Uncertainty lingers on future of Hi-Mart
MBK Partners, the country’s largest private equity fund (PEF), has been selected as the preferred bidder for Hi-Mart ahead of retail giant Lotte Group. But analysts say it would have been better for the country’s largest electronics retailer to be acquired by Lotte because the marriage would create much-needed synergy for both retail-oriented entities. They […]
2,000 truckers go on strike
Some 2,000 unionized truck drivers went on strike Monday, raising fears that the country’s cargo transportation will suffer serious disruption if prolonged. No major disruptions were reported at major ports, but the Korean Cargo Transport Workers’ Union has threatened to block traffic coming in and out of them. The government vowed to take stern measures against […]
Social Media and the Arab Spring
[The East-West Wire] SEOUL — Speaking at a pace that mirrored the speed of a Twitter feed, Riyaad Minty, head of social media for Al Jazeera, shared lessons from the Arab Spring with more than 300 journalists at the East-West Center’s 2012 International Media Conference on 22 June at Yonsei University in Seoul . To […]
Role of SNS as media will grow in years ahead
“Social Network System (SNS) can play an important supplementary role for conventional media at the time of catastrophe like the nuclear accident in Fukushima,” said Yoichi Funabashi, a noted Japanese journalist who was editor-in-chief of the Asahi Shimbun. He made the remarks at the International Media Conference, jointly organized by the East-West Center and Adenauer Foundation, held […]
Cheju Island found unpolluted by radioactivity
Cheju-do, the southernmost island of Korea, was found unpolluted by radioactivity, it was announced Monday (June 25). The survey was conducted for three days from June 23 by SR Korea, a private radioactive experts’ group, in cooperation with regional environment organizations in the island. According to SR Korea, people have worried about the possible contamination of the […]
Property market swooning
The government has introduced new policies to stimulate the housing market seven times in the past 18 months in an unapologetic display of desperation and kitchen-sink policymaking. But the ongoing dearth of transactions has critics wondering whether officials have been operating on a dead patient. To get across the sorry state of Korea’s property market, […]
‘Visible hand’ beaten
Court rules against government measure to regulate large retailers The government is under fire for its hasty measures to limit the operating hours of large retailers in an attempt to protect small stores, as the court has ruled that the new regulation is illegal. The government introduced a series of new rules to help boost […]
Blade & Soul gets even with Diablo 3
NCsoft’s new massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Blade & Soul started an open beta test Thursday and was virtually level with Blizzard’s Diablo 3 in popularity over the weekend. According to game research firm Gametrics, as of Sunday morning, Blade & Soul held 17.38 percent for Internet cafe user time, only just behind Diablo […]
US, N. Korea sowed seeds of doubt
Six decades ago, the U.N. forces led by the United States fought against the North on Korea battlefields, not only with guns but also with thought tactics to defeat the enemy with fewer causalities. Psychological warfare such as propaganda leaflets, posters, and radio shows were widely used during the bloody war which broke out 62 […]
Cargo drivers to go on strike Monday
Truck drivers will go on a nationwide strike at 7 a.m. Monday in protest of the government’s lack of efforts to improve their working conditions. The Korean Cargo Transport Workers’ Union said it has “waited long enough” after 80.6 percent of its 380,000 members approved of the walkout in the February vote. “We sought to […]
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