Creditors to pick Korea Express managers

The state-run Korea Development Bank, main creditor of Korea Express, said Thursday that it will pick two arrangers next month to find a new owner for the country’s top logistics company.Creditors are seeking to sell over 35 percent of their total 47.9 percent stake in Korea Express, held by Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., the airline unit of liquidity-squeezed Kumh

Jan. 27, 2011

Seoul shares up on global recovery hopes

Korean stocks closed 0.22 percent higher on Thursday as investor sentiment was lifted by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s vow to keep its bond-buying program to support an economic recovery, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 4.55 points to 2,115.01, the fourth straight session of gains.Trading volume was moderate at 347.

Jan. 27, 2011

China-bound Korean investment drops in 2010

The portion of Korea’s direct investment in China shrank last year amid intensifying competition from other global companies in the world’s second-largest and fastest-growing economy, a report said Thursday.In the first nine months of 2010, the proportion of foreign direct investment made by Korean firms in China dropped to 2 percent from 2.7 percent in 2009, according to the report from the Korea

Jan. 27, 2011

Per-capita rice consumption lowest in 2010

Korea’s per-capita annual consumption of rice declined to a record low last year as a growing number of people chose other food alternatives for their daily meals, a report showed Thursday.Rice consumption per person in the household sector here came to 72.8 kilograms last year, down from 74 kilograms the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. The figure was the lowest since related data st

Jan. 27, 2011

Bottled water imports hit record high

Korea’s imports of bottled water jumped to a record high last year as demand grew for premium brands from European countries, the nation’s customs office said Thursday.Korea imported a record $7.9 million worth of bottled water last year, up 19 percent from a year earlier. The import figures have grown an annual average of 23 percent over the past five years, according to the report by the Korean

Jan. 27, 2011

EU passes safeguard act for Korea FTA

BRUSSELS (Yonhap News) ― The European Parliament’s trade committee passed an enactment bill that outlines the use of trade safeguards once a free trade agreement with Korea goes into effect, local sources said Wednesday.Parliamentary insiders said the Committee on International Trade passed the bilateral safeguard act with no objections raised by those taking part in the vote.A safeguard arrangeme

Jan. 27, 2011

Ministry considers panic rooms as anti-piracy step

South Korea will require all Korean vessels which go through piracy-prone regions to establish a safety zone inside, and double escorting capacity for its vessels at the Gulf of Aden, the government said Thursday.The Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs revealed strengthened anti-piracy measures to counter the rising number of its ships being attacked and hijacked by pirates over

Jan. 27, 2011

Inflation fight lifts won amid persisting animal disease

Korea’s plans to slaughter 7.9 million cattle, pigs and poultry to halt the spread of disease are pricing pensioner Lee Ok-soon out of a Lunar New Year tradition of cooking beef soup as an offering for her ancestors. “I don’t believe the government can do anything to pull down prices, which are soaring as if the sky’s the limit,” said Lee, 77, as she shopped at a market in central Seoul on Jan. 20

Jan. 27, 2011

Robots to teach, fight fire in pilot projects

Robots will be deployed for education, fire-fighting, sewage repairs and manufacturing this year in a series of pilot projects aimed at nurturing robotics as the country’s key growth industry.Next year will see robots patrol danger zones, remove mines in the DMZ and do farm work, according to government-led plans unveiled Thursday.Seven ministries involving industry, education and the environment

IndustryJan. 27, 2011

Hynix posts record W12tr sales in 2010

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. announced Thursday that its consolidated sales for last year reached record 12.09 trillion won ($10.86 billion), up by 53 percent from 2009, despite the fall in prices of DRAM and NAND Flash memory.The world’s second-biggest computer memory chipmaker said that its operating profit totaled 3.27 trillion won, an increase of 1,605 percent from 192 billion won recorded in 2009

IndustryJan. 27, 2011

Korean Air targets record operating profit on A380s

Korean Air, the country’s largest carrier, forecast record operating profit this year as it seeks to lure more premium-class travelers and begins to operate Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos.Operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, may rise 14 percent to 1.28 trillion won ($1.1 billion), the company said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. Sales may increase 8.

IndustryJan. 27, 2011

Korea to spend $7 bil for overseas resources

South Korea will more than triple its investment in overseas resources development to $7 billion this year as it strives for a stable supply of key materials including rare earth metals, the government said Thursday.Of the total, $2.6 billion, or 37 percent, will come from state-run firms and the rest from the private sector, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said. State-run developers Korea Elect

Jan. 27, 2011

S. Korea posts 4th-largest current account surplus in 2010

   South Korea's current account surplus widened in December from the previous month on robust exports, with the country posting its fourth-largest ever surplus last year, the central bank said Thursday.   The current account surplus reached $2.11 billion in December, up from $1.93 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cros

Jan. 27, 2011