The Korea Herald

Yang Sung-jin

안녕하세요 Yang Sung-jin 기자입니다.

Articles by Yang Sung-jin

Samsung's Q4 operating profit down 12.4 pct

IndustryJan 28, 2011

Samsung Electronics shares surpassed the 1,000,000 won mark on Jan. 19 in an intraday trading. (Yonhap News)Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of computer memory chips, said Friday that its fourth-quarter operating profit fell 12.4 percent from a year ago as weak demand for TVs battered flat-screen panel prices. Operating profit stood at 3.01 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in the
KT swings to profit in Q4 on iPhone sales

IndustryJan 28, 2011

South Korea's biggest telecom company KT Corp. said Friday that it returned to the black in the fourth quarter of 2010 from a net loss a year earlier, helped by brisk sales of Apple Inc.'s iPhone. Net profit reached 105.1 billion won ($94.3 million) in the October-December period, compared with a net loss of 430.5 billion won one year earlier, it said in a regulatory filing. The loss in the
S. Korea posts 4th-largest current account surplus in 2010

Jan 27, 2011

South Korea's current account surplus widened in December from the previous month on robust exports, with the country posting its fourth-largest ever surplus last year, the central bank said Thursday. The current account surplus reached $2.11 billion in December, up from $1.93 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cros
One-man biz start-ups rise on mobile boom: data

Jan 26, 2011

The number of one-man businesses in South Korea sharply expanded in 2010 on the back of the country's rapidly growing mobile content market, data showed Wednesday. The rise came on the heels of a smartphone boom that hit South Korea last year following the release of Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S smartphone. There are an estimated 7 million smartphone users in the c
U.S. surprised at high level of N. Korea's uranium plant: Hecker

North KoreaJan 24, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO -- U.S. officials were surprised at the high level of sophistication in North Korea's uranium enrichment facility, an American nuclear scientist said, when he gave them the first-hand account of what he saw in the communist nation. Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor, visited North Korea's main nuclear complex in Yongbyon during a trip to the isolated nation in Nov
SK Telecom to unveil smartphone-cum-set-top box

IndustryJan 24, 2011

South Korea's largest mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. said Monday that it will release a smartphone that can also serve as a set-top box, playing content on personal computers, tablet PCs and TVs. The smartphone named "Galaxy S hopping," made by Samsung Electronics Co., will hit shelves in the local market this week, SK Telecom said in a statement. The new phone represents the company's effor
Late novelist Park Wan-suh receives medal

BooksJan 24, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak awarded a posthumous medal Monday to Park Wan-suh, a famous South Korean novelist, in recognition of her contribution to the country's literature, Lee's office Cheong Wa Dae said. Park died of gallbladder cancer Saturday at the age of 80. She is known for a number of novels and essays featuring post-Korean War realities, life of women here and the dark side behind the rap
Seoul's cultural programs for foreigners reduced by budget cut

Expat LivingJan 24, 2011

Foreigners wanting to participate in Seoul's cultural experience programs will face more competition this year after the city's council slashed the programs' budget, officials said Monday. The programs will be available for 1,740 foreigners through 30 events this year, down from a total of 2,591 slots for 37 events last year, according to the officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Government. This
BOK may upgrade its 2011 growth outlook

Jan 24, 2011

South Korea's central bank said Monday that the local economy is likely to surpass its long-term growth trend this year, raising speculation that the bank may upgrade its growth outlook. The Bank of Korea (BOK) earlier forecast Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 4.5 percent this year while the government is seeking to target a 5 percent expansion. "The economic expansion will likely hover
Seoul's corporate watchdog expands probe into business malpractice

Jan 24, 2011

South Korea's anti-trust watchdog is investigating dozens of local companies for their possible involvement in business malpractice that could result in unusual price hikes in the market, government officials said Monday. The investigation comes on the heels of a separate probe launched by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on Jan. 10 into price rigging and other inflation-causing activities in th
Kim Jong-il meets with head of Egyptian mobile firm Orascom

North KoreaJan 24, 2011

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met with the head of an Egyptian company that provides mobile phone service in the isolated communist nation, state media reported Monday. Naguib Sawiris, chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding, has been in North Korea for a visit since Friday. The Cairo-based firm has been providing mobile phone service in the North jointly with a local company since late 20
Bank loan default rate hits 12-month low in Dec.

Jan 24, 2011

South Korean banks saw their loan default rates fall to the lowest level in 12 months in December following their enhanced efforts to clear soured loans ahead of year-end book closings, the financial regulator said Monday. Loans overdue by one day or more reached 0.91 percent, or 9 trillion won ($8 billion), of the total lending held by 18 local banks as of the end of December, sharply down from
Former pastor given 9 years for underage sex

Social affairsJan 23, 2011

A former pastor has been sentenced to nine years in prison for having sex with underage members of his congregation, the Seoul High Court said Sunday. The 65-year-old man, surnamed Kang, had been indicted on charges of having sex with his victims, including a then 11-year-old girl, and sexually molesting three others at his church in 2006. (MCT)He was also found to have taken photos of them in sex
Dubai island project sinks -- literally

InternationalJan 23, 2011

The huge development project known as “The World,” a symbol of the booming property market in Dubai, is facing a disaster, Daily Mail reported. One issue for the man-made archipelago project, designed to look like a map of the planet, is that the real estate market is in the midst of a severe slowdown. Compounding the problem is that the islands have begun sinking. As The World confronts an immine
S. Korea to be world's 7th-largest economy in 2032: official

Jan 23, 2011

South Korea is expected to become the world's seventh-largest economy in 2032 if it continues to propel its growth engines, the country's top financial regulator has said. "In 2020, South Korea is likely to become the world's 10th-largest economy. In 2032, it is projected to surpass Germany to join the ranks of the world's seven largest economies," Kim Seok-dong, the head of the Financial Servic