TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan logged a bigger-than-expected trade deficit of 520.3 billion yen ($6.5 billion) in April as higher energy costs pushed up imports, the finance ministry said Wednesday.The deficit was larger than a shortfall of 477.7 billion yen registered in April 2011, a month after Japan was hit by a huge earthquake and tsunami which battered the world’s third-largest economy.It was also bigger than the 470 billion yen deficit expected by economists.Exports in April rose 7.9 percent from a

TechnologyMay 23, 2012

The government revealed plans on Wednesday to cut the nation’s oil consumption from 40 percent of all energy use to about 33 percent by 2015.It also plans to extend tax benefits for owners of hybrid and mini cars and support the research and development field for green cars, including highly efficient engines and electronic cars. The government disclosed these and other plans on Wednesday after an economic crisis management meeting at Gwacheon Government Complex. The plans aim to lessen the burd

May 23, 2012

Korean oil refiners are striving to either diversify crude oil import sources or expand the scope of trade contracts in advance of a possible ban on oil imports from Iran.Among the alternative sources of crude oil are countries in Africa and Europe, according to the Korean National Oil Corp.KNOC data showed Wednesday that the nation recently imported about 1.7 million barrels from Gabon. This was the first time in more than two years since Korea imported Gabonese oil in December 2009.Imports fro

IndustryMay 23, 2012

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. boosted its share of the Chinese smartphone market in the first quarter, retaining the top-vendor status, a report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Woori Investment and Securities Co., Samsung claimed an estimated 28 percent of the Chinese smartphone market in the January-March period, up from 24 percent three months earlier.Samsung’s sales volume in the Chinese smartphone market, the world’s biggest, grew to 9

TechnologyMay 23, 2012

Samsung Electronics’ top executives who met Apple’s Tim Cook in the United States on the issue of patents are expected to return to Seoul this week as chairman Lee Kun-hee is also projected to arrive in Seoul, officials said.A Samsung executive said Wednesday that the results of the patent talks with Apple may be known when the firm’s vice chairman Choi Gee-sung and mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun return to the country Friday.Lee is also reportedly heading back to Seoul after visiting Europe to watc

IndustryMay 23, 2012

KB Financial Group, Korea Life Insurance and several foreign bidders, including Hong Kong’s AIA Group, have jumped into the contest to acquire ING Group’s Asian insurance business.Samsung Life, Prudential and Kyobo Life, which had previously expressed interest in ING Life, did not submit letters of intent in the preliminary bid last week.Analysts expect the price tag for the Netherlands-based financial group’s Asia-Pacific operations to rise above $7 billion, which would make it the largest-ever

May 23, 2012

The South Korean economy is faced with increasing uncertainty due to external downside risks such as Greece’s possible exit from the eurozone and international sanctions against Iran, Seoul’s top economic policymaker said Wednesday.In a weekly meeting of senior economic officials, Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said external uncertainties have disrupted the steady pace of the country’s recovery.“There has been an easing of jitters coming into this week, but the global financial market remains uns

May 23, 2012

South Korean direct investment in China fell more than 5 percent annually over the past five years, a report showed Wednesday, stoking concern over weaker market presence in the world’s second-largest economy.According to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance, South Korean companies’ direct investment in China shrank at an average annual rate of 5.4 percent between 2007-2012.The decline caused the percentage of South Korea’s direct investment in China to fall from 5.4 percent

May 23, 2012

South Korean stocks fell 1.1 percent Wednesday on concerns a European Union summit meeting will not be able to resolve mounting eurozone woes and concerns Greece may default, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.EU leaders were scheduled to meet for an informal summit in Brussels on Wednesday, local time.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 20.07 points to 1,808.62, snapping a two-day gaining streak.Trading volume was moderate at 438 million shares worth

May 23, 2012

European funds accounted for 72.4 percent of all money that left South Korea this month amid mounting market jitters over a Greek exit from the eurozone, the financial regulator said Wednesday.According to the Financial Supervisory Service, British and other European funds sold off various holdings worth 2.38 trillion won ($2.03 billion) in the first 21 days of this month.Overall, foreign investors withdrew a net 3.29 trillion won in funds during the same period, with U.S. investors withdrawing

May 23, 2012

Investigators raided Hana Capital headquarters in southern Seoul on Wednesday over allegations of a suspicious deal with the troubled Mirae Savings Bank, news reports said.The search of the financial firm, one of affiliates of Hana Financial Group, came after Mirae Savings Bank chairman Kim Chan-kyung’s testimony to the prosecution that former Hana group chairman Kim Seung-yu was involved in a paid-in capital increase of the savings bank last September, the reports said.Kim Chan-kyung was arrest

May 23, 2012

South Korea and Paraguay reached an open-skies accord on Tuesday to meet future two-way demand for passengers and cargo, the Seoul government said.Under the agreement, South Korean airlines will be allowed to fly an unlimited number of times to the South American country, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said. At present, there are no direct flights linking the two countries.At the talks held in Seoul, both sides concurred that the pact will help fuel personnel exchange and f

May 23, 2012

The government said on Wednesday it will push to extend tax breaks and incentives to spur corporate investment in research and development through 2015.Tax credits worth 2.3 trillion won ($1.96 billion) last year for R&D investment to develop new growth engines and core technologies, special exceptions in taxation (worth 92.1 billion won) for state endowments related to R&D and tax credits (106 billion won) for investment in R&D facilities are set to expire this year.The government said it will

May 23, 2012

South Korea should focus on cultivating software talents and relax regulations on the information and communication industry if it wants to survive in the fast-changing global IT industry, a presidential council reported Tuesday.The President’s Council on National ICT Strategies made the suggestions during a report to President Lee Myung-bak, stressing that South Korea, once considered an IT power due to its advanced hardware technologies, is fast losing ground in what is now a software-centered

TechnologyMay 23, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Google closed Tuesday its $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility, a key manufacturer of smartphones and other devices that puts the Internet giant in head-to-head competition with Apple.“The acquisition will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing,” the California-based Internet giant said in a statement.Chief executive Larry Page said Google was acquiring “a great American tech company, with a track record of ov

TechnologyMay 23, 2012