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Barcelona holds off Madrid rally

SoccerJan 26, 2012

BARCELONA (AP) ― Pedro Rodriguez and Daniel Alves scored first-half goals, and Barcelona held off a spirited Real Madrid comeback attempt to eliminate the defending Copa del Rey champion with a 2-2 tie Wednesday night.Following the ninth clasico between the rivals in nine months, Barcelona advanced to the semifinals on 4-3 aggregate and next plays Valencia or Levante.Pedro entered in the 30th minute after Andres Iniesta limped off and put Barcelona ahead in the 43rd off a pass from Lionel Messi,
Source: Korean FA paid settlement to corrupt worker

SoccerJan 26, 2012

The nation’s governing body of football paid an employee suspected of embezzlement a large settlement after he threatened to disclose corruption within the agency, a source said Thursday.According to the source, who is privy to matters at the Korea Football Association, the agency decided on Jan. 13 to pay the employee a settlement of 150 million won ($133,690).The employee, identified by his surname A, was fired on Dec. 31, about a month after he was caught stealing football equipment from anot
Hynix Semiconductor retains CEO Kwon

IndustryJan 26, 2012

Hynix Semiconductor decided Thursday to have CEO Kwon Oh-chul and vice president Park Sung-wook continue their positions in a board members’ meeting. Kwon has led the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker since 2010. His three-year term will expire in March next year. SK Telecom, which acquired Hynix last year, appears to have considered Kwon’s expertise in the semiconductor industry, industry sources say. Kwon was the former chairman of Hynix-Numonyx Semiconductor Ltd. in China, former chief
Korean investors shunned foreign equities last year: data

Jan 26, 2012

Korean investors cut back their holdings of foreign equities last year primarily due to the angst over global uncertainties stemming from the eurozone debt crisis, data showed Thursday. The value of foreign stocks traded by local investors totaled $2.92 billion in 2011, down 49.2 percent from the $5.75 billion tallied in the previous year, according to the data by the Korea Securities Depository. The 2011 figure is lower than the $3.3 billion and $3.1 billion tallied in 2008 and 2009, respective
Korea feared to log current account deficit in Jan.

Jan 26, 2012

Korea’s current account balance is feared to swing into the red in January due to a large deficit in trade and service accounts stemming from high oil prices and a strong local currency, data showed Thursday. The country’s imports jumped 19.8 percent on-year to $32.03 billion in the first 20 days of January, while exports rose 5.9 percent to $29.1 billion, bringing its trade deficit to $2.93 billion, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service.If exports fail to outweigh imports by around
Makgeolli exports surge on strong demand in Japan

IndustryJan 26, 2012

Korea’s exports of makgeolli jumped in 2011 mostly thanks to spiking demand for the nation’s traditional rice wine from Japan, customs data showed Thursday.According to the data by the Korea Customs Service, makgeolli exports totaled $52.76 million last year, up 176.3 percent from a year earlier.That marked a 12-fold rise from the $4.42 million tallied at the end of 2008 and was the first time makgeolli exports exceeded $50 million.The increase stemmed mostly from Japan where demand for makgeoll
KT names Kim first CEO of Ustream Korea

IndustryJan 26, 2012

KT Corp. on Thursday named Jimmy Kim, former vice president of Viacom International Media Networks, the first CEO of Ustream Korea.Ustream Korea is a joint venture between KT and Ustream Asia, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank. The official service for live video streaming is scheduled to start in March. With the appointment of the new CEO, KT plans to step up efforts to expand into the media and content businesses. Kim, 42, has worked for more than 10 years in the field of media content distribu
LG to launch four new wireless gadgets

IndustryJan 26, 2012

LG Electronics said Thursday that it will launch four new wireless gadgets, including a 5-inch smartphone, by the first half of this year.Starting with the release of its tablet PC Optimus Pad LTE, the firm will unveil three more smartphones as it aims to make a comeback this year with devices that run on the fourth generation Long Term Evolution network.“Including the Optimus Pad LTE and the 5-inch smartphone, we plan to roll out two other smartphones in the first half,” said an LG official. Th
SKT, KT to soon sell used smartphones

IndustryJan 26, 2012

Two leading mobile carriers, SK Telecom and KT Corp., said Thursday they would begin selling used smartphones at outlets across the nation in the upcoming months.KT plans to sell used smartphones online and offline starting in March and its rival SKT expects to offer used smartphones at the firm’s outlets a month later in April.KT is also planning to devise a discounted monthly payment plan called the “green sponsor” policy in May to give further assistance to used phone purchasers, according to
SK Planet, Dogus Grubu sign MOU for partnership

IndustryJan 26, 2012

SK Planet, the mobile platform unit of SK Telecom, said Thursday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dogus Grubu, a Turkish conglomerate, for business cooperation. SK Planet CEO Seo Jin-woo and Dogus Grubu CEO Husnu Akhan signed the agreement titled “Partnership for New Internet Business” at Holland House, a mountain resort in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. The two companies plan to focus on the e-commerce sector first and then extend cooperation in other mobile business are
Korea’s economic growth slows to 0.4 percent in Q4

Jan 26, 2012

Export, consumption, investment all weaken on eurozone debt woes; 2011 GDP down at 3.6 percent Korea’s economic growth slowed further at the end of 2011 amid deepening concerns about the impact of the eurozone fiscal crisis on exports. The country’s gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent in the October-December period from the previous quarter, marking the lowest gain in two years, the Bank of Korea’s data showed Thursday.GDP growth, the broadest measure of economic performance, steadily lost s
Chaebol scions slammed for moving into bakeries, imports

IndustryJan 26, 2012

Backed by family-owned corporate network, chaebol progeny chase easy moneyFounders of Korea’s major enterprises devoted their lives to building a manufacturing powerhouse of the world’s best ships, cars and electronics, but their grandchildren are more interested in selling pastries and importing luxury items. A slew of chaebol offspring have jumped into the bakery or coffee shop business, possibly driving out small, individually owned confectioneries. The number of bakeries run by self-employed
Samsung, POSCO make it onto Global 100 list

IndustryJan 26, 2012

Samsung Electronics and POSCO have been included in the top 100 of the world’s most sustainable large companies, Canadian business paper Corporate Knights announced Thursday.Samsung ranked 73th, rising 20 spots from last year. POSCO secured the No. 30 slot, positioning itself as the only steelmaker to have put its name on the list released at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. The 2012 Global 100 list isolates the top 10 percent of companies from 3,500 global stocks, which were then
Hyundai Motor profit surges 35% in 2011

Jan 26, 2012

Korean auto giant aims to sell a record 7 million vehicles worldwide this yearHyundai Motor Co.’s annual profit jumped 35.1 percent last year on surging demand from North America and India, wrapping up a good year in which it beat its Japanese rivals.Net profit came in at 8.1 trillion won ($7.1 billion), up 35.1 percent from 6 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in an earnings report Thursday. Its fourth-quarter profit came in at 2 trillion won, marginally missing the 2.24 trillion wo
Shares up on foreign buying

Jan 26, 2012

Korean stocks finished 0.25 percent higher on Thursday as foreign investors continued buying local shares following the Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates low, analysts said. The local currency climbed against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark KOSPI added 4.95 points to reach 1,957.18, extending a winning streak to a fourth straight session. Trading volume was moderate at 403 million shares worth 5.46 trillion won ($4.86 billion) with gainers leading losers 511 to 286. “After the KOSPI