FTAs drive up wine imports from U.S., Europe

Korea’s imports of wines from the United States and Europe surged on free trade deals with the two major economies despite an economic slump here, industry data showed Monday.According to the data by the Korea Wines & Spirits Importers Association, imports of American wines during the January-July period rose 19.4 percent from a year earlier to $8.63 million.Wine imports from Spain and Germany jumped 19.7 percent and 19.9 percent, respectively, on-year over the same period, while the amount of i

Sept. 10, 2012

Korea’s producer prices rebound in Aug.

Korea’s producer prices rebounded in August from the previous month as oil costs and agricultural product prices increased, the central bank said Monday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, rose 0.3 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 0.1 percent on-year fall in July, according to the Bank of Korea. July marked the first month in nearly three years that producer prices dropped on-year.Compared with the previous month, the index climbed 0.7 perce

Sept. 10, 2012

Shares slip 0.25% ahead of U.S. stimulus package

Korean stocks edged down 0.25 percent Monday as investors sat on the sidelines before the envisioned U.S. central bank’s stimulus packages, analysts said.The local currency climbed against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 4.88 points to 1,924.7, ending a two-session rally sparked by the European Central Bank’s bond-purchasing plan last week. Trading volume was heavy at 608.9 million shares worth 4.28 trillion won ($3.79 billion), with losers outnumbering winne

Sept. 10, 2012

Big firms still favor former officials as outside directors

Affiliates of Korea’s top 10 conglomerates still prefer former government officials and ex-policymakers as outside directors, data showed Monday, amid escalating criticism of their practice.A total of 330 people served as outside directors at the 93 affiliates of the leading conglomerates as of end-June this year, down from 337 a year earlier, according to the data compiled by local research firm Chaebul.com. Of the 77 outside directors newly hired, 29, or 37.7 percent, were former government of

Sept. 10, 2012

SPC Group investigated by FTC

The nation’s antitrust watchdog is considering imposing sanctions against SPC Group, a leading franchise conglomerate that operates bakery chain Paris Croissant and Paris Baguette, for enforcing unfair contract conditions on store owners. The Fair Trade Commission said Monday it has found some 300 Paris Croissant store owners out of the total 3,200 nationwide have been forced to carry out refurbishments every year. For those who cannot afford the cost for expansion or refurbishment, the head off

IndustrySept. 10, 2012

NHN Line becomes No.1 mobile messenger

NHN’s Line has overtaken its close peer Kakao Talk to become the world’s most used mobile messenger.NHN, the operator of Korea’s largest search engine Naver, said Monday that the number of Line users worldwide surpassed 60 million as of Sept. 8.Kakao Talk had 59 million as of Sept. 7.Market watchers say the two sides will have a neck-and-neck competition as Kakao will soon have over 60 million users as it strengthens its overseas operations.NHN has been focusing on marketing Line mostly in Japan

TechnologySept. 10, 2012

Foreign IBs downgrade 2012 outlook for Korea

Major foreign investment banks cut their forecast of Korean economic growth to the mid-2 percent range for this year on faltering exports, a report showed Monday.Ten foreign investment banks forecast the Korean economy to grow an average 2.6 percent this year, lower than their previous estimate of 2.9 percent made in July, according to a report by the Korea Center for International Finance.Their forecast stood in contrast with the central Bank of Korea’s 3 percent growth estimate and the governm

Sept. 10, 2012

Foreign firms’ hiring to drop by 50% in H2

Foreign companies in Korea are expected to hire only half the number of new university-graduates in the second half of this year compared to the same period last year, data showed.Of 72 firms recently surveyed by online job search portal Job Korea, about 20 foreign companies, or 27.8 percent, said that they plan to hire university graduates. Among the rest, 63.9 percent answered that they have no plans of new employment and 8.3 percent said it is not decided yet. In the same survey conducted ear

IndustrySept. 10, 2012

Creditors to pour W200b into Ssangyong E&C

Ssangyong Engineering and Construction said Monday that its largest shareholder Korea Asset Management Corp. and other creditor banks have agreed to inject 200 billion won ($180 million) to support the troubled builder. A risk management committee at KAMCO recently approved a liquidity support plan, with the first batch of support worth 70 billion won expected to be made on Tuesday. Ssangyong offi

IndustrySept. 10, 2012

S. Korea unveils 5.9 tln won worth of stimulus measures

South Korea unveiled an additional 5.9 trillion won (US$5.23 billion) worth of fiscal support Monday as part of its efforts to boost domestic demand amid worries tough overseas market conditions are casting a pall over the country's export-driven economic growth.According to the finance ministry, the government will push for additional fiscal support worth 4.6 trillion won this year and 1.3 trilli

Sept. 10, 2012

Seoul developing new bullet train for commercial use in 2015

South Korea is currently developing a new bullet train that has already set a new speed record during its initial test run, the government said Monday.The HEMU-430X is an indigenous express train with an anticipated maximum speed of 430 kilometers per hour (km/h).The train was developed as part of a national research and development project and began its test run in June, according to the Ministry

IndustrySept. 10, 2012

S. Korea's producer prices rebound in Aug.

South Korea's producer prices rebounded in August from the previous month as oil costs and agricultural product prices increased, the central bank said Monday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, rose 0.3 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 0.1 percent on-year fall in July, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). July marked the first month in nearl

Sept. 10, 2012