The Korea Herald

SK chief visits Hynix, pledges support

Dec 22, 2011

Chey vows to develop chipmaker as SK’s new axis of growth SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won on Thursday vowed to develop Hynix Semiconductor into “SK’s new axis of growth” during his first visit to the world’s second-largest computer chipmaker since deciding to buy it last month. “I had meant to visit earlier after SK Group decided to buy Hynix last month, but the situation was not allowed for sev...
AmorePacific eyes over 30% growth in China

Dec 22, 2011

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― AmorePacific Corp., South Korea’s No. 1 cosmetics manufacturer, will target sales growth of more than 30 percent in China next year as it continues to expand its business there, company officials said Thursday. AmorePacific officials expected the company’s sales could jump as high as 34 percent on-year to reach 1.4 billion yuan ($221 million) in 2012 from this year’s ex...
Ferrari mulls building theme park in Korea

Dec 22, 2011

Ferrari S.p.A. is looking to build an ultra-large theme park near Seoul as part of its tourism-inspired promotion drive, officials here said Thursday. Senior officials of the city of Paju, about 50 kilometers northwest of Seoul, said they have begun talks with the Italian company over the development of the amusement park dedicated to racing cars, similar to Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. The carm...
KT introduces Microsoft’s Mango phone in Korea

Dec 22, 2011

The presale reservations for Nokia Lumia 710, the first smartphone in Korea running on Microsoft’s new mobile operating system Mango, started Thursday ahead of its release scheduled for Dec. 26. Windows Phone represents Microsoft’s attempt to establish itself as a viable competitor in the smartphone arena, while its rivals Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android have taken the lead in sales. The Ma...
Samsung expected to record all-time high operating profit: analysts

Dec 22, 2011

Median consensus of analysts forecast 2012 operating profit to near 20 trillion won Samsung Electronics, the world’s top smartphone maker, is expected to record an all-time high operating profit figure next year, amounting to nearly 20 trillion won ($17.27 billion), analysts said Thursday. The firm’s operating profit in 2012 was forecast to reach 19.98 trillion won, about 28 percent higher than...
GS Caltex, Hyundai Oilbank picked for discount stations

Dec 21, 2011

GS Caltex and Hyundai Oilbank have been selected as the suppliers of petroleum to discount gas stations fostered by the government, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Wednesday. Nonghyup and the Korea National Oil Corp. chose the two refiners as suppliers for a year without disclosing their bidding prices, and plan to open the discount gas stations within this year. GS Caltex, which runs re...
KT chairman to serve second term

Dec 21, 2011

KT chairman Lee Suk-chae will serve his second term after a special review committee on Wednesday recommended him as the only candidate for the top position at the nation’s largest fixed-line carrier. Even though the final decision is made during a shareholder’s meeting early next year, his reappointment has actually been confirmed, industry sources said. Lee’s official term of three years expi...
KT launches new digital music service

Dec 21, 2011

KT Corp., the nation’s second-largest telecom carrier, launched Wednesday the new digital music market “Genie” that targets the nation’s growing number of smartphone and tablet PC users. KT will start the service on Thursday through the Android app store and its own Olleh Market. The mobile app also will be equipped within Android smartphones that KT plans to launch. For the new music service, ...
Samsung Electronics, LED merger likely next week

Dec 21, 2011

Samsung Electronics is expected to merge with Samsung LED by next Monday, according to industry sources on Wednesday. Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electro-Mechanics will hold a board meeting on Dec. 26 to decide on whether the flagship electronics arm will acquire the 50 percent stake of Samsung LED, currently owned by Samsung Electro-Mechanics, sources said. The merger is projected to be co...
Two electric car models get tax breaks

Dec 21, 2011

Renault Samsung Motors’ SM3 ZE and Kia Motors’ Ray were chosen as the first two electric cars to receive tax breaks starting next month in a bid to promote sales of the eco-friendly vehicles. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Wednesday that tax breaks of up to 4.2 million won will be provided for the SM3 ZE and the Ray, which are priced at around 60 million won and 45 million won, respectiv...
Firms spooked more by Europe than N.K.

Dec 21, 2011

Businesses more concerned about effects from eurozone debt crisis Major listed companies in South Korea saw North Korea as less of a risk than the European debt crisis for their business next year, despite concerns of instability in Pyongyang following Kim Jong-il’s death. South Korea’s top 20 listed businesses in terms of aggregate market value said they were much more perturbed by the fiscal ...
Homeplus to start convenient store business

Dec 21, 2011

Homeplus, the nation’s No. 2 supermarket chain owned by the U.K.’s Tesco, said Wednesday that it is ready to expand its business to convenient store franchises early next year. The retail giant said it has already received clearance from local antitrust authorities to go ahead with its plan to enter the industry here. “A growing number of babyboomers are expected to retire in the coming years. ...
SK Telecom, Chery Automobile set up joint lab in China

Dec 21, 2011

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Chery Automobile Co., China’s seventh-largest automaker, said Wednesday it has jointly built a laboratory with South Korea’s leading mobile carrier SK Telecom Co., in a bid to boost their competitiveness in the vehicle networking technology. A trend has been growing recently in the automobile industry toward developing in-vehicle data transmission and communications bet...
Korea’s IT gurus to gather at Las Vegas tech show

Dec 20, 2011

Hynix CEO Kwon to make appearance in the U.S. event early next month Hynix chief executive Kwon Oh-chul is expected to attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month to meet with top officials of its U.S. business partners, industry sources said. Kwon, top executive of the world’s No. 2 memory chipmaker, is most likely to go to the U.S. as demand for its two key products -- NAND F...
Jeju, Nongshim in dispute over bottled water sales

Dec 20, 2011

Major foods company Nongshim on Tuesday hinted at legal action against Jeju Island for canceling their contract over the sales of Samdasoo, the nation’s No. 1 bottled water produced in the southernmost island. Jeju Special Self-governing Province Development Corp. said Monday that as its contract with Nongshim expires on March 14, it would find a new partner to continue the business. The provin...