A former U.S. State Department arms expert, Stephen Kim, on Friday pleaded guilty to leaking secret information on North Korea to the media.Kim, a Korean-American, is charged with revealing classified information about the possibility of a North Korean nuclear test to a Fox News reporter in 2009.At a U.S. federal court hearing here, Kim pleaded to "one count of making an unauthorized disclosure of national defense information," the Justice Department said.The information concerned the military c

Samsung Electronics’ smartphone market share in China fell in the fourth quarter of 2013 as its rival Apple saw a marked increase. Analysts said Apple would continue to see a rise in the first quarter of this year as it recently signed a new deal with China’s largest telecom carrier China Mobile Communications Corporation. According to research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung’s smartphone market share in China dropped to 19.1 percent, from 21.6 percent in the previous quarter. Apple rose to 7.3

Naver Corporation, the nation’s largest search portal company, saw a sharp jump in its stock price after posting strong earnings on Thursday. Analysts predicted Naver’s shares would soon outstrip American Internet company Google thanks to its Line messenger service’s continued growth and the possibility of its subsidiary Line Corporation going public this year. “Naver’s prices are expected to soar this year, and in tandem, its advertising revenues will triple to 200 billion won ($185 million) wi

Despite the calls that the data of Korean Microsoft users should be stored locally, the global tech giant has no plans to build a data center here, Microsoft Korea said Tuesday.“We have no plans to build a data center in Korea for the time being,” a company spokesperson said. And because there is no data center, it means that the data on all business and personal users of Microsoft is sent to data centers in Singapore and Hong Kong. The lack of a data storing and processing facility has become a

KT, the nation’s second-largest telecom operator, on Tuesday reported a deficit in its quarterly operating profit for the first time in four years, mostly on account of its sluggish performance in its communications business, combined with its big spending on handset subsidies.The company’s fourth quarter operating loss stood at 149.4 billion won ($138 million), with a net loss of 300 billion won during the October-December period. For all of 2013, the mobile carrier reported 23.8 trillion won i

　자동차 정비 어플 다음 카닥이 올해 전국 매장으로 확대한다. 이준노 대표는 현재까지 수도권, 대전, 대구, 부산까지 확장했으며 “올해 1분기 안에 전남권, 강원도와 제주도를 포함하여 전국으로 확장할 계획”이라고 코리아헤럴드와의 인터뷰에서 말했다. 　올해 1월에 분사한 카닥은 바로 이어 다음에서 투자를 받게 된다. 현재 지분을 보유한 4명의 창립 멤버가 경영권을 갖고 있으며, 다음은 관계사 형태가 된다. 투자 문의도 잇따라고 있다. 　“카닥의 주요 고객층이 30~40대 수입 차 오너들이다 보니 금융권에서도 투자에 관심을 보인다”는 것이 이대표의 말. 　그는 현재 “카닥의 라이벌은 없다”며 자신감을 드러내며 4~5개월 전 네이버나 SK Planet과 같은 동종업체가 수백 억 원을 투자해서 같은 사업에 뛰어들었다면 불안했었을 수도 있었겠지만 현재 카닥의 볼륨을 볼 때, 그 이상 투자해야 할 것이라고 말했다. 　약 120,000만 명의 이용자를 확보하고 있는 다음 카닥은 7월 커미션 제도

South Korea’s tech giant LG Electronics Inc. said Monday its net loss narrowed in the fourth quarter of 2013 from a year earlier on improved smartphone sales.Its net loss came to 63.4 billion won ($58.76 million) in the October-December period, improving from the 478.1 billion won posted a year earlier, LG Electronics reported in a regulatory filing.Revenue, or sales, edged up 0.8 percent on-year to 14.9 trillion won, and operating profit surged 103.8 percent to 238.1 billion won, it said.For al

The quarterly operating profit for Samsung Electronics, the world’s top maker of smartphones, fell for the first time in two years amid a slowdown in smartphone sales. The tech giant said on Friday its fourth-quarter earnings in 2013 showed sluggish performance, posting 8.3 trillion won ($7.7 billion), down by 18.2 percent from the previous quarter. This is largely due to weak sales of its information technology and mobile communications division, which saw a 7 percent drop from the previous qua

South Korean athletes on Thursday reaffirmed their drive to put in a strong showing at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Russia.Dozens of athletes and officials assembled at the National Training Center in Seoul for their team inauguration ceremony ahead of the Feb. 7-23 Sochi Winter Olympics.Earlier in the day, the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) announced the final list of 64 athletes and 49 officials for Sochi.It will be the country's largest-ever delegation for a Winter Games.At the Vancouver W

South Korea blasted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Thursday for defending his much-denounced visit to a controversial war shrine last month.Indicating that he may continue visiting the Yaskuni Shrine, Abe said during the World Economic Forum in Davos Wednesday that Japan is determined not to wage another war and that the war shrine is designed to honor regular Japanese war dead, not Class-A war criminals."Paying respects at the Yasukuni Shrine equates to not repenting for Japan's imperialist

Two Chinese activists who agitated for officials to disclose assets argued their innocence on Thursday, the second day in a series of prosecutions of anti-corruption campaigners highlighting the government's resolve to crush any challenges. The trial of Zhao Changqing, a veteran Chinese dissident, was adjourned after he dismissed his two lawyers in a move that would help delay his case, one of his lawyers, Zhang Xuezhong, told Reuters by telephone. China's government has waged a 10-month drive a

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns has called for China to boost bilateral cooperation so North Korea can take "meaningful and early steps" to give up its nuclear ambitions, according to a U.S. statement released on Thursday. Burns was in Beijing as part of his three-nation Asia trip that already took him to Seoul. He is set to leave for Tokyo later Thursday. In Beijing, Burns held talks with Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao and Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui."The Deputy Secretary

Chinese computer giant Lenovo will buy IBM's low-end server business for $2.3 billion, it Thursday, giving it a platform to compete in that sector with US giants Dell and Hewlett-Packard.IBM will receive $2.07 billion in cash and the rest in shares for the x86 business, Lenovo said, in a deal seen as helping the Chinese firm diversify away from the slumping PC-sales sector.IBM will still provide maintenance on behalf of Lenovo, while some 7,500 members of staff worldwide will be offered employme

Toyota sold a record 9.98 million vehicles last year, it said Thursday, outpacing rivals General Motors and Volkswagen to maintain its title of world's biggest automaker.The Japanese auto giant's highest-ever annual sales volume came thanks to a weaker yen as well as strong US and China sales, signaling it had recovered from a series of damaging safety recalls and Japan's 2011 quake-tsunami disaster.The figures beat US-based GM, which said it sold 9.71 million cars last year, while Germany's Vol

SK C&C president Chung Chul-khil has visited China to highlight the company’s moves to expand its global business, SK C&C said on Thursday. Chung was in Beijing and Shenzhen, China, from Jan. 21 to 23 to discuss new business plans and market trends with the regional branch members. “SK C&C will reinforce its competitiveness and have achieve tangible outcomes through localization and partnership in China,” Chung said. “The company should share its structural reform outcomes and best practices wit

Google could face disciplinary action from the country’s communication regulator as the global search giant seems to have collected private personal data without individuals’ consent for its Street View services.The Korea Communications Commission said Tuesday that it would decide whether or not to impose penalties against Google as soon as it completes its investigation.“We have almost completed our investigation into Google. Its alleged data gathering without (consumers’) consent is in breach

Korea Communications Commission chairman Lee Kyeong-jae confirmed that the organization agrees with the license fee hike submitted by the Korea Broadcasting System, the nation’s largest television network. He said at a press event on Monday that the “KCC has reviewed the plan financially and legally. Though the increase may not get a good response from the public in the beginning, the plan as a whole makes sense. With continuous discussions, I believe the public will also understand this.” He ad

Korea will enhance bilateral partnership with India not only in information technology but also in the aerospace sector, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said in a press release on Sunday. Science, ICT and Future Planning Minister Choi Mun-kee, who accompanied President Park Geun-hye to India, visited Bangalore on Saturday to seek a partnership with India’s space and software industry. ‘‘During his visit to the city nicknamed the Silicon Valley of India, the minister visited the

KT, the nation’s second-largest mobile carrier, said on Sunday the company is now able to provide international Long Term Evolution roaming service in Russia. The company now offers this type of service in a total of 12 countries, including Canada and Malaysia. “The LTE roaming service was expanded as a number of customers are expected to visit Russia for the winter event this year,” said Kim Seok-joon, a head of KT’s Roaming & Data business division. “KT will continue to provide services for us

Samsung Group, the nation’s largest conglomerate, said Wednesday that it would revamp its recruitment process in a bid to reduce unnecessary social costs related to exams and private education. Young job seekers in Korea have generally spent considerable time and money on developing their qualifications and on entrance exams by attending expensive private academic institutions to get hired at large companies such as Samsung. Samsung said it plans to lower its dependence on the Samsung Aptitude T