Seoul shares gain 0.51 pct on foreign buying

South Korean stocks closed 0.51 percent higher on Tuesday on the back of foreigners' buying, but the gain was capped due to remaining corporate uncertainties, analysts said. The local currency fell slightly against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 10.02 points to finish at 1,993.09. Trading volume was moderate at 446.9 million shares worth 4.55 trillion won ($4.24 billion) with gainers outnumbering losers 426 to 384."We've seen steady foreign inflows

Dec. 18, 2012

U.S. court dismisses Apple's request to ban sales of Samsung products

A U.S. court dismissed Apple Inc.'s request to permanently ban sales of some Samsung Electronics Co. devices in the country, granting an upper hand to the South Korean handset maker in the patent war between the two tech giants, a local court filing showed Tuesday.Following a pro-Apple jury verdict in late August, the iPhone maker had filed for an injunction to permanently ban sales of 26 Samsung products in the U.S.Samsung refuted that 23 of those models were already off the market, and others

TechnologyDec. 18, 2012

Shares slip on U.S. fiscal cliff woes

South Korean stocks retreated 0.6 percent on Monday as investors sat on the sidelines while keeping a wary eye on stalled spending cut talks in the United States. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 11.98 points to close at 1,983.06. Trading volume was moderate at 360.4 million shares worth 4.19 trillion won ($3.90 billion) with decliners outpacing gainers 497 to 309. “Investors felt more pressure as the deadline for an agreement

Dec. 17, 2012

Daewoo Shipbuilding wins deal to build 2 LNG carriers

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a South Korean shipbuilder, said Monday that it has clinched a contract from a Canadian shipping company to build two liquefied natural gas carriers.Under the deal with Teekay Corp., Daewoo Shipbuilding will deliver the vessels with a capacity of 173,000 cubic meters of LNG by 2016, the company said.The contract also includes an option of three more carriers, it added.The shipbuilder, however, did not disclose the financial terms of the contract.Each

IndustryDec. 17, 2012

Hyundai Mobis completes plant in Slovakia

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea’s biggest auto parts manufacturer, said Monday that it has kicked off production of conventional braking systems at its plant in Slovakia.Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts arm of Hyundai Motor Group, spent 50 billion won ($46.6 million) to complete the line to produce the braking system components at its Slovakia plant located in the northern region of Zilina.The new production line will have an annual production capacity of 600,000 conventional braking system component

MobilityDec. 17, 2012

2020 road map for development of electric vehicles faces bumpy road

The nation’s ambitious goal to become one of the world’s top four electric-vehicle production powerhouses faces a bumpy road due to slower-than-expected market penetration.Under the 2020 vision for green cars, unveiled in 2010, the government plans to replace 20 percent of cars on the road with EVs for Korea to take 10 percent of the global EV market. For this goal, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy have invested in infrastructure for EVs to boost demand for the v

MobilityDec. 17, 2012

KAI stake sale collapses again

The sale of the Korea Aerospace Industries, or KAI, collapsed again as it failed to attract enough bidders on Monday.Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, placed its bid, but Korean Air, the nation’s flagship carrier, decided not to join the competition. At least two bidders are required to participate in bidding for the KAI sale to proceed.Korean Air said in a statement that it gave up the bidding because stock price of the state-run aircraft maker is overvalued. The first

Dec. 17, 2012

Samsung to finalize investment plan

By Cho Ji-hyunSamsung Electronics on Monday organized a two-day global strategic planning meeting attended by about 600 local and overseas executives in its Suwon and Giheung offices in Gyeonggi Province.The world’s top smartphone maker will finalize its investment plan for next year at the meeting, which will be divided into the sectors of device solutions and finished products.Samsung’s global strategic meeting is held twice a year ― in the first half and latter half ― and it is a time when th

IndustryDec. 17, 2012

Woongjin Chemical to be put up for sale

Woongjin Group and its creditors have reached an agreement to launch the sale process of Woongjin Chemical next year as a method to improve the group’s financial soundness, bank officials said Monday.Woongjin Chemical’s parent Woongjin Holdings has been placed under court receivership over the past few months due to its financial woes involving heavy debt.“The group, which was instructed by the court to scale down unhealthy assets in consultation with its creditor banks, has no choice but to see

Dec. 17, 2012

BMW recalls nearly 2,200 cars

BMW Group Korea, the local distributor of German automaker BMW AG, is voluntarily recalling certain model year X5 and X6 sport utility vehicles for a problem with a bolt that can cause loss of power-assisted steering, the Transportation Ministry said Monday.The recall affects 1,579 X5 SUVs produced between Dec. 11, 2006 and Feb. 19, 2010, along with 616 units of X6 SUVs built from April 3, 2008 through Feb. 22, 2010, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.The ministry

Dec. 17, 2012

KT launches business messenger

Mobile carrier KT rolled out “olleh biz talk,” a messenger program specialized for corporate use, on Monday. Combining characteristics of a traditional messenger program and smartphone text-messaging, olleh biz talk provides services including chat, message, fax, phone call, audio and photo message, and group message. Unlike traditional messenger programs, olleh biz talk is accessible both through computers and mobile phones. The contact lists are organized by the company’s structure.The messeng

TechnologyDec. 17, 2012

Popularity of i40 takes Hyundai to sales landmark in Europe

Hyundai Motor’s upper-segment car sales in Europe surpassed a milestone 10 percent of the carmaker’s total sales for the first time, largely driven by the i40 wagon. The Korean auto giant said Monday that it sold 247,151 passenger vehicles in the first 10 months of this year in Europe alone. Of them, larger models with an engine capacity of 1,600 cc or higher made up 11.8 percent of Europe sales, more than doubling last year’s 4.4 percent, the company said. The i40, whose engine capacity ranges

IndustryDec. 17, 2012