The Korea Herald

Hana Financial strives to avoid KEB strike

Speculation rampant that two sides near compromise over mergerHana Financial Group chairman Kim Seung-yu has been striving to prevent the union of Korea Exchange Bank, which has been acquired by the group, from going on strike.While KEB unionized workers have threatened to stage an all-out strike, Kim held a low-key negotiation with leaders of the union on Thursday.According to a speculation, raised by an online news provider, the two parties reached an agreement, which includes that KEB will be

Feb. 16, 2012

Mercedes recalls 2,398 vehicles in Korea

Mercedes-Benz Korea is voluntarily recalling two years of diesel vehicles in Korea because of potentially faulty fuel filters that could lead to leaks, the Transportation Ministry said Thursday.Subject to the recall are 2,398 diesel cars manufactured between March 8, 2009 and May 31, 2011, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.Fuel leaks from the filters may cause a loss of control while driving and hazards for other vehicles by spilling fuel on the road, it said.The

IndustryFeb. 16, 2012

CJ Cheiljedang net surges in Q4

CJ Cheiljedang Corp., South Korea’s leading food company, said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose more than seven times from a year earlier due to a one-off sale of stock holdings.Net profit reached 132.7 billion won ($117.8 million) in the October-December period, up 626.6 percent from 18.2 billion won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales edged up 0.9 percent on-year to 159 trillion won in the cited period, and operating income gained 12.6 percent to

IndustryFeb. 16, 2012

POSCO inks MOU with Zimbabwe firm

POSCO, Korea’s leading steelmaker, said Thursday that it has signed a preliminary deal to buy a stake in a Zimbabwean ferrochrome-smelting firm as part of efforts to secure a stable supply of the key raw material.The deal with Gurta of Swiss and AnchorHoldings of Zimbabwe will allow POSCO to secure a stake in Maranatha Ferrochrome, Zimbabwe’s third-largest ferrochrome-smelting firm, the South Korean firm said.POSCO said details such as the value of the contract have yet been decided. POSCO impor

IndustryFeb. 16, 2012

Samsung faces U.S. class action lawsuit over defective TVs

U.S. consumers have filed class action suits against Samsung Electronics Co. as some of its TV models sold in the U.S. are found to have problems with power failures, the South Korean firm said Thursday.U.S. consumers have been complaining about some types of Samsung’s flat-screen TVs sold between 2006 and 2008 as they found problems with a power storage device called a capacitor, making it difficult for the TVs to power up.U.S. consumers have lodged class action lawsuits against the world’s lar

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

Hynix claims victory in Rambus antitrust law violation case

Hynix Semiconductor said Thursday that a U.S. court ruled in its favor against Rambus Inc., a U.S.-based technology licensing firm, in an antitrust law violation battle.The judge in the San Francisco court rejected allegations filed by Rambus that Hynix and Micron Technology were involved in a conspiracy ― manipulating the price of their memory chips and violating California’s antitrust law. “We welcome the decision reached by the court in the end of the first round and we will give our best eff

IndustryFeb. 16, 2012

Sheppard Mullin ambitious about Korea

Law firm chief says advance into Korea is part of its greater Asia practiceSheppard Mullin, U.S. legal adviser of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Co., will set up a Seoul office within the next few months as it joins a rush of U.S. law firms advancing into Korea, chairman Guy Halgren said.“We hope to be able to apply for a license within the next few weeks and then be approved in the next month or two after that. We will open the office this spring,” Halgren said in an interview with The K

Feb. 16, 2012

Doctors telling more adults: Get out and exercise

ATLANTA (AP) ― More and more U.S. adults are being told by their doctor to get out and exercise, according to government survey released Thursday.Nearly 33 percent of adults who saw a doctor in the previous year said they were told to exercise. That was up from about 23 percent in 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.The report also found more women got that advice than men. And among people with chronic health problems, diabetics, were the most likely to get the advice

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

Family input to detect dementia earlier

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Alexis McKenzie’s mother had mild dementia, but things sounded OK when she phoned home: Dad was with her, finishing his wife’s sentences as they talked about puttering through the day and a drive to the store.Then their phone service was cut off. “I mailed that check,” McKenzie’s father insisted. No, he’d mailed the phone company a bank deposit slip instead. McKenzie visited and discovered spoiling food. Dad the caregiver was in trouble, too.Dementia can sneak up on families. I

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

Mouth ulcers and oral herpes

Aphthous stomatitis, commonly known as “thrush on the tongue,” is a disease where a shallow ulcer is formed in the mouth. Despite an unknown etiology, its occurrence is reportedly associated with the involvement of factors such as viral infection, bacterial infection, malnutrition, immune disorder, stress, trauma, generic factors, hormonal imbalance and other systemic diseases. It is therefore probable that the accumulated fatigue during summer might be one of the causative factors of common mou

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

Chemo safe for pregnant women

LONDON (AP) ― Researchers have encouraging news for women who find themselves in a very frightening situation: having cancer while pregnant. Studies suggest that these women can be treated almost the same as other cancer patients are, with minimal risk to the fetus.Only about 1 in 1,000 pregnant women face this dilemma, but doctors fear that more will because the risk of cancer rises with age, and more women are delaying having children until they’re older.Doctors have long worried about how to

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

Medical fees fixed for 7 procedures

From July, medical fees for seven procedures will be fixed and covered by the national health insurance scheme, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday, as a committee of government officials, doctors and other field insiders approved the plan.The seven treatments are caesarian section, hysterectomy and cataract, hemorrhoid, tonsil, hernia and appendix removal.The plan will be applied at local clinics and small hospitals from July and will be extended to general hospitals and top-tier tea

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

Samsung launches ‘Hello Mom’ service

Samsung Seoul Hospital launched a “Hello Mom” service providing assistance for parents or guardians who come with child patients. Staff workers will give assistance at each stage of processing from booking to escorting to preliminary examination rooms and children-only emergency room. The parents will not have to wait in line unless another parent gets in the queue. The hospital said the program was approved of by 48 of 50 parents after a weeklong test run. “Large hospitals can be scary and unco

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

Simultaneous transplant of seven organs ‘successful’

Local doctors have successfully transplanted seven organs to a 7-year-old girl last fall, Asan Medical Center revealed Thursday. It is the first simultaneous transplant in Korea involving that many organs, and the sign of a new era of treatments for hard-to-cure disease, the medics said.According to

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

U.S. outdoor brand faces profiteering investigation

A South Korea civic organization said Thursday it has petitioned the country's anti-trust watchdog for an investigation into popular outdoor brand The North Face Korea for possible breach of fair trade law. (Yonhap News)"We filed a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission earlier today, demand

IndustryFeb. 16, 2012

U.S. military seek to weaponize ‘battlefield illusions’

The United States military’s technology division is pushing to use “battlefield illusions” to confuse enemy troops, Britain’s Daily Mail reported Wednesday.The new project by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency works like existing measures that distract radar systems. The difference is that it works on people instead of machines, causing audio and visual hallucinations. By studying how the brain processes sensory input, DARPA said it aims to “demonstrate and assess the operational effe

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

U.S. military seek to weaponize ‘battlefield illusions’

Eating at night

Snacking at night can cause reflux esophagitisFancy a snack at night? Many people do. From nibbles such as cookies and candy to heavy foods such as fried chicken, beer or pizza, many indulge in eating long after dinner. Night eating syndrome, or midnight hunger, is a commonly found “disorder” among Koreans. It refers to a lack of appetite in the morning and overeating at night.According to professor Park Gyeong-hee of Hallym University, about 10 percent of adults in Korea eat up to half of their

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

TV channel for dogs launched in US

A television channel designed specifically to be watched by dogs Monday in San Diego for stay-home-canines while the owners are away at work or too busy to play. The first and only television network for dogs, DOGTV, scientifically developed and tested for four years, DOGTV, “a new channel for man‘s

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

Apple considering smaller iPad?

Apple Inc. is working with component suppliers in Asia to test a new tablet computer with a screen smaller than the iPad, sources told The Wall Street Journal.Officials at some of Apple's suppliers, who asked to remain anonymous, said the company has shown them designs for a device with a screen siz

TechnologyFeb. 16, 2012

U.S. consumers file class action suits against Samsung over defective TVs

U.S. consumers have filed class action suits against Samsung Electronics Co. as some of its TV models sold in the U.S. are found to have problems with power failures, the South Korean firm said Thursday. U.S. consumers have been complaining about some types of Samsung’s flat-screen T

IndustryFeb. 16, 2012