The Korea Herald

Growth takes a backseat before presidential vote: Morgan Stanley

With the presidential election slated for December 2012, the Korean administration is likely to focus on firmer fiscal policy and welfare promotions rather than growth-oriented measures in a bid to appease the low-to-mid-income group, Morgan Stanley said. In a new research report titled “2012 Election Year: Market Implications,” Morgan Stanley forecast that the Korean government will not go for an

July 31, 2011

Korea to host insurance regulators’ meeting

FSS predicts about 200 officials to gather in Seoul in late SeptemberKorea’s financial authorities are making their dispositions as the chair of one of the world’s three major regulatory meetings, slated for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Seoul. This is the first time that the nation will host the annual conference of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, which will mark the 18th gathering s

July 31, 2011

Nissan to battle German carmakers in Korea

Japanese automaker introduces new models to attract consumersNissan is set to wage a sales battles with German automakers in Korea by aggressively marketing its Infiniti series and the Cube, a characteristic box-like model.The second-largest automaker in Japan has set the goal of making the Infiniti series become one of the top three import brands in the premium luxury segment.“We are mapping out

MobilityJuly 31, 2011

Nissan to battle German carmakers in Korea

Mahindra sees India’s 1st cult brand aided by Ssangyong

The Actyon of Ssangyong Motor Co.At Ssangyong Motor Co., South Korea’s third-largest maker of sport utility vehicles, just about everything that could go wrong did in the past two decades. The company switched owners four times, faced bankruptcy and suffered one of the most violent strikes in modern Korean history in 2009. Workers in that clash took control of a plant for almost three months, usin

MobilityJuly 31, 2011

HSBC to cut more than 10,000 jobs

LONDON (AFP) ― Global banking giant HSBC will announce this week plans to axe between 10,000 and 15,000 jobs in the coming year as part of a drastic cost-cutting drive, a report said Saturday.The bank, headquartered in London but with a major focus on Asia, will unveil the job cuts on Monday as it posts its half-year results, Britain’s Sky News television reported, without citing its sources. The

IndustryJuly 31, 2011

Israelis protest high cost of living

JERUSALEM (AP) ― Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets nationwide on Saturday to protest rising housing prices in the largest turnout in a grass-roots movement that began two weeks ago and is demanding steps from the government to ease the burden.The protests over housing costs have tapped into wider discontent among Israelis over the high cost of living and the growing gaps between ri

IndustryJuly 31, 2011

GM, Ford, Toyota accept Obama’s efficiency standard

Automakers agreed to double the fuel economy of the vehicles they sell in the U.S. to a fleetwide average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, President Barack Obama said. The White House negotiated the proposal, which will take effect in 2017, with automakers including General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. The administration proposed a 56.2 mpg requirement last month, up from a f

IndustryJuly 31, 2011

GM, Ford, Toyota accept Obama’s efficiency standard

Moody’s says U.S. should retain top rating

Moody’s says it now thinks U.S. will be able to keep ‘AAA’ ratingWASHINGTON (AP) ― Moody’s Investors Service said late Friday that the United States should be able to keep its “AAA” credit rating as long as Washington works out a deal that lets it continue to pay bondholders.The credit rating agency said it thinks that even if the nation’s $14.3 trillion borrowing limit isn’t raised by Tuesday’s d

IndustryJuly 31, 2011

Kang named Hanwha Investment CEO

Kang Shin-woo, chief investment officer of Korea Investment Management, has been designated as the first CEO of the merged entity between Hanwha Investment Trust Manager and Prudential Asset Management.With the appointment of the 50-year-old fund manager, Hanwha Investment is poised to revamp its management structure and has set the goal of becoming the nation’s No. 1 asset management player. Kang

July 31, 2011

Researchers say humans crowded out Neanderthals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Were the Neanderthals simply crowded out by the ancestors of modern humans?That's the theory of a pair of British researchers, who say early modern humans outnumbered Neanderthals by 10-to-1 in a region of southwestern France they studied.Scientists have long debated the circumstances in which modern people replaced Neanderthals across Europe about 40,000 years ago. Leading resea

TechnologyJuly 31, 2011

Earth shares its orbit with tiny asteroid

NEW YORK (AP) -- Like a poodle on a leash, a tiny asteroid runs ahead of Earth on the planet's yearlong strolls around the sun, scientists report.The discovery of this companion, which measures only about 300 meters across, makes Earth the fourth planet in the solar system that's known to share its orbit with an asteroid. This handout image released on July 27, 2011 illustrates the orbit of 2010 T

TechnologyJuly 31, 2011

Earth shares its orbit with tiny asteroid

Apple, Samsung overtake Nokia in smartphone market

HONG KONG (AFP) - Apple and Samsung have overtaken long-time leader Nokia for the top two spots in the global smartphone market, a report said Friday, underscoring the Finnish handset maker's ongoing struggles.US-based research firm Strategy Analytics said the US and Korean smartphone makers outpaced Nokia in the second quarter, with the sector posting record quarterly shipments of 110 million uni

TechnologyJuly 31, 2011

Missing pilot took out huge insurance policies before crash

Asiana Airlines Co. remained tight-lipped as it was revealed on Saturday that one of the two still-missing pilots of its crashed cargo plane had taken out a number of different life and property insurance policies a month before the accident.The Boeing-747 aircraft, operated by South Korea's second-largest air carrier, crashed into waters about 107 kilometers west of the southern resort island of

IndustryJuly 31, 2011

Apple, Samsung overtake Nokia in smartphone market

HONG KONG, July 29, 2011 (AFP) - Apple and Samsung have overtaken long-time leader Nokia for the top two spots in the global smartphone market, a report said Friday, underscoring the Finnish handset maker's ongoing struggles.US-based research firm Strategy Analytics said the US and Korean smartphone makers outpaced Nokia in the second quarter, with the sector posting record quarterly shipments of

IndustryJuly 29, 2011

SK Broadband ordered to compensate 400 mln won for information leak

SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Friday ordered SK Broadband Co., a high-speed Internet service provider, to pay a combined 400 million won (US$379,686) in compensation to its customers whose personal information was leaked by the company.About 2,500 SK Broadband customers filed class-action suits between 2008 and 2010, claiming the Internet service firm, formerly called Hanaro Telecom,

IndustryJuly 29, 2011

KB Q2 earnings swing back to net profit

KB Financial Group posted a net profit of 817 billion won ($776.9 million) for the second quarter, swinging back into the black after posting a 217 billion won loss in the same period last year. The group attributed the boost to lower loan-loss reserves and provisional cost cuts of more than one-third from a year ago.“The group has been reducing the allowance for bad debts for the past six months

July 29, 2011

Samsung Electronics’ Q2 sales up 4%

Samsung Electronics, the world top television and memory chip maker, posted its operating profit for the second quarter of 3.75 trillion won ($3.55 billion), down 25.2 percent from the same period last year.The company also announced it recorded 39.44 trillion won in revenue ― a 4-percent increase year-on-year ― and 3.51 trillion won in net income from April-June, down 18 percent compared to last

IndustryJuly 29, 2011

Firms roll up sleeves to help victims of devastating rains

Korea’s business community is coming forward to help those affected by the heavy rains that wreaked havoc across the country this week.On Friday, some of the country’s largest conglomerates said they would provide money, goods and repair services for those affected by the rains. Chung Eui-sun (left), vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, poses with Han Joong-gwang, chairman of Korea Disaster Relie

IndustryJuly 29, 2011

Firms roll up sleeves to help victims of devastating rains

Industrial output slows in June

June industrial production posted slower than expected growth of 0.7 percent, a government report said Friday.Output in the construction, service, mining and manufacturing sectors expanded by 6.4 percent from a year ago, down from a revised 8.1 percent growth forecast in March, Statistics Korea said. The 0.7 percent on-month expansion is the slowest output growth in nine months, and a slow down fr

July 29, 2011

Netizens blast SK unit over leaked personal information

Thousands are voicing their anger with SK Communications online after it was found that personal information of 35 million online users had been hacked this week, an event that marked the country’s worst security breach.More than 3,200 people registered to voice their opinions in an online community (http://cafe.naver.com/hacknate) designed to take collective action against the company which opera

IndustryJuly 29, 2011

Netizens blast SK unit over leaked personal information