New MackBook Air? Apple gets ready to surprise, again

Apple has sent out invites to the media for an event next week, fueling speculation about which new product the U.S.-based company will unveil.

The invitation letter shows a glimpse of a big cat, or possibly a lion, with the phrase “Back to the Mack” stamped onto the metallic background. 


The message inside is: “Come see what's new for the Mac on October 20, including a sneak peek of the next major version of Mac OS X.”

IT media, based on the content of the invitation letter, speculate that Apple is likely to disclose a new Mac computer along with the preview of the next-generation operating system. 

LG Chem holds first hiring program in Japan

LG Chem said Thursday that it held a recruitment event for the first time in Japanto recruit talented workers from overseas.

A total of 30 graduate and doctoral students of Japan’s top eight schools were invited to the company’s Business and Campus Tour event organized by the company’s vice chairman and CEO Kim Bahn-suk.

“We’ve overcome our rival Japan in the areas of electric car battery and polarizer for liquid-crystal displays but it is of utmost importance to recruit overseas talents to widen the gap,” said Kim.

LG Chem vice chairman and CEO Kim Bahn-suk (second from right) talks with college graduates at a recruitment event in Japan. (LG Chem)

Shinhan’s top three face summons next week

The prosecution will summon the top three men at Shinhan Financial Group once the parliamentary audit on the prosecutors’ office is completed on Oct.18, sources said Thursday.

One of the threesome may be summoned as early as next week, one source said, while the others may be called in at a later time. 

“The prosecution has been busy in preparing for the parliamentary audit,” he said. “It plans to summon the three figures of Shinhan Financial Group after the audit is finished.”

The three figures to be summoned are group chairman Ra Eung-chan, group CEOShin Sang-hoon and Shinhan Bank CEO Lee Baek-soon. All of them have been under criminal investigation for irregularities, respectively.
 

Ra Eung-chan

Another source said the prosecution has recently received a growing number of anonymous letters which contain fresh allegations against the financial group.

“I believe the prosecution will call me in before November,” CEO Shin told The Korea Herald.

Shin said that his former chief secretaries have already been called by the prosecution. He added that he does not know who will be the first player to be summoned among the three.

Shin Sang-hoon

Asked about financial regulators’ move to censure Shin as well as chairman Ra, who is suspected of violating real-name account laws, he said, “I was a sales manager at that time. 

I could not access anything (about the allegations as a non-executive banker).”

Shin also said he has had no contact with Ra and Lee in recent days.

Lee Baek-soon

Currency disputes complicate global rebalancing

The Group of 20 leaders are facing a daunting challenge to fix the global imbalance in trade and economic structures amid escalating tension over currencies.

The leaders of developed and major emerging economies will gather in Seoul on Nov. 11-12 for their fifth summit. 

Global rebalancing is one of the top priorities to ensure sustainable and strong growth in the post-crisis world economy.

They are expected to work out a comprehensive policy toward balanced growth, mainly fixing the trade imbalance between the U.S. and China.

It seems that the accord will include policy commitments made by each country, based on the basket of policy options agreed to at the fourth Toronto summit in June.

The first G20 Summit was held in Washington, D.C. in December 2008 to tackle the global financial crisis. The series of meetings continued in London in April 2009, Pittsburgh in November 2009 and Toronto in June 2010.

Korea, as the G20 chair, has been coordinating with G20 members to facilitate the implementation of the agreed-upon framework for balanced growth.

The International Monetary Fund, in its research report, said that it had long worried about global imbalances.

In its “multilateral consultations on global imbalances” (conducted in 2006 with China, the Euro area, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States), the IMF promoted a joint approach to reducing global imbalances while sustaining world growth.

Chilean miners offered visit to Korea

The last of the rescued miners celebrates with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera (Right), after his rescue (The Government of Chile)

The Chilean miners rescued after two months trapped underground were offered a trip to Korea by the Chilean football players’ association, the Guardian reportedWednesday.

According to the report, the miners have been offered a long list of freebies. Greek mining company Elmin has offered to cover all the miners’ expenses on a trip to some Greek islands. The trip also includes watching a Real Madrid C.F. soccer game in Madrid, Spain, as well as a Manchester United game in England. 

Whilst the miners were underground, FC Barcelona sent down T-shirts autographed by players to cheer them up. 

The miners will also recieve a free iPod each, sent by Steve Jobs, and an annual free sushi coupon by a Santiago-based sushi company.

Top N.K. defector Hwang laid to rest

Hwang Jang-yop, a top North Korean ideologue who defected to South Korea 13 years ago and died here earlier this week, was laid to rest Thursday at the National Cemetery in Daejeon, south of Seoul. 

His funeral, held at Asan Medical Center in Seoul earlier in the day, was attended by about 300 people, including former President Kim Young-sam, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, leaders of the ruling Grand National Party and his fellow exiles. 

“It is with great sorrow to have to let him go when North Korea’s totalitarian regime, which has made its 23 million people slaves, is still intact and is now even attempting a hereditary dynastic succession for three generations,” Park Gwan-yong, a former speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, said in his funeral address. 

Hwang, before he defected to Seoul via Beijing in 1997, was the chief ideologue of communist North Korea, having crafted North Korea’s isolationist state policy of Juche. He also held ranking positions in the communist country, such as secretary of its ruling Workers’ Party in charge of foreign affairs.

“His coming to South Korea itself was the severest blow to North Korea,” Park recalled. 

After taking asylum here, Hwang became an acerbic critic of the North and its current leader Kim Jong-il, whom he once taught. 

Hwang was found dead Sunday morning at his home in Seoul, where he lived under around-the-clock police protection against a possible attempt at retaliation by North Korea. Police said it was a natural death associated with heart failure. He was 87. 

Unified keypads sought for two Koreas

The ruling Grand National Party is mulling unifying the keypad layouts for cellular phones used by South and North Koreans amid media reports that China is working on the international standardization of the Korean keyboards for mobiledevices.

The reports have prompted public angst here with many calling on the government and relevant companies to quickly standardize the vernacular keyboard layouts to prevent the situation where Koreans are forced to use the standard created by China.

To enhance communication among its nationals, China has reportedly been working on standardizing keyboard systems for the languages of the 56 ethnic minorities in its territory, including the Korean-Chinese whose number is estimated at 2-3 million. 

“Our companies and government organizations should quickly standardize the way we key in Hangeul (the Korean alphabet). National interest should focus on unifying the keyboards used by the Korean-Chinese, and South and North Koreans,” said GNP secretary-general Rep. Won Hee-ryong during the party’s Supreme Council meeting.

For personal computers, South Korea has used only one keyboard standard, which was adopted as the national standard in 1985. However, for mobile phones, each company has different systems, making handset users undergo difficulty getting used to a new system when changing new phones.

Goryeo Buddhist paintings unite in their home country

Sixty-one Goryeo Buddhist paintings, currently owned by different institutions worldwide, have converged in Seoul for a special exhibition at the National Museum of Korea.

“Masterpieces of Goryeo Buddhist Painting A Long Lost Look after 700 Years” is being held from Oct. 12 to Nov. 21, in celebration of the 5th anniversary of the museum’s relocation to Yongsan, as well as Seoul’s hosting of the G20 Summit next month.

The museum estimates that there are about 160 Goryeo Buddhist paintings around the world. Among these, 61 paintings 27 from Japan, 15 from the U.S. and Europe, and 19 from Korean collections are showcased during the exhibition. Twenty Buddhist paintings from China’s Southern Song and Yuan Dynasties and Japan’s Kamakura period are also on display, allowing visitors to compare Buddhist paintings from the three different countries.