Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The Korea Times : New Substances Upgrade Cell Phones

The Korea Times : New Substances Upgrade Cell Phones: "New Substances Upgrade Cell Phones

Four substances have been must to make cell phones _ reinforced plastics, liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, lithium-ion batteries and printed circuit boards (PCB).

This has been the case for the past decade, but things have started to change as the world’s top handset vendors adopt unconventio"

The Korea Herald : The Nation's No.1 English Newspaper

The Korea Herald : The Nation's No.1 English Newspaper: "[UPGRADING KOREAN CULTURE (3)]Online fans reshaping pop music world

This is the third in an eight-part series of articles that looks into the country's cultural and entertainment sectors and explores ways to help sharpen their competitive edge. - Ed.

By Lee Yong-sung

More and more Korean pop stars are making some serious noise all across Asia. Not to mention such established stars as BoA and Rain, many young, up and coming singing and dancing talents are now targeting overseas markets from the very beginning, even before their debut here.

For one thing, this is a barometer showing the growing popularity of Korean pop musicians in the rest of Asia, which must be highly encouraging for both musicians and producers. Behind this are, however, ever-diminishing album sales in the local pop music industry."

The Korea Herald : The Nation's No.1 English Newspaper

The Korea Herald : The Nation's No.1 English Newspaper: "'Broadcast media sector needs more competition'

The broadcast media sector should embrace competition, creating more quality content and program choices, the head of the Fair Trade Commission said yesterday.

'The government has so far intervened in the broadcast and telecommunications industries while approving related policies.

This is fairly outdated. The telecom sector is now pushing for deregulation but the broadcast isn't,' the FTC chief Kwon Oh-seung said in an interview with local radio broadcaster BBS."

Korea plans to allow two telecom giants to offer new service| Korea.net News

Korea plans to allow two telecom giants to offer new service| Korea.net News: "Date: March 16, 2007

Korea will allow its two telecom giants to sell a combined service at a discount from July to boost competition and cut customers' communications costs, the information minister said Thursday (March 15).

Under the measure, top fixed-line operator KT Corp. and No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. will be permitted to provide a 'package service' combining their flagship products with other services.

Currently, the government bans the heavyweights from providing such a service to prevent them from engaging in unfair competition with their market dominating positions."

Samsung to build wireless Internet network for Sprint Nextel in U.S.| Korea.net News

Samsung to build wireless Internet network for Sprint Nextel in U.S.| Korea.net News: "Date: March 18, 2007
Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. will build a network in Washington, D.C. to enable high-speed mobile Internet connectivity anywhere in the city from December for U.S.-based wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp., the Seoul-based company said Sunday (March 18)."

Cyberhistory hall on 'comfort women' undergoes makeover| Korea.net News

Cyberhistory hall on 'comfort women' undergoes makeover| Korea.net News: "Date: March 16, 2007
Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Japan’s latest denial of having forced women into sexual slavery during World War II, Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has modified and expanded a cyberhistory hall on the so-called “comfort women” who were serially raped by Imperial Japanese troops in officially-sanctioned 'comfort stations' during World War II."

Opening Remarks by President Roh Moo-hyun at the Special Conference of the International Federation of Journalists| Korea.net News

Opening Remarks by President Roh Moo-hyun at the Special Conference of the International Federation of Journalists| Korea.net News: "Date: March 12, 2007"

Digital Textbooks to be Available in 2008| Korea.net News

Digital Textbooks to be Available in 2008| Korea.net News: "Date: March 12, 2007
Source: Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development
Curriculum Policy Division
Ministry of Education and Human Resources

The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development plans to supply e-textbooks of all subjects to 5th- and 6th-grade students at twenty schools as of next year and to expand the system to 100 schools nationwide by 2011, according to an announcement made on March 8, 2007."

INSIDE JoongAng Daily

INSIDE JoongAng Daily: "How to keep ‘bad’ videos off the Net?
Government wrestles with piracy and ‘unwholesome’ user-created video
February 13, 2007
As user-created content becomes a key part of the Internet, the government is trying to figure out how to prevent piracy and “bad” material while still encouraging “good” content."

INSIDE JoongAng Daily

INSIDE JoongAng Daily: "Portal monopoly: Naver,Daum, Nate too powerful?
February 22, 2007

Controversy is growing on whether major Internet portal sites are a monopoly in the market and, if so, if they are abusing that position. Portals are being accused of unfair use of Internet content and price-fixing.
A day after the Fair Trade Commission announced that it would launch an investigation into three major portals (Naver, Daum and Nate) to examine the issue, an open discussion was held at the National Assembly yesterday.

The first issue brought up was whether the three portals are a monopoly.
Jeong Hae-deok, an attorney, said that in 2005, revenue at the three portals, mostly from advertising profits, accounted for 87 percent of what all portals made. According to Korean fair trade laws, if one company has 50 percent or more of market share, or if up to three companies hold more than 75 percent of the market, it is considered “dominant” market share and thus becomes subject to fair trade regulations."

INSIDE JoongAng Daily

INSIDE JoongAng Daily: "Diversity advocated for Internet TV
March 02, 2007
Internet protocol television service, or Internet TV, should be introduced earlier than government plans to create healthy competition in the broadcasting market, a state-run think tank said."

INSIDE JoongAng Daily

INSIDE JoongAng Daily: "Cyworld debuts revised portal
March 08, 2007
Cyworld, a social networking blog service run by SK Communications Corp., yesterday introduced a new function that contains search results of the portal site Empas on its search menu. SK Communications acquired Empas last October in a bid to strengthen its search engine service amid intense competition among portal operators."

INSIDE JoongAng Daily

INSIDE JoongAng Daily: "Net providers compete for TV couch potatoes (March 15, 2007)

Korean law doesn’t yet allow real Internet TV, but when it does, Net providers will be ready to fight for the new market.

Internet service providers are trying to get their hands on exclusive content such as television dramas, sports events, and concerts in order to attract customers to their services. Though there is no Internet protocol TV, or IPTV, officially in service in Korea due to government indecision on whether to regulate online television as a broadcasting service or an Internet service, telecom firms are preparing for the age of IPTV.

KT, currently the country’s largest fixed-line and broadband operator, will begin video on demand services of American major league baseball next month. The baseball games can be watched on a computer or on Megapass TV, a service that connects the high-speed Internet to a TV set.

The content travels to the TV through an Internet connection, but the video on demand service is not considered Internet TV because it does not stream video in real time."

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea: "Korean Firms Should Mind Google's Legal Woes

Google, the global Internet powerhouse, was recently socked with several big-money lawsuits. The plaintiffs include some of America's most powerful media giants like NBC Universal and Viacom and their complaints are that Google has infringed on the copyrights of their products: television shows, movies, and videos."

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea: "Jeon Ji-hyun in Stripping Contest for Mobile Phone

Superstar Jeon Ji-hyun has set tongues wagging by competing with a male model in taking off her clothes in the commercial for the new Samsung phone. Users of the color jacket phone in the Anycall series can, as the name suggests, change the phone’s jacket to go with the outfit they are wearing, the firm said. The producers of the commercial plumbed for a stripping contest to highlight the feature. In it, Jeon takes turns stripping with the male model in front of a cheering audience, treating each item as if it was the last only to reveal another layer underneath."

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea: "Forget Megabytes, Our World is Now Measured in Gigabytes

We have entered the age of the gigabyte. Until recently the data files that we use in our electronics, communications and Internet services were commonly measured in megabytes, or one million bytes, but as technology grows more sophisticated the size of those files is swelling to the point where they are now regularly measured in gigabytes, or one thousand megabytes.

Thanks to faster Internet connections, we can quickly download movie files that measure several gigabytes. As the price of semiconductors falls, the memory cards used to hold photos in digital cameras have increased to more than one gigabyte, and Internet companies are expanding the storage size for their users' email accounts from megabytes to gigabytes."

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea: "Cyber-Retailers Enjoy Brisk Rise in Sales

More Koreans than ever are enjoying shopping overseas through the Web. The Korea Customs Service says the amount of e-commerce imports last year jumped 41 percent from the year prior to 126,000 orders. In terms of spending that's a 31-percent leap to nearly US$30 million.

Clothes made up nearly a third of the overseas e-commerce spending followed by shoes and books. By country a whopping near-80 percent of customers preferred to shop on American websites followed by those of Japan and European countries."

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea
U.S. Loves Samsung's BlackJack

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea: "Korean Website Sues Google For Ad Money

Google, the U.S. web search giant, faces a W30 million (US$1=W945) lawsuit in Korea. Humor University, a local humor website, announced on Sunday that it filed a suit against Google demanding W20 million in payments and W10 million in damages. Humor University said the American firm allegedly failed to pay for three months of online ads."

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea: "LG Nabs Two Dozen Design Awards
LG said Monday that its products won awards in 29 categories, including 'Best of the Best' for the Prada cellphone, at the Red Dot Design Awards, one of the most prestigious industrial design awards in Europe."

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea: "Porn Video Shoots to Top at Yahoo Korea Open Site

A pornographic video clip posted for about six hours on Yahoo Korea and soaring straight to the top of the most watched list on Sunday sent police into action. It was posted on Yahoo’s pages for user-created content, which had been negligent in monitoring content. Experts, however, worry that similar incidents can happen any time since many sites lack an advance screening mechanism."

Asia Times Online :: China News - A South Korean reporter's confession

Asia Times Online :: China News - A South Korean reporter's confession:

"BEIJING - Last year a Beijing-based South Korean journalist, Park Ki-sung, scored a major 'scoop' when he reported for the Yonhap News Agency that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, was paying a 'secret' - though afterward Park revealed it was not quite so secret - state visit to China.

Beijing authorities do not take lightly reports of 'state secrets', especially when they involve a visit by their neighboring socialist leader who, if anything, is more secretive in his movements than China's leaders. They suspected a 'leak' and arrested the former Chinese ambassador to South Korea, Li Bin.

Now the Korean journalist has taken the unusual step of publicly denying that Li Bin was his source for the story in the hopes that it will lead to his release. Li remains in police custody for leaking state secrets."

[Column] Korean animation needs to rely on more than nostalgia : Arts & Entertainment : Home

[Column] Korean animation needs to rely on more than nostalgia [Hankyoreh]: "The animated film Robot Taekwon V was rereleased nationally last year, and has so far attracted an audience of 690,000. That’s a new record for a Korean animation film, breaking the record held by 1994’s Blue Seagull, which was seen by 500,000."

Citizens, reporters injured in clash with riot police : National : Home

Citizens, reporters injured in clash with riot police [Hankyoreh]: "Protest against U.S.-S.K. free trade talks turns violent"

S. Korea's major newspapers fined for excess gifts : Business : Home

S. Korea's major newspapers fined for excess gifts [Hankyoreh]