An acid leak at a chemicals factory that exploded last week in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, is seriously affecting residents, crops and livestock in the neighborhood.The explosion claimed five lives with 18 wounded. About 400 were treated for headaches and breathing difficulties, according to the Gumi government and the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement.Gumi has set up a task force to counter the rapid spread of the leak that has affected some 100 households, and their crops and l

Korea’s pro baseball league has drawn a record of more than 7 million spectators in a single season for the first time since its launch 31 years ago.The Korea Baseball Organization said that it attributes this milestone, set Oct. 2, largely to the popularity of star players who returned home from overseas such as Park Chan-ho, Kim Byung-hyun and Lee Seung-yeop. The expanded broadcasting coverage of the sport on cable is another factor, it said.Lotte Giants held a record title of drawing more tha

Police detained a man who attacked a woman in front of a church in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday in the second random stabbing in less than a week in the town. The 24-year-old man with a developmental disorder stabbed the 54-year-old woman in the left arm and right hand.The suspect, identified by his last name Kim, was caught by other church visitors while trying to flee the scene. Police will issue an arrest warrant after investigating his motives and mental history.On Monday

Korea and China avoided brewing tension over the latter’s planned drone dispatch to inspect areas including leodo after Beijing notified Seoul that the action is intended not to boost its jurisdiction claim, but only for surveillance purposes.This comes after Korea demanded that China verify a Chinese media report that China’s State Oceanic Administration plans to send an unmanned aerial vehicle to monitor the submerged rock south of Jeju Island in the exclusive economic zone shared by the two c

Kim Kyong-hui, the aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is reportedly ill and has checked into a hospital in Singapore.Various sources and news media in China and Japan reported that Kim may be in seriously poor health as she has not appeared at events or meetings in the communist state for more than a month.Kim, a secretary of the Worker’s Party, has been playing a key role in mentoring her nephew since he took control of North Korea in December 2011 after his father Kim Jong-il passed away

Korea is likely to face tough price negotiations for its planned purchase of advanced attack helicopters, with costs currently appearing almost double the budget allocated for the project.The Defense Acquisition Program Administration plans to select the provider for 36 advanced military copters by late November. Boeing’s AH-64D Apache Longbow, Bell’s AH-1Z Cobra and Turkish Aerospace Industries/AgustaWestland’s T-129 choppers are competing for the deal. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Age

The government on Tuesday called for a 5.1 percent increase in its defense budget for next year to improve defense and the welfare of its soldiers.The Ministry of National Defense has drawn up a spending plan worth 34.6 trillion won for 2013, up from 32.9 trillion won this year.It plans to allocate 24.1 trillion to the operations and maintenance of its strategic military bases, which includes boosting the health and welfare of its soldiers, and providing other necessities such as high-tech train

The Korean government on Tuesday endorsed a motion to extend its troop deployment in Somalia and the United Arab Emirates for another year until the end of 2013. The Cabinet meanwhile approved a separate bill, calling for the withdrawal of most soldiers in Afghanistan this year except for a 70-strong unit to protect aid workers and embassy staff.The proposals are subject to parliamentary approval.Korea dispatched 310 troops to the Gulf of Aden off Somalia in 2009 as part of a multinational effor

Hyundai Heavy, Hyundai Motor, POSCO had the lowest employment rateKorea’s top ten companies have been slow and reluctant to hire new employees despite a sharp increase in revenue over the years, according to media reports citing data by the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.The number of people employed by the top 10 in their respective sectors such as consumer electronics, automobile, steel and retail only stood at 294,652 last year, up from 222,995 in

Lee Kun-hee, the chairman of Samsung Group, Korea’s largest family-run conglomerate, has been ranked 100th in the Billionaires Index by Bloomberg, a U.S. media firm.It said that Lee owns assets worth some $10 billion (11 trillion won), joining the world’s 100 wealthiest individuals for the first time. The index has been expanded to 100 from 40.Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate, remains the richest man with a $74.5 billion fortune, followed by Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, with $64.8 b

Samsung Group, the country’s largest conglomerate, has stepped up efforts to stamp out a corporate culture of excessive drinking common in Korea.The group said that it has launched an in-house campaign across its subsidiaries in a bid to discourage binge drinking, forced drinking or other harmful types of drinking to promote a healthy workplace environment.This comes months after Samsung cleared out all ashtrays inside and outside its buildings to promote a “No Smoking” atmosphere, even telling

KT said that it has been chosen to build an information and communications system for electric vehicles in Korea.The state-run Korea Environment Corp. selected the country’s second-largest telecom company to establish infrastructure that can support KECO to operate an EV transportation system, including recharging of the eco-friendly automobiles.KT plans to use advanced software, and WCDMA and radio-frequency identification networking technologies for the establishment of the EV communication sy

SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest chipmaker, said it has developed the industry’s first 4-gigabite DDR3 DRAM chip for graphics using a 20 nanometer-class processing technology.The double data rate, type-three synchronous dynamic random access memory chip can process 3.6 gigabytes of data per second via 16 lines of data channels at an operating speed of 1.8 Gbps.The company also noted that, when operating at 1.35 volts, the graphics chip consumes 30 percent less power than its 30 nanometer-cla

New media platforms have introduced new ways for companies to advertise their brands and products in this digital age of consumerism.Facebook looks to be the most “powerful” platform for effectively communicating and interacting with millions of users worldwide, said George Foo, chief operating officer of ihub Media Group, a social networking marketing agency based in Singapore. The company, which operates in eight countries, develops content applications such as games, characters and contests f

CEO envisions spin-off to create biotech firmIn June 2011, Hanwha Chemical, a listed Korean chemical company, made its first landmark deal to license its newly developed biosimilar compound to Merck, a global pharmaceutical giant.Merck will be further developing the “HD203” compound by Hanwha into a drug for joint pain.Hanwha attributed this overseas deal to Paul Coleman, CEO of the chemical company’s bio business unit, whose primary responsibility includes identifying global pharmaceutical comp

KT, Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier, said Monday that it plans to set up a fund to invest in the development of content such as animation, games and music by small and medium-sized firms.Speaking at a news conference, KT chairman Lee Suk-chae said the company will allocate around 100 billion won ($89 million) to the fund, which will be established by the end of this year and be operated for content development over the next three years.The company plans to allocate some 20 billion won of i

Premium home appliance maker hopes to win Korean consumers for 100 years, CEO saysAnyone in Korea who has lived in Germany or other parts of Europe before uses it.Rhie Won-bok, who studied in Germany and is known for his comic books “Far Countries, Neighboring Countries,” uses it. Cha bum-kun, who played soccer in Germany and is a regular World Cup newscaster, uses it. Yoon Boo-keun, CEO of Samsung Electronics’ consumer electronics division, praised it during his visit to Germany’s IFA electroni

Darby Overseas Investments is seeking to tap the National Pension Service, Korea’s pension fund, and the Export-Import Bank of Korea as its potential institutional investors for infrastructure in Colombia.The U.S. private equity is considering setting up its largest fund yet to invest in “segments” of Colombia’s $20 billion road project, which will be announced next week, Darby CEO Richard Frank told The Korea Herald.Darby has normally managed funds sized at around $300 million, and invests in i

LG Display to see most benefit as iPhone parts supplier, analysts sayApple’s iPhone 5 may have failed to meet high expectations worldwide as it failed to boast any particularly surprising innovative features.Analysts are nonetheless coming out with rosy sales forecasts for Apple as the U.S. tech giant still has strongly loyal fans. Based on this, Korean components makers, especially LG Display, are also being highlighted as those that will benefit from supplying their parts for the smartphone.LG

Apple’s latest device would not be able to overtake Samsung phones, analysts say Apple’s long-awaited iPhone 5 has been unveiled to the world with mixed reviews.Some say the new smartphone does not offer any innovative features other than being thinner with a larger display than its previous model.Others highlight the iPhone 5’s faster Long Term Evolution wireless connectivity with an upgraded microprocessor and central processing unit.Weighing only 112 grams with a 4-inch touch screen, compared