North Korea punished World Cup team manager: report

North Korea's football manager has been punished for the team's World Cup flop by being made to work on a building site, according to The Sun.

The report said Kim Jong-hun, 53, will be grafting as a laborer for up to 14 hours a day.

 

The coach received his sentence after he and his players faced a six-hour grilling from 400 officials of the Communist country's hardline regime, the daily reported. 

Kim was also stripped of his membership of the Workers' Party of Korea, led by pint-sized Kim Jong-il.

 

The Sun said the dictator was furious as the team lost all three matches, including a humiliating 7-0 thrashing by Portugal.

 

What made it worse for the tiny tyrant was his decision to allow that match to be shown on state TV after North Korea's narrow 2-1 defeat by Brazil in their opening game.

The North Korean team’s manager, players and backroom staff were ordered to a World Cup inquest at the People's Palace of Culture in the capital Pyongyang when they returned from South Africa.

 

North Korean striker Jong Tae-se shed tears ahead of a match with Brazil during the World Cup in South Africa. (Yonhap)

(AP-Yonhap)

The players were then allegedly forced to blame their coach for the defeats. Kim was being punished for "betraying the trust of Kim Jong-Un", Kim's son, the report said.

Hyundai Kia gets more carbon certificates

Hyundai Kia Automotive Group announced on Thursday that the Hyundai Tucson ix and Kia Sportage R compact sport utility vehicles received the Carbon Footprint Labeling Certification from the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute.

With the addition of the two SUVs, the two carmakers now have five models whose carbon footprint from production to scrapping have been certified by the state-run organization. The other Hyundai and Kia vehicles certified under the program are the Hyundai Sonata, and Kia’s K5 and K7. 

S. Korea, Libya relations sour on alleged spying

South Korea’s relations with Libya are swiftly deteriorating over alleged espionage activities by a South Korean official, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

The sources said Libya was upset because of information-gathering activities by a National Intelligence Service agent who was looking into defense industry cooperation between North Korea and Libya. 

Pyongyang has traded weapons with Libya in the past. 

But the Libyan media claimed that Libya’s fury was actually targeted at probes into the activities of leader Muammar Gaddafi and his son. It said that the Libyan government was angered by the official’s investigation into Gaddafi, who has led Libya since the 1969 coup. 

The South Korean government acknowledged such reports but denied that the current case involved Gaddafi. 

One high-ranking official said that the agent’s information-gathering work was a normal part of the spy agency’s overseas conduct. 

Foreign bloggers to promote census

A group of 10 foreign bloggers will urge other expats to reply to the 2010 census questionnaires.

They speak eight foreign languages as their mother tongues ― English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Japanese, Russian, Thai and Hindu. The questionnaires about foreigners are to be written in the eight languages.

The bloggers will try to share information on census questionnaires with other expats through their personal blogs and connections with their expat communities.

The census will be undertaken for 15 days from Nov. 1, for both Korean nationals and expats. This time, there will be more questions for foreign residents, a move reflecting an increasingly multicultural society.

The foreign bloggers got together in the building of Statistics Korea in Daejon on July 21 to start their census promotion.

Hyundai Steel steps up social responsibility efforts

Korean companies are increasingly emphasizing their commitment to a better society to improve their image and make their growth sustainable.

Hyundai Steel has set an example for incorporating social responsibility in management philosophy with a range of in-house projects since 2008. Its endeavor has already been recognized by local and international organizations. 

In 2009, Hyundai Steel became the first Hyundai Kia Automotive Group firm to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for Asia Pacific which picked 130 firms from the region’s 600 largest companies. Hyundai Steel was also included in the index for Korea, which selected 41 firms from the countries 200 largest companies. The company also received the top award for the private sector in the Ministry of Knowledge Economy’s sustainability award. In addition, Hyundai Steel was assessed by the Korea Standards Association to be the most sustainable company in the metal and machinery industry in Korea.

Such achievements are the result of Hyundai Steel’s systematic approach to corporate social responsibility.

In order to operate its corporate social responsibility projects more effectively and encourage more employee participation, the company has introduced a number of measures over the years.

In 2008, the company established a social responsibility committee chaired by the company’s chief executive as part such efforts. 

Before the launch, the company has been pushing various measures including a matching grant system introduced in 2005. 

Hyundai Steel employees taking part in the campaign to donate a set amount from their monthly paychecks, and the company donates matching amounts to the fund.

According to the company, the number of those taking part in the project has increased gradually since its launch and now about 33 percent of Hyundai Steel employees have signed up, generating about 340 million won ($288,000) each year. 

The fund is used once a year on a variety of projects ranging from teaching elementary school students about the environment and providing throwing fire extinguishers to facilities for the disabled to repairing houses for underprivileged households. 

The project repairing houses, conducted in collaboration with the Korean branch of Habitat for Humanity, is one of Hyundai Steel’s key corporate social responsibility project for this year.

Hyundai E&C leads construction transition

Korean construction companies are stepping up efforts to diversify their project portfolios and customer bases in search of increased stable revenue streams. 

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Korea’s largest contractor, is leading the industry’s transition with a range of contracts for skyscrapers, infrastructure and plants. 

While 83 percent of overseas construction projects that a majority of domestic companies are running largely involve building power plants or development facilities, Hyundai E&C has diversified its project portfolio in a number of different international markets through new contracts for green energy production and harbor works in Middle Eastern countries like Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. 

Under the five-year plan to promote overseas construction, the government has proposed a mid- and long-term strategy to fit the rapidly-changing global market climate, involving measures to diversify markets and project types to explore future growth industries such as green technology-related businesses. 　

The plan focuses on practical strategies for a shift to higher value-added businesses, improved profitability and the development of niche markets, while diversifying project portfolios to occupy new areas such as green energy resources such as nuclear, water, wind and tidal power, which has been emphasized due to hikes in oil prices and the growing need for renewable energy.　

Since CEO Kim Joong-kyum took office last year, Hyundai E&C has successfully stepped up in the global market, targeting new business areas such as alternative energy, nuclear power, water industry and environment, especially for low-carbon green growth, officials say.

The construction firm aims to receive orders worth $12 billion in total by the end of this year, more than double last year’s $4.5 billion. The goal seems highly achievable, since the number has already reached $6.7 billion as this month, and additional projects in regions such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East are expected to button up. 　

Between January and June, the company won domestic and overseas contracts worth 10.6 trillion won ($8.97 billion), up 45.3 percent from the same period last year, posting a net profit record of 331.1 billion won, a 50 percent increase from a year earlier.　

The builder also collected 283 billion won in operating profits in the first half of the year, a 22.4 percent increase due to reduction in costs, it said.　

In the pace of the global economic rebound, the number of overseas construction orders received by Korean builders swings upward rapidly, the government reported.　

So far this year, contracts have exceeded $41 billion mark, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs’ data, a 138.6 percent increase from the same period of last year.

The drastic increase is driven by growing demand in the Middle East, where oil-rich nations have expanded investment for facilities. Orders from other Asian countries also grew, the ministry said. 

By region, orders from the Middle East reached $30.8 billion, which includes $18.6 billion worth of deals to build nuclear reactors in the UAE. Asian countries come next with $8.5 billion, followed by $1.2 billion from Latin America　

The latest totals are in line with trends over the past six years. 　

In 2004, Korean builders secured a combined $7.5 billion in overseas orders, with the corresponding figures growing to $10.9 billion in 2005, $16.4 billion in 2006 and $39.8 billion in 2007.

The figure rose further to $47.6 billion and $49.1 billion in 2008 and 2009. 　

The ministry forecasts that the upward move will continue, predicting the nation’s overseas orders will likely top the annual objective of $60 billion for this year.　

GM moves to relese Volt in Korea next year

U.S. automaker General Motors Co. (GM) will bring its new electric vehicle, the Volt, to South Korea next year for a market test before a possible launch, the top executive for the automaker's South Korean unit said Wednesday, according to Yonhap News.

"The Chevrolet Volt is going to bring innovative change to the global auto market. We will bring a Volt demonstration fleet to Korea next year to examine consumer interest before deciding on the launch in the market," said Mike Arcamone, president of GM Daewoo Auto & Technology.