The Korea Herald

KEB sale to gather pace as Lone Star gives up appeal

SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- Lone Star Funds' decision not to appeal a Seoul court verdict is expected to speed up the U.S. buyout fund's long-stalled plan to sell its controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), clearing legal uncertainties that have blocked the sale, market watchers said Thursday

IndustryOct. 13, 2011

Apple wins ban on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales in Australia

SYDNEY, Oct 13, 2011 (AFP) - US technology giant Apple on Thursday won a temporary ban on Samsung selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia after launching legal action on the grounds that it copied Apple's top-selling iPad.The Federal Court handed down its long-awaited judgement in Sydney but said t

TechnologyOct. 13, 2011

80 percent of US boys use condoms the first time

CHICAGO (AP) _ A surprising 80 percent of teenage boys say they are using condoms the first time they have sex, a government survey found in a powerful sign that decades of efforts to change young people's sexual behavior are taking hold.But another promising trend _ a drop since the 1980s in the nu

TechnologyOct. 13, 2011

BlackBerry outages spread to North America

NEW YORK (AP) _ Sporadic outages of BlackBerry messaging and email service spread to the U.S. and Canada on Wednesday, as problems stretched into the third day for Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.Research In Motion Ltd., the Canadian company that makes the phones, said users in the Americas `

TechnologyOct. 12, 2011

Samsung replaces smartphone feature to bypass Dutch ban

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's No. 2 mobile phone maker, said Wednesday that it has replaced a feature in its Galaxy smartphones to avoid a sales ban in the Netherlands.The company, which is locked in a series of legal battles with Apple Inc. over mobile patents and design, faced a sales ban i

TechnologyOct. 12, 2011

Samsung replaces smartphone feature to bypass Dutch ban

Tax breaks to boost electric car sales

The government proposed on Wednesday tax cuts worth up to 4.2 million won ($3,600) for purchasers of electric vehicles, as part of its bid for next-generation transportation that is convenient, affordable and energy-efficient.Starting next year, all electric car buyers will receive a 5-percent reduc

IndustryOct. 12, 2011

Ex-Lone Star Korea CEO appeals ruling

Paul Yoo, former CEO of Lone Star Korea, has appealed to the Supreme Court against Seoul High Court’s Oct. 6 verdict that he engaged in manipulation of Korean stocks in 2003.But the appeal is only related to his individual case and not the financial authorities’ ongoing probe into U.S.-based Lone St

Oct. 12, 2011

Seoul shares end up 0.81% on brokerages, refiner gains

South Korean stocks finished 0.81 percent higher Wednesday as investors snapped up shares of brokerages and oil refiners, brushing off concerns over U.S. corporate earnings, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI added 14.48 points to close at 1,809.5, ext

Oct. 12, 2011

NPS grows banking industry clout

Pension fund holds major stake in 4 financial groupsThe National Pension Service has expand its presence financial industry after regulators paved the way for the fund to increase its stake in commercial banks earlier this year.Experts are divided over the national pension fund’s active buying of sh

Oct. 12, 2011

Breast cancer pinkwashing questioned

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) ― The country is awash in pink for breast cancer awareness month, and some women are sick of it.While no one is questioning the need to fight the deadly disease, some breast cancer activists are starting to ask whether one of the most successful charity campaigns in rec

TechnologyOct. 12, 2011

Demand for smartphone DRAMs to spike

Demand for dynamic random access memory devices for smartphones are expected to outdo the overall DRAM market and post a triple-digit annual growth this year, an industry report said Wednesday.DRAM shipments in smartphone handsets are forecast to grow 164.4 percent in 2011 from last year, according

IndustryOct. 12, 2011

Seoul to reduce rice production land

South Korea will continue to reduce its farming area for rice next year, the agriculture minister said Wednesday, despite earlier forecasts the country’s rice harvest this year will fall to the lowest level in 31 years. The government “plans to reduce the area for rice farming by 40,000 hectares nex

IndustryOct. 12, 2011

Conglomerates help SMEs enter overseas markets

International expansion for SMEs emerges as new engine of shared growthShared growth between large companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises is one of the current administration’s main economic policies.Many of the country’s largest businesses have taken up the cause and now operate a number

IndustryOct. 12, 2011

Conglomerates help SMEs enter overseas markets

Korea, EU agree on close cooperation

South Korea and the European Union agreed Wednesday to closely cooperate in economic policies amid uncertainties over the European debt crisis, Seoul’s Trade Ministry said.Both sides will also utilize the so-called Trade Committee as a consultation body for bilateral cooperation, according to the mi

Oct. 12, 2011

Money supply accelerates, household loans slow: BOK

Korea’s money supply expanded at its fastest pace in five months in August and banks’ household loan growth slipped to an eight-month low in September, the Bank of Korea said on Wednesday.The data came ahead of the central bank’s rate-setting meeting slated for Thursday amid widespread expectations

Oct. 12, 2011

FTC warns against fraud on social commerce sites

The Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday warned consumers to take extra care when purchasing products through social commerce websites. Social commerce, through which consumers can enjoy discount deals online, has grown rapidly into a 500 billion won market in Korea. FTC chairman Kim Dong-soo (Y

IndustryOct. 12, 2011

FTC warns against fraud on social commerce sites

ITU picks Busan for communications conference in 2014

The Korea Communications Commission announced Wednesday that the plenipotentiary conference of the International Telecommunication Union will be held in Busan in 2014.The meeting, which will be organized for three weeks from Oct. 20-Nov. 7, is a meeting launched every four years by the ITU, an organ

Oct. 12, 2011

Korea to allow foreign hospitals in free zones

The government will revise health and welfare regulations to enable foreign hospitals to set up operations in free economic zones, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Wednesday.The ministry said that concerned ministries including the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Strategy an

Oct. 12, 2011

OECD: Korean economy in ‘slowdown’ phase

Major European economies see leading indicators slump on debt woesKorea’s economic conditions declined for three months in a row based on the composite leading indicator of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, data showed on Wednesday. Korea’s CLI for August stood a

Oct. 12, 2011

Smart Korea shows off the nation’s IT progress, prowess

Visitors look around the booths of participating companies at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Smart Korea 2011 on Wednesday kicked off its four-day run to show off the nation’s IT progress over the past year. The nation’s largest IT exhibition, mark

IndustryOct. 12, 2011

Smart Korea shows off the nation’s IT progress, prowess