2010 Miss Korea pageant

Jump to represent: Candidates for the 2010 Miss Korea pageant, hosted by The Korea Times’ sister paper the Hankook Ilbo, pose for a photograph at the Alpensia Resort in PyeongChang County, Gangwon Province, Tuesday. The famous 160-meter-tall ski jump in the background . which came to be recognized after being filmed for the 2008 movie “Take Off” . was renovated so that the city could compete to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. The final competition will be held on July 25 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, central Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Cho Young-ho

Colombia offers FTA hub to Korea

Colombian Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism Luis G. Plata

Instead of trying to sign free trade agreements (FTA) with all the countries in any region or continent, Korea can take advantage of a specific nation that freely trades with its neighboring states. 

This is the unique idea of Colombian Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism Luis Guillermo Plata, who said Colombia can become an ``FTA hub'' for Korean firms in the South and Central American areas. 

``Colombia has negotiated FTAs with all the neighboring countries including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru and Mexico,'' Plata told The Korea Times in an interview earlier this week. 

``So companies investing in Colombia are looking at markets of 45 million, which is not a small market, and they are also reaching the neighboring countries as well... We are emerging as a hub of the region.''

Can Korea prevent housing bubble from bursting?

The approval of a reconstruction project for apartments at the Jamsil Jugong Apartment Complex 5 in Jamsil, southern Seoul, which had been one of the area’s most lucrative real estate markets, was supposed to give the property market a jolt. However, the boost has yet to happen, with some observers taking this as one of the many indicators that Seoul’s once-soaring housing market is about to tumble. / Korea Times file

As the housing market skids through its most dramatic plunge in years, observers can't agree on whether the country is in for a spectacular crash or a moderate bounce-back.

However, one thing appears to be certain: the days of splurging on houses as an investment, which led to the borrowing binge that fueled the bubble in the past decade, is all but over.

Those who had been convinced just a while ago that they were sitting on a fortune are now distressed about losing one. 

Samsung Electronics estimates operating profit at 5 tril. won

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of memory chips and flat screen TVs, estimated Wednesday that it had posted an all-time high operating profit of 5 trillion won ($4.11 billion) for the April-June period. 

The preliminary estimate represents nearly a two-fold increase from a profit of 2.67 trillion won a year earlier, Samsung said in a regulatory filing.

Second-quarter consolidated sales are estimated at 37 trillion won, up 17 percent from a year earlier, according to the South Korean company's earnings guidance.

Samsung, also the world's No. 2 mobile phone maker, plans to disclose its second-quarter earnings later this month.

The company did not offer a breakdown for its business divisions, but its mainstay semiconductor business and liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels have likely led the record profit, analysts said. 

Open auditions to be held for new Asian girl group

Wonder Girls watch out. A new Asian girl group is on the way. 

FarWest Entertainment -- a production company helmed by former Walt Disney Company (Asia Pacific) president Jon Niermann -- and a group of Asian partners are behind a fledgling girl band enterprise called “Project Lotus.” 

The concept behind “Project Lotus” is simple. 

Grammy Award-winning producers Eliot Kennedy (left) and Brian Grant (center) are set to compose songs with Canto-pop singer Jonathan Wong for a new Pan-Asian girl group. FarWest Entertainment

Get five talented girls from Korea, Japan, China, India and the Philippines. Pair them up with Grammy Award-winning producers Eliot Kennedy and Brian Grant. Give them songs composed by prominent song writers like Take That’s Gary Barlow. Get it all down on film and drop it on the world. 

In the midst of pre-auditions, FarWest and team are busy culling talent from a variety of outlets, including the Internet, where hopefuls can upload their audition videos onto Project Lotus’ website (www.projectlotus.tv), Facebook page or their YouTube channel. 

To date 850 girls have sent in their clips. The number could more than double by the Aug. 2 submission deadline.

Applicants need to be Asian women aged 18 to 25 who can speak English and sing and dance. Clips should feature hopefuls singing an English-language pop song. 

According to production manager Laura Conway, video clips are just the beginning of an extensive auditioning process that includes country manager-hosted tryouts. Producers will also tour Asian cities to scout out candidates from performing arts schools, modeling agencies and local management companies.

“The candidates who are successful will be invited to attend a live audition in their capital city,” Conway explained via e-mail. “This audition will take place in front of a panel of celebrity judges.” 

A group of 25 finalists, five from each country, will then fly to Hong Kong to take part in a six-week training process. One girl from each country will be eliminated every week until only five are left. 

The resulting footage is slated to air in February and March. The album release is set for April. 

“TV deals are currently in negotiation,” said Conway. “We intend that the television show will be broadcast throughout the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Asia.” 

Labor Ministry to focus on jobs

Aimed at strengthening its job creating role, the Labor Ministry on Monday changed its name to “Ministry of Employment and Labor.”

The change of the ministry‘s name came 29 years after the labor office was elevated to a government department. 

“Creating more jobs, helping people who want to work and ensuring they get paid properly are the main purposes and values that we have to seek,” Minister Yim Tae-hee said during a relaunching ceremony held at the Gwacheon Government Complex in Gyeonggi Province. 

He pledged, in particular, to support senior citizens to continue social activities, saying “People’s lifecycle has been changed due to a falling birthrate and an aging society. Those who used to be said of being old should not be considered senior citizens any more.” 

Samsung, LG, Hyundai team up for flexible display: report

Samsung, LG, and Hyundai Motor Group will team up to develop flexible display material, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported, citing officials from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and related industries. 

The global flexible display market is expected to reach 17 trillion won ($14 billion) by 2018, according to the Korean-language report.

(Bloomberg)

LG Display Co. employees look at liquid-crystal display (LED) monitors at the venue where the company held a news conference announcing third quarter results in Seoul in January, 2010. (Bloomberg)

LG faces critical test with Optimus series

LG Electronics on Monday announced the launch of its flagship Android smartphone Optimus One with Google via 120 carriers worldwide in the third quarter. 

LG's first global smartphone will be a make-or-break test for its mobile division president, Ahn Seung-kwon, who is struggling to rejuvenate the ailing smartphone business. 

 

Ahn Seung-kwon

Ahn gained fame for leading the development of LG’s hit feature phone Chocolate in 2006, as then head of LG’s mobile research center. Propelled by the huge success of the Chocolate, he grabbed the top position at LG’s mobile division in 2007, and since nurtured LG’s mobile business as a major cash cow.

However, his successful career has been tarnished by his failure to predict and prepare for the fast growth of the smartphone market.

LG’s handset division is expected to swing to a loss in the second quarter, hit by its weak smartphone line-up. 

The company is determined to revive its smartphone fortunes with the rollout of the Optimus One, which runs Google’s Android 2.2 operating system, LG did not disclose other details, but said the new model will be competitively-priced. The phone will be available via 120 carriers while Samsung Electronics’ smartphone Galaxy S is currently sold via 100 operators.

Korea, New Zealand seek to expand ties

South Korea and New Zealand on Monday agreed to further expand their bilateral relationship and step up regional cooperation on security and economic issues. 

During their meeting, President Lee Myung-bak and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key discussed how they would pursue a free trade agreement that would help further enhance bilateral trade.

“They reaffirmed their expectation to conclude the Korea-New Zealand FTA as early as possible. Both recognized the mutual benefits in working closely together toward enhanced trade and economic links and the opportunities existing for new trade in both directions,” the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae said.

In particular, the leaders sought ways to increase exchange in the areas of information technology and communications, in addition to energy and natural resources. 

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key delivers a speech with business leaders in Seoul on Monday. Yonhap News

N.K. economy to shrink on trade sanction

The North Korean economy is to record further negative growth this year on trade suspension by the South following the North’s sinking of a warship, a report said Tuesday. 

A report by the state-run Korea Development Institute said although the suspension of inter-Korean trade is expected to cost North Korea about $280 million annually, its economy won’t shrink to the crisis level had in the 1990s. 

“Our outlook is based on a forecast that its external trade will likely post a setback,” it said without estimating a figure. 

North Korea’s economy contracted 0.9 percent last year on poor harvests and strengthened international sanctions targeting its nuclear program. 

Shinsegae vice chairman’s tweet twits Samsung Electronics

Shinsegae Group’s vice chairman is once again in the news for posting comments about domestic brand smartphones on his Twitter account. 

Chung Yong-jin, Samsung Electronics’ chairman Lee Kun-hee’s nephew, posted comments on Twitter describing difficulties in receiving a signal on his Galaxy S, Samsung Electronic's latestest smartphone in the United States. 
In an April Tweet, criticized local electronics makers for being interested in only the number of devices they sell, rather than in developing a solution to compete with the iPhone.

Chung’s new smartphone-related Twitter entry, entered on Monday, read that his Galaxy S had failed to receive a roaming signal for six hours. Chung’s entry prompted a series of responses from his more than 24,000 followers suggesting possible solutions to his problem.

Police get tough on child sex crimes

The police have declared all-out war on sex criminals who victimize children.

In a meeting of high-ranking police officials on Monday, National Police Agency Commissioner General Kang Hee-rak vowed to take advantag all possible measures to eradicate sex offenses against children.

The meeting lasted for an unprecedented six hours, reflecting the sense of urgency within the police organization.

“The prevention of sexual child abuse should be the top priority for all police officials,” said Kang.

Among the reinforced preventive measures is a sex crime mapping system, showing the date and place of all sex offenses since 2004, together with the personal information of the offenders, said officials.