Villa Zolitude Resort and Spa famous for ‘privacy and seclusion’City newlyweds these days seem to view their honeymoon as a cross between an escape from work and a romantic getaway. So pool villa resorts in Phuket have become one of the latest trends for Asian honeymooners.The number of villas with bedrooms, a living room and a private pool has been increasing, with a surge in honeymooners from around the world. The main slogan for the pool villas is “privacy and seclusion.” “Honeymoon reservat

Commerce Minister Hong Suk-woo indicated Thursday that the government will approve a plan to raise electricity fees.“(Korea’s) cost of electricity for firms marks the cheapest among members of the OECD,” he told reporters. The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. has called for a hike in electricity prices for industry and homes, citing the long freeze in the prices as the main source of its widening deficit.But the government had opposed the plan, fearing that the hike would inflate consumer pr

Most businessmen and economic experts demand that regulations on insolvent savings banks’ restructuring be made stricter, according to a survey released by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.In the poll of about 150 businessmen and analysts, 47.1 percent of the respondents said that previous regulations failed to prevent the savings banks’ risky management. About 34 percent demanded more measures to aid victims. Such sentiments come after Solomon, Mirae II, Hanju and Korea sa

The Korea Gas Corp. announced on Wednesday that it has detected a new deposit of natural gas off the coast in Mozambique for the fourth time. The gas company had previously discovered deposits of natural gas three times in Mozambique, in October 2011, February 2012 and March 2012. Now it has made its fourth discovery in the 12,956 square-kilometer basin area in Rovuna, northern Mozambique, the company said.Eni S.p.A. of Italy holds a 70 percent stake in the project. KOGAS, Portugal’s Galp Energi

GS Group chairman Huh Chang-soo stressed the importance of workplace innovation at a group forum Wednesday, describing it as the conglomerate’s future growth engine.Huh said innovative efforts outside the office would be the key to the group’s development in the future. The GS Value Creation Forum was organized by the group to share the success stories of innovation among workers and executives at its affiliates.Huh also stressed the importance of the group’s human resources, saying they were se

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Wednesday that free trade agreements benefit domestic companies that export products to the U.S. and Europe. From May 7-10, KCCI conducted a survey for 600 companies that export both to the U.S. market and the European market. The survey inquires whether these companies can actually benefit from the free trade agreements.According to the survey, 68 percent of the companies found Korea-EU FTA helpful, and 59 percent found Korea-U.S. FTA favorable to

SK Group announced on Tuesday that it signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday with Topsoe Fuel Cell, a Danish fuel cell company, to develop and commercialize solid oxide fuel cells as a future energy source. Higher in efficiency than previous types of generators, the SOFCs are the rising energy source for future generations, SK Group said. A SOFC generates electricity through the electrochemical reaction of liquefied natural gas, diesel and biogas. The energy conglomerate said that the SO

Hyundai Motor Co. announced on Tuesday that it will host an academic research forum in Tokyo on June 15 as a way to recruit outstanding Korean talent with an education received in Japan. The country’s leading automaker said that the research forum is organized to boost Hyundai Motor’s global strength. The forum is an exclusive channel to recruit applicants with degrees from Japan, the company said. “We believe that graduate and doctorate students from Japanese universities have strength in both

Korea Auto Parts Park in Detroit was launched Monday to help Korean firms settle in the U.S. city.The opening ceremony was organized by Korea’s Commerce Ministry and the state-run Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency.KAPP provides offices with presentation devices and conference rooms. “It takes a long time for small and medium auto part companies to win business contracts from global carmakers. That is when the local offices are needed,” KOTRA’s vice president Oh Sung-keun said. “KAPP will g

British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Mike Penning said Monday he is looking to build partnerships between Korean and British transportation-related companies concerning technology. Speaking in a news conference in Seoul, the British minister said that he came to Korea to look into technology that can contribute to making transportation of London more environmentally clean. “It is a big project with a 100-year-old metro and 10 million people living in London, to modernize

The Yeosu Expo site is located inside Yeosu City, a southern coastal port in South Jeolla Province, the nation’s southwestern region.For visitors from Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, the most convenient way to get to the venue is to take the KTX, or Korean Train Express. Yeosu Expo Station connects to Gate 3 of the Expo directly, minimizing the walking distance for visitors. KTX passengers can also get 30 percent off their train fare if they show their Expo tickets to the ticketing

 YEOSU, South Jeolla Province -- The Expo 2012 Yeosu has arranged several eye-catching events and performances throughout it’s run. During the three-month Expo, various concerts, street performances, water shows and other cultural spectacles performed by artists from here and abroad will be staged. The organizers said the Expo offers about 90 cultural events and performances every day until the maritime festival ends on Aug. 12Big Star ShowThe Big Star Show happens every weekend and includes per

The Pony Chung Foundation presented on Thursday Kakao Talk chairman Kim Beom-su with the Pony Chung Innovation Award. Pony Chung Innovation Award is presented to people who have achieved great changes with innovative ideas. The award was first made in 2006, and given to Ban Ki-moon, now secretary-general of the United Nations.  The sixth recipient was awarded in recognition of his creation of a new channel for mobile communication, organizers said. One of his mobile creations is Kakao Talk, the

A fire that broke out at Hyundai Motor’s Beijing Plant No. 1 in China on Tuesday was extinguished within two hours, without much damage to the automaker, company officials said on Wednesday.The fire halted the plant’s entire operations, the carmaker said. The fire-damaged plant is one of the three Beijing-based plants located in the Linhe Industrial Development Zone, Shunyi District, Beijing. They are identified as Beijing Plant No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.The country’s leading carmaker said that the

SK Telecom said on Wednesday the company held a ceremony to mark the start of its new mobile service for learning English in Indonesia.Titled “English Bean,” the mobile service enables users to learn English regardless of time and location, the country’s leading telecommunication company said. The smart-learning program runs on several platforms, including its website, Facebook page, mobile phones and landlines.The telecommunications company has included a multitude of Facebook content such as E

Hyundai Motor’s Avante won the Most Remarkable Award at the Beijing International Motor Show, the country’s leading carmaker said on Tuesday. Winning the most out of the 6.75 million votes counted, the award-winning sedan has made a promising premier in the automobile market, the company said. First presented in 2005, the Most Remarkable Award is given by three major motor shows in China, Shanghai Motor Show, Beijing International Motor Show and Guangzhou International Motor Show. The award is p

Graeme Toft has taken office as the new CEO of the world’s major coffee brand Nestle Korea, the company said on Monday. Toft had gained experience through his career as the representative director of Nestle Pacific Islands, the coffeemaker said. After entering Nestle Korea through the marketing department, the new CEO took over sales and marketing operation in Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. In 2010 he was dubbed the representative director of the company’s Pacific Islands operation.  The company

ThyssenKrupp Elevator Korea said on Monday that the company has named Park Yang-chun as its new CEO. The elevator company briefly convened a board of trustees last month to approve the appointment. Park then took up the post and began his work as CEO.For the past 20 years, Park has built up his career in Hyundai Heavy Industries, LG Industrial Systems and Otis Elevator Korea. Park is an expert in strategic planning and overseas operation, according to the company. Park said that he was pleased t

Janssen Korea has said that it will offer scholarships to children suffering from mental disorders. The medical firm signed an agreement last week with an organization for children’s welfare to operate supporting funds worth about 190 million won ($166,700) to help mentally ill children. Over the past 24 years, Janssen Korea had been running a scholarship for economically needy children, aiding a total of 3,300 students with 3.3 billion won.  After Korea extended its government-paid compulsory e

Hyundai Motor Group provided dozens of green-energy transportation vehicles for the Yeosu Expo 2012 on Sunday.The 51 eco-friendly vehicles include hydrogen fuel-cell operated Tucson ix and Mohave cars; electric-powered Ray EV and BlueOn vehicles; hydrogen fuel-cell buses, and compressed natural gas hybrid buses. The green-energy transportation will mostly be used to carry Expo staff, performance groups and organizing committee members. Among these vehicles, 20 hydrogen fuel-cell operated and ele