FSS warns Shinhan, Samsung, Hana-SK, Lotte against reckless expansionThe Financial Supervisory Service has issued a warning against four credit card firms over irregular business practices.The financial regulator said Wednesday that it has uncovered reckless credit card issuance to consumers of Shinhan Card, Samsung Card, Hana-SK Card and Lotte Card.“Due to the companies’ negligent screening of consumers’ financial status, they incurred bad loans,” an FSS official said.He said the companies fail

April 11, 2012

A former Samsung Electronics employee has become the first industrial accident case at the South Korean tech giant as her illness was recently confirmed to be linked to her work on the company’s chip assembly lines. The Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service said Tuesday that it has approved a compensation claim filed by a 37-year-old woman who has been suffering from aplastic anemia. Aplastic anemia is a blood disorder in which the bone marrow doesn’t make enough new blood cells. Some

IndustryApril 11, 2012

The nation’s major business organizations expressed hope for a new parliament that creates a favorable business environment as voters went to the polls on Wednesday.The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it expects the 19th National Assembly to give a boost to the market economy and help resolve social conflict.“We hope the new National Assembly can present a vision to revive the economy and allow the people to have hopes for the future,” the KCCI said in a statement.“We especially ant

April 11, 2012

The South Korean stock market outlook for the second quarter of this year is largely positive, with certain sectors set to benefit from an expected sign of momentum from the United States, analysts said. In a report titled “Reasons for bullish 2Q12 outlook,” Woori Investment & Securities said that although some negative factors from the troubled eurozone might put pressure on the local bourse, it holds a “positive outlook” for the April-June period. “Over the past month, KOSPI has remained at th

April 11, 2012

MACAU ― Las Vegas Sands, the world’s largest casino operator, is looking to invest in Korea as it expands business in booming Asian tourism and resort markets. “Korea has the need to increase tourism, it has need to create a convention-based MICE business model that is our specialty,” Las Vegas Sands chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson said in an interview with Korean reporters in Macau.“We want very much to invest multi-billion dollars into integrated resorts in two locations. One in Seoul or perh

IndustryApril 11, 2012

Thinking of selling or giving away your smartphone or laptop computer? If you have a BlackBerry or an iPhone, go right ahead. But if you have an Android phone or a computer running Windows XP, you may want to hold off.It turns out that it’s almost impossible to get rid of personal information from some devices, even if you follow the manufacturer’s directions for wiping the device clean.Robert Siciliano, identity theft expert for the technology security firm McAfee, found this out in an experime

IndustryApril 11, 2012

North Korea’s planned long-range missile launch between Thursday and Monday is expected to have no more than a day’s impact on the South Korean bourse, but if followed by a nuclear test, it could be the start of a major blow to the financial markets, analysts said.North Korean space officials have moved all three stages of a long-range rocket into position for the launch, vowing Sunday to push ahead with their plan in defiance of international warnings against violating a missile ban.A Japan-bas

April 10, 2012

SK Telecom said Tuesday that it will hire interns based on their ability to use social networking services without considering their grades, English ability or other specifications. The whole process of selection, except the final interview, will be disclosed through SNS to be shared with Internet users ― an unprecedented attempt among Korean companies, the nation’s largest telecom carrier said. Applicants, after submitting applications through the company’s Facebook account, are to participate

IndustryApril 10, 2012

The nation’s Internet watchdog said Tuesday that it has imposed fines and penalties on eight social commerce services, including the three biggest ― Ticket Monster, Coupang and Groupon Korea ― for negligent control of user information. The Korea Communications Commission, which surveyed 13 daily deal services, found that eight companies have violated the data protection law by collecting user data without proper consent process or transferring the information to others for commercial use. “In so

IndustryApril 10, 2012

GS Shop, South Korea’s top home shopping company, said Monday that it will acquire a stake in a Chinese industry player in an effort to tap into the world’s second-largest economy.GS Shop said it signed an agreement with China Home Shopping Group, which offers home shopping service across China, to buy a 20 percent stake for $40 million and cooperate on broad managerial issues.“The contract will pave the way for South Korean small and medium enterprises to make inroads into China, the largest co

April 10, 2012

LG CNS said Tuesday that it will hold an information technology conference that focuses on the upcoming big data era in southern Seoul next Thursday.The conference, dubbed Entrue World 2012, will be themed “New frontier of the smart world: Advanced analytics,” and will present ways to analyze and utilize the massive amount of stacked data on the Web.The event takes place as more data can be found online due to the country’s developing digital infrastructure and the rising number of people owning

IndustryApril 10, 2012

Both governing and opposition parties similarly push for more regulations against conglomeratesThe outcome of the general elections is expected to have a minimal impact on the South Korean economy in the short term as there is no substantial difference in key polices between the ruling and opposition parties, analysts said. If the main opposition Democratic United Party grabs a landslide victory, it will push for more welfare-oriented economic policies while introducing more restrictions on cong

April 10, 2012

South Korean stocks dropped 0.13 percent on Tuesday, weighed down by unfavorable U.S. economic indicators and geopolitical risks, analysts said. The local currency declined against the U.S. dollar.After regaining the 2,000-point level in early trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 2.67 points to close at 1,994.41. Trading volume was heavy at 533 million shares worth 4.82 trillion won ($4.23 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 436 to 383.“The local bourse was unable to

April 10, 2012

South Korea’s exports are expected to expand about 3 percent on-year in the second quarter on the back of improving internal and external economic indicators, a state-run trade bank said Tuesday.The forecast by the Export-Import Bank of Korea is based on its leading index for the country’s overseas shipments, which reflects economic conditions of importing countries and export price levels of local goods.The trade bank said the export gauge reached 112 for the April-June period, up 0.6 percent f

April 10, 2012

South Korea’s national debt rose by 28.5 trillion won ($25 billion) last year from a year earlier as the government increased borrowing to fill its budget gap, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.According to a ministry report, the national debt including central and local government borrowing amounted to 420.7 trillion won last year, up from 392.2 trillion won a year earlier.Central government debt grew by 29 trillion won to 402.8 trillion won in the 2011 fiscal year. Debt owed by local governmen

April 10, 2012