Samsung wins $2.1 bil. power plant order
Samsung Engineering, one of Koreas leading industrial plant builders, said Tuesday that it has won a $2.1 billion project to construct a power plant in Kazakhstan. Under the deal with Balkhash Thermal Power Plant (BTPP), the engineering firm will build a coal-powered power plant. It was the first construction order Samsung secured from the central […]
Korea enters low-growth era
GDP expected to grow slower than world average The Korean economy is entering a low-growth era, with its gross domestic product (GDP) expected to grow slower than the world average in the coming decade due to the stagnation of its twin growth engines of exports and domestic demand. Exports are growing at an increasingly slower […]
Hyundai Motor chairman calls for emergency mode
Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo Monday urged heads of the group’s overseas branches to find ways of minimizing any impact the eurozone debt crisis could have on the group’s sales across Europe and other regions. “We should prepare for measures in advance to cope with the possibility that the Eurozone crisis has an impact […]
LG CNS, HP team up for China business
LG CNS, a local provider of technology solutions, said Monday that it has struck a business tie-up with U.S.-based Hewlett-Packard (HP) to boost the Korean firm’s profile in China. In a statement, LG said it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with HP for closer collaboration on smart-related businesses such as smart factories, smart […]
Uncertainty lingers on future of Hi-Mart
MBK Partners, the country’s largest private equity fund (PEF), has been selected as the preferred bidder for Hi-Mart ahead of retail giant Lotte Group. But analysts say it would have been better for the country’s largest electronics retailer to be acquired by Lotte because the marriage would create much-needed synergy for both retail-oriented entities. They […]
Property market swooning
The government has introduced new policies to stimulate the housing market seven times in the past 18 months in an unapologetic display of desperation and kitchen-sink policymaking. But the ongoing dearth of transactions has critics wondering whether officials have been operating on a dead patient. To get across the sorry state of Korea’s property market, […]
‘Visible hand’ beaten
Court rules against government measure to regulate large retailers The government is under fire for its hasty measures to limit the operating hours of large retailers in an attempt to protect small stores, as the court has ruled that the new regulation is illegal. The government introduced a series of new rules to help boost […]
Blade & Soul gets even with Diablo 3
NCsoft’s new massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Blade & Soul started an open beta test Thursday and was virtually level with Blizzard’s Diablo 3 in popularity over the weekend. According to game research firm Gametrics, as of Sunday morning, Blade & Soul held 17.38 percent for Internet cafe user time, only just behind Diablo […]
Credit cards with bio-info to debut
The state-run disaster control agency is working with a credit card company to issue cards that will contain biological information about holders to enable a quick and effective treatment in the event of an emergency. Heated debate concerning possible privacy violation and the consequences a leakage of such information could bring will match daytime temperatures. […]
Horse race parks become tourist attraction
Horse racing tracks here have become a family-oriented leisure destination for both Koreans and foreign tourists as they offer not only races, but also a wide range of fun-packed events for people of any age. The Korea Racing Authority (KRA), the sport’s local governing body, organizes flat races with thoroughbreds, which are composed of both […]