SK Telecom, the nation’s No. 1 mobile carrier, said Tuesday that it has developed the world’s first femtocell designed to support the fourth-generation Long Term Evolution network service. A femtocell, or a small cellular base station, allows service providers to extend service coverage indoors, especially where access would otherwise be limited or unavailable. With the company’s latest innovation, SK Telecom said that its LTE users will be offered high-speed data service even while indoors and

From as early as next year, foreign patients visiting Korea for medical services will be able to buy prescription drugs at hospitals or clinics, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said. A relevant bill revision draft was approved at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Currently, all prescriptions written by doctors and can only be filled at pharmacies. Medical institutions are banned from selling drugs to individual patients.“Foreigners have a hard time understanding the system. Furthermore, because

The nation experienced more earthquakes than the yearly average this year, said the state’s weather agency Tuesday, causing concerns after Koreans witnessed a massive quake ravage its neighbor Japan earlier this year.According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, 51 earthquakes higher than a magnitude of 2 shook Korea this year, which is higher than the 10-year average.However the KMA added that the magnitudes of the quakes were low. A 2.0 magnitude earthquake in Gongju, South Chungcheong

Activists helping refugees to flee North Korea fear that the death of leader Kim Jong-il will lead to a crackdown on people trying to escape repression and hunger in the communist state.The North is believed to have stepped up patrols along its border with China, as well as security checks in public places, in an attempt to prevent defections in the wake of Kim’s death on Dec. 17.“I can’t reach most of my contacts in the North. All of their mobile phones are switched off, probably to dodge heigh

Semikron, a German electronics maker, plans to set up a factory and research laboratory in Incheon to produce industrial inverters as part of its drive to expand into East Asia, officials here said Tuesday.The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority said it struck a deal with the German company on Dec. 23 for the $10 million project. But it did not provide details on the plant’s production capacity or time frame.The facilities in Songdo, the port city’s international business district, were envisag

South Korean consumers’ confidence fell to a three-month low in December as nagging concerns about the eurozone debt crisis increased economic uncertainty, the central bank said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index ― a gauge of consumers’ overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending ― came in at 99 for December, down from 103 tallied in the previous month, according to a survey by the Bank of Korea.The December data marked the lowest level since the index reached an identical

SK Telecom on Tuesday received regulatory approval to acquire Hynix Semiconductor Inc., which the nation’s No. 1 mobile carrier hopes to develop into its next growth engine. The Fair Trade Commission approved SK’s purchase of a controlling stake in the nation’s second-largest provider of memory chips on Tuesday, saying, “No impact is expected on the related market competition.”Even though the two companies are leading players in each market, the antitrust regulator saw no problems with the acqui

The cost of insuring South Korean lenders against default increased at a slower clip than global peers thanks to positive sovereign ratings, a report showed Tuesday.Local banks saw their credit default swap premium rise by 80-90 basis points this year from the end of last year, compared with the 130-255 basis points of U.S. lenders and 120-210 basis points of French banks, according to a report by the Korea Center for International Finance.The spread on CDS reflects the cost of hedging credit ri

Singapore Airlines has earned a reputation as a leader in the global aviation industry and received numerous awards due to its commitment to customer service and innovation.Premium customer service is integral to Singapore Airlines’ success. Symbolized by the “Singapore Girl,” the marketing icon is one of the most instantly recognized figures in the global airline industry. This gives the company a great advantage over its competitors.　Singapore Airlines’ network stretches across 103 destination

A Britain-registered ship carrying missiles to South Korea has been detained in Finland after trying to avoid a typhoon, a South Korean official said Tuesday.According to the official with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the ship Thor Liberty, which was delivering 69 Patriot missiles from Germany to South Korea, was impounded in Kotka, southern Finland, on Dec. 15. The vessel had left a northern German port of Emden on Dec. 13.The official said it was en route to South Korea befo

Police chief calls meeting to discuss stance and degree of protestThe controversial presidential decree on the enforcement of the Criminal Procedure Act, which defines investigative rights of the police and the prosecution was approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday.The decree, drawn up by the Prime Minister’s Office in November, has been strongly criticized by members of the police force. Following the cabinet’s decision, National Police Agency Commissioner General Cho Hyun-oh called a meeting of hi

Experts here have raised the possibility that North Korea may use the death of its leader Kim Jong-il as a pretext to delay next year’s planned declaration that it has entered the stage of becoming “a strong, prosperous nation.”Given its deepening economic woes coupled with international isolation over its controversial nuclear program, the communist state may find it difficult to plausibly claim it has reached that stage, they pointed out.The North was widely expected to make the declaration ar