The Korea Herald

Pope tweets for the first time

TechnologyJun 29, 2011

VATICAN CITY (AP) _ Pope Benedict XVI has tweeted for the first time, announcing the launch of a Vatican news information portal. Benedict's tweet on Tuesday read: ``Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI''. The portal www.news.va for the first time aggregates information from the Vatican's various print, online, r...
Korea-EU FTA opens doorway to Europe

Jun 28, 2011

South Korea steps closer to completing FTA network The Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement is set to take effect on Friday, opening new doors for the country’s economy. The negotiations over the pact, which began in May 2007, came to a close in October 2009 when the agreement was penciled in, and in October 2010 the agreement was formally signed by the leaders of Korea and the EU. The EU approved th...
Full employment of most precious resources

Jun 28, 2011

The most valuable economic resources are human resources, and Korea needs to improve its use of its most precious assets. A survey released last week reported that the average worker in Korea retires in his or her mid-50s. This is much earlier than their Western European OECD counterparts, who usually retire at 65 or older, and for whom even early retirement is usually 60 or older. The survey r...
LG smart appliances attract crowds

IndustryJun 28, 2011

LG Electronics, the world’s leading household appliance maker, is poised to push up the quality of appliances by several notches with the introduction of savvier smart appliances. “Smart appliance” has become one of the industry’s new buzzwords, quickly picking up on the growing demand from consumers to live smarter and more economically at not just the office, but at home. LG Electronics, as t...
POSCO begins works on third FINEX plant

IndustryJun 28, 2011

POSCO began construction on its third FINEX steel mill at its steelworks in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province on Tuesday. The new FINEX plant, which will have an annual production capacity of 2 million metric tons, is scheduled for completion in 2013. The company said the construction budget for the new FINEX plant is 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion), equal to that used in building the second FI...
CJ named Korea Express bidder

IndustryJun 28, 2011

Samsung Group denies involvement in bidding process CJ Group was selected Tuesday as the preferred bidder in the controversial race to acquire a sizeable stake in logistics company Korea Express. If all goes smoothly, the conglomerate will be on its way to achieving its long-term goal of creating Asia’s largest logistics company by 2015. Korea Express is likely to fetch up to 2 trillion won ($...
Current account surplus hits 7-month high

Jun 28, 2011

Korea’s current account surplus rose to the highest level in seven months in May on solid exports and decreased dividend payments to foreign investors, the central bank said Tuesday. The current account surplus reached $2.26 billion in May, up from a revised $1.28 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. The M...
LG CNS plans global data center in Busan

IndustryJun 28, 2011

LG CNS on Tuesday signed an agreement with Busan to build the country’s first global data center as a joint effort between the private and public sector in the port city. The “Global Cloud Data Center” will be erected by December 2012 within Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone and will go down as the largest such facility, covering 133,000 square meters. “By combining the high-quality cloud service...
STX shipbuilder fund to support suppliers

IndustryJun 28, 2011

STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Co. on Tuesday set up a 3.8 billion won ($35 million) fund to give low-interest loans to suppliers in collaboration with two local banks. The new shared-growth fund will be used to extend loans to STX Offshore and Shipbuilding’s suppliers at rates between 1.9 percentage point and 2.5 percentage points lower than the benchmark rates, the company said. The fund was e...
SK Group disposes of stake in securities unit

IndustryJun 28, 2011

SK Group sold its 24-million-share stake in SK Securities Co. in a block deal on Tuesday, a move seen as a measure to preclude penalties for breaking the fair trade law. The shares owned by SKC Inc., the group’s industrial film-making affiliate, account for 7.73 percent of the total and were traded at 1,920 won ($1.77) each, about 10 percent down from Monday’s closing price. Samsung Asset Manag...
Hana chief shies away from Woori bidding

Jun 28, 2011

Hana Financial Group chairman Kim Seung-yu on Tuesday downplayed the possibility of the financial company participating in a bidding competition for Woori Financial Group. His remarks came one day ahead of the deadline for submitting letters of intent to financial authorities to attend the takeover bidding for state-run Woori Financial. He told reporters that it would not be easy for the group ...
CJ picked preferred bidder for Korea Express

IndustryJun 28, 2011

Samsung denies involvement in bidding process CJ Group on Tuesday was selected as the preferred bidder in the controversial race for acquiring a sizeable stake in logistics company Korea Express. If all goes smoothly, the food-to-entertainment conglomerate will be on its way to achieving its long-term goal of creating Asia’s largest logistics company by 2015. Korea Express is likely to fetch u...
Seoul decides to lift ban on Canadian beef

Jun 28, 2011

(AFP-Yonhap News) Cattle under 30 months of age allowed, as with U.S. beef imports The government has decided to lift its import ban on Canadian beef after blocking them for about eight years over mad cow disease concerns, allowing local consumers to buy Canadian product once feared to affect humans. The Agriculture Ministry said Seoul and Ottawa agreed to resume imports of Canadian cattle you...
4 Korean iPhone apps make it to top 10 paid list in Asia

TechnologyJun 27, 2011

Four Korean apps have made it to the top ten paid iPhone app list in the Asian region, signaling a positive trend for Korean developers wanting to jump into the fast-growing mobile software market. Birzzle, a puzzle game developed by Korea firm Enfeel Inc., ranked first and 10th at the same time in the list compiled by the Netherlands-based market research firm Distimo, which analyzed the data b...
CJ, Samsung locked in unlikely feud

IndustryJun 27, 2011

CJ Group claims Samsung affiliates conspired to acquire Korea Express; Lotte gives up on bid CJ Group said it will retaliate against what it claimed was Samsung Group’s deliberate act of betrayal regarding the bidding for Korea Express, the nation’s top logistics company. CJ is to take legal action against Samsung Securities for breaking off a sales advisory contract after being privy to critic...