Super-luxury cars gain popularity

Ranging from tiny two-seaters to minivans and supercars, automobiles of today come in all shapes and sizes. 

For many, however, super-luxury cars like Rolls Royce and Maybach represent the pinnacle of automotive engineering.

While domestic brands offer little in the way of super luxury automobiles, many of the more luxurious brands from overseas carmakers are available here to meet the needs of those looking for something extra.

The Rolls Royce Ghost that was introduced to the local market earlier this year is a prime example of a super-luxury car available here.

The car is decked out with luxuries that most people could not afford for their homes, much less for their cars, such as wool carpeting and a 16-speaker sound system.

The car also comes with 9.2-inch LCD screens built into the headrests of the front seats and four-zone air conditioning system. 

The car is also fitted out with the latest automotive technologies, which according to the company make the vehicle the most technologically advanced Rolls Royce ever, including a lane departure warning system, active cruise control, head-up display and night vision camera.

At nearly 5.4 meters in length, the vehicle provides more than a meter of leg room for both front and rear seats. 

In addition to the luxury trimmings, and usual convenience features, the vehicle packs enough power to outdo most sports cars, with its 6.6-liter twin turbo engine with maximum power output of 563 brake horsepower.

According to the Rolls Royce website, the vehicle can reach 100 kilometers per hour from a standing start in 4.9 seconds and has a restricted top speed of 250 kilometers per hour. 

Warming Jeju seeks new opportunity

JEJU ISLAND -- For more than 20 years, Kang Cheol-june, 55, had cultivated tomatoes in this southernmost island of Jeju. 

In August, however, Kang is expecting to harvest mangos for the first time since he turned to the semitropical fruit five years ago. 

The mango cultivar Irwin used to be grown in warmer regions such as Japan, Taiwan and Australia. Thanks to rising temperatures on Jeju, its cultivation has become possible on the island. 

Due to the reddish color, it is better known as “apple mango” in Korea.

“The warming temperatures make it possible to grow semitropical fruits. In the hopes of higher earnings, I began mango farming,” Kang said.

Global warming is changing climate conditions on Jeju and its environmental landscape. 

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the average temperature of the Korean Peninsula has increased 1.5 degrees Celsius over the past century, more than double the global average of 0.74 degrees Celsius. 

The warming trend is more apparent in Jeju where the average temperature increased 1.6 degrees Celsius during the same period.

Mount Halla, the nation’s tallest mountain, has different climatic zones at each altitude, becoming the home for a variety of plants and animals.

Kim Yu-na may prepare Tango for new season

South Korea’s figure skating icon Kim Yu-na said she wants to try out Latino or Spanish music like tango for the new season.

“There are many genres I haven’t tried. I wanna try Spanish music like Tango but I have to talk about it with my coach,” Kim told reporters in Incheon Monday. 

South Korean figure skaters Kim Yu-na (left) and Kwak Min-jung waive at the press in Incheon, Monday. (Yonhap)

Kim said she plans to discuss a new program for the World Figure Skating Championship when she goes back to Toronto, Canada, after an ice show here.

She is scheduled to participate in the ice show, Samsung Anycall Hauzen 2010 All That Skate Summer, in Seoul on July 23-25.

Seoul gets long-range cruise missile: sources

South Korea has developed a cruise missile with a range of 1,500 kilometers, which is capable of striking all nuclear and military sites in North Korea, military sources here said Sunday.

The military and the state-funded Agency for Defense Development began the project to develop the surface-to-surface missile, called “Hyunmu-3C,” in 2008 and have succeed in its mass production, they said. 

The operational deployment of the missile has already begun, according to local news reports. However, officials at the Ministry of National Defense refused to confirm it.

The missile with a 450-kilogram warhead measures 6 meters in length and 53-60 centimeters in diameter and weighs 1.5 tons. It can hit targets in all nuclear facilities and major missile bases in the communist state with high precision, experts said. 

“With the range of 1,500 kilometers, the missile can practically attack all areas in the North. The missile, guided with the help of the global positioning system, can accurately hit the target with a margin of error of less than 2 meters,” said Shin In-kyun, a military expert who heads a civic group, called Korea Defence Network.

“We have now obtained the means to mount an attack when signs (of possible attacks from the North) are detected. The missile is not just for a war. It is meaningful in that we have secured deterrence capabilities.” 

Experts say Hyunmu 3-C is comparable with the U.S.-made Tomahawk missile in its precision strike capability. Only South Korea, the U.S., Russia and Israel have developed cruise missiles with a range of 1,500 kilometers or more. 

The military has thus far been known to have deployed Hyunmu-3As and Hynmu-3Bs on the ground, which have ranges of 500 kilometers and 1,000 kilometers, respectively. Hyunmu series missiles have been developed and tested by ADD and manufactured by LIG Nex1, a local defense firm. 

Under the Missile Technology Control Regime, the South is allowed to build ballistic missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers and a payload weighing 500 kilograms or less. 

However, the regime does not restrict the development of a long-range cruise missile as long as its warhead does not weigh more than 500 kilograms. Thus, the military has been focusing on the development of the cruise missiles such as the Hyunmu series. The MTCR is a global weapons export control program. 

The North is known to possess approximately 600 Scud B and C ballistic missiles with ranges of 300-500 kilometers. In addition, it has deployed some 200 units of 1,300-kilometer Rodong missiles. The Rodong missile puts all of South Korea’s territory within striking range. 

Korea reaches quarters in U-20 Women’s WC

South Korea reached the quarterfinals of the U-20 World Cup with a 4-2 win over Ghana on Saturday in Dresden, Germany. 

The Koreans’ quick passing and attractive counterattacking game impressed the crowd at the Rudolf-Harbig Stadium. 

Korea came back from 2-1 down to finish the game 4-2 and became the third country after North Korea and Germany to secure a berth in the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time.

Samsung blasts Apple’s phone reception claims

Samsung Electronics on Sunday fired back at Apple’s claims that other smartphones have reception problems as well.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Friday argued that not only its iPhone 4G, but other phones experience a signal loss when grabbed in a certain way, showing video of iPhone’s rival phones -- Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry Bold, HTC Corp.’s Droid Eris and Samsung Electronics Co.’s Omnia II. 

Seoul reaches out to non-G20 nations

The chief organizer of the Group of 20 Seoul Summit promised Tuesday to step up efforts to interact more actively with nonmember nations to ensure the meeting of leading economies represents the interests of a greater majority of the world. 

Speaking at a monthly news conference, Presidential Committee for the G20Seoul Summit chairman SaKong Il emphasized the importance of reaching out to non-G20 nations which make up 172 out of the UN’s 192 member states. 

“The Seoul Summit faces heavier responsibility to include more developing nations in order to accomplish tasks left unfinished at the Toronto Summit,” SaKong said.

“We need strong supports from emerging economies to push ahead with Seoul-initiated items including development and financial safety net issues.”

After the June Toronto Summit, SaKong made a visit to Washington D.C. in the United States to host a presentation for the UN where he explained the need for a global financial insurance system and funding for developing countries. 

News anchorwomen furious over lawmaker’s sexist remarks

South Korean news anchorwomen are furious at the alleged sexist comments made by Rep. Kang Yong-seok of the ruling Grand National Party.

“I’m totally offended. Other news anchorwomen also must have felt really offended. His comments were just nonsense,” said an anchorwoman who works for a radio broadcasting company.

“I have never seen or heard of such a case (selling sex in return for job favors) while working as a news anchor,” she said on the condition of anonymity. 

Corporal punishment ban opposed

The ban on corporal punishment in schools has emerged as a controversial issue between the liberal Seoul education superintendent and the Education Ministry.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Monday imposed a full ban on all forms of corporal punishment in schools, a policy which the new liberal head Kwak No-hyun vowed to implement during his election campaigns.

The decision also followed a recent scandal in which several elementary school teachers used excessive violence on their students under the pretext of disciplinary actions.

Corporal punishment, though principally banned under the present education law, is allowed under limited circumstances and most of the schools therefore stipulate the method, level or prerequisites of corporal punishment in their internal regulations.

Even when not clearly manifested, physical punishment on a minor level is generally accepted in Korean schools.

The Education Office’s new ordinance, however, bans all forms of physical control over students, regardless of the reason or situations.

Teachers who practice physical force upon the students are to face inspection and disciplinary actions.

The Education Ministry, together with the conservative Korean Federation of Teachers’ Association, condemned the Education Office’s measures as arbitrary and irrelevant.

Foreigners to get equal criminal compensation

Foreigners who have fallen victim to crimes here may receive the same governmental compensation as domestic citizens from next year, said officials Tuesday.

The Justice Ministry has undertaken work on the revision of the criminal victim protection law to include foreigners staying here in the beneficiary list, said the officials.

The present law only offers financial compensation to criminal victims who are Korean nationals.

Among the revision bill options suggested to the ministry, the most lenient one includes all foreigners who are staying legally in Korea and the most restrictive one embraces foreign spouses and their children.

The ministry, after considering all options and discussing them with the Gender Equality Ministry, will confirm the final draft and submit it to the National Assembly plenary session in September, said officials.

If passed, the bill will take effect as early as next year.

The Korean law, so far, has been restrictive over the protection of criminal victims who hold foreign nationality, said officials.