Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said Friday that its Morning has been named the best foreign-made small city car and low-cost passenger vehicle in Germany. The car, sold in the European market as the Picanto, ranked first among imported city cars evaluated by Auto Bild and the best performing low cost car under 10,000 euros (US$14,000) in a review carried out by Auto Ze...

South Korean mobile phone giants Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. retained their leading positions in the North American market for a 12th straight quarter in the April-June period, an industry report showed Friday. Samsung, the world’s second-largest cellphone maker, sold 13.8 million units of mobile devices in the United States and Canada in the second quarter, extending its dom...

General Motors Co. outsold Toyota Motor Corp. globally in the first six months to become the world’s largest automaker after the record March earthquake disrupted production in Japan. GM sales rose 8.9 percent to 4.536 million units in the half-year ended June 30, the Detroit-based automaker said in a statement Thursday. That compares with 4.13 million units at second-ranked Volkswagen AG and 3....

The fiscal 2011 government white paper on the economy and state finances, issued July 22, analyzes economic conditions in the wake of the March 11 disasters. It calls for the creation of an economy resilient to crises and makes some policy proposals; however, the proposals are too general in the context of the post-disaster economy. According to the white paper, Japan’s potential gross domestic ...

What began as a transport accident in the busy rail corridor of Zhejiang province is turning into a test of China’s authoritarian methods of preserving stability. Should the old template of information control prevail? Is it even possible? Mastery of online media by citizens is weakening notions of governance by diktat. The Chinese Communist Party’s politburo is usually adept at riding out crise...

The Board of Audit and Inspection starts a three-week audit of 31 private junior colleges and universities throughout the nation next week. All private higher education institutions will be called on to use the outcome of the audit as a reference when they are setting tuition fees. It should also serve as a reference when the government selects insolvent or near insolvent institutions as candidat...

A labor dispute that must be settled by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction has now evolved into a major political conflict. It has become a rallying point for scattered opposition parties as well as dissident groups, imposing a heavy burden on the ruling party and its pro-business lawmakers in particular. The responsibility lies with no one else but Cho Nam-ho, chairman of the company, who...

Over the past few months, the world has watched with uneasiness and frustration the political drama unfolding in Washington, capital of the world’s largest economy. The fierce partisan debate over raising the debt ceiling was so ugly that it threatened to hold hostage not only the United States’ own economic and social well-being but also the global economy, by forcing the U.S. government to def...

Nation-building efforts in Afghanistan face a major turning point. The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has started withdrawing troops stationed in Afghanistan. European and other countries helping to maintain security in Afghanistan will follow suit in reducing their military presence. The transfer of security duties to Afghan forces is under way, with completion targeted for the ...

To a developing country drifting towards catastrophe as it tries to hold together under assaults from domestic threats and terrorism, $800 million is a lot of money. And so when the Obama administration decided to punish Pakistan by suspending $800 million of its annual $2 billion security aid, one wondered why it bothers sending any aid at all. It is an open secret that the U.S. government was...