Shares up on eased U.S. budget woes

South Korean stocks finished up 0.4 percent Friday as investors scooped up large-cap shares on signs of progress in the U.S. fiscal cliff negotiations, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 7.83 points to 1,957.45. Trading volume was moderate at 405.9 million shares worth 4.26 trillion won ($3.94 billion) with gainers outnumbering losers 409 to 391.“The U.S. policy makers showed somewhat strong determination

Dec. 7, 2012

Import car sales expected to increase by 8 percent in 2013

Import car sales, led by smaller, cheaper models, are expected to continue their growth momentum next year, a business lobby for foreign carmakers here said Friday. The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, or KAIDA, predicted new registrations could reach 143,000 units next year, about 8 percent growth from this year. The growth rate is lower than the more than 20 percent growth of the market this year that was driven by the free trade pacts with the U.S. and EU, consumption

IndustryDec. 7, 2012

Samsung promotes women, top performers

Samsung Group’s promotions this year centered on the young, women and the best-performing. On Friday, Samsung promoted 485 employees to executive status. The move followed the CEO-level promotions carried out earlier this week. Among the group, 335 employees ― the largest number so far ― were promoted as executives. Among them, 74 received early promotions, while four were in their 30s. Last year, Samsung had granted early promotions to less than 60 employees. Women also received more promotions

IndustryDec. 7, 2012

U.S. judge may cut Samsung damages

Samsung Electronics Co. may walk away paying less in damages for infringing some of Apple Inc.’s most critical patents. Judge Lucy Koh, the federal judge hearing the trial, said that although the jury that delivered the original verdict was precise and consistent in calculating infringement damages for 28 different Samsung products, the method the members used may have been mistaken.She was quoted as saying that her decisions may take weeks or months to finalize, adding that she is planning to i

IndustryDec. 7, 2012

Study: The perfect lie may be possible

U.S. researchers say with a certain amount of training and instruction a person could learn to tell a lie that may be indistinguishable from the truth.The study at Northwestern University, which suggests the art of deception can be perfected, has implications for law enforcement and the administering of lie detector tests, a university release said Thursday.Previous researchers has shown most people take longer to respond and make more mistakes when telling lies than telling the truth because th

TechnologyDec. 7, 2012

Seoul shares open higher on U.S. gains

South Korean stocks started higher Friday following overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.3 percent, or 5.84 points, to 1,955.46 in the first 15 minutes of trading.No. 2 home appliance maker LG Electronics advanced 1.08 percent after last session's sharp drop due to a cartel fine by the European Union.Top steelmaker POSCO gained 1.66 percent and second-largest carmaker Kia Motors climbed 0.49 percent.The Dow Jones Industrial

Dec. 7, 2012

Samsung, Apple face off in U.S. court

Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. sparred in a key U.S. court hearing on Thursday in which Samsung sought to overturn a jury verdict while the iPhone maker ramped up calls for sales bans of several Samsung products.Samsung suffered a crushing defeat in late August, when a U.S. jury ordered US$1.05 billion in damages after finding some Samsung smartphones and tablets infringed on Apple patents.Earlier in the day, U.S. federal judge Lucy Koh resumed a court session between the world's two top

IndustryDec. 7, 2012

KEB opens euro trade finance center in Germany

Korea Exchange Bank said Thursday it opened a “Euro Trade Finance and Remittance Center,” or “Euro Center” for short, in Frankfurt.It is the first such center to be established by a Korean bank, according to KEB.KEB’s German arm which runs the Euro Center is a regular member of Europe’s integrated remittance system and wires money on a real-time basis to about 57,000 other member banks.Korean officials at the Euro Center can confirm the receipt of remittance on the day Korean customers wire the

Dec. 6, 2012

Singapore, Qantas to revise refund policy

The nation’s antitrust watchdog ordered Singapore Airlines and Australia’s Qantas Airways on Wednesday to fix their unfair refund policy on discounted flight tickets. Unlike other air carriers that offer some refunds for cancellation, the two companies were found to have not paid back any of the ticket prices except oil surcharges and taxes. The Fair Trade Commission said, even considering price benefits of the discounted tickets, the two companies put excessive pressure on consumers. Following

IndustryDec. 6, 2012

LG smartphone sales top 3m on home turf

South Korean handset maker LG Electronics Inc. has sold more than 3 million smartphones in the local market, bolstering the company’s drive to escape its smartphone laggard status, a company official said Thursday.LG Electronics saw its domestic smartphone shipments top 3-million units in the first 10 months of the year, breaking the milestone for the first time, according to an LG Electronics official. While end-November figures were unavailable, the company is expected to sell a total of 3.5 m

TechnologyDec. 6, 2012

Shares edge up amid lingering U.S. fiscal woes

South Korean stocks crawled 0.13 percent up Thursday as investors sat on the sidelines to watch progress in U.S. fiscal cliff negotiations, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.58 points to 1,949.62. Trading volume was light at 335 million shares worth 4.6 trillion won (US$4.3 billion) with decliners outpacing advancers 427 to 385.“The U.S. fiscal cliff widely dominates the market, while there are no other

Dec. 6, 2012

Renault Samsung mulls sale of factory land

Renault Samsung Motors is considering selling some of the land at its second manufacturing plant site in Busan, company officials said Thursday.The land sale plan allegedly comes as part of the carmaker’s efforts to overcome a lackluster sales performance.Though Renault Samsung had pushed ahead with building the second plant, it has yet to launch the construction process amid the situation that its sales in the local market dropped more than 30 percent on a year-on-year basis.A company executive

IndustryDec. 6, 2012