The Korea Herald

‘Jeonse’ system loses favor with landlords

May 8, 2011

Apartment buildings under construction in Seoul. (Bloomberg)Ahn Ji-eun, 34, lives in a two-bedroom flat in Hwagok-dong in western Seoul with her husband and twin daughters. She moved into the 70-square-meter unit (about 22-pyeong) a year ago as a tenant on a one-year contract and now she is desperate to renew it.“We are told to top up our key money by 30 percent or move out. I’ve been looking for
Mega Mini is fun in traffic, seriously cool

TransportMay 8, 2011

The 2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman is a big Mini. Big, of course, is relative in this case, but this new four-door’s size rankles purists, who point to the name of the brand itself. You can’t have a super-size Mini.Yes, BMW says, you can.The Mini family, owned by BMW, now includes the various Cooper models, the larger Clubman and the all-new Countryman, which has been described as Mini’s SUV. The b
POSCO seeks opportunity in South America

IndustryMay 8, 2011

POSCO, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, is stepping up efforts to expand into South America’s infrastructure and natural resource development projects.On Saturday, POSCO chief executive Chung Joon-yang, who was on a four-day tour of Chile, Ecuador and Honduras, signed a memorandum of understanding with Li3Energy to provide technological and financial collaboration. POSCO chief executive Chun
Yeosu begins 365-day countdown to Expo

IndustryMay 8, 2011

A series of colorful events concerning the International Exposition Yeosu Korea 2012 will begin in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province on Tuesday.The three-month long event will be held at the southern port city from May 12, 2012 until Aug. 12.According to the provincial and city governments, and the event’s organizing committee, a celebratory event will be held at a sports stadium in the southern city o
Ministry begins new project for energy experts

IndustryMay 8, 2011

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Sunday that it will inject 13.6 billion won ($12.5 million) into securing human resources pool for energy-related fields.Under the program, the ministry said it will support higher education institutions to train energy professionals, and help their research efforts.Overall, the ministry estimates that the projects will produce 3,600 energy professionals on a
Chrysler to release New Compass

TransportMay 8, 2011

Chrysler Korea will launch special editions of the New Compass in celebration of its 70-year-old Jeep. All Jeep models will be rolled out as new editions to celebrate 70 years of the brand, including the 2011 Jeep Compass 70th Anniversary Edition, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Liberty, Jeep Patriot and Jeep Wrangler. They will come in three exterior colors ― bronze Star, bright silver and black. “The
Volvo Korea offers free check-ups

TransportMay 8, 2011

Volvo Cars Korea is offering free check-ups on air conditioners and engine oil as part of its spring promotion. Available until June 11, the service will run at 12 Volvo Cars Korea service centers across the country where Volvo drivers can receive free filters on engine oil replacement on top of the free check-up.“We’re offering the service so that drivers can ready themselves for more family outi
GM reveals lightweight Chevrolet Aveo sedan

TransportMay 8, 2011

GM Korea Co. on Tuesday revealed a Chevrolet Aveo sedan, expanding its product lines for sporty compact models.The four-door saloon version kept the same front-end design with twin headlamps and 53-centimeter alloy wheels. The compact sedan offers segment-best trunk capacity that is reportedly is biggest in size among subcompact models out in the market. The vehicle has a price range of 11.09 mill
Ssangyong takes H New Classic reservations

TransportMay 8, 2011

Ssangyong Motors began taking reservations Wednesday for the Chairman H New Classic first unveiled at the Seoul Motor Show 2011.The third generation sedan is available for reservations at 140 Ssangyong Motors branches across the country, with 3 percent discount on car insurances for those finalizes their booking by the end of July.A 1 million won ($924) discount is available for returning customer
Small cars lead U.S. auto sales higher in April

TransportMay 8, 2011

DETROIT (AP) ― Small cars sold briskly in the U.S. last month, as gasoline prices rose and some buyers worried about shortages of Japanese-made vehicles after the March earthquake there.Analysts expected overall industry sales in the U.S. to increase 19 percent from April of last year.Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of sales and marketing, said consumers shifted into smaller cars starting in Marc
Bigger now better in fuel efficiency race

TransportMay 8, 2011

With Hyundai and Kia releasing gasoline-hybrid electric vehicles, you might want to consider something bigger than a compact model. Mid-sized cars can be just as fuel efficient.No compact cars were included in the list of top 10 most fuel efficient models for the first time after Hyundai Motor Group’s Sonata, K5, and Volkswagen’s Jetta BlueMotion joined the race this month ― your bigger and more p
Android smartphones widen lead in U.S. market

IndustryMay 8, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Smartphones powered by Google software widened their lead on BlackBerry handsets in the U.S. market during the first three months of the year, industry tracker comScore reported on Friday.Android smartphones dethroned BlackBerry in January by capturing 31.2 percent of the U.S. market and that share grew to 34.7 percent by the end of March, according to comScore. A Samsung Ele
Russian-American buys Warner Music

IndustryMay 8, 2011

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Russian-American billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries won a bidding war on Friday for Warner Music Group, buying the storied music company for $3.3 billion in an all-cash transaction.The sale of Warner Music, whose artists range from current stars such as Eric Clapton and Kid Rock to legends such as Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles, comes at a challenging time for the music
Korea to cut collusion in financial sector

May 6, 2011

The administration and the National Assembly have begun in earnest to reform the nation’s top financial watchdog, to cut its long-held collusive ties with financial companies it supervises.Assessing that the Financial Supervisory Service, hit by a series of corruption scandals involving its former and incumbent staff, cannot complete a self-purification drive, the Prime Minister’s Office is pushin
1.5 trillion won flees from savings banks

May 6, 2011

The total amount of deposits at local savings banks plunged by 1.5 trillion won ($1.4 billion) during the past four months due to concerns over their security, according to a report released by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday. The tota of deposits held at 96 savings banks nationwide stood at 64.8 trillion won at the end of April, according to the staterun deposit insurer. The figureexc