Inter-Korean trade jumped more than 15 percent last year but was still far short of that between China and North Korea, data showed Thursday.According to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), trade volume between South Korea and North Korea reached $1.98 billion last year, up 15.8 percent from a year earlier.But the 2012 annual trade amount between the two Koreas was just some 30 percent of North Korea's trade with its strongest ally China, the data showed.Last y

March 7, 2013

The proportion of Korean women in their 20s currently working or looking for work exceeded that of men in the same age group for the first time last year.The so-called economic activity rate for women reached 62.9 percent, surpassing men’s 62.6 percent in 2012, signaling change in the labor market.An increasing number of women are working alongside men, data by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Employment and Labor showed.The increase in women’s activity rate is attributable to women pushing

March 7, 2013

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Thursday, erasing a two-day rally in the previous sessions, as blue-chip tech firms lost ground, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell5.61 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,015.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics shed nearly 1 percent, with its smaller rival LG Electronics declining 0.4 percent. State-run electricity provider Korea Electric Power also dipped 0.6 percent. The local

March 7, 2013

Samsung Electronics will become the fifth-largest stakeholder of its Japanese rival Sharp as the Korean tech giant announced plans on Wednesday to invest around $111 million in the financially hit electronics maker.The world’s top handset and television maker said it is planning to invest the money in Sharp within this month in exchange for securing a 3 percent stake in the Japanese firm. The move, which is the first capital tie-up between industry-leading Korean and Japanese electronic firms, w

IndustryMarch 6, 2013

The state-run rail corporation has developed a contingency plan in preparation for the possible bankruptcy of the 31 trillion won ($29 billion) Yongsan development project in which the company holds a 25 percent stake, a company official said on Wednesday. “If the troubled development project goes bankrupt, KORAIL will face full-scale capital erosion as money attained in return for the land offer will disappear in the accounting book,” the official said. The Yongsan project is the nation’s large

March 6, 2013

GENEVA (Yonhap News) ― Ssangyong Motor Co., South Korea’s smallest automaker, will be able to export 36,000 vehicles to Russia this year as it seeks to boost its sales at home and abroad, the company head said Tuesday.Lee Yoo-il, Ssangyong’s chief executive officer, told reporters at the Geneva International Motor Show that his company will export disassembled kits of parts and components to be reassembled into vehicles in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.Russian workers will assemble

March 6, 2013

The first-ever shipment of beef from Chile arrived in South Korea last month, a government agency said Wednesday, raising expectations imports will likely grow steadily due to a bilateral free trade deal.A 25.84-ton shipment of Chilean beef arrived here early last month, according to the Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency.South Korea and Chile implemented a bilateral free trade agreement in 2004, under which Seoul agreed to completely remove import taxes on up to 400 to

March 6, 2013

The amount of land in South Korea owned by foreigners grew slightly last year with more than half of such land owned by American citizens, the government said Wednesday.The amount of land owned by foreign investors or companies reached 226.21 million square meters as of the end of last year, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.The land owned by foreigners accounted for 0.2 percent of South Korea’s total area with the estimated val

March 6, 2013

Lotte and Shinsegae are dawdling over their drugstore business amid criticism that conglomerates are entering it to circumvent regulations against large discount stores and supermarket chains.Lotte Group has delayed the opening of its first drugstore by a month to late April or early May, saying it hasn’t decided on the name yet.Lotte set up a taskforce last year under Lotte Super to prepare the drugstore business, but has continued to postpone its schedule upon unwelcome attention as exorbitant

IndustryMarch 6, 2013

Conglomerates such as Shinsegae and CJ that provide goods and services directly to retail consumers flunked their evaluations on corporate social responsibility performances.Korea’s Corporate Governance Service said Wednesday that CJ and its subsidiaries earned the lowest score of 5.6 points out of 100 among the top 20 conglomerates and units in running a fair and reliable operation for consumers.Shinsegae, contrary to its close home rival Lotte, which received 53.68 points, earned around 20 poi

March 6, 2013

South Korean retailers and food makers are suffering falls in their share prices as the new government is tightening regulations on job security and price stabilization, analysts said Wednesday. The analysts, however, predicted the fundamentals of the retailers and food makers including their earnings will set the future direction of their share prices, saying the regulation risk will affect their share prices in the short term. President Park Geun-hye, who took office late last month, has vowed

March 6, 2013

Tongyang Life Insurance said Wednesday that it intended to bid for ING Life Korea, heralding close competition with powerful investors such as Hanwha Life and Kyobo Life.In its regulatory filing on the Korea Exchange, Tongyang Life clarified that it was “considering participating in the coming bidding to take over ING Life Korea, as part of our strategic viewpoint.”The firm’s business policy on the mergers and acquisition market came several weeks after the nation’s No. 2 (Hanwha) and No. 3 (Kyo

March 6, 2013

South Korean electronics companies may be threatened by the emergence of giant Chinese rivals that could be created through a government-led industry-wide restructuring, a report predicted Tuesday.The projection comes as the Chinese government has voiced its firm will to nurture major electronics firms similar to Lenovo, the world’s largest PC maker, by 2015.“There are growing chances that the industry-wide restructuring may lead to the emergence of large electronics companies, amid increasing d

TechnologyMarch 6, 2013

South Korean stocks rose 0.2 percent on Wednesday, tracking an overnight rally in U.S. markets spurred by heightening anticipation over an economic recovery, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added4.13 points to finish at 2,020.74. Trading volume was moderate at391.4 million shares worth 4.03 trillion won (US$3.71 billion) with advancers outpacing decliners 414 to 381. "Despite the U.S. rally, the local bours

March 6, 2013