The Korea Herald

Lee welcomed as victorious Olympian

IndustryJul 11, 2011

Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee (center) on Monday poses with a bouquet presented by Samsung employees who welcomed him back to work after his trip to South Africa. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)Samsung Group owner Lee Kun-hee on Monday was greeted with a warm welcome from Samsung employees for his role in helping PyeongChang City win the bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.Around 500 e
KT&G market share nears 60%

IndustryJul 11, 2011

KT&G Corp. said Monday that its share in the local market has risen for the second quarter in a row to nearly 60 percent, thanks to robust sales of its new products and price hikes by rival tobacco firms. Korea’s top cigarette manufacturer said its 55.7 percent stake in the fourth quarter last year climbed to 58 percent in the first quarter this year, then to 59.8 percent in the second quarter. It
Foreign debt nears $400b

Jul 11, 2011

The level of foreign debt is poised top $400 billion, complicating Seoul’s capital control efforts increasingly watched by major credit rating agencies abroad. Foreign debt in the first quarter May made the steepest hikes in three years, reaching $381.9 billion at the end of March. Noting an increase of $21.9 billion in just three months from December, the Finance Ministry predicted the figure to
Reins tightened on savings banks

Jul 11, 2011

Regulator pushes banks to improve capital adequacy ratiosKorea’s financial regulator said Monday it will further toughen the standards used to assess savings banks’ fiscal soundness in a bid to accelerate the cleanup of the troubled sector. “The planned assessment of 85 savings banks has started, and banks with BIS capital ratio of less than 8 percent as of late June are now required to submit sel
Korea to sell W2tr in Treasury bills

Jul 11, 2011

Korea will sell 2 trillion won ($1.89 billion) in Treasury bills this month as part of efforts to secure money to cover possible shortfalls in government operation funds, the Finance Ministry said Monday.Treasury bills are intended to raise money for the government so it can cope with short-term financial shortfalls. They are generally sold with a maturity of less than one year.The July debt with
Korea may conduct FX smoothing: Minister Bahk

Jul 11, 2011

South Korea’s finance minister said Monday that the government could carry out smoothing operations if the local currency fluctuates sharply against the U.S. dollar.“If there are steep fluctuations in currency rates, our basic stance is that we could implement smoothing operations to ease the herd behavior in the market,” Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan told reporters after a meeting with financial
SC First Bank temporarily closes 43 branches

Jul 11, 2011

SC First Bank, the Korean unit of Standard Chartered Plc., said Monday it had temporarily shut down operations at 43 branches in a bid to minimize the impact of a prolonged labor strike. A customer stands in front of the shuttered SC First Bank in Ankuk Station in central Seoul on Monday. (*Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Unionized workers at SC First Bank launched an indefinite strike on June 27 i
Porsche supercar seen reviving sales

IndustryJul 11, 2011

A Porsche 911 GT2 RS automobile is released to the media on Friday. (Bloomberg)Porsche AG may develop a supercar positioned higher than the 911 GT2 RS to broaden its line-up and sustain growth as orders cool from record deliveries last year. The car could be combined with additional variants of the Cayman and Boxster as well as extended-wheelbase and convertible versions of the Panamera four-door
Aussie firms whinge about carbon tax

IndustryJul 11, 2011

Australia’s largest airline says the tax will cost as much as $123 million in 2013Macarthur Coal Ltd., BlueScope Steel Ltd., and Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. led declines in Australian trading Monday after the government unveiled the country’s first levy on greenhouse-gas emissions. Polluters will pay AU$23 ($24.74) per metric ton of carbon emissions, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Sunday in Canbe
‘GPS is allowed to find cheating husband’: U.S. court

TechnologyJul 11, 2011

A man shows a GPS devise as his classmate. (MCT) ‘GPS is allowed to find cheating husband’: U.S. court　A New Jersey court has approved of a woman’s use of GPS to track down her suspicious husband.　The woman hired a private investigator to follow her husband to find out whether he was having an affair. But when her husband, Kenneth Villanova, kept managing to avoid the investigator, he told her to
SC First temporarily shuts down 43 branches due to strike

Jul 11, 2011

SC First Bank, the South Korean unit of Standard Chartered Plc., said Monday it had temporarily shut down operations at 43 branches in a bid to minimize the impact of a prolonged labor strike. Unionized workers at SC First Bank launched an indefinite strike on June 27 in protest of the management's move to introduce a performance-based pay system, causing bank customers to face inconvenience in us
Korea considers new immigration office

Jul 10, 2011

The government has taken the first steps of creating an exclusive agency to take oversee the nation’s policies on immigration and multiculturalism, officials said Sunday. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance gave public notice of a bid to analyze foreign immigration agencies and study measures to attract a talented workforce from abroad. The ministry plans to streamline immigration policy over the
HC Petrochem begins works to triple capacity

IndustryJul 10, 2011

Industry and government officials including Hyundai Oilbank CEO Kwon Oh-gap (sixth from left) and Cosmo Oil CEO Kimura Yaichi (fifth from left) take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for HC Petrochem’s new plant in Daesan, South Chungcheong Province, Friday. (Hyundai Oilbank)HC Petrochem, a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank Co. and Japan’s Cosmo Oil Co., began work on a new plant that will t
LG’s Cinema 3-D TV ...certified as full HD

IndustryJul 10, 2011

LG Electronics’ Cinema 3-D TV was certified as full HD in 3-D mode by VDE, one of Europe’s largest technical and scientific international associations, the Seoul-based company said on Sunday. “This latest certification proves beyond all doubt that LG’s Cinema 3-D TVs, which already provide the most comfortable 3-D viewing experience, deliver 3-D in full HD,” said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of L
Korean outside directors ...make dubious watchdogs

IndustryJul 10, 2011

Some draw as much as 97 million won for 10 days of workOutside directors at Korean companies may not be fulfilling their roles despite their handsome salaries.According to the data local firms submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service, some firms paid their outside directors as much as 9.7 million won ($9,200) for each day they spent attending company functions. Outside directors were made a