Most Popular
-
1
Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
-
2
40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
-
3
[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
-
4
N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
-
5
Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
-
6
Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
-
7
[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
-
8
From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
-
9
Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
-
10
S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
-
IBs expect Korea to grow 2-3% in 2013
Global investment banks have forecast 2-3 percent growth for the Korean economy next year, 8 percent growth for China and negative growth for the eurozone.The recession in the eurozone will continue to weigh on major economies around the world including Korea, while China will continue on the recovery path, they said. Four of the 10 investment banks that made projections for the Korean economy revised down their outlooks in November compared to October. Half of the 10 investment banks projected
Dec. 4, 2012
-
Mars rover detects traces of carbon in soil analysis
The Mars rover Curiosity has offered a tantalizing sign that there might have once been life on the Red Planet, but scientists said it was too soon to make much of the first soil analyses. NASA’s Sample Analysis at Mars instruments have been sending back information as it hunts for compounds such as methane, as well as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, that are the building blocks of life.Researchers detected simple organic compounds in the soil scooped up from a crusted dune. But they cautioned th
TechnologyDec. 4, 2012
-
[Newsmaker] 2 nuke reactors open amid protest, concerns
A belated ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Shin-Gori nuclear power plant units 1 and 2 was held near the site, located in Gijang, Busan, on Tuesday. Despite the completion of unit 1 in February 2011 and unit 2 in July this year, the ceremony had been delayed due to opposition against operations by local citizens and safety concerns raised by a recent controversy over the usage of substandard parts in other nuclear reactors.The two newly built nuclear plants each with a capacity of 1 m
Dec. 4, 2012
-
Korea, China agree to tap swap line for trade settlement
South Korea’s central bank said Tuesday it has agreed with its Chinese counterpart to use the existing bilateral currency swap line in boosting trade settlement in the two countries’ currencies.In October of last year, South Korea and China agreed to double their won-yuan swap line to 360 billion yuan ($57.8 billion) in a bid to secure foreign exchange liquidity.The Bank of Korea said it will lend money to commercial banks by tapping the currency swap and local firms will be able to use the fund
Dec. 4, 2012
-
4% of baby girls will live to 100
Up to 4 percent of baby girls born last year are likely to live up to 100 years, government figures showed on Tuesday. Out of the male infants, about 1 percent would live to be 100, according to Statistics Korea. This is the first time that the office, which announces life expectancy figures every year, indicated how long newborns would live to be. On average, the life expectancy for newborns born last year reached 81.2, up 0.4 years from the year before. Among them, males were expected to live
IndustryDec. 4, 2012
-
Labor tension runs high at Hyundai Group
Tension is escalating between labor and management at Hyundai Group after the union of Hyundai Securities, a financial unit of the conglomerate, made public alleged irregularities of some executives last month.At the time, unionized workers of Hyundai Securities filed complaints against group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun and several executives with the prosecution for seeking to “destroy” the union.At a news conference, the union claimed that several executives including then-executive vice preside
IndustryDec. 4, 2012
-
Samsung Electronics revs up localization in Africa
Africa is the last emerging market, tech giant Samsung Electronics said on Monday, putting emphasis on its long-term African sales operation.The electronics behemoth set a 2015 sales target of $10 billion, about four times its current sales performance in Africa. Separating its Africa and Middle East operations in 2009, Samsung set up an additional head office in the Republic of South Africa for stronger localization of its products in Africa. The move was also an attempt to expand its pool of c
TechnologyDec. 4, 2012
-
FTAs boost Korea’s exports to U.S. and EU
Free trade deals with the United States and the European Union have helped support South Korea’s exports, making up for declining overseas sales of the country’s goods affected by the prolonged global economic slump, customs data showed Tuesday.South Korea implemented free trade agreements with the U.S. and the EU in March of this year and July of last year, respectively. The worldwide economic slump led to a drop or relatively small growth in exports to those markets but sales of products benef
Dec. 4, 2012
-
Poseco Housing at forefront of sustainable social enterprise
Sustainability is key for the future of a company. Social enterprises, better known as “good companies” in Korea, are no exception. Management of social enterprises has to develop a sustainable business model ahead of making other business decisions. According to the law on social enterprise promotion, a social enterprise in Korea is defined as a company that, while doing its business activities, pursues a social purpose of enhancing the quality of people’s lives by providing social services and
IndustryDec. 4, 2012
-
More sleep results in less pain
If U.S. adults slept more, they would not only increase their daytime alertness but also feel less pain, researchers suggest. Timothy Roehrs of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit said the study he led involved 18 healthy, pain-free, sleepy volunteers. They were randomly assigned to four nights of either maintaining their habitual sleep time or extending their sleep time by spending 10 hours in bed per night. The study, published in the December issue of the journal Sleep, found the extended s
TechnologyDec. 4, 2012
-
Distant solar systems eyed as home to life
A study of eight "solar twins" of our sun suggests any planets orbiting those stars may very well be hotter and more dynamic than Earth, U.S. researchers say.Scientists at Ohio State University, searching for alien life in a new way, studied stars that very closely match the sun in size, age, and overall composition to measure the amounts of radioactive elements they -- and their planets -- may contain.Elements such as thorium and uranium are essential to Earth's plate tectonics because they war
TechnologyDec. 4, 2012
-
Hand gestures for in-car controls?
Japanese carmaker Toyota says it is developing technology to allow drivers to control certain in-car functions such as radio volume with simple hand gestures.The head of Toyota‘s U.S. division said the company is working on new hand-motion technology that could have in-car applications to help limit distracted driving by keeping a driver’s eyes on the road.“We believe the driver must always be engaged,” Jim Lentz told The Wall Street Journal at the Los Angeles Auto Show. “It‘s really, really cri
TechnologyDec. 4, 2012
-
Study reveals many lipsticks contain lead
Many of the lipsticks in the market today contain lead, according to recent research, and some scholars said they may pose a threat to the health of the general public.Underwriters Laboratories, a global safety and quality certification company, did random testing on 22 different lipsticks and lip glosses and found that 12 of them contained lead, with the highest levels at 3.22 parts per million. The study was commissioned by U.S. broadcaster ABC’s “Good Morning America.”While this is below the
TechnologyDec. 4, 2012
-
Snow cover in Northern Hemisphere shrinks
Snow cover in Earth‘s Northern Hemisphere is shrinking with the level last June the lowest since satellite observations began 45 years ago, researchers say.Satellite data shows the maximum amount of snow across the Northern Hemisphere is slowly decreasing while spring snow, particularly at high latitudes, is melting significantly earlier, the European Space Agency reported Monday.The data shows record lows in Eurasia for June each year since 2008, while three of the past five years have seen rec
TechnologyDec. 4, 2012
-
S. Korea forecast to grow at 2 pct range next year
The South Korean economy is projected to expand at the 2-percent range in 2013 from this year, dampened by exhausted global stimulus measures and unabating eurozone debt troubles, foreign investment banks (IBs) said Tuesday. As of end-November, 10 global IBs, including Nomura and UBS, estimated the growth rate for Asia's fourth-largest economy to average 3 percent for 2013 and 2.3 percent this year, according to their data compiled by the Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF). Korea mark
Dec. 4, 2012
-
Korea to invest 930 bln won in nano industry until 2020
Korea will invest 930 billion won ($858.7 million) until 2020 to boost the nano industry as part of its efforts to make the country one of the world's top three players in the area, the government said Tuesday.The envisioned investment consists of 650 billion won set aside by the central government for its budget and 280 billion won assigned by the private sector and municipal governments, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The money will be spent on research and development activit
TechnologyDec. 4, 2012
-
Seoul shares open lower on pessimism
South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as poor U.S. data stoked growing concerns about a lackluster recovery, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 0.41 percent, or 7.96 points, to 1,932.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Most shares traded in negative territory, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 0.7 percent and top air carrier Korean Air dipping 0.23 percent.The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 0.46 percent after U.S. manufactur
Dec. 4, 2012
-
AMCHAM hopes for business-friendly Korean president
The head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea expressed hope that the country would elect a business-friendly leader during the Dec. 19 presidential election.AMCHAM chairman Pat Gaines said Korea’s next president should be someone who is able to create an environment that helps bring down barriers for foreign business. “When you take a look at the amount of jobs created in Korea by foreign investment, the numbers are phenomenal. It means jobs. It means careers. It means money,” he said i
IndustryDec. 3, 2012
-
Consumer inflation slows on food price stability
Consumer inflation slightly slowed in November to 1.6 percent on-year, dipping below 2 percent for the first time in three months. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index dropped another 0.4 percent in November after shedding 0.1 percent in October as prices of vegetables and fruits stabilized after a jump in September due to a typhoon. The Finance Ministry forecast an annual inflation in the low 2 percent range, provided that prices maintain the current stability. The slowing inflation can
Dec. 3, 2012
-
Workers oppose CCTV use in nuke plant control rooms
A plan to install CCTV in the main control rooms of nuclear power plants across the nation is facing opposition from workers concerned about privacy.“We are reviewing the policy in a bid to reduce human errors in the main control room, which will help to rebuild public trust in nuclear power plants,” an official from the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power said.CCTV has already been adopted in many areas of power plants except for their main control rooms, where workers oversee the operations. The offic
Dec. 3, 2012