POSCO announced Wednesday it has acquired control of U.S. graphene nanoplate manufacturer XG Sciences, boosting the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker’s bid to transform into an all-round materials developer. Graphene is a transparent nano-carbon material that has electric conductivity and flexibility. It is widely used as an electrode in various industrial materials, energy and electronic devices.

Academics and leaders in the industrial and public sectors around the world underscored Tuesday the significance of research and development in securing sustainable, mutual growth.Around 500 officials and experts in science and technology from more than 10 countries took part in the Global R&D Forum 2011 hosted by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy in Seoul.  International scholars and experts atte

Although the country’s thriving coffee market has stoked demand for espresso and drip coffee in recent years, instant coffee remains Korea’s preferred drink, a recent survey showed. Last year, Koreans consumed 22.8 billion cups of coffee collectively, according to the survey by Nielson Korea and Dongsuh Foods Corp., the top local instant coffee maker. That translates as 452 cups for every Korean o

Air travelers will likely pay more fuel surcharges for long-haul flights and less for short-haul flights starting July at the earliest as the government looks to better adjust the rates to fluctuations in jet fuel prices, officials said Sunday.　Fuel surcharges are an extra charge added to the ticket price of air flights, to cover the cost of fuel rates. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime

Korea plans to launch a fund to help foreign investors bring in skilled labor and technology from overseas in target sectors. The Global Win-Win Fund will be created in August or September with 100 billion won ($92.6 million) and expanded to 300 billion won ($278 million) over the next two years, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Sunday. Of the total, the state-run Korea Finance Corporation p

S-Oil Corp. said Thursday it has given funds to children in low-income families for their liver transplant surgeries.The country’s third-largest oil refiner has been supporting 26 children suffering biliary atresia since 2009 through company and employee donations. The rare symptom among infants means that bile ducts ― long tubes carrying bile for digestion ― between the liver and the small intest

Hyundai Heavy Industries set sights Thursday on the top three spots in the booming global robot market with its new plant ready to enter full-swing production.The world’s top shipbuilder said it has remodeled and expanded existing production lines three times at its headquarter in Ulsan, a major industrial port city on the southeast coast of Korea, which began in September to meet surging demand f

Philip Morris International Inc., the multinational tobacco group, said Wednesday it has appointed Chong Il-woo as managing director for the Korean unit.Chong, 49, will oversee management and orchestrate the unit’s strategy and business, the company said. Chong Il-wooPrior to the new post, Chong headed the Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indochina operation for the U.S.-based conglomerate. He st

Park Se-pill (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)The fabricated cloning research by Hwang Woo-suk in 2006 remains a painful memory for Koreans, who had taken pride of their nation’s edge in a field that promised to transform medicine. No one agonized more over the fraud case than Park Se-pill, Korea’s top stem-cell researcher. Research in the area was brought to a virtual standstill as the government

Korea is poised to stimulate the market for solid gold rings as the popularity of the traditional first-birthday gift has slackened in the face of skyrocketing commodities prices, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Tuesday. Gold prices per “don,” a Korean measure equivalent to 3.75 grams, have surged more than four-fold in six years to roughly 230,000 won ($213), the ministry said in a stateme

Merck Korea, the local unit of German-based Merck KGaA, is looking to broaden ties with Korean companies to spearhead new technologies for future growth, its president Juergen Koenig said Tuesday. The world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical group has been expanding its sphere into new fields such as electronics, biotechnology and renewable energy in recent years. As part of its growth strategy,

NHN Corp., Korea’s portal giant operating Naver and Hangame, proved itself a formidable advertising platform as its stake in the lucrative market reached 14 percent last year, a report showed Monday.According to the report by Digieco, a think tank affiliated with KT Corp., NHN’s ads sales topped 1.1 trillion won ($1.02 billion) last year, outstripping traditional leaders like newspapers and broadc

SK Innovation Co., Korea’s top refiner, broke ground on its second plant Monday to produce batteries for electric vehicles, upping the ante for its fledgling green energy business as a next-generation revenue source.Located in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, the facilities will start manufacturing 200-megawatt-hour batteries early next year and 300-MWh batteries by the end of 2012, SK Innovati

S-Oil Corp., the country’s third-largest oil refinery, said Sunday its expanded plant for paraxylene and benzene is now in full operation, taking a step forward in cultivating the petrochemical business as a future growth engine. Paraxylene and benzene are aromatic hydrocarbons generated by catalytically reforming naphtha, a petrol derivative. The two substances are key for production of polyester

Hyundai Mobis, Korea’s leading auto parts maker, was named one of the world’s top 10 suppliers on the back of robust sales, an industry report showed Sunday.According to the report by Detroit-based Automotive News, Mobis was ranked as the eighth-largest parts manufacturers in 2010 in terms of sales, up four notches from the previous year.Its revenue jumped 28.7 percent to $14.43 billion last year

Merck Korea, the Korean unit of the Germany-based pharmaceutical group, said Thursday it has launched a campaign to promote childbirth in efforts to ratchet up the low birth rate in the country.The “Wishmom” campaign was designed to raise public awareness of infertility and help couples struggling to conceive in partnership with the Korean Society for Reproductive Medicine. Actress Song Sun-mee wi

Franck Lapeyre, chief executive of Pernod Ricard Korea, urged foreign businesses in Korea to join the drive by local companies’ to take on more social responsibility, underlining their role as “corporate citizens.” The distributor of Imperial and Ballantine’s whiskies, as well as Absolut Vodka, has been enthusiastic about its anti-drunk driving campaign since 2007, while sponsoring music schools,

Top businessmen seek extreme sports, photography and paintings to relieve tensionWhen talking about the country’s top businessmen, stress may seem to come with the job. While a great motivator, stress can cripple not only physical and emotional health but also concentration and creative thinking. To tackle such risks, CEOs adopt various strategies. It can be extra work in some cases, or extreme sp

SK Group, the country’s third-largest conglomerate, said Tuesday it will invest 500 million won ($457,200) in a fund to support social enterprises as part of its corporate responsibility activities. In January, the Ministry of Employment and Labor unveiled a plan for the fund, the first of its kind here, aiming to facilitate financing for social enterprises seeking to expand facilities, provide mo

The country’s three credit rating agencies in concert lifted their ratings of corporate bonds for Asiana Airlines Inc. one notch to “BBB+” from “BBB” Tuesday, citing increased profitability and growing demand for air travel.NICE Investors Service, Korea Ratings and Korea Investors Service referred the raise to the company’s all-time high operating profit last year, success in slashing fuel expense