Most Popular
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Heavy snow alerts issued in greater Seoul area, Gangwon Province; over 20 cm of snow seen in Seoul
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Seoul blanketed by heaviest Nov. snow, with more expected
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NewJeans to terminate contract with Ador
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Seoul snowfall now third heaviest on record
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Samsung shakes up management, commits to reviving chip business
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Heavy snow of up to 40 cm blankets Seoul for 2nd day
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How $70 funeral wreaths became symbol of protest in S. Korea
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Hybe consolidates chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s regime with leadership changes
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Why cynical, 'memeified' makeovers of kids' characters are so appealing
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BOK makes surprise 2nd rate cut to boost growth
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Listed firms fare worse in Q2 on economic woes
Korean listed firms saw their net profits plunge in the second quarter despite increased sales, due to the protracted global economic slowdown, data showed Sunday.According to the Korea Listed Companies Association, the combined net profit of 80 major listed firms was estimated at 16.03 trillion won ($14.20 billion) in the second quarter, down 23.9 percent from a year earlier.Their total sales rose 6.1 percent on-year to 297.94 trillion won in the April-June period, with their operating profit f
Aug. 12, 2012
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Foreign investors rush to buy Korean shares
Foreign investors poured the largest amount of money into Korean shares among emerging markets in Asia over the past month as easing concerns over Europe’s debt crisis prompted them to take greater risks, a report showed Sunday.Foreigners purchased a net $3.11 billion worth of Korean stocks between July 10 and Thursday, the largest foreign net buying among six emerging markets in Asia, according to the report by Woori Investment & Securities Co.Korea was followed by India with $1.15 billion, Ind
Aug. 12, 2012
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FSS to look into non-banking sector borrowing
Korea’s financial watchdog said Sunday that it will look into the state of home-backed lending offered by non-banking financial institutions as part of its efforts to keep tabs on the overall surging household debts.Savings banks, insurers, credit finance firms and other non-banking financial agencies are the destination for many people seeking to borrow money after being rejected by banks due to their poor credit backgrounds.Their lending is focused on home-backed loans, which are estimated at
Aug. 12, 2012
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More than 400 financial industry workers punished
Over 400 officials working in South Korea’s financial industry were submitted to disciplinary action so far this year for corruption and insincerity, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The FSS announced on Sunday that 447 workers at local banks, brokerages, insurers and credit card firms faced penalties this year as of Friday for moral hazard and basic faults such as not properly checking the customers’ real names, embezzlement of customers’ deposits, leaking information and abettin
Aug. 12, 2012
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Eximbank to support Hyundai Motor suppliers in St. Petersburg
The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Friday that it discussed with the suppliers of Hyundai Motor Co. in Russia’s Saint Petersburg ways to support them amid the European fiscal crisis.The Korea Eximbank said it hosted a meeting with the chiefs of the local arms of Hyundai Motor and its suppliers at the carmaker’s Russian production line on Thursday.“Cooperation between large and small companies is important for an overseas production cluster to succesfully settle down,” Kim Yong-hwan, chief exec
IndustryAug. 12, 2012
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Major insurers cut loan rates
Major insurers are cutting interest rates following public criticism that they are too high compared to banks. According to industry sources, Kyobo Life Insurance will reduce the ceiling on its policy loan rate of vested interest-based-insurance products from the current 13.5 percent to 10.5 percent in October. Policy loan rates will be managed at between 6.1 percent and 10.5 percent. Customers in urgent need of money often use policy loans as they enable policyholders to borrow 70 to 80 percent
Aug. 12, 2012
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BMW in China explains Europe’s best new bonds
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s China growth is being rewarded by investors who have pushed down relative yields on bonds sold in January by the biggest luxury carmaker more than any other new issue in Europe this year. The spread on BMW’s 1.25 billion euros ($1.5 billion) of notes due 2015 has narrowed 77 basis points since its Jan. 13 sale to 6 basis points, Bloomberg generic prices show. The 94 percent decline outpaced an 83 percent drop for the 500 million euros of 2017 notes issued the same m
MobilityAug. 12, 2012
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Sales of small cars stay strong in slowdown
Local carmakers eager to ride the boom while import car brands remain cautiousThe nation’s economic slowdown is turning consumers toward small-sized cars, a trend likely to continue during the second half of this year, according to experts and government officials.Auto analysts said the 20-year-old small car market is growing bigger than ever, selling 124,450 compact and sub-compact cars in the first seven months of this year with a 15 percent growth on-year.They said the market has a high chanc
MobilityAug. 12, 2012
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KFS joins forces with the world for green growth
Government reaches out beyond borders to make the Earth greenerIt is now high-tech gadgets and automobiles that make Korea a global model of success, but the nation’s original start-from-scratch story lies within its forests. Korea made itself green out of the rubble of the Korean War, and its reforestation garnered much praise from around the world. As Lester Brown, a well-known U.S. environmental analyst, once said, “South Korea is a reforestation model for the world. We can reforest the earth
Aug. 12, 2012
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‘AFoCO to help drive global green growth’
Minister Lee says Korea’s successful forest rehabilitation will be shared through the global organizationThe establishment of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization, or AFoCO, was made in accordance with the agreement between the governments of Korea and the member states of Association of Southeast Asian Nations on forest cooperation. Minister Lee Don-koo of the Korea Forest Service expressed that “the milestone of successful rehabilitation of Korea’s degraded land will be shared with the wo
Aug. 12, 2012
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Study: Men equally affectionate as wives
A study by the University of Texas found husbands and wives are equally romantic, but they express their feelings in different ways.Researchers at the university interviewed 168 couples at four points in their marriage, Britain‘s The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.Husbands and wives were questioned separately about how close and attached they felt to their partners, as well as a number of questions about each other’s behavior over the past 24 hours.Researchers found wives “seem to show love b
TechnologyAug. 12, 2012
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Study: Eyes tell the story on sex arousal
(123rf)Researchers at Cornell University in New York say they have developed a less intrusive method of determining whether someone is sexually aroused. While most previous work on what turns people on has involved measuring their genital responses, Gerulf Rieger, a researcher at Cornell, said measuring dilation or widening of the pupil in the eye can achieve the same goal, HealthDay reports. In f
TechnologyAug. 12, 2012
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Baby's, toddler's diets linked to IQ
(MCT)Australian researchers found children given a healthy diet up to age 24 months had a higher IQ when tested at age 8. Dr. Lisa Smithers of the University of Adelaide and colleagues studied 7,000 children compared a range of dietary patterns, including traditional and contemporary home-prepared food, ready-prepared baby foods, breastfeeding and 'discretionary' or junk foods on children from bir
TechnologyAug. 11, 2012
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Producer prices fall for 1st time in 32 months
Korea’s producer prices declined for the first time in nearly three years in July on falling oil costs, the central bank said Friday, pointing to easing pressure on consumer inflation in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, fell 0.1 percent in July from a year earlier, a turnaround from a 0.8 percent on-year gain in June, according to the Bank of Korea.The July figure marks the first decline since November 2009 when such prices decline
Aug. 10, 2012
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New tax bill perturbs financial firms
Wealthy people and financial firms, especially credit card companies and life insurers, will suffer a blow from a revised tax bill announced Wednesday that imposes higher taxes on financial incomes and reduces the number of tax-free financial products.Immediate annuities, a major cash cow for life insurers, will no longer be tax-free under the revised bill starting next year amid criticism that they were being used by the rich as a means of tax avoidance. Those who keep the immediate annuity con
Aug. 10, 2012
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Shares rises on stimulus hopes
Korean stocks closed marginally higher on Friday, as investors held onto an anticipation that major central banks will roll out a set of stimulus measures to boost economic growth, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 5.81 points to finish at 1,946.40. Trading volume was moderate at 320.8 million shares worth 4.0 trillion won ($3.54 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 410 to 373. “The gains were capped as the KOSPI
Aug. 10, 2012
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KT to change operating system to block hacking
KT, the country’s biggest fixed-line service provider, announced Friday a package of measures designed to better protect the personal data of its consumers following its recent massive data leak incident.Pyo Hyun-myung, president of the mobile business unit at KT, said it will introduce a new system that enables its customers to make confirm the history of their personal information inquiries by the year end.He also said that it will change its current sales operation system to one that blocks h
IndustryAug. 10, 2012
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More than 1 million visit SKT pavilion at Yeosu Expo
SK Telecom’s pavilion for the Yeosu Expo has attracted more than 1 million visitors since it opened in May, company officials said.The officials said the pavilion received its 1 millionth visitor Friday, two days before the Expo ends its three-month run in the southern coastal area on Sunday.Expo organizers expect the number of visitors to reach 8 million as targeted by the organizing committee. Bureau International des Expositions secretary-general Vincete Gonzalez Loscertales called the exposi
TechnologyAug. 10, 2012
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Renault Samsung pushes for downsizing
Money-losing carmaker starts voluntary redundancy program for first timeRenault Samsung, the Korean unit of French automotive group Renault S.A., is pushing for downsizing in a desperate effort to overcome its financial difficulties caused by its long sluggish sales in Korea.The carmaker said Friday that it began accepting applications for early retirement from its employees as part of its 2012 “revival” plan.It is the first time that Renault Samsung has implemented a redundancy program since t
IndustryAug. 10, 2012
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Seoul shares rises 0.30 percent on stimulus hopes
South Korean stocks closed marginally higher on Friday, as investors held onto an anticipation that major central banks will roll out a set of stimulus measures to boost economic growth, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.81 points to finish at 1,946.40. Trading volume was moderate at 320.8 million shares wo
Aug. 10, 2012
