The Korea Herald

안녕하세요 Park Hyung-ki 기자입니다.

Articles by Park Hyung-ki

Hyundai E&C steps closer to $10b goal

IndustryMay 25, 2012

Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Korea’s biggest construction company, is looking to achieve $10 billion in orders globally this year.As the builder secured a line of projects overseas, its orders, including for a Qatari highway construction and Saudi Arabian alumina refinery, are expected to amount to already half of its target by the end of next month, analysts said.Potential projects such as Venezuelan refinery and Indonesian geothermal power plant are also in the pipeline, which would fur
NCL Environ eyes global growth with ‘77’ cleaning product

TechnologyMay 24, 2012

NCL Environ is looking to expand overseas with its newly developed product “NCL 77.”The Korean industrial cleaning solution firm is a subsidiary of the U.S.-based National Chemical Laboratories.It said that the Korean company had received interest from countries such as China, Japan and Australia for product dealership and cleaning services. NCL Environ plans not only to provide its cleaning product and services but also NCL’s chemical products to its overseas potential clients through franchise
Possible legislation of labor laws favoring workers concern firms

May 24, 2012

Working restrictions on holidays picked as most concerning factor among HR executivesThe most concerning factor among human resource executives in Korea is pending labor laws restricting employers to make their employees work on holidays.In a survey of some 300 executives at Korean companies by The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, over 53 percent voiced such concern over the issue which is expected to be discussed at the National Assembly next month.The law may also include making compani
Japan’s April trade deficit grows to $6.5b

TechnologyMay 23, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan logged a bigger-than-expected trade deficit of 520.3 billion yen ($6.5 billion) in April as higher energy costs pushed up imports, the finance ministry said Wednesday.The deficit was larger than a shortfall of 477.7 billion yen registered in April 2011, a month after Japan was hit by a huge earthquake and tsunami which battered the world’s third-largest economy.It was also bigger than the 470 billion yen deficit expected by economists.Exports in April rose 7.9 percent from a
KT provides ‘3W plus LTE’ network services at Yeosu Expo

TechnologyMay 23, 2012

Visitors experience KT’s ‘Olleh’ anytime, anywhere in YeosuKT is pulling out all the stops to make sure visitors to the Yeosu Expo have access to high-speed Internet anywhere they go during the three-month event.The Korean mobile carrier, chosen as the international event’s main telecommunications service provider, has implemented the “3W plus LTE” strategy for the Expo. This refers to providing the fastest-ever wireless services in 3G WCDMA, Wibro and WiFi as “3W,” as well as long-term evolutio
LG Display builds panel plant for Chinese market

TechnologyMay 22, 2012

LG Display has joined a project to build a joint venture panel plant for emerging Chinese LCD television makers in Guangzhou in southern China.Committing to its MOU signed in 2009 with Guangzhou officials, the Korean display panel manufacturing giant said Tuesday that the plant, to be equipped with eighth-generation lines, will be in full production in the second half of 2014. In 2009, LG Display signed a non-binding agreement to build such a plant in Guangzhou’s economic zone, which offers tax
Samsung tops global smartphone, LTE phone sales

TechnologyMay 20, 2012

Global display market shrinks in first quarterSamsung Electronics has become the biggest seller of mobile phones, smartphones and LTE phones in the world, according to reports.In the global smartphone market, Samsung continued to show its prowess, edging out Nokia for the first time in the first quarter of this year, Strategy Analytics, a market research firm said.Samsung sold a total of 92.5 million mobile phones, accounting for 25 percent globally, surpassing the 22.4 market share of Nokia, wh
SK Telecom connects Expo with fast wireless networks

IndustryMay 20, 2012

YEOSU ― Entering Yeosu Expo from the bullet train station mainly built for this gala, visitors will face a cluster of spotless and architecturally unique corporate pavilions.One exhibition center, situated at the end of the Northeast edge overlooking the sea, stands out: a three-story pavilion covered with what looks like a giant fishing net, colored in white and shaped like a cloud.This belongs to SK Telecom, Korea’s biggest mobile carrier and the only telecom company to exhibit here.The net sy
Effects of Apple’s Elpida orders on Samsung, Hynix limited

TechnologyMay 17, 2012

Apple’s reported placing of large orders for Elpida Memory’s mobile DRAM chips will not affect Samsung Electronics shares or its global supply chain in the long-run, analysts said Thursday.The effects of the unconfirmed news are likely to be short-lived and limited to boosting the fundamentals of Korean semiconductor players, including SK Hynix, whose production capacity still outweighs that of the Japan-based chip maker.“Elpida’s production capacity lags behind that of Samsung and Hynix, still
SK Telecom raises $318m in Swiss franc-denominated bonds

May 17, 2012

SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile carrier, has successfully raised funds in the Swiss bond market, despite Europe’s economic woes.The company said that it issued Swiss franc-denominated bonds worth CHF 300 million ($318 million), with an annual interest rate of 1.75 percent at a maturity of 5 years.The fund-raising was part of plans to seek low-cost capital sources and repay its debt, it said. The company’s outstanding debt stood at 11.6 trillion won at the end of 2011, according to financial s
Stocks dive on European economic woes, Apple’s Elpida chip orders

May 16, 2012

Volatility likely to increase unless EU resolves crisis: analystsSeoul stocks took a nosedive Wednesday amid increasing concerns over the European debt crisis, driving foreign investors to sell and seek safer investment assets such as the U.S. dollar and gold, analysts said.Also, the news that Apple is likely to decrease its DRAM memory chip orders from Samsung Electronics, Korea’s biggest blue chip traded on the Seoul market, increased downward pressure on Korean stocks. The benchmark KOSPI fin
Samsung SNS to recruit interns

TechnologyMay 15, 2012

Samsung Network Services & Solutions, a Korean network systems developer, plans to hire interns by June this year.The company said in a press release on Tuesday that its five divisions including telecom networks, overseas sales and marketing and human resources will accept applicants until May 24 via its homepage.University students in their junior or senior years, or those expected to graduate in February 2014, can apply for Samsung SNS’ internship programs headed by the five divisions. Graduat
World Bank to bring Korean development model to emerging markets

May 14, 2012

Korea is one of the world’s most connected countries with people enjoying high-speed Internet access and advanced information and communication technology. Its transportation system integrating with ICT is highly modernized and efficient.These are two of Korea’s most competitive development models the World Bank hopes to bring to developing and underdeveloped countries.Rachel Kyte, vice president of the World Bank, said whether it is fragile, poor, middle-income or low-income economies, they are
Hanwha to back eco-friendly small enterprises

IndustryMay 13, 2012

Hanwha Group, a Korean conglomerate with businesses in chemicals and finance, said it will back eco-friendly and socially responsible small and medium-size companies for the first time.It has chosen 18 companies after screening a list of corporate applicants for shared growth between March 29 and April 13, the group said in a press release. The conglomerate plans to provide assistance in the areas of financing, marketing, product development and market entrance for the 18 companies, with the aim
Better 2Q performance for online portals: analysts

IndustryMay 13, 2012

The country’s top internet portals are expected to make comebacks in the second quarter of this year, despite lackluster earnings in the first quarter, analysts said.Last week, the No.1 online portal NHN posted 576.7 billion won ($503 million) in sales and 161.8 billion won in operating profit from January to March.The firm’s sales figure surged 14.2 percent from the same period a year ago, but slipped 3.7 percent in operating profit.However, NHN, better known for its search engine Naver, was no