One candidate, and the highest-profile potentate from Latin America, could be the 63-year-old Archbishop of Sao Paolo Brazil, Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer. Although Benedict might not be able to select his own replacement, his influence will be felt -- by virtue of the fact he appointed 67 of the 117 cardinals who cast the holy ballots. By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)

Former prosecutor Chung Hong-won is center stage in the country’s political arena as interest mounts as to whether President-elect Park Geun-hye’s second prime ministerial nominee will bear up under scrutiny. Kim is a life-long law professional who began his career in 1972. Chung went on to rise to the highest level within the public prosecutors’ office, and in 2004 opened a law firm. In the sa...

Shinsegae Group vice chairman Chung Yong-jin is facing rough seas since taking the helm of the nation’s second-largest retail giant. The prosecution grilled him for 12 hours on Tuesday over allegations that he ordered Shinsegae affiliates to charge their sister bakery firm Shinsegae SVN cheaper commissions to help turn it around. On Thursday, the Seoul Regional Labor Administration raided Shins...

Despite a growing dispute over alleged flaws of the four-river restoration project here, the nation’s water control and management capability gained recognition overseas as the Korean consortium was selected as a priority negotiation partner for all 10 major water management projects being pushed by the Thai government on Tuesday. Among the bidders, Korea, Japan and China have been in a tight ra...

Well known for his dovish and docile temperament, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan took center stage after going head-to-head with the mighty presidential transition team on Monday over its plan to unhitch trade functions from his agency. The controversy pivots around President-elect Park Geun-hye’s envisioned transfer of the ministry’s trade-related operations to a newly expanded Ministry of Know...

Lotte Engineering and Construction has yet to promptly address cracks in the 123-story edifice that the company is constructing in its new theme park in Seoul. Up to 11 cracks were discovered in the main pillar of the building -- known as the “mega column,” the main supporting piece of high-rises -- according to its construction supervisor, Hanmi Global. Despite Hanmi Global notifying Lotte abo...

A compromise has been reached between the ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition Democratic United Party on the issue of a parliamentary investigation into Ssangyong Motor Co., allowing the extraordinary session of the National Assembly to convene on Monday. Despite the tentative peace between the two main political parties, the issue continues to divide the country’s political arena. Under T...

The successful launch on Wednesday of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, or the Naro, has brought South Korea, as Education, Science and Technology Minister Lee Joo-ho put it, a “step forward” in advancing its space technology. This was Korea’s latest and third launch of a rocket carrying a science satellite into space. Experts, however, said the mission to see large economic returns in space de...

Samsung Electronics came under fire for its clumsy response to a toxic gas leak in its semiconductor line, which killed one subcontract worker and injured four others on Monday. The world’s largest technology company was accused of failing to take proper safety measures and even attempting to conceal the incident to minimize damage to its reputation. The plant is located less than 4 kilometers ...

For any reigning monarch, stumbling off the throne is painful. It’s expected to be the same for Apple Inc., the king of electronics and smartphones, which recently forfeited the crown as the world’s most valuable company. ExxonMobil has now taken over that spot as Apple has lost some $247 billion in shareholder wealth compared to its high, which pundits note exceeds the value of IBM, worth $232 ...

Putting aside the concerns over his administrative capacity, President-elect Park Geun-hye’s choice of presidential transition team leader, Kim Yong-joon, as her first prime minister looks to be heading into all-too-familiar territory. Lest her appointee get caught up in the political scrutiny by the opposition bloc, Park emphasized Thursday that her choice was based on Kim’s judicial integrity ...

President Lee Myung-bak was dealt a another blow on Thursday as his elder brother and a former aide were convicted of taking illegal funds from failing saving banks. A lower court sentenced his brother Lee Sang-deuk, 72, a former Saenuri Party lawmaker, to two years in prison and fined him 750 million won ($702,000). He was arrested in 2012 for allegedly receiving hundreds of millions of won fro...

The police announced on Tuesday that 10 officials at CJ CheilJedang, a chaebol manufacturer of food and medicine, have allegedly given illegal kickbacks worth approximately 4.5 billion won ($4.2 million) to more than 200 doctors over two years from May 2000. The kickbacks were allegedly offered in exchange for prescribing its product and were the form of lending the company credit cards to docto...

New Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem may well be the ultimate compromise candidate. Elected to head the group of eurozone finance ministers Monday, the Dutch finance minister has sided with Germany and other northern eurozone states who insist on austerity for countries needing bailouts. He is also a social democrat like the government in France, the EU’s other major power player. But perha...

South Korea’s top speed skater Lee Sang-hwa is getting faster, breaking national and world records in the space of 24 hours. Lee won the Speed Skating World Cup race in Calgary, Canada, on Sunday in 36.80 seconds in the 500 meters, taking 0.14 seconds off the previous record set by Yu Jing of China last January. A day earlier, she broke the national record with 36.99 seconds, becoming the first...