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Giants, Patriots set sights on NFL championship

More sportsJan 31, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ― Here we go again.Four years after what many consider the best finish in Super Bowl history, the Giants and Patriots are facing off once more for the NFL championship. While there are no perfect records on the line this time, this matchup could be equally enticing.It certainly looks that way heading into Sunday’s big game. In 2008, with New England undefeated and having beaten New York in the regular-season finale, the Patriots were 12-point favorites. The spread now is 3, and
Heavy snows hit Seoul and western regions

Social affairsJan 31, 2012

Heavy snows hit Seoul and the western parts of the country on Tuesday.The Korea Metrological Administration issued a heavy-snow watch for Seoul, Incheon and the coastal areas of the Chungcheong provinces as of 4 p.m.The KMA said that while the snow will peter out in Seoul and the central regions late Tuesday, it may continue to fall in the Chungcheong provinces into Wednesday. The Seoul metropolitan government put in place the first stage emergency operations after the warning was issued. The ci
Number of venture firms tumbles during late 2011

Jan 31, 2012

The number of venture firms in South Korea plummeted in the May-December period of last year as economic uncertainties sapped entrepreneurship, industry data showed Tuesday.A total of 850 venture firms closed down in the eight-month period in 2011, compared with a gain of 2,351 startups during the earlier four months, according to the data by the Korea Exchange and the Korea Venture Business Association. The number of venture firms grew a mere 6.1 percent on-year in 2011, compared with a 30.4 pe
Avante Hyundai Motor’s best-seller in 2011

TransportJan 31, 2012

The Avante compact manufactured by Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. was the company’s top-selling car in the global market last year, industry data showed Tuesday.A total of 787,067 units of the Avante, known as the Elantra in the United States, were sold in 2011 in the domestic and overseas markets, accounting for 19 percent of Hyundai Motor’s overall shipments of 4.14 million vehicles, according to the data.Its domestic sale reached 130,628 units last year, while 239,439 units were expo
Korea’s industrial output slows to 2.8% in Dec.

Jan 31, 2012

Korea’s industrial output grew at a much slower pace in December in the face of persistent global economic uncertainties, a government report showed Tuesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining and manufacturing industries moved up 2.8 percent last month from a year earlier, slowing from a 5.8 percent gain in November.Industrial production, however, fell 0.9 percent on-month in December, marking the third month in a row that numbers declined.In November, it shran
Hyundai Motor donates training school in Ghana

IndustryJan 31, 2012

Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday it will build a vocational school to train mechanics in Ghana, widening its corporate social responsibility program in underdeveloped countries.Named Hyundai-KOICA Dream Center, the school will be the first of a number of learning centers the company plans to build in African countries, Southeast Asia and developing nations in other regions. The school, to open this September, will adopt a three-year curriculum for some 300 students. “Hyundai workers from all over
Chung honored for role in Yeosu Expo

IndustryJan 31, 2012

Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo will receive the National Order of Merit Mugunghwa from the government for his contribution to the 2012 Expo in Yeosu, Hyundai Motor said Tuesday.Mugunghwa is the first class of order of Civil Merit. Chung has worked as the honorary chief of the organizing committee to host the world class exhibition event since 2007. His contributions were noted after he visited 11 member states of the Bureau of International Expositions in 2007 to promote Yeosu to of
Medical tourism income hits record high in 2011

Jan 31, 2012

Korea’s medical tourism income reached a record $116 million in 2011 on the strength of the surging popularity of the country’s health care and medical services among inbound travelers, the Bank of Data showed Tuesday. The income from the thriving medical tourism doubled in five years as more foreign travelers came here to get medical services and plastic surgery.“Foreign tourists are flocking to the country because of its advanced medical technologies, and Chinese and Japanese customers, in par
POSCO builds children’s center in Zimbabwe

IndustryJan 31, 2012

POSCO said Tuesday it built a development center for children near the Zimbabwean capital of Harare as part of efforts to expand its social contribution in Africa.About 80 children suffering from poverty or AIDS will take part in programs to improve their health at the POSCO Children Development Center, the steelmaker said in a press release. Parents and local leaders will undergo educational programs on childraising at the center.Next to the new center, POSCO broke ground for an Agricultural Tr
Korea likely to have stand-alone rating soon

Jan 31, 2012

A rate cut expected for weak conglomerate units and public corporationsKorea’s financial regulators plan to hold a public forum to explore the introduction of a stand-alone corporate rating system on Feb. 9, heralding the imminent implementation of a program that alarms Korean conglomerates. The envisioned stand-alone rating system is widely expected to weed out nonviable chaebol affiliates which have inflated their corporate ratings through links with parent firms with better ratings. The gover
Branksome Hall Asia to hold admissions info session on Feb. 8

Social affairsJan 31, 2012

Branksome Hall Asia, the first overseas campus of a premier all-girls independent school in North America, will hold an admissions information session at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the Orchid Room at Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas Hotel. According to the school’s PR representative KPR, Branksome Hall Asia, which opens in Jeju Global Education city in October, is accepting boys and girls for preschool to grade 3, and only girls for grades 4 through 12. For its foundation year, admission
Koreans’ average height grew about 12 cm over past century

Social affairsJan 31, 2012

Korean adults who lived during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) were significantly shorter on average than today’s generation, a medical study released on Tuesday suggests.According to the first nationwide study on the height of Koreans including Joseon-era forefathers, average heights of both male and female adults have increased by 12.9 centimeters and 11.6 centimeters, respectively, over the past century.The study estimated the average height of Koreans who lived during the Joseon era at 161.1
Defense officials of S. Korea, U.S., Japan say N. Korea ‘stable’

DefenseJan 31, 2012

Senior defense officials from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan consider the current North Korean regime “stable” under its new leader Kim Jong-un, sources said Tuesday.Lim Kwan-bin, South Korea’s deputy defense minister; Peter Lavoy, the U.S. acting assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs; and Masanori Nishi, the head of defense policy at Japan’s defense ministry, began their two-day meeting on the South Korean island of Jeju on Monday, sources said. Their conference
Lee celebrates 20th anniversary of relations with Kyrgyzstan

Foreign affairsJan 31, 2012

President Lee Myung-bak celebrated the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, pledging to further develop the countries’ ties in an exchange of messages with President Almazbek Atambaev.In their messages, both leaders expressed satisfaction that relations between the two countries have developed steadily since the 1992 opening of diplomatic ties, and agreed to work together to boost the relationship, the presidential office said in a statement.Lee also hoped for con
Too much pressure on conglomerates could dampen investment, employment: Lee

PoliticsJan 31, 2012

President Lee Myung-bak voiced concern Tuesday that pressuring conglomerates too hard could dampen their hiring and investment practices as politicians seek a tighter rein on chaebol to woo voters ahead of April’s general elections.The remark came days after the main opposition Democratic United Party said it will consider creating a “chaebol tax” and revive a regulation aimed at keeping conglomerates from expanding recklessly amid criticism that chaebol prey on smaller firms and abuse their pow