his extensive circle of friends, he “KaTalks” them.Kakao Talk, a mobile messenger smartphone application, has enjoyed phenomenal success since it was launched 16 months ago and has spawned similar apps in the world’s most wired nation.“Almost everyone I know uses the service, and it’s so economical that now I can’t imagine how I’d
BlackBerry maker to cut 2,000 jobs

IndustryJul 26, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Faced with tough competition and falling profits, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. is cutting 2,000 jobs as part of a cost savings plan announced last month and is shuffling some senior executives.The job cuts amount to about 10 percent of the company’s work force. The company said Monday it will notify affected employees this week. It expects to give more information on th
Food inflation likely in crop price outlook

IndustryJul 26, 2011