Seoul shares down 0.42 pct in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks traded 0.42 percent lower late Monday morning due to concerns over the further weakening of the Japanese yen, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 8.28 points to 1,979.57 as of 11:20 a.m.Most exporters traded in negative territory, with top steelmaker POSCO dropping 0.7 percent and biggest shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries sliding 0.22 percent.No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.7 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors lost 1.85 per

Jan. 21, 2013

Savings banks' liquidity hits over 5-year low

South Korean savings banks' liquidity has hit the lowest point in more than five years as the ongoing restructuring of bankrupt players dampens deposits amid a still large amount of problem loans, data showed Monday. The average balance of savings banks' money supply, known as M2, came in at 41.1 trillion won ($38.8 billion) for local savings banks as of the end of November last year, the lowest since the 40.7 trillion won tallied in July 2007, according to data by the Bank of Korea and an indus

Jan. 21, 2013

Seoul shares trade lower after strong start

South Korean stocks started slightly higher but soon lost ground on Monday, led by losses in techs and carmakers, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened 0.01 percent higher but soon shifted to negative territory, losing 9.8 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,978.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics dropped 1.49 percent and LG Display, one of the biggest flat screen suppliers for Apple, fell 2.26 percent.Carmakers were also b

Jan. 21, 2013

Jeong promoted to Woori Card CEO

Woori Financial Group senior executive director Jeong Hyun-jin has been appointed CEO of Woori Card, with the new firm to be launched in March, group officials said Sunday.Jeong will lead the credit card firm, which is scheduled to be spun off from the financial group’s bank unit as an independent subsidiary.Born in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province, in 1952, he has worked mainly for Woori Bank and Hanil Bank, a former entity of the commercial lender, for 30 years.Though Woori Card (formerly Wo

Jan. 20, 2013

NTS launches probe into high-income tax evaders

South Korea’s tax agency has launched investigations into bank accounts of high income earners on suspicion of tax evasion, officials said Sunday.“We are investigating some tax evasion allegations as we have received tens of reports since the tax law revision,” said an official from the National Tax Service. “The results will come out soon.”The tax law was recently revised to give rewards of up to 50 million won ($47,300) to those who report tax evading cases to the tax authorities. The reward s

Jan. 20, 2013

Samsung, LG washers get top scores from U.S. magazine

U.S. magazine Consumer Reports has given top ratings to washers manufactured by South Korea’s major home appliance makers Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. in its latest survey, industry sources said Sunday.The February issue of Consumer Reports said Samsung’s front-loading WF457 and WF455 washers received the “excellent” level in washing performance, energy efficiency, water efficiency and vibration, and got “very good” in quietness to garner 89 points in total.LG’s WM8000 front-l

TechnologyJan. 20, 2013

Shares may lose ground this week on Vanguard exit

The South Korean stock market is likely to be weighed down by the effects of a U.S. fund manager’s decision to gradually exclude Seoul shares from its benchmark index, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 1,987.85 last week, down 0.44 percent from a week earlier. The KOSPI, which started this week on the 2,000 level, lost ground, dogged by concerns over U.S. debt ceiling talks and Vanguard Group’s move to switch into a benchmark index which excludes

Jan. 20, 2013

Korea last in OECD in female graduate employment

South Korea’s employment rate of female college graduates ranked at the bottom among a group of the world’s advanced nations, with the country having the largest difference between employment rates for men and women, data showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, only 60.1 percent of college-educated South Korean women were employed as of 2011, marking the lowest rate among 33 OECD member nations.Turkey was second from the bottom,

Jan. 20, 2013

Hong Kong-based fund bids for Ssangyong E&C

Hong Kong-based private equity firm VVL expressed its willingness to participate in a bidding to take over Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co., industrial sources said Sunday.If successful, VVL will become the largest shareholder of the Korean builder firm, replacing the state-run Korea Asset Management Corp., or KAMCO, Ssangyong’s current largest shareholder. Ssangyong E&C has been accepting applications from developers here and abroad since last November. The bid will most likely close be

IndustryJan. 20, 2013

Cheap yen poses threat to exporters

The Korean won strengthening against major currencies is estimated to undermine exports from the information technology and automobile industries, a private research institute said Sunday.In particular, the Japanese yen’s weaker position against the won was identified as a serious threat to the price competitiveness of Korea’s IT and car producers by Hyundai Economic Research Institute.While the two sectors are the nation’s top growth engines, HERI estimated that Korea sees a drop in product exp

Jan. 20, 2013

U.S. back-up camera rule to double auto LCD demand

Shipments of liquid crystal displays for use in cars will almost double by 2016 from 2012 levels, as an expected mandate in the U.S. for rear-view cameras in autos boosts demand, researcher IHS forecast. Deliveries of full-color LCDs used in autos will reach almost 117 million units by 2016, up 89 percent from 2012, El Segundo, California-based IHS said in a report dated Jan. 17. Each year sales will grow between 15 percent and 23 percent, with shipments crossing the hundred-million-unit mark in

MobilityJan. 20, 2013

LG Optimus G sells over 1 million units

LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it has sold more than 1 million Optimus G smartphones worldwide since the flagship device’s launch last year.The milestone comes roughly four months after the South Korean handset manufacturer unveiled the 4.7-inch display phone that runs on Qualcomm Inc.’s Snapdragon S4 Pro processor.In September, LG introduced two premium smartphones ― the Optimus G and the Optimus Vu 2 ― as part of efforts to regain its presence in the mobile market.The company has released the

IndustryJan. 18, 2013