Number of self-employed people in 50s or older hits all-time high

The number of self-employed people in their 50s or older in South Korea reached an all-time high in October, as baby boomers tended to start their own companies after retiring from other careers, data showed Thursday.According to the data provided by Statistics Korea and the labor ministry, the number of self-employed people in their 50s or older totaled 3.1 million last month, up 169,000 from the same month a year earlier. This marked the highest count ever, and compared with 2.42 million talli

Nov. 17, 2011

Sales up at discount chains, department stores

Sales at South Korea’s major discount chains and department stores rose in October from a year earlier on growing demand, a government report showed Thursday. Combined sales by the country’s three major discount chains rose 5.5 percent last month from a year earlier, a turnaround from the previous month’s 1.1 percent shrinkage, according to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. Sales at the discount chains grew across the board. Sports items, food products, household necessities and c

IndustryNov. 17, 2011

ABS issuance down 5.6% in 3rd quarter

The issuance of asset-backed securities in South Korea slipped 5.6 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, led mostly by state-run firms, the financial regulator said Thursday.ABS sales by local financial firms and mortgage agencies totaled 6.53 trillion won ($5.77 billion) in the July-September period, compared with 6.91 trillion won the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The decline came as public firm Korea Housing Finance Corp. scaled back issuances of mo

Nov. 17, 2011

Finance minister calls for biz efforts to lower costs

South Korea’s economic chief urged businesses Thursday to keep up efforts to lower production costs and minimize marketing expenses in a bid to help stabilize consumer prices.Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan noted that the government will do its part in stabilizing prices by improving the distribution structure, easing regulations and lowering import duties on raw materials.“Companies need to absorb price-raising factors as much as possible by cutting production costs and minimizing marketing expen

Nov. 17, 2011

Samsung to launch modified Galaxy Tab in Germany next week

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday that it will begin sales of a modified version of its Galaxy Tab tablet computer in Germany next week, as it seeks to bypass a sales ban asserted by Apple Inc. in the European country. The revised Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the German market has been renamed the Galaxy Tab 10.1N and has two design modifications from the original version, the company‘s spokesman in Seoul said. The remark confirms earlier reports by German media. In the new model, Samsung modified th

TechnologyNov. 17, 2011

Shinhan bids for troubled savings bank

Shinhan Financial Group Co. said Thursday it has decided to bid for a local savings bank, joining other local rivals in the race to take over the ailing financial institution.The country’s No. 3 financial firm said it has submitted a letter of intent to the state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. to take part in the bidding for Tomato Savings Bank, one of the seven market players whose operations were suspended two months ago. In September, South Korea’s top financial regulator halted those savi

Nov. 17, 2011

Overseas investments by local brokerages up

South Korean securities firms increased their overseas investments in the first half from a year earlier as part of efforts to diversify their profit sources, the financial regulator said Thursday.Foreign investments made by 28 local brokerages totaled 2.48 trillion won ($2.17 billion) as of end-June, up 25.7 percent from the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The tally includes money spent on purchasing foreign assets, such as equities and bonds, as well as investment

Nov. 17, 2011

Imported cars in Korea to top 600,000 units

Imported cars registered in South Korea are expected to surpass the 600,000-unit mark for the first time this month, buoyed by solid consumer demand, a trade association said Thursday.The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said the number of foreign-made cars on the country’s streets, excluding commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses, hit 596,398 units as of the end of October.The figure is equivalent to 4.2 percent of the 14 million passenger cars registered in the cou

MobilityNov. 17, 2011

Slower growth in labor unions to tame Korea‘s inflation

HONG KONG -- Slower growth in the number of labor unions will likely cool down South Korea’s inflation, reducing pressure to hike wages, a report said Thursday.South Korea’s labor unionization rate dropped to 9.8 percent in 2010, compared to the peak of 19.8 percent in 1989, Nomura International Ltd. said in a report, citing government statistics. “We expect Korea’s consumer price index to slow from 4.2 percent in 2011 to 3.5 percent in 2012,” said Kwon Young-sun, senior economist at Nomura.“Any

Nov. 17, 2011

Hynix hails U.S. ruling on Rambus case

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, on Thursday welcomed a U.S. jury’s decision to reject Rambus Inc.’s antitrust allegation against the Korean chipmaker. On Wednesday, a San Francisco jury ruled that Hynix and Micron Technology Inc., a U.S. chipmaker, did not engage in joint illegal actions to prevent Rambus from expanding in the semiconductor market. “We welcome the jury’s decision,” Kwon Oh-chul, the CEO at Hynix, said in a statement.The latest ruling clears

TechnologyNov. 17, 2011

Zespri fined for hindering sale of Chilean kiwis

The Fair Trade Commission said Thursday that it has fined Zespri International Ltd. 427 million won ($375,615) for hindering the domestic sale of kiwis from Chile. The antitrust regulator found that Zespri signed a sales contract with E-Mart on condition that the nation’s No. 1 supermarket chain would not sell cheaper Chilean kiwis. The exclusive exporter of kiwis from New Zealand also inked a similar deal with Lotte Mart, the No. 3 market player, in April. Zespri may have been concerned about p

IndustryNov. 17, 2011

Korea aims for 10 percent share in clean energy market in 2020

Korea unveiled on Thursday its goal of grabbing a 10 percent slice in the world’s green energy industry in 2020 by cultivating 50 small and mid-sized enterprises specialized in the rapidly growing market. It also aims to increase the country’s energy efficiency by 12 percent by then and curb the energy sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent based on business-as-usual levels over the same period. The plans are part of a 10-year framework for research and development in energy, which enta

IndustryNov. 17, 2011

Public firms‘ labor productivity improves over past few years

South Korean public companies’ labor productivity has improved over the past few years as the government stepped up efforts to enhance competitiveness in the public sector, the finance ministry said Thursday.According to the ministry, per-capita labor productivity in state-run companies rose at an annual average of 31.6 percent from2008 through 2010, noticeably higher than the 24.9 percent average gains tallied for large private-sector businesses.The improvement was ascribed to the government‘s

Nov. 17, 2011

Nine officials to determine fate of Lone Star

The nine-member panel of the Financial Services Commission is scheduled to unveil its measures against Lone Star Funds, convicted of stock rigging, on Friday, which will possibly mark a historic event.The members include FSC chairman Kim Seok-dong, Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Kwon Hyouk-se, FSC vice chairman Choo Kyung-ho, Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. president Lee Seung-woo and Bank of Korea senior deputy Gov. Lee Ju-yeol.Kim clarified that the panel will decide on its action “according

Nov. 17, 2011