Trade surplus with 5 FTA signatories more than doubles

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea saw its trade surplus with five economic entities with which it has free trade agreements(FTAs) more than double last year as trade volumes with them surged on the back of the deals, a report showed Tuesday.According to the report compiled by the trade ministry

Oct. 18, 2011

Jeonse giving way to monthly rent: report

Nearly half of all tenants in South Korea have signed up for a monthly rent contract, a report showed on Monday, underscoring the shift in tenancy agreements accelerated by a prolonged period of low interest rates and stagnant property prices. According to Real Estate 114, the proportion of the mont

Oct. 17, 2011

Credit card firms to cut transaction fees

Regulator’s move to promote ‘shared growth’ is met with protestKorea’s major credit card firms said on Monday they would slash the transaction fees they collect from small merchants as a reluctant response to the growing calls for a rate cut to bolster their shaky profits amid regulatory pressure. S

Oct. 17, 2011

Deal to boost exports of local parts, materials

Korea’s parts makers are set to expand supplies to U.S. industrial giants Caterpillar and Applied Materials Inc., as well as Samsung Electronics as part of a government program for shared growth.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Monday it has signed two agreements to shore up cooperation betwee

IndustryOct. 17, 2011

New KEPCO head pledges to bring financial soundness

The new chief executive of the Korea Electric Power Corp. vowed on Monday to improve the company’s financial structure as a primary goal for his three-year term.Kim Joong-kyum, a former head of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., took office at the state-run utility a month ago.“Financial soundn

IndustryOct. 17, 2011

Cash dries up at Korea’s big businesses

Surplus cash flow halves, corporate borrowing surgesDespite repeated assurances from government officials, fears of a global recession are hurting Korea Inc. on liquidity as many large firms face worsening cash flow, data showed Monday.The annual excess cash flow forecast of 83 listed firms stood at

IndustryOct. 17, 2011

Even peaceful unification would raise risks: S&P

Credit rating agency reaffirms Korea sovereign ratingCredit rating agency Standard & Poor’s projected a bleak view for the Korea in a post-reunification scenario, predicting that the government would suffer heightened policy risks even under peaceful circumstances.In its annual seminar in Seoul, the

Oct. 17, 2011

Korean aviation market to grow rapidly in next decades: Airbus

South Korea’s air transportation market will see robust growth in the next two decades largely due to growing demand for large-size aircraft for passenger traffic, a European aerospace company said Monday.“We foresee that the South Korean aviation market will have a demand for 382 new aircraft over

IndustryOct. 17, 2011

Sales at supermarkets drop in September

Sales at South Korea’s major discount chains dropped from a year earlier last month, reflecting a worsening consumer sentiment in the wake of a possible global economic slowdown, the government said Monday.Sales at the country’s three major discount chains slipped 1.1 percent from the same period la

Oct. 17, 2011

FSC may expedite KEB stake sale

Regulator could order sale at extra panel meetingThe Financial Services Commission has decided to speed up procedures to order Lone Star Funds, convicted of stock manipulation, to sell a large portion of its stake in Korea Exchange Bank.The financial regulator is likely to order the U.S. buyout fund

Oct. 17, 2011

Suspected hacker in Hyundai Capital incident arrested in Philippines

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- A suspected hacker wanted on suspicion of stealing customer data earlier this year from Hyundai Capital, an affiliate of South Korea's top automaker, has recently been arrested in the Philippines, police here said Monday.The 35-year-old man, identified only by his surname

IndustryOct. 17, 2011

Premature babies 5 times more likely to be autistic: study

WASHINGTON, Oct 17, 2011 (AFP) - Babies who are born early and small are five times as likely as normal infants to develop autism, according to a two-decade-long US study released Monday.Premature babies have long been known to risk a host of health problems and cognitive delays, but the study in th

TechnologyOct. 17, 2011

Regulator begins procedure of Lone Star's KEB sale

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's financial regulator on Monday took the first administrative step toward ordering U.S. private buyout firm Lone Star Funds to sell the bulk of its controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB).The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said in an e-mailed statem

Oct. 17, 2011

Climate change downsizing fauna, flora: study

PARIS (AFP) -- Climate change is reducing the body size of many animal and plant species, including some which supply vital nutrition for more than a billion people already living near hunger's threshold, according to a study released Sunday.From micro-organisms to top predators, nearly 45 percent o

TechnologyOct. 17, 2011

S&P to hold annual meeting in S. Korea

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- Global credit appraiser Standard & Poor's (S&P) will have its annual meeting with South Korean policymakers this week to assess the nation's overall economic situations and credit status, the finance ministry said Monday.A delegation led by Kim Eng Tan, S&P's senior direct

Oct. 17, 2011