The Korea Herald

Leader with an unassuming taste, many hobbies

IndustryFeb 20, 2012

While leading 47 affiliated companies at home and 65 abroad, LS Group chairman John Koo is a family-oriented master baduk player who likes simple dishes like sujebi. Wearing a jumper, he often goes to a small restaurant in an apartment complex in Daechi-dong, southeastern Seoul, for the hearty soup with dough flakes torn by hand. “People laugh when I say I waited alone in a line to get into a s...
SEALs take starring role in new film

FilmFeb 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The secretive Navy SEALs are coming out of the shadows for a new Hollywood film, with elite commandos cast in starring roles in a radical departure for America’s special forces. In “Act of Valor,” the select troops who call themselves “the quiet professionals” take a turn as leading men on the big screen, reciting lines from a script as they race to prevent terrorists from car...
[News Focus] Parties rely more on star figures than policies

PoliticsFeb 20, 2012

With the April general elections drawing near, one of the top tasks for political parties is to select the appropriate candidates and recruit influential public figures. The main opposition Democratic United Party is to welcome Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon into its fold this week and the ruling Saenuri Party will round off its election candidate nomination by early next month. Attention is also pa...
U.S. Brigadier General Akin keeps it in family

PeopleFeb 20, 2012

By all accounts, Robin B. Akin, a U.S. army brigadier general stationed in South Korea, has had a successful military career, spanning 30 years. From a small town in Tennessee, Akin, now in her third tour of duty to South Korea, has gone all over the world, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and leading rescue missions in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. She has also served in Germany, Italy and Japan. ...
Smoking at bus stations to cost 100,000 won

Social affairsFeb 20, 2012

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday it will impose a 100,000 won ($90) fine on those caught smoking at bus stops in the capital from March. Smoking at 339 major bus stops, including at Seoul Station and Gangnam will be completely banned. The city government designated public bus stops as non-smoking areas in December as part of efforts to protect citizens from second-hand smoke, but h...
People losing sleep over social media

TechnologyFeb 20, 2012

Millions of Britons are losing sleep because they are updating or checking status updates on Facebook or tweeting, a survey indicated. The study commissioned by Travelodge hotels surveyed 6,000 adults in Britain indicated 72 percent spend their time in bed before falling asleep updating or checking their friends status updates on Facebook. In fact, 20 percent of Britons said they stopped midway...
South Korean scientists find new anti-cancer agent

ScienceFeb 20, 2012

South Korean scientists have discovered a new anti-cancer agent that may offer a new and safe way to treat cancer without the side effects of anti-cancer drugs, as the substance already exists in human bodies, the science ministry said Monday. A team led by Prof. Kim Sung-hoon of Seoul National University has confirmed anti-cancer activities of Glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GRS), an enzyme that was pr...
Lee calls on S. Koreans to seize job, business opportunities in Middle East

PoliticsFeb 20, 2012

President Lee Myung-bak reiterated Monday that the Middle East offers a number of lucrative business and job opportunities despite the global economic downturn, and South Korea should seize them to spur its slowing economy. After a trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, Lee has repeatedly said he saw good business opportunities in the region with large amoun...
Secretive Navy SEALs take starring role in new film

World NewsFeb 20, 2012

The secretive Navy SEALs are coming out of the shadows for a new Hollywood film, with elite commandos cast in starring roles in a radical departure for America's special forces. In "Act of Valor," the select troops who call themselves "the quiet professionals" take a turn as leading men on the big screen, reciting lines from a script as they race to prevent terrorists from carrying out an attack...
Irish P.M., Xi discuss trade, investment

World NewsFeb 20, 2012

DUBLIN (AFP) ― Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny held talks Sunday with China’s Vice President Xi Jinping as the second day of his visit to the eurozone member focused on trade and investment and the signing of a number of bi-lateral deals. “We welcome the opportunities which our growing relationship with China presents,” Kenny told Xi, the Asian power’s leader-in-waiting, at an official dinner in...
LS Group taps into emerging markets, green business

IndustryFeb 20, 2012

LS Group taps into emerging markets, green business Kicker: Chairman John Koo says companies’ social contribution is mandatory investment) HERALD INTERVIEW By Kim So-hyun LS Group, unrivaled in Korea for industrial cables and electrical systems, is aggressively expanding abroad with a focus on green businesses, such as smart grids, renewable energy, electric car parts and resource development...
Sarkozy: not afraid of record

World NewsFeb 20, 2012

MARSEILLE, France (AP) ― President Nicolas Sarkozy defended his unpopular policies as insulating France from the worst consequences of Europe’s debt crisis, declaring in a nationalistic speech to thousands of supporters Sunday that “the truth doesn’t scare me.” In the first major speech of his re-election campaign, Sarkozy lashed his opponent and election front-runner, Socialist candidate Franco...
Oscar voters less diverse than cinema audiences

FilmFeb 20, 2012

LOS ANGELES ― When the names of winners are revealed on Oscar night, months of suspense give way to tears, smiles and speeches. Yet when the curtain falls, one question remains: Who cast the votes? About 37 million people tuned in to the Academy Awards last year, and a great deal rides on the show’s outcome. Winning a golden statuette can vault an actor to stardom, add millions to a movie’s box ...
Popular but secretive, North Korean restaurant keeps the ‘North’ part low-key

IndustryFeb 20, 2012

PHNOM PEHN (Yonhap News) ― The red wooden gates of 400 Monivong Boulevard are difficult to find if you are not looking for them. Only a sun-bleached sign overhead marks them as the entrance to the compound of Pyeongyang Restaurant, a North Korean chain and one of Phnom Pehn’s most famous dining destinations. It’s also the place that Lee Un-yong and her fellow waitresses call home. Like many of t...