TIRE SERVICE CENTER GOES HIGH-END -- Hankook Tire has opened its second luxury service studio named “Luxtudio” in Busan. “Luxtudio” -- a combination of the words “luxury” and “studio” -- is designed to provide specialized premium services for clients with luxury imported cars. The space is fitted with equipment for ultra-high performance tire and wheel alignment apparatus. (Hankook Tire) (Hankook Tire)

The recent controversies involving Mercedes-Benz Korea have not come in the way of its aggressive growth plans, with the luxury carmaker all set to entice local customers with its tempting new models.Despite the recent fuss about tax returns on vehicle sales and transmission changes for its best-selling S350 model, the German company is confident of dethroning its competitor BMW -- after a decade -- as the largest imported car brand this year. It has already bagged the top spot in the first two

GM Korea and its labor union have launched a joint task force that aims to support the company in achieving its goal of double-digit market share in 2016, the automaker said on Sunday. It is rare for the Korean unit of GM to gain cooperation from the labor union to achieve sales increase. (Yonhap)According to GM Korea, the task force will also include representatives from other areas, including domestic sales and government relations. It will have the authority to implement ideas approved at reg

The French carmaker Renault named Park Dong-hoon, the vice president of its Korean unit Renault Samsung Motors, as its new CEO, on Friday. It is the first time in Renault Samsung’s 16-year-history -- since its inception in 2000 – that it will be led by a Korean CEO. The current CEO Francois Provost has been promoted to Renault’s senior vice president of China operations. In addition, he will lead the Dongfeng Renault Automotive. Provost is also waiting for an approval of his seat in the board of

The recent rebound in international oil prices is brightening the business outlook for South Korea’s shipbuilding industry, which posted its worst performance last year. Crude prices, which have plummeted 70 percent since June 2014, rose to around $38 per barrel on Friday, the highest in three months, as optimism returned. (Yonhap)The Paris-based International Energy Agency said Friday that oil prices “may have bottomed out,” citing that Iran’s return to oil production has had a less dramatic im

The chief of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering said Thursday it will slash 12,000 of its workforce by 2019 as part of efforts to revive its struggling core business. “We are planning to reduce the number of employees to a similar level to 2009 and 2010 when management efficiency was the highest,” DSME CEO Jung Sung-leep said in a press conference at the firm’s headquarters in Seoul. According to Jung, the nation’s second largest shipbuilder had around 30,000 employees, including vendor fi

A delegation of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea plans to visit Washington D.C. next week to meet government officials and politicians to stress the importance of South Korea as an economic partner. The delegation includes James Kim, AMCHAM chairman and CEO of GM Korea, AMCHAM president John Schuldt, United Airlines country manager David Ruch, attorney Jeffrey Jones, Johnson & Johnson Medical Korea chief Swami Raote, and GE Korea adviser Choi In-bom. They plan to attend around 30 meetin

South Korea’s top steelmaker POSCO is reportedly pushing for integration of its processing centers in China by setting up a special team. “POSCO is planning to merge 12 processing centers in China into around three key divisions in order to save cost,” Money Today quoted an unnamed source as saying. “The company will first reduce the number of employees sent from headquarters in Korea instead of cutting local staff,” it reported. Currently, POSCO is operating 12 processing centers in China to pr

European companies doing business in Korea have little confidence in the nation’s legislative and regulatory system, according to a report released Tuesday.The report, released jointly by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea and consulting firm Roland Berger, was based on a survey of 139 European firms’ executives for two weeks in November. About 68 percent of the respondents have been doing business here for more than 10 years.The respondents picked discretionary enforcement of regulations

SK Shipping confirmed Monday that it is being investigated by the National Tax Service, but dismissed rumors concerning tax evasion.“The tax authorities’ move appears to be part of the regular tax audit of our company,” company spokesman Hong Chang-hyo told The Korea Herald.“We are giving necessary documents to the tax authorities and are also holding meetings to respond to their questions,” said Hong.But speculation about possible wrongdoing still persists as the investigation into the shipping

North Korea on Friday warned that the passage of the bill on human rights in its country by South Korea's parliament is a 'grave provocation' and constitutes a huge crime against it.On Wednesday, South Korea's National Assembly approved the bill on North Korean human rights, hours before the U.N. Security Council unanimously okayed its toughest-ever sanctions against Pyongyang in response to the communist country's recent nuclear test and rocket launch. The North also slammed the South's anti-te

Go players Cho Hun-hyun, Lee Chang-ho and Lee Se-dol are familiar names even to Koreans who are not well-versed with the game. The three have dominated international Go competitions since the 1980s, one after another, starting from the eldest Cho. Lee Se-dol, 33, the newest generation of the three, is still making a name for himself as one of the highest earners in the world. Lee, born to a father who was a five dan player, began to learn Go when he was five. He dropped out of middle school to c

In the lead up to the historic match between the world’s top Go player Lee Se-dol and Google DeepMind’s artificial intelligence computer AlphaGo, there are mixed views among experts about who will emerge victorious. Experts in the Go field -- including Lee Se-dol himself – said that the human will be the winner of the five-game match, which kicks off on March 9. The professional Go player predicted a 5-0 or 4-1 victory in his favor during a press briefing on Feb. 22. Showing confidence in winnin

최근 유엔(UN) 안전보장이사회가 북한에 대한 강력한 제재 고강도 대북 제재 결의안을 채택하면서, 북한은 단거리 미사일을 동해에 발사했다.　하지만, 여러 외신이 동해(the East Sea)라는 표현을 쓰지 않고 일본해(Sea of Japan)을 쓰면서 일부 해외 네티즌들은 북한의 미사일이 일본을 향한 것으로 오인하기도 했다.　일본의 관방장관은 3일 오전 기자회견에서 “일본에 날아오는 발사체는 확인되지 않았다”며 “일본의 안보에 직접적인 영향이 있는 사태가 발생했다고 인식하고 있지 않다”고 말했다. 　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)(유튜브)

Leader Kim Jong-Un has ordered North Korea's nuclear arsenal readied for pre-emptive use at anytime, in an expected ramping up of rhetoric following the UN Security Council's adoption of tough new sanctions on Pyongyang.The North's nuclear warheads must be deployed "on standby so as to be fired at any moment," Kim was quoted as saying by the North's official KCNA news agency on Friday.He also warned that the situation on the divided Korean peninsula had become so dangerous that the North needed

최근 유튜브에는 작년 5월 태국에서 쓰나미가 덮쳤을 때의 생생한 영상이 올라와 다시금 화제가 되고 있다.　공개된 영상 속에는 쓰나미가 오기 전 많은 관광객이 수영하거나 선탠을 하며 즐겁게 시간을 보내는 장면이 나온다. 　하지만, 서서히 거대한 파도가 밀려들 기미가 보이자 다급해진 주민들은 관광객들에게 도망가라고 소리친다. 　이내 쓰나미가 들이닥치고 심각성을 모른 채 그저 구경만 하던 일부 관광객들은 파도에 휩쓸려가고, 바닷가는 아수라장이 된다.　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)　 (유튜브)

영국 매체 미러(Mirror)는 폭스 뉴스의 미식축구 전문아나운서 에린 앤드루스가 자신의 누드 동영상이 유출된 메리어트호텔을 고소했다고 1일 (현지시각) 보도했다. 　매체에 따르면 그녀가 메리어트호텔에 머무를 당시 한 남성이 호텔 벽에 구멍을 뚫고 그녀의 누드 영상을 촬영했으며 해당 영상은 온라인에서 1,700만이 넘는 조회 수를 기록했다. 　에린 앤드루스는 최근 자신이 2008년 머물렀던 메리어트호텔에 7,500만 불대 소송을 제기했다. 　누드 촬영을 한 남성은 2009년 체포돼 법원에서 징역 2년 6개월을 선고받았고 출소했다.　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)(유튜브/해당사진과 무관)

영국매체 데일리메일(Daily Mail)은 미네소타 대학 농구선수의 성적으로 문란한 비디오가 SNS에 유출되고 나서 징계를 받았다고 1일(현지시간) 보도했다.　이 비디오는 수비수인 케빈 도시(Kevin Dorsey)의 인스타그램과 트위터에 금요일에 올려졌다가 30분 이후 삭제된 것으로 알려졌다. 　도시와 다른 두 수비수인 네이트 메이슨(Nate Mason)와 두프리 맥브래이어(Dupree McBrayer)는 팀 규칙을 어겨서 일요일 경기 때 모두 벤치 신세를 졌다.　미네소타 대학 남자 농구팀은 3명이 없는 상태에서 게임에 출전해 84대 71로 패배했다.　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)(123rf)

China said Tuesday that it will "strictly" implement a new U.N. resolution slapping new sanctions on North Korea, as the U.N. Security Council is set to approve the resolution."China will strictly follow it if the U.N. resolution is passed," China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters during a regular press briefing.In New York Tuesday the U.N. Security Council is expected to pass a new resolution aimed at punishing North Korea for conducting its fourth nuclear test and firing off

South Korea's foreign minister will attend the U.N human rights council session and disarmament conference in Geneva as the country joins others in pushing North Korea to give up its nukes, the government said Tuesday.The foreign ministry said Yun Byung-se will make keynote speeches at the Conference on Disarmament and at the human rights meeting slated for Wednesday. Yun's speeches, which are expected to take place following the passage of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution t