Institute of Global Management chairman Junn Sung-chull joined the “Honor Society” club after promising to donate 100 million won, the Community Chest of Korea said Friday. The lawyer-turn-CEO educator became the 270th member of the club, whose membership is offered those who donate more than 100 million won ($90,000). Junn hoped that his donation would be spent to help educate children from low-income families. CCK, a leading nationwide charity network, has run the Honor Society club since 2007

April 5, 2013

President Park Geun-hye stressed sustainable and balanced land development in harmony with the environment, criticizing massive funds-injected, large-scale development projects made in the previous government such as the four-river restoration project.“The government needs to review more thoroughly and systematically the large-scale development projects requiring massive public funding,’’ Park stressed during the Land Ministry’s policy briefing session. Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministe

April 4, 2013

PARIS ― Having lost much of its appeal after 2011’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, nuclear energy is coming back into favor, slowly but steadily. Emerging economies are resuming plant construction, particularly in Asia, where power demand is exploding in line with rapid economic growth. China led the trend this year, opening the first nuclear power plant since the Fukushima crisis in Dalian, Liaoning province. Industry watchers said the Chinese government will step up construction of nuclear plants

April 4, 2013

Hyundai Oilbank, the nation’s fourth-largest oil refiner, started operations of its second BTX plant, in Daesan, a coastal city 137 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Wednesday, the company said. BTX is a composite mix of benzene, toluene and xylene.The company completed the plant construction with its Japanese partner Cosmo Oil. Back in 2008, the two companies created a strategic alliance to cooperate in various areas, including the BTX business. The two companies completed the first BTX product

Industry April 3, 2013

The state-funded Korea Testing & Research Institute, or KTR, is stepping up globalization efforts based on its 40 years of experience in Korea by entering overseas markets and seeking outbound merger and acquisition deals. KTR offers testing, product certification and technology consulting services to the entire industrial field.KTR has recently announced that it will set up a joint testing laboratory with Chemical Inspection and Regulation Services, a chemical registration consultancy in China,

April 3, 2013

Former Information and Communication Minister Bae Soon-hoon, 69, has been appointed the new chairman of S&T Dynamics, the company said Monday. S&T Dynamics, founded in 1959, is a local manufacturer of automotive parts, defense products and machine tools. Bae, who also served Daewoo Electronics as chairman in the mid-1990s, will oversee the new product and technology department tasked with leading the future growth of the company. (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)

Industry April 1, 2013

Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy smartphone line was ranked first in a survey of Korea’s top 100 brands in the first quarter, a local brand equity evaluator said Sunday. According to the survey by Brand Stock, the nation’s most popular smartphone brand retained the top spot for the second consecutive year with the highest score of 938. E-mart, the nation’s largest discount franchise, came in second. Olleh, the flagship brand of KT, was named the third-most popular brand in Korea. KB Kookmin Bank and

March 31, 2013

Korea’s exports to Japan have tumbled since the second half of last year, according to data released Sunday, mainly because of a weak yen. Korean exports to the world’s third-largest economy plunged 17.4 percent to $2.89 billion in February from a year ago, the Korea International Trade Association said. Korean exports to Japan fell below the $3 billion mark again after nose-diving 23 percent to $2.75 billion last April compared to the same period in 2012. Sales of Korean goods to Japan saw a te

March 31, 2013

Energy is emerging as an increasingly hot topic worldwide as the global energy landscape is fast changing on both the supply and demand sides, particularly since Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Many countries are bringing changes to their energy mixes to minimize the impact of those changes on their environment, economy and society. “All sources of energy ranging from oil and gas to renewables to nuclear power are facing a transition for their own reasons. Given this, it is the right

Industry March 28, 2013

COEX, an exhibition and convention center in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, appointed Byun Bo-kyung, former head of Seoul Business Agency, as new CEO, the Korea International Trade Association, the owner of COEX, said Thursday. Byun, 60, has built global leadership in the information technology sector, serving LG-IBM PC and Kolon Information and Technology as CEO. He entered the exhibition and convention industry in 2011 as CEO of the Seoul Business Agency, which carries out exhibitions and conv

March 28, 2013