The Korea Herald

Central bank, FSS agree to tighten oversight of FX trade

Apr 21, 2011

The central bank and the financial regulator decided to jointly examine banks’ foreign currency trade activities to keep them in check against speculative investments. The inspection comes as the won this week advanced to its strongest level in 31 months with capital inflows into local assets. The market’s understanding of the latest move is that the Finance Ministry is masterminding regulators ...
Three tycoons make Asia’s top executive list

Apr 21, 2011

Fortune’s list includes Lee of Samsung, Chung of Hyundai Motor and Koo of LG Three Korean top business leaders ― Lee Kun-hee, Chung Mong-koo and Koo Bon-moo ― were included in a U.S. magazine’s recently released list of Asia’s 25 most powerful business people. Lee, chairman of Samsung Electronics, was ranked fourth while Chung, chief of Hyundai Motor, and Koo, chairman of LG Group, were placed ...
Hanwha wins $1b order for Saudi plant

IndustryApr 21, 2011

Builder to construct power station and desalination plant Hanwha Engineering & Construction said Wednesday that it has signed a $1.05 billion deal to build a power station and desalination plant in Saudi Arabia. The builder said it is to establish the plant at Yanbu industrial complex, the biggest of its kind in Saudi Arabia and located on the western side of the country, by 2014 under the deal...
[Herald Interview] Chang sees difference in FTA with China

Apr 21, 2011

Says free trade benefits vary with levels of development A noted critic of free trade agreements has offered a mixed assessment of a potential FTA between South Korea and China. Chang Ha-joon, an economist at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., has written numerous publications critical of free trade agreements. In books such as “Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret Histor...
Apple earnings strong, couldn’t meet iPad demand

World BusinessApr 21, 2011
[Editorial] Checks on reactors

EditorialApr 21, 2011

Concerns about the safety of the nuclear reactors in Korea are growing as problems arise in succession at the reactors of the Gori nuclear power plant near Busan. The Gori-1 reactor, the oldest in Korea, which started operation in 1978, shut down on April 12 after a fire destroyed one of its circuit breakers. At first, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. said a defective power switch caused the powe...
[Editorial] Defusing debt bomb

EditorialApr 21, 2011

The Korean economy is sitting on a ticking time bomb ― household debt that has topped 800 trillion won. To figure out the risks that this huge debt bomb poses to the national economy, one has only to remember that one percentage point hike in interest rates would increase the interest payment burden on households by 8 trillion won a year. No wonder the Bank of Korea has been hesitant to raise the...
Bad immigration laws wilt under own weight

ViewpointsApr 21, 2011

Some political candidates campaigned last fall with a promise to “Take Back Our Country” and urged states to follow Arizona’s lead in enacting state immigration laws that would fill the void left by a neglectful federal government. The fervor grew intense as they whipped up a lather of fear. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer talked about headless bodies being dumped near the border with Mexico (which she ...
[Rajan Menon] The future of Libya

ViewpointsApr 21, 2011

The fighting in Libya has reached a stalemate: Moammar Gadhafi has proved far more resilient than his adversaries anticipated, and he has also exposed the limits of what can be accomplished by war from afar. If NATO decides to end the standoff by attacking his forces with greater ferocity, there’s only one nation (you guessed it) with the requisite power. This much is evident. What remains uncle...
[Wei Jingsheng] A return to the Cultural Revolution?

ViewpointsApr 21, 2011

WASHINGTON ― On April 3, the Chinese Communist authorities secretly detained the well-known artist Ai Weiwei. Neither his family nor friends were notified of what happened to him, why he was seized or where he was. Like everyone else, they have now learned from the Xinhua News Agency that he is under investigation for “economic crimes.” Since this happened to one of China’s most well-known cultu...
[Trudy Rubin] Dealing with Pakistan: A few suggestions

ViewpointsApr 21, 2011

The unhappy marriage of convenience between the United States and Pakistan survived another squabble last week. Pakistan threatened to halt CIA drone strikes against militants in its tribal areas, one of the only effective U.S. tools for hitting al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives based there. Pakistani officials then leaked their demand that Washington sharply reduce the number of CIA and special-f...
[Laurence Kotlikoff] Obama might trade parties with Paul Ryan

ViewpointsApr 21, 2011

We all know that Democrats want to spend more on people and Republicans want to tax people less. But giving someone an extra dollar is no different than taking a dollar less from that person; raising spending is the same as cutting taxes, and cutting taxes is the same as raising spending. Gee, maybe Democrats are closet Republicans, and Republicans are closet Democrats. Of course some spending ...
[Mohamed A. El-Erian] How risky is the global economy?

ViewpointsApr 21, 2011

NEWPORT BEACH ― Three years after the global financial crisis, the global economy remains a confusing place ― and for good reasons. Should we draw comfort from gradual healing in advanced countries and solid growth in emerging economies? Or should we seek refuge against high oil prices, geopolitical shocks in the Middle East, and continued nuclear uncertainties in Japan, the world’s third larges...