The Korea Herald

[Graphic News] Korea’s imports of foods from Fukushima

Oct 16, 2013

Korea has imported 200 tons of agricultural products and processed foods from Fukushima prefecture since the region was devastated by a crippled nuclear power plant in 2011, according to a report by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. But the agency said the government has blocked imports of contaminated products after inspection.
S. Korea's jobless rate falls to 2.7 pct in Sept.

Oct 16, 2013

South Korea's jobless rate fell in September from a month earlier and job creation accelerated, raising hopes that labor market conditions are improving, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 2.7 percent last month, down from 3 percent in August. The jobless rate adjusted for inflation also fell to 3 percent from 3.1 percent over the cited period.Job creation is also picking up speed. The number of employed people was 25.47 mi
BOK heads calls for building global financial safety nets

Oct 15, 2013

NEW YORK (Yonhap News) -- South Korea's top central banker on Tuesday stressed the need to build up global financial safety nets to promote financial stability as an absence of such scheme would deepen global imbalances.Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo said in a forum hosted by Economic Club of New York that the global financial system "needs an effective backstop for global liquidity shortage," expressing hopes that advanced economies should be more active in creating global financial sa
[Photo News] Talks on rebuilding projects

Oct 15, 2013
‘Koreans see designer brands as symbol of status’

Oct 15, 2013

Koreans are ideal consumers of designer goods as a large part of the population willingly open their purses based on their belief that luxury items represent class and status, according to a team of panelists at a forum co-organized by the Asia Society Korea Center and Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Tuesday. “My first impression of Korea was that I called this a dream market where people are actually excited to purchase luxury products ― something that is now uncommon in Italy,” said TO
Quebec eyes Korean automotive industry for green transportation

Oct 15, 2013

DAEGU ― Aiming to boost energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Quebec has selected electric transportation as its future vision and is hoping to collaborate with the Korean manufacturing industry.“Quebec and Korea are clearly different in terms of natural environment and energy resources,” Martine Ouellet, minister of natural resources of the Canadian province, told The Korea Herald in an interview on Tuesday.The two, however, have much to offer each other, as Quebec has an initi
IFEZ seeks second wave of success

Oct 15, 2013

Commissioner Lee aims to make zone center of high-value service industries
Foreign investment vitalizes IFEZ

Oct 15, 2013

The Incheon Free Economic Zone, the first of its kind in Korea, on Tuesday marked 10 years since its establishment. IFEZ was established with the goal to explore a new growth engine for the nation’s global competitiveness. Now it is being regarded as Korea’s exemplary free economic zone, according to IFEZ Authority officials.IFEZ ― having set out to reach a population of 640,000 people ― has been pursued in three stages: building infrastructural groundwork by 2009, attracting major investment by
China’s biggest reserves jump since 2011 sows capital inflow

Oct 15, 2013

China’s foreign-exchange reserves rose last quarter by the most in more than two years, a sign the government’s efforts to protect growth attracted money even as developing nations from India to Indonesia saw capital exit.Reserves were a record $3.66 trillion at the end of September, the People’s Bank of China said yesterday in Beijing, up from $3.5 trillion in June. The median projection was $3.52 trillion in a Bloomberg News survey of seven economists.The data suggest Premier Li Keqiang’s effo
U.N.: Global economy struggles to grow

Oct 15, 2013

The world economy is still in disarray five years after the financial crash, a new U.N. economic report released Monday said.The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development issued a gloomy assessment of a stagnant global economy.``The global economy is still struggling to return to a strong and sustained growth path,'' UNCTAD reported. The rate of world output was 2.2 percent in 2012, and is forecast to grow at a similar rate in 2013, it said.Developed countries are expected to show the poorest per
Kim & Chang has biggest earners

Oct 14, 2013

The nation’s leading law firm Kim & Chang was found to have the largest number of high income earners, according to a ruling party lawmaker who analyzed a report from the National Health Insurance Service.The law firm was followed by Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, and SK Innovation, the holding firm of SK Group affiliates related to energy.According to Rep. Kim Hyun-sook of the Saenuri Party, Kim & Chang has a total of 148 employees who earn 78 million won ($72,700)
SK E&C wins $100m order from Thailand

Oct 14, 2013

SK Engineering & Construction Co., one of South Korea’s leading builders, said Monday that it and its Thai partner have won a $100 million order to expand a chemical plant in Thailand.SK E&C said it plans to complete the project in Thailand’s Map Ta Phut industrial complex by 2015 under a deal with PTT Global Chemical Pcl, Thailand’s biggest petrochemical company.The project calls for SK E&C and PTT Maintenance and Engineering Co., a subsidiary of PTT Global Chemical, to boost annual production
‘Managing power demand key to sustainable energy future’

Oct 14, 2013

DAEGU ― A top leader in the nation’s leading refinery GS Caltex stressed that managing power demand was a way to cope with energy issues and achieving a “sustainable” energy future. “Managing energy demand is the key to achieving contradictory goals ― securing a stable energy supply and the response to climate change,” said Hur Dong-soo, chairman of GS Caltrex, in the first opening session of the 22nd World Energy Congress in Daegu aimed at discussing solutions for a sustainable energy future. H
Korea is key partner in promoting nuclear energy: UAE minister

Oct 14, 2013

DAEGU ― The transaction in the global energy sector is pressing countries to diversify their energy sources, and even conventional market leaders such as the United Arab Emirates are no exception.In order to take the current energy market to the next level, tight-knit cooperation with technology pioneer countries is crucial, according to the energy chief of the Gulf region alliance.“The UAE has been gifted with oil and gas reserves, but it is only too clear in the fast-changing market that count
Korea, Indonesia agree to expand forest cooperation

Oct 14, 2013

Korea and Indonesia concluded a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the fields of recreational forests and ecotourism on Oct. 11.The agreement was made between Korea Forest Service Minister Shin Won-sop and his Indonesian counterpart Zulkifli Hasan in Jakarta on the sidelines of the summit between the two countries. Korean President Park Geun-hye and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also attended the signing ceremony.Seoul officials said the agreement was meaningful in tha