The Korea Times

Starkey Korea donates hearing aids to war veterans

Starkey Korea CEO Shim Sang-don, second from right, gives Choi In-ha, a Korean War veteran who lost an arm during the war, the company’s latest wireless hearing aid, Series 3, at Choi’s house in Wonju, Gangwon Province, Monday. / Courtesy of Starkey KoreaBy Park Jin-haiStarkey Korea, the nation's leading hearing aid producer, has been donating hearing aids to war veterans who fought in the Korean War.The company, headquartered in the United States, has been involved in the charity campaign since 2013 with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.Starkey Korea CEO Shim Sang-don gave Choi In-ha the firm's newest wireless hearing aid 3 series at Choi’s house in Wonju, Gangwon Province, Monday.The product offers high performance and is easy to use.Choi caught enemy soldiers in the mountains in Gangwon Province during the war but lost an arm. He was recently found to be suffering from hearing as well as economic difficulties.Chun In-bum, deputy commanding general of the First ROK Army, who has been working for the welfare of retired soldiers, referred Choi

Jul 21, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Starkey Korea donates hearing aids to war veterans

Companies

Lotte lags behind startup in car-sharing business

By Park Jin-haiLotte Rental gave its top position to a startup company in the car-sharing business.After the acquisition of KT Rental in March, the company designated the car-sharing business as one of its core growth engines.However, its car-sharing unit Green Car’s business is in the red.Currently, the former industry leader with the highest number of memberships and cars in operation has slipped to second-place after Socar, while its business is eroding its assets.Lotte Rental bought Green Car in October 2013 and has been ranked as the top player in car rental business, having 30 percent more members than the second player, Socar.While its rival Socar, after the injection of an 18 billion won investment from a private equity fund, Bain Capital, in October, has been expanding its presence fast, Green Car’s business virtually stopped growing.Green Car recently notified the stock market that it has fallen into a financial state where its assets have been eroding from the first quarter of this year. Its debt-to-equity ratio soared to 735 percent.“While other operator

Jul 20, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Companies

Kumho to supply tires for Dodge Viper

The 2016 Dodge Viper ACR super car will be fitted with Kumho Tire’s Ecsta V720 tires, designed and developed specially for the American race car. Under the exclusive partnership with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the local tire maker started supplying high performance tires from this month. / Courtesy of Kumho TireBy Park Jin-haiKumho Tire is supplying tires for American super car 2016 Dodge Viper ACR from this month.The Dodge Viper is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ racing car brand. With an 8.4-liter engine, a Viper set a production car lap record at Nurburgring, Germany, in 2011.The latest 2016 Dodge Viper ACR boasts the fastest lap time as a street-legal race car.The 2016 Dodge Viper will be fitted with specially designed Kumho Ecsta V720 tires in sizes 295/25ZR19 (front) and 355/30ZR19 (rear). Dodge claims the tires provide the largest combined contact patch of any production car, having been designed and developed specially for the Viper ACR.The tires have helped achieve lap times up to 1.5 seconds faster than benchmark race tires in back-to-back testing.Kumh

Jul 20, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Companies

Gov. to apply tougher vehicle mileage standard

By Park Jin-hai More cars will be subject to toughened mileage verification tests, said the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Sunday.A total of 23 different models, up 64 percent from last year’s 14, should undergo verification for their mileage.The cars will undergo safety tests and should also go through fuel efficiency tests.Apart from 16 new models, designated for mileage tests, ten other models requiring safety tests will also undergo fuel economy tests.For fuel efficiency verification, ten domestic cars, including Hyundai’s Aslan and Tucson, Kia’s new Sorento, Ssangyong’s Tivoli and Renault Samsung’s QM5, as well as six imported models, including Audi A7 50TDI, Lexus ES 300h and Jaguar XF 2.2D need verification.The safety tests taken include the Volkswagen Polo, Mini Cooper and BMW X3. Of the ten models, two models of Hyundai Aslan and Tucson overlapped with fuel efficiency tests, while the Grandeur hybrid that  had its fuel economy verified last year, will go without a separate fuel efficiency test.    Unti

Jul 19, 2015By Park Jin-hai

People & Events

Ex-journalist writes Oriental tarot book

Huh Yong-jungThe book cover of “Taiji Tarot — the life compass”By Park Jin-hai Huh Yong-jung, 61, a former journalist and writer, says he was always curious why some people who live honest lives face great hardships, while others just seem to have it all.“I started reading books about destiny such as saju, or the four pillars of destiny,” said Huh, who recently published a book titled “Taiji Tarot _ the Life Compass.”“People consider saju as one way of fortunetelling, reading the birth date and time of people. While I studied it over 20 years, I found that it all originated from the Oriental classics for divination, ‘Zhouyi’, or the ‘Book of Changes.’”His book is the Oriental version of tarot card reading, using the Zhouyi.The tarot card included in the book has Zhouyi’s hexagram design, called Gua, a figure composed of six stacked horizontal lines, and a Taiji symbol.Huh, a long-time journalist writing stories about Korean traditional culture for the Farmers Newspaper, said he has been naturally

Jul 16, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Ex-journalist writes Oriental tarot book

Companies

Kia Motors launches new K5

Models pose next to the new K5 midsize sedan during a launch event at the COEX, Samseong-dong, Seoul, Wednesday. The new K5 ranges in price from 22.45 million won to 29.2 million won, depending on trims and options. / YonhapBy Park Jin-haiKia Motors launched its flagship midsize K5 sedan on Wednesday, aiming to make a difference in the SUV-dominated domestic car market.The new K5, which debuted at the Seoul Motor Show in April, is a second generation model five years in the making.Under the slogan "two faces with five hearts," the new K5 comes in two models _ the modern K5 MX and sporty K5 SX ― along with five engine types, including 1.6 turbo and 1.7 diesel engines.“The K5 has been a symbol of Kia’s innovation and design. The latest K5 went one step further and is the new standard for Korean midsize sedans,” said Kia Motors President Park Han-woo during the launch event.Kia invested 490 billion won in the five-year project to develop an “advanced sporty sedan.”“Until now the midsize sedan has had classy but lackluster designs. By launching tw

Jul 15, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Companies

Daewoo Shipbuilding found hiding W2 tril. loss

By Park Jin-haiMajor shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering’s share prices plunged to a near seven-year low Wednesday, over concerns that it concealed a cumulative loss of some 2 trillion won which was omitted from its balance sheet.It didn’t book the estimated loss stemming from the construction of low-priced ships and offshore facilities on its balance sheet.Its creditors, led by the Korea Development Bank, are now reviewing the possibility of a bailout program and asset sales, because the firm’s second quarter operating loss are expected to reach 3 trillion won.Daewoo Shipbuilding, one of the country's big-3 shipbuilders along with Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, has been suffering losses because of shrinking orders amid the global economic slump for years.Hyundai Heavy recorded its biggest operating loss ever of 3.25 trillion won, while Samsung Heavy’s operating profits plunged to one fifth of the previous year in 2014.Daewoo Shipbuilding posted a loss of 172 billion won in the first quarter of this year, and logged

Jul 15, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Companies

The new Sonata gets powerful, luxurious

2016 Sonata dieselBy Park Jin-haiDespite its satisfactory performance, Hyundai’s flagship sedan Sonata has had to struggle to shed its old and mundane image as a middle class family sedan.The seventh generation 2016 Sonata diesel was enough to change that perception, afresh with a modern and more upscale look.From the moment I first saw Hyundai’s latest diesel, what grabbed my attention was its exquisite interior, almost similar to what we find in German luxury cars. The car’s center fascia, beige colored leather on seats and doors, and glossy wood patterned trims made the driving seat more spacious and pleasant.On the 50 kilometer round trip between Songdo and Yeongjongdo, the Sonata 1.7 diesel showed surprisingly little noise. Except for the vibration on the seat and steering wheel, it was almost hard to notice that the new Sonata is a diesel car, Its Stop&Go start-stop system also contributed to the soundless driving of the car.Acceleration and fuel efficiency in general are both good.With a U2 1.7 diesel engine and seven speed dual clutch transmission, it ca

Jul 13, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Companies

Enex launches pet furniture brand here

A dog is seen next to a doghouse and other furniture for pets during a promotional event at an Enex store in Seoul. / Courtesy of EnexBy Park Jin-haiFurniture maker Enex has launched a pet furniture brand to take advantage of fast growth in the pet market.The Petory brand includes a pet house, closet and shelves specially designed for pets and their associated products, the company said Friday. It is the first time a pet furniture brand has been launched here.Despite the dwindling domestic economy, the pet industry has had double-digit growth in recent years.Coupled with more people living alone and an aging society, the pet industry is forecast to grow 80 percent to 1.8 trillion won this year from 1 trillion won in 2010. It is expected to grow to 6 trillion won in five years.More companies are seeking to enter the pet industry by patent-filing and launching pet-related products.For instance, Honey Sweet has invented an automated pet showering machine that has a shower, dryer and vacuum cleaner. It also plays music to soothe stressed pets. Nivak Industrial has filed a

Jul 10, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Companies

Tivoli shows powerful performance

Ssangyong Motor’s Tivoli compact SUVs are parked on a circuit in Inje, Gangwon Province, on July 6. The automaker began selling Tivoli diesel models on July 1. / Courtesy of Ssangyong MotorsBy Park Jin-haiDrive a Tivoli on a racing track?Although Ssangyong Motor’s Tivoli, launched in January, has been the main force pulling the carmaker out of a long sales slump, selling 18,524 vehicles here, it seems not such a good idea, at first thought.The design is fine. The price is fine. But is the driving performance good enough to put it on a racing circuit?That concern quickly disappeared once I stepped on the small compact SUV’s accelerator pedal on the Speedium in Inje, Gangwon Province, during a recent media test-drive event.From the start, the Tivoli diesel tells a different story, giving the feeling that it is not just another version of a gasoline-powered Tivoli with a downsized diesel engine.The Tivoli’s engine produced powerful driving all along the 3.9 kilometer track. On slopes, it did not show the kind of “struggle” small cars typically ha

Jul 10, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Park Jin-hai

Read more

Starkey Korea donates hearing aids to war veterans

Lotte lags behind startup in car-sharing business

Kumho to supply tires for Dodge Viper

Gov. to apply tougher vehicle mileage standard

Ex-journalist writes Oriental tarot book

Kia Motors launches new K5

Daewoo Shipbuilding found hiding W2 tril. loss

The new Sonata gets powerful, luxurious

Enex launches pet furniture brand here

Tivoli shows powerful performance

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