Incoming president Hwang Chang-gyu of the embattled telecom company KT Corp. faced his first test last week as chief executive after the discovery that a KT affiliate was involved in a loan scandal. KT ENS, a KT affiliate specializing in network integration, will be subject to an extensive probe this week on the allegation that one of its employees played a leading role in a large-scale loan fra...

TOKYO (AP) ― Minutes of a recent governing board meeting of Japan’s public broadcaster NHK seem to back up suspicions that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, despite his denials, is trying to use Japan’s news giant to promote his nationalist agenda. The minutes, posted on NHK’s website but not widely reported, show conservatives appointed to the board by Abe voicing their opinion on coverage at the Jan....

Selecting a talented, problem-free aide is not President Park Geun-hye’s strong suit. Take, for example, her former presidential spokespeople, one of whom she helplessly fired amid embarrassing sexual harassment allegations toward a female intern. Her latest choice for the post is also being put to the test. At the center of the disputes is Min Kyung-wook, former reporter at Korean Broadcasting ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― As longtime Microsoft insider Satya Nadella becomes the company’s CEO, he is declaring a new focus on a “mobile-first, cloud-first world.” So far, he only has the latter half of the formula figured out. Microsoft is trying to catch rivals such as Apple, Google and Amazon, which are building a thriving ecosystem for mobile devices. At the same time, the company wants to expand ...

BANGKOK (AFP) ― Thailand’s protest-plagued elections have ushered in a new chapter of political uncertainty that experts say leaves the embattled government increasingly vulnerable to court intervention or a military coup. Millions were denied the opportunity to cast ballots on Sunday, with blockades by protesters seeking to prevent the reelection of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra causing th...

LG Uplus was always the smallest and branded the worst telecommunication service provider that stood in the shadows of SK Telecom and KT. Feature phones carried by LG Uplus did not work especially in provincial areas, and its fiber optic broadband was weak compared to its rivals, leading many a consumer to shun its services. Just when it was struggling to find the next big thing that could help...

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Ben Bernanke on Friday closed the door on a precedent-breaking eight years as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Bernanke took office on Feb. 1, 2006, more the shy Princeton professor than a likely combatant in Washington’s knock-down political culture, though he had served on the Fed’s board and for eight months as head of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers....

Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, said Tuesday it would scrap its heavily criticized plan to introduce a new recruitment path that favors top-tier universities in Seoul. The new hiring method proposed by the country’s most preferred workplace would have allowed universities to recommend students as prospective applicants. Its purpose was to hire students with a wide variety of s...

A bidding war is heating up between the nation’s two top conglomerates Samsung and Hyundai as the two are seeking to secure an 80,000-square-meter site in the affluent district of Gangnam in southern Seoul. According to industry sources on Monday, Hyundai Motor Group has recently expressed its intention to acquire the lucrative property, which is currently owned by Korea Electric Power Corp. Th...

Time has come for Hwang Chang-gyu to prove his ability to overcome a crisis as he officially takes the helm at KT, Korea’s second largest mobile carrier, Monday. Faced with a lackluster earnings outlook and negative public image due to a corruption scandal concerning Hwang’s predecessor Lee Suk-chae, not to mention an overgrown bureaucracy, Hwang will be expected to roll up his sleeves as soon a...

When Mohamed El-Erian first told Bill Gross several weeks ago that he wanted to leave to “recharge the batteries,” the co-founder of Pacific Investment Management Co. was “shocked” and “discouraged.” El-Erian, 55, for years had been putting in long hours as the public face of Pimco next to Gross, appearing in the office as early as 5 a.m., speaking on national television throughout the day, and ...

Dominance is shifting in the global display market as Chinese companies are fast emerging to challenge Korea’s giants in advanced technology. Korea’s liquid crystal display panels in terms of global output and shipment saw their market share slide from 48.9 percent in 2010 to 48.8 percent in 2013. The share taken up by the Chinese players, meanwhile, jumped from 4.7 percent to 12.5 percent duri...

Tension is intensifying further in Northeast Asia after Japan protested the launch of new facilities devoted to a Korean independence fighter in China, triggering strong condemnation from Seoul. Tokyo’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Monday slammed the memorial hall that opened a day before to honor Ahn Jung-geun, who fatally shot Japan’s first Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito in Harbin in...

The country’s credit cards firms are facing their worst crisis on record with people rushing to cancel accounts following yet another massive data leak scandal. Data breaches of various scales have been uncovered recently and banks here have been raising their security measures to protect customers’ data. Yet, this time some of the major credit card firms, such as KB Kookmin Card, Nonghyup and ...

U.S. lawmaker Mike Honda’s push for historical justice gained greater momentum last week with the passage of a spending bill that included a provision pressuring Japan to apologize for its wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women. Albeit nonbinding, the provision brought fresh international attention to the women whose human dignity was trampled as they were forced to serve at frontline brothel...