The loss of water resources on the planet and its impact have been emerging as a critical energy issue, adding more complexity in developing the new energy structure of a country, a global energy expert said. “The global energy industry, which once simply cared about ups and downs of oil prices, has become more complicated today as there are so many more issues that are part of the fundamental uncertainty underlying the sector. In addition to the continued fluctuation of oil prices, we are seein

Cash-strapped STX Group, the nation’s fourth-largest shipbuilder, is reportedly in a dispute with Orix, a Japanese financial service provider, over the management rights to its affiliate STX Energy.The alleged conflict between the two companies started as Orix, which had bought a 43.1 percent stake in STX Energy for 360.1 billion won ($330 million) as a financial investor in December last year, emerged as the firm’s biggest shareholder by increasing its shareholding to 50.1 percent last month. O

The 7th World Water Forum slated for 2015 in Korea will focus on developing action plans for implementation to tackle water shortages and pending issues the world is facing, a top organizer said.“Discussion of the 2015 Forum will start at the kick-off meeting to be held May 14 and 15 in Daegu, and one of top agendas will be how to implement discussed solutions for the global water crisis,’’ said chairman Lee Jung-moo of the National Committee for the 2015 World Water Forum.Speaking in an intervi

A global survey has found that falling global shipbuilding orders have hit bottom after a five-year depression. According to Clarkson, a global shipping and shipbuilding market information provider, 277 new shipbuilding orders were reported in the first quarter of this year, which is a 93 percent increase from the same period in 2011 and a 39 percent increase from 2012. The new shipbuilding price index, another indicator to gauge the market direction, stopped falling from November last year, hov

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., the state-run nuclear power plant operator, recently announced a plan to accelerate sustainable growth. The move is in line with the government’s ongoing efforts to promote shared growth with small-and medium-sized enterprises.KHNP said it had started with reorganizing and expanding related departments and was working to enhance technical competence and reform its purchasing methods.The company has come up with several measures to improve small firms’ cashflow. L

South Korean conglomerates are facing a crisis of stagnant growth, squeezed by falling domestic demand and a prolonged global economic downturn. The chaebol are actively searching out new business beyond their core to survive. According to FnGuide, a local financial information provider, about 63 percent of 41 companies listed on the main stock bourse posted an on-year drop in their first-quarter operating profit. “Aside from those in such areas as electric, electronics and pharmaceuticals, cong

Korea will eye overseas infrastructure development projects, armed with local experience and know-how accrued over the past half century, the nation’s chief construction policymaker said. “Korea is one of the few countries that have risen from recipient to donor in just half a century,” Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Minister Suh Seoung-hwan said in a written interview with The Korea Herald. “This rapid growth largely took place in line with strategic infrastructure development, a model whi

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the nation’s largest shipbuilder, won a $700 million order to build five container ships from China Shipping Container Lines, the company said in a press release on Monday. Under the deal, Hyundai Heavy will deliver the ships starting in latter part of 2014. Each container ship will be 18,400-TEU, the worlds’ largest size, loading 18,400 containers. TEU stands for 20-foot equivalent unit. When it comes to container ship orders this year, the company sealed a $600 millio

DONGHAE, Gangwon Province ― The new free economic zone to be established on the east coast will focus on attracting foreign materials and parts companies toward the goal of building an industrial cluster in Korea, officials said.The East Sea Free Economic Zone Authority, which will oversee the massive project, was launched on Tuesday with the aim of completing the construction of the East Sea (Donghae) FEZ by 2024.An FEZ refers to a specially designated economic zone intended to attract foreign

Most of Korea’s billionaires accumulated their wealth through inheritance, while the Japanese superrich built up their wealth by creating their own business, according to a recent survey by CEO Score, a local online corporate management evaluator.In the survey of the top 50 richest people in Korea and Japan based on their stock ownership, 78 percent of Korea’s richest are second and third generation chaebol chiefs. In contrast, 60 percent of the top 50 richest Japanese are entrepreneurs. In Kore

Ahn Soong-bum, 53, former chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Korea, will lead General Electric’s global growth offshore and marine business, whose global headquarters will be stationed in Korea, GE said. He was also named general manager for GE’s power conversion business in Korea. The company said in a statement that it expects Ahn to create synergy effects with other regional headquarters by using the competitiveness of the power conversion business in Korea and to build strategic relationships wit

Hanwha Group promoted Kim Chang-beom, executive vice president of Hanwha L&C, a construction material processing firm, to president, company officials said on Tuesday.The nation’s 10th-largest conglomerate by assets carried out its annual executive-level reshuffle of 139 personnel. The reshuffle had been delayed due to the top management vacuum caused by the imprisonment of group chairman Kim Seung-youn.“The group will call for new executives to drive its new growth engines as planned and to tap

Kang Duck-soo, 63, chairman and founder of STX Group, the nation’s 13th-largest conglomerate by assets, is facing his biggest-ever crisis as some of the company’s major affiliates are suffering from financial crunches. Cornered by liquidity problems, Kang has handed over his controlling stakes in STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, a core affiliate of STX Group, to creditors. “His decision came amid creditors’ due diligence on the group’s money-losing shipbuilding unit before the creditors decide wheth

The debt of the nation’s top 28 state-owned companies whose assets exceed 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) swelled to equal the national debt last year, posing a major threat to the Korean economy.The combined debt of large public companies such as Korea Land & Housing Corp. and Korea Electric Power Corp. reached 392.96 trillion won in 2012, up 8.7 percent from 361.4 trillion won a year earlier, the data compiled in accordance with each firm’s regulatory filings said. Meanwhile, the national debt r

Unit 1 of the Shin Wolseong nuclear power plant in the nation’s southeastern region stopped operations on Tuesday due to a malfunction, according to the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co.“The cause of the problem has yet to be identified, but the reactor is in stable condition without risk of a radiation leak,” a KHNP official said. The 1-million-kilowatt reactor, located near Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, began commercial operations in July 2012.With the temporary closure of the Shin Wols

Korea Resources Corp., a state-run mineral resources explorer and developer, is under investigation by the nation’s top audit agency for wasting its budget in pursuit of overseas mining projects over the past five years, industry sources said. One of the target overseas mining projects under investigation by the Board of Audit and Inspection is the Boleo copper-cobalt-zinc project in Mexico, the sources said. KORES secured a 10 percent stake in the project for $276 million in 2008, but it increa

Korea ranked 21st for food security in a global survey of 105 countries, posting a score of 77.8 out of 100, according to the Korea Rural Economic Research Institute on Monday. The index was created by the U.K.-based Economist Intelligence Unit, using data on food affordability, availability, quality and safety of each country surveyed. The U.S. topped the index, securing a score of 89.5, followed by Denmark (88.1) and Norway (88.0). The survey, however, didn’t use food self-sufficiency data to

SK Innovation, the holding company of SK Group’s energy-related businesses, said Monday it will enter the Chinese electric-car battery market by setting up a joint venture in Beijing by June this year with its two state-run Chinese partners Beijing Automotive Industry Holding and Beijing Electronics Holding. For this plan, the company’s top management, including SK Holdings vice chairman Chey Jae-won, signed an investment letter of intent with their Chinese counterparts on Monday in Beijing. The

In times past, trains served as the backbone of the nation’s economic development, delivering freight and coal to inland cities. As the coal industry declined and other forms of transport came into being, demand for industrial trains dwindled. So KORAIL, the state-run railroad operator, turned the existing rail network into a tour train line in the mid-2000s. “We paid attention to rising demand for rail tours, which offer room to think for people who live busy modern lives as they take in the be

High 1 Country Club, a public golf course in Korea, started its 2013 season on April 4, and the season will last until Nov. 7, according to the company. Run by High 1 Resort, the club is located between Gohan and Sabuk in Jeogseon County, Gwangwon Province, and surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery throughout the year. The mountains are part of the “Baekdu-daegan,” chain that forms the backbone of the Korean Peninsula. The 6,517-meter course is 1,137 meters above sea level and is a par 72 ove