BERLIN (AP) ― Germany’s finance minister on Saturday added to a chorus of calls for France’s Christine Lagarde to become a new leader of the International Monetary Fund. Lagarde has emerged as a front-runner to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn, also of France, who resigned this week to face charges in New York that he tried to rape a hotel maid. He denies the charges. Germany’s Finance Minister W...

Players champion donates W100m to build youth center in North Jeolla Choi Kyoung-ju, the first Asian to win the Players Championship earlier this month, offered to donate 100 million won ($92,353) to establish a youth support center in North Jeolla Province at an event in Jeju on Saturday. In a joint effort with SK Telecom, Choi’s donation will be used for establishing a “1318 Happy Zone” cente...

Jack Tong, president of HTC’s North Asia markets, on Friday pledged to beef up commitment on the observation that Korea is a “difficult place” for a foreign brand to succeed mainly due to the competition posed by strong local brands. “I have to admit it is not easy. The Korean market is the most difficult and challenging market for foreign brands,” Tong said. “It’s difficult for the foreign bran...

Hana Fnancial Group chairman Kim Seung-yu said Friday that his company would be able to agree with the U.S. Lone Star Funds to extend the deadline for the takeover of Korea Exchange Bank. “We can draw a conclusion by next weekend,” Kim told The Herald Business, the sister paper of The Korea Herald. The two sides are in talks to extend their May 24 deadline. Kim reportedly flew to Tokyo on Wedne...

HTC Corp. said Friday it will release its new flagship smartphone in South Korea next week, hoping that the phone's movie streaming feature will help the Taiwanese firm gain ground. SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile phone carrier, will exclusively release the Sensation smartphone on May 25, said HTC's North Asia President Jack Tong during a media event. The retail price is set at 847,...

Samsung C&T Corp., the country’s No. 2 builder, is strengthening its eco-friendly capabilities to take the lead in applying green technologies to the construction sector. The company, which developed the zero-energy building Green Tomorrow, has been strengthening research and development efforts, as well as securing a pool of experts. Green Tomorrow contains 68 eco-friendly technologies, allowin...

STX Heavy Industries Co. announced Thursday that it has signed a 3 trillion won ($2.77 billion) contract to build power plants in Iraq. The contract was signed in Baghdad at a ceremony attended by STX Heavy Industries chief executive Lee Chan-woo, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Electricity Minister Raad Shallal. The company had signed a memorandum of understanding for the contract las...

The country’s first hydrogen fuel cell stack developed with local technology was completed, POSCO Power announced Thursday. Affiliate of the steelmaker POSCO, POSCO Power is the country’s largest private power generating firm. POSCO Power’s fuel cell stack has a generating capacity of 1.4 megawatts, which according to the company is sufficient to supply 1,600 households. The stack was produced...

Two heavyweight firms up for grabs on local M&A market The company boasts a healthy financial report card, and has long-term expertise in logistics as one of the nation’s first logistics firms ― it was established in 1930. No one for Hynix Hynix, due to its heavy dependence on research and technology, is considered a business that is not as lucrative as expected because of the capital it is fo...