Hankook Tire mulls holding company

Hankook Tire is looking to spin off into a holding company and a tire business-focused entity, according to a regulatory filing and media reports.The holding company is likely to be a non-tire entity that will focus on venturing into new business areas, market watchers speculated.The listed Korean tire giant filed a disclosure on the Korea Exchange on Friday, saying that it was considering a spin-off, but that nothing had been decided. Its statement continued that the company will re-file a disc

IndustryApril 22, 2012

Corporate hiring to slow this year: poll

South Korea’s corporate hiring is expected to grow at a slower pace in 2012 compared to the year before, mainly due to concerns of sluggish economic growth, a poll by a local business federation showed Sunday. The nationwide poll carried out on 508 companies by the Korea Employers Federation showed annual hiring is expected to rise 3.3 percent, down from a gain of 3.7 percent tallied for last year.It said large companies with over 1,000 employees plan to increase hiring by 3.7 percent this year,

IndustryApril 22, 2012

Seoul stocks to track U.S. economic data, earnings

South Korean stocks are expected to mirror economic data and corporate earnings reports coming out of the United States this week and developments taking place in eurozone countries, local analysts said Saturday.The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, closed at 1,974.65 on Friday, down 1.71 percent from a week earlier, mainly due to weaker than expected U.S. consumer sentiment and sluggish first quarter growth in China, South Korea’s largest export market.Uncertainties brought on by Spain’s de

April 22, 2012

Korea’s debt may match GDP by 2030

South Korea’s government debt could surpass 100 percent of its gross domestic product in 2030, hit by a steady increase in welfare spending and rising debts of public companies, a report by the Bank of Korea warned Sunday. The nation’s public debt rose to a record high of 420.7 trillion won ($368 billion) as of the end of last year, with the ratio of national debt to GDP climbing to 34 percent from 33.4 percent a year ago. “The ratio of national debt to GDP is expected to remain low until 2015,

April 22, 2012

Loan shark crackdown gets massive response

The government received more than 5,600 complaints in the three days after it opened a call center last Wednesday to help victims of loan sharks, the nation’s top financial regulator said Sunday.The government last week announced plans to root out illegal private lenders that exploit low-income households with poor credit ratings. The reported cases involved illegal high-interest loans, mortgage fraud, coercive debt collection and voice phishing.The FSS has extended the reporting hours by three

April 22, 2012

Korea still weak on resources: SERI

Korea’s resource developers should boost investment and productivity to ensure stable energy supplies and better cope with price swings, a think tank warned. Despite a recent upsurge in investment by state-run utilities and trading firms, their competitiveness remains weak compared to with their international peers due to a lack of technological knowhow and experience and passive risk taking, Samsung Economic Research Institute said in a report released last week.“Korea is in urgent need of its

IndustryApril 22, 2012

European car sales fall to 14-year low as economy stalls

European car sales fell to a 14- year low last month, with Fiat SpA, Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen posting the biggest drops, as the region’s sovereign- debt crisis caused economic growth to stall. Registrations in the 27-member European Union plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland fell 6.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.5 million vehicles, the lowest figure for March since 1998, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said today in a statement. First- quarter sale

MobilityApril 22, 2012

U.S. regulators to examine electric-car battery safety

The U.S. auto-safety regulator said it will hold a forum on lithium-ion batteries in electric cars next month, almost a year after a General Motors Co. Chevrolet Volt caught fire following crash-testing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a meeting May 18 in Washington to convene government officials and auto and battery-industry representatives to talk about “safety considerations” for cars powered by lithium-ion batteries. The meeting was announced in a posting on the

MobilityApril 22, 2012

Twins charged with stock fraud

U.S. finance regulators said 21-year-old twins from Britain sold investors on a fraudulent computer program they said would make investment choices.The brothers Alexander and Thomas Hunter created a newsletter called Doubling Stocks and sold investors on a robot program called Marl, which made their investment decisions, The Financial Times reported Saturday.The Securities and Exchange Commission

April 22, 2012

Africa said rich in underground water

The continent of Africa is sitting on a vast reservoir of groundwater in underground aquifers holding 100 times the amount found on the surface, scientists say.Researchers from the British Geological Survey and University College London have mapped the amount and potential yield of groundwater resources for the entire continent.While rivers and lakes are subject to seasonal changes that can limit

TechnologyApril 22, 2012

Shares fall 1.26% on weak U.S. economic data

South Korean stocks fell 1.26 percent on Friday due to disappointing U.S. job and technology sector data and eurozone concerns, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 25.21 points to close at 1,974.65. Trading volume was moderate at 508 million shares worth 4.74 trillion won ($4.14 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 602 to 247.“Weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data related to the labor and housing markets and

April 20, 2012