French chamber to discuss tax changes

The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry will hold a training seminar on Wednesday on the tax changes that were applied to this year.The training session will review and discuss main changes in Korean tax laws with a special focus on changes that will influence foreign-invested companies, foreign shareholders and employees. Kim and Chang partner Jenny Kim will discuss all the relevant changes to the tax code for this year from 8:30 a.m. until 10 a.m. on the 14th floor of the Grand Ambassador

Jan. 30, 2012

CanCham promotes GLOBE 2012 conference

CanCham has made arrangements for its members to participate in the 12th Biennial Conference and Trade Fair on Business and the Environment.Also known as GLOBE 2012, the conference is one of the most important industry events on energy and the environment.Taking place between March 14-16 in Vancouver, cleantech and urban sustainability will also be prominently featured in the conference and trade fair.Special rates for Canadian Chamber of Commerce members apply such as free access to the trade f

Jan. 30, 2012

InterChambers to hold global job forum

To assist young Koreans in finding work in a globalized world, the foreign chambers of commerce, CEOs and human resources specialists of global firms will hold a Global Career Forum on Feb. 9 at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Grand Hall.The forum will provide practical guidance to those interested in being recruited and in building a successful global career with a multinational company in Korea or abroad.Employment by foreign-invested companies has grown every year by 10 percent f

IndustryJan. 30, 2012

Chamber celebrates Australia Day

The Australia Chamber of Commerce celebrated Australia National Day at the Grand Ambassador hotel in Gangnam, southern Seoul, on Friday.Participants were greeted with a Down Under theme as cabanas decorated one side of the room and Aussie favorites like fish and chips and meat pies were served. No day marking the country’s birthday would be complete without a good old fashion Aussie barbeque.Austcham Executive Director Rod Rothwell said that he wanted to give the feeling of home to the 145 guest

Jan. 30, 2012

EUCCK to hold shaman ritual for New Year

The European Union Chamber of Commerce plans to hold an event where its members can have their fortune read, on Feb. 6 at Min’s Club in Seoul.According to Korean tradition, at the start of the New Year, some families visit shamans to seek divine intervention for their well-being. Shaman master Kim Hye-suk will perform one of the many rituals to repel evil spirits and make an offering to the gods in order to bring business prosperity and good health.The event starts at 7 p.m. and is free for EUCC

Jan. 30, 2012

Makgeolli brewery to open in U.S.

Baesangmyun Brewery Co. plans to set up a brewery for Korean rice wine, or makgeolli, in the U.S. as part of its efforts to expand overseas, the drinks maker said Sunday.The company said it has recently clinched a deal with an entrepreneur based in Chicago to build the facility there and begin producing 50,000 bottles of the traditional Korean beverage a month as early as July. It did not provide information on the value of the contract. Company officials said they are taking steps to obtain app

IndustryJan. 30, 2012

Korea-Japan business ties ‘flourishing’ after disaster

Biz association chief says FTA would make bilateral economy strongerBusiness cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo is getting stronger and closer as more and more Japanese companies are setting up operations in Korea, a top Japanese business leader said. “We thought that in Japan, our supply chain was perfect, but the earthquake and tsunami made our perfect supply chain a disaster. So Japanese companies started to think about diversifying the supply chain,” Tsutomu Awaya, chairman of Seoul Japan C

Jan. 30, 2012

German entrepreneurs upbeat about Korea business outlook

Despite the gloomy global and eurozone economic woes, German businesspeople in Korea presented positive forecasts concerning their business prospects for this year.Industry leaders from 10 German companies and the German ambassador to Korea expressed this view during the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry Economic Outlook seminar on Jan. 19. Friedrich Stockinger, KGCCI president and chief of Trumpf Korea, stated that “2012 will mark the year of the black dragon, but I am confident th

Jan. 30, 2012

Record oil product consumption defies high prices

Korea’s consumption of petroleum products soared to its highest ever last year despite record-breaking oil prices.Last year’s average price of Dubai oil, which accounts for 80 percent of Korea’s crude oil imports, jumped 35.6 percent from a year before to $105.98 per barrel, breaking the previous record of $94.29 in 2008, according to the Korea National Oil Corporation.Prices of the North Sea Brent oil ($111.08 per barrel), Omani crude oil ($106.73 per barrel), Iranian heavy crude oil ($105.71 p

Jan. 30, 2012

Seoul sees population outflow for the first time

The number of people who moved out of the Seoul metropolitan area exceeded those who moved into the capital for the first time in four decades, a government report said on Monday, indicating a gradual decentralization of population in the country.The population of the Seoul metropolitan saw a net outflow of 8,000 residents, Statistics Korea said, posting the first year of population contraction from change of legal residence since the agency started compiling data in 1970. “We’re seeing a disper

Jan. 30, 2012

Game use drops just 4.5% after curfew started

Controversy surrounding the effectiveness of the online game curfew has been called into question yet again since the law was implemented three months ago.According to industry officials, the average number of people logging onto six different online games by the country’s big three online game firms slightly decreased to 41,796 people from 43,744 people, which was the average figure recorded ahead of the policy implementation.This is only a 4.5 percent decrease, leading to assumptions that a la

IndustryJan. 30, 2012

LSIS aims for W4.5tr in sales by 2015

LS Industrial Systems Co. aims to more than triple its sales and increase its profit six-fold by 2015 through sweeping structural reforms and growth in strategic areas such as smart grids and car batteries.Korea’s largest maker of electrical components on Sunday unveiled its ambitious 2015 vision, which entails goals of reaching 4.5 trillion won ($4 billion) in sales and 700 billion won in operating profit. The targets reflect a roughly 320 percent rise in sales and a 630 percent surge in profit

IndustryJan. 30, 2012

LG Innotek logs wider net loss in Q4

LG Innotek Co., an electronics parts maker affiliated with South Korea’s LG Group, said Monday its net loss increased in the fourth quarter from a year earlier on weaker demand.Net loss amounted to 93.3 billion won ($82.9 million) in the October-December period, larger than a net loss of 19.7 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales inched up 6.8 percent on-year to 1.21 trillion won in the quarter while operating profit tumbled 66.7 percent to 60 billion won,

IndustryJan. 30, 2012

State auditor launches probe into financial regulator, watchdog

Board of Audit and Inspection to examine FSC, FSS until Feb. 24The Board of Audit and Inspection launched an intensive investigation into the nation’s two financial regulators on Monday.The state auditor, which completed its preliminary audit earlier this month, will carry out an intensive audit on the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service between Jan. 30 and Feb. 24.The audit comes after the FSC endorsed Hana Financial Group’s application to take over Korea Exchang

Jan. 30, 2012

LG Uplus to invest about W1tr more

LG Uplus, the nation’s smallest telecom carrier, said Monday that it will pour an additional 955.6 billion won into building network infrastructure for the Long Term Evolution service this year.The figure represents about 24 percent of its equity capital, and is an increase from the 1.7 trillion won invested in 2011.The company will step up efforts to complete the nationwide coverage of LTE by March as planned, earlier than rival companies SK Telecom and KT Corp. Within the year, it aims to secu

IndustryJan. 30, 2012

Shares down 1.24% on U.S. growth data

Korean stocks closed 1.24 percent lower Monday on slower-than-expected growth in the U.S. and uncertainty about European debt woes, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI dropped 24.28 points to finish at 1,940.55, marking the first decline in six sessions. Trading volume was moderate at 406 million shares worth 6.3 trillion won ($5.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 531 to 299.“The U.S. economy grew 2.8 percent in the last quarter of 2011.Th

Jan. 30, 2012