The Korea Herald

RIM upbeat on Asian growth markets

Jun 26, 2011

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is banking on Indonesia and other populous markets for growth in Asia, while it faces intensifying competition worldwide from rivals like the iPhone.The Canadian firm had one of the most prominent stands at the CommunicAsia telecom fair that ended Friday in Singapore, where industry executives gather annually to check out new technology and sea
Dairy companies fined for price rigging

Jun 26, 2011

Firms met regularly to fix cheese prices, antitrust watchdog saysThe nation’s four major dairy companies were fined a combined 10.6 billion won ($9.8 million) for fixing prices of their cheese products, the antitrust agency said on Sunday. Seoul Milk, Maeil Dairies Co., Namyang Dairy Products Co. and Dongwon Dairy Foods were subject to the penalties, the Fair Trade Commission said. Seoul Milk was
POSCO wins corporate governance award

Jun 24, 2011

POSCO, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, has been named the company with the best corporate governance structure in Korea.According to the steelmaker, it was so named by the Corporate Governance Service and the Korea Exchange on Friday.The company added that its filling of the audit committee with outside directors and other activities giving enhanced independence to auditors also contributed
KT told not to dump 2G phone users

Jun 24, 2011

The Korea Communications Commission turned down Friday KT Corp.’s proposal to end services for feature phone users by the end of this month.The state telecom regulator said it would defer giving the green light to KT’s scheme which would force what KCC cited as its remaining 810,000 2G mobile phone users to adopt 3G smartphones by the first half of this year.“Let’s put it off the discussion agenda
SK telink barred from MVNO market

Jun 24, 2011

Subsidiary firms of Korea’s mobile carriers are expected to meet resistance in joining the market for mobile virtual network operators as the state watchdog appears wary of letting them do so.In its general meeting on Friday, the Korea Communications Commission agreed to recommend that SK telink, a subsidiary of market leader SK Telecom, hold back from entering the MVNO market.SK telink, a firm in
EUCCK calls for non-tariff barrier removal

Jun 24, 2011

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea is turning up the heat on the Korean government to reduce non-tariff barriers and modify regulations to align them with international standards.On Friday, a week ahead of the tentative implementation of the Korea-EU free trade agreement, the EUCCK published a report outlining non-tariff issues regarding access to the Korean market in 20 categories. S
Politicians, tycoons in feud over testimony

Jun 23, 2011

Friction between politicians and the business community is escalating, fueled by the National Assembly’s plans to call Federation of Korean Industries chairman Huh Chang-soo and other top businessmen to its hearings.At a press conference Tuesday, Huh said that he was opposed to the plans to remove tax benefits for businesses. He criticized policies such as halving university tuition fees as impuls
Korea to foster local growth engine sectors

Jun 23, 2011

The government said Thursday it plans to boost support for growth industries in the country’s provincial metropolitan areas by injecting 285 billion won ($265 million) this year.The program is the latest in a string of projects that the Ministry of Knowledge Economy has pushed since 2009 to develop regional technology hubs.Under the plan, the ministry will fund nearly 20 billion won this year for
HTC unveils first 4G phone, tablet

Jun 23, 2011

HTC on Thursday unveiled its EVO 4G smartphone and Flyer 4G tablet, the first fourth-generation smart devices to hit the nation. Starting July 1, the Taiwan-based smartphone maker will be distributing the phones via KT Corp. Prices have yet to be set. Both the phone and the tablet will be capable of transmitting data at up to three times as fast as current smartphones, HTC said. HTC unveils its EV
Business leaders call for lower taxes

Jun 23, 2011

Local chambers of commerce join to press government to stick to tax policyRepresentatives of one of the nation’s top private economic organizations on Thursday called for the government and politicians to stay committed to tax reduction to help the corporate sector. “Tax reduction is necessary to enhance corporate competitiveness and attract foreign capital,” the heads of the country’s 71 regional
Global chip market forecast to grow 7.2%

Jun 23, 2011

The worldwide semiconductor market is forecast to expand 7.2 percent in 2011 from last year, driven by robust demand for smartphones and tablet PCs, a market researcher said Thursday.Revising up its earlier forecast, IHS iSuppli estimated that global semiconductor revenues will reach $325.9 billion this year, compared with $304.1 billion in 2010. It previously estimated 7 percent annual growth.The
Samsung launches Galaxy S2 in Japan

Jun 23, 2011

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s No. 2 mobile-phone maker, said Thursday that it has released the Galaxy S2 smartphone in Japan through the country’s largest mobile carrier, hoping to build on the popularity of its earlier model. NTT DoCoMo Inc. has started sales of Samsung’s latest Android smartphone earlier in the day, Samsung said in a statement. The Korean company added that the latest Gal
LG-Ericsson aims for sales peak

Jun 23, 2011

LG-Ericsson said Thursday that it hoped the launch of its Long Term Evolution network would give it the top spot in the country’s telecommunications industry.Lee Jae-ryung, chief executive officer of LG-Ericsson, said that the company expects to surpass its peak sales figure of 1.1 trillion won recorded in 2008 with the nationwide introduction of fourth generation LTE networks.“It’s difficult for
Nexon, CJ E&M sign publishing agreement for Sudden Attack

Jun 23, 2011

Online game publishing companies Nexon and CJ Entertainment and Media agreed Tuesday to jointly publish the popular Sudden Attack from July 11.People will be able to access the free-to-play first person shooter game on both CJ E&M’s Netmarble and Nexon’s platforms until July 10, 2013, officials at Nexon said.The agreement was signed after debate was sparked on May 30 when CJ E&M began publicizing
Sony Ericsson eyes Android market with new phones

Jun 23, 2011

SINGAPORE (AP) ― Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson unveiled two new Android models Wednesday in a bid to grab more of the burgeoning smartphone market.The company, a joint venture between L.M. Ericsson and Sony Corp., plans to launch the Xperia ray and Xperia active models during the third quarter, Chief Marketing Officer Steve Walker announced in Singapore. A staff member submerges the Xperia Acti