Criticism escalates over delayed private KTX operation

The government’s decision to delay its controversial plan to adopt competition for train operations until the April parliamentary election is intensifying a backlash as critics slam the shift, calling it “a political move.”The Transport Ministry said Tuesday it will put off bidding to run new bullet-train routes departing Suseo in southern Seoul by two months, saying the “timing was inappropriate.”“After consulting with lawmakers, we offered to adjust the pace of the project as some questioned i

IndustryJan. 17, 2012

Moody's maintains French AAA rating

PARIS (AP)- Ratings agency Moody's says it is maintaining France's top-tier AAA credit rating for now after the country was downgraded by rival Standard & Poor's.Moody's maintained France's outlook at stable. S&P rates France's outlook as negative.Moody's cited the economy's overall strength but sai

Jan. 16, 2012

Fitch cuts Russia outlook on anti-Putin protests

MOSCOW (AFP) - Fitch on Monday cut the outlook on Russia's debt due to uncertainty over protests against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule which has intensified the risk of a sustained capital flight."Political uncertainty in Russia has risen and the global economic outlook has worsened since Fit

Jan. 16, 2012

Trade deficit with Japan shrinks in 2011

Korea’s trade deficit with Japan sharply fell last year as the powerful earthquake and the appreciating yen pushed up the island country’s imports, a report showed Monday.Korea’s exports to Japan spiked more than 41 percent on-year to $360.3 billion between January and November last year, the report by the Korea International Trade Association showed. Imports rose 7 percent to $624.3 billion.Korea’s trade deficit with its second-largest partner came in at $264 billion over the 11-month period, d

Jan. 16, 2012

Gasoline consumption hits 14-year high in 2011

Korea’s gasoline consumption hit a 14 year high in 2011 despite record high prices, data from a state-run oil company showed Monday.The country’s average gasoline sales hit 189,707 barrels per day in the first 11 months of last year, the highest consumption since the 195,501 barrels sold in 1997, and surpassing the daily 188,852 barrels consumed in 2010, the Korea National Oil Corp. said.The surge in sales was noteworthy because the price for a liter of gasoline stood at an all time high of 1,92

Jan. 16, 2012

U.S. hedge fund may tap into local market

Millennium Partners, a fund managed by the U.S.-based Millennium Management LLC, is considering tapping the Korean hedge fund market, sources said Monday, in what would mark the first local entry of an overseas fund.Millennium Partners, which manages funds valued at around $13 billion, reportedly plans to set up a local affiliate and seek regulatory approval as early as this month in a bid to operate its hedge fund here.“The regulator has been in talks with the company, although an official docu

Jan. 16, 2012

Samsung Heavy wins $2.3 billion offshore deal

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., a South Korean shipbuilder, said Monday it has received a letter of agreement to build an offshore facility for around $2.26 billion.Under the agreement with Inpex Corp. of Japan, Samsung Heavy will construct the offshore gas processing facility by the end of 2015, the company said.Both sides will officially sign the deal this month, Samsung Heavy said.French supermajor Total and Inpex are working on a $34-billion liquefied natural gas project in Australia.Samsung H

IndustryJan. 16, 2012

Samsung to issue $1 billion worth of foreign bonds

Samsung Electronics said on Monday that it will issue foreign bonds worth $1 billion to raise money for operating its semiconductor line in Austin, Texas.The technology giant confirmed that it plans to issue bonds in the global markets for the management of the firm’s System Large Scale Integrated Circuit line in the United States.“However, the time of bond issuance and its exact scale are yet to be unveiled,” said a Samsung official.It is the first time since the 1997 financial crisis that Sams

IndustryJan. 16, 2012

Korea to simplify beef distribution

Government agencies are looking into possible distortions in beef pricing as hanwoo meat remains expensive despite a plunge in homebred cattle prices.Beef cattle prices have fallen sharply as a result of an oversupply of cows raised in Korea over the past two years, weighing heavily on cattle breeders.The ministries of agriculture, home affairs and the nation’s antitrust watchdog are also reviewing ways to curb beef prices by fostering a large distributor run by groups of cattle breeders to simp

IndustryJan. 16, 2012

Korea to chair G20 green growth working group

Korea will lead roundtable discussions on energy efficiency and clean resources at the Group of 20 summit in Mexico in June as chair of the working group on green growth, a local news agency said Monday.The chairmanship comes upon the Mexican government’s request, Yonhap News reported, citing a Seoul official. Members of the group have yet to be confirmed. As chair of the group, the country will orchestrate discussions on green growth and help draw up comprehensive recommendations at the two-day

Jan. 16, 2012

Seoul shares dip on eurozone woes

South Korean stocks ended 0.87 percent lower on Monday as a massive eurozone credit ratings cut battered investor sentiment, raising fears the region is far off from solving its debt crisis, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. After tumbling as much as 1.7 percent at one point, the benchmark KOSPI closed down 16.41 points at 1,859.27. Trading volume was moderate at 382.9 million shares worth 3.88 trillion won ($3.36 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 586 to

Jan. 16, 2012

Foreign IBs see firm export growth for Korea this year

Foreign investment banks predict South Korea’s export growth will likely top those of its Asian peers mainly due to increased demand from China and a free trade pact with the U.S. set to take effect early this year, data showed Monday.Global investment bank HSBC expected Korea’s export to grow 9.7 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2012, with the figure to stay above the 9 percent through most of the remainder of the year, according to the data by the Korea Center for International Finance.

Jan. 16, 2012

Banks’ short-term foreign borrowing up in December

Korean banks’ short-term overseas borrowing climbed in December as lenders rushed to secure foreign currency liquidity amid concerns over a deterioration in external conditions, the financial watchdog said Monday.A total of 16 local banks refinanced 120.3 percent of their maturing short-term foreign debts through fresh borrowing last month, compared with 95.9 percent in November, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The rollover rate gauges the percentage of fresh overseas borrowing ag

Jan. 16, 2012

Foreign investors boost holdings of Korean Treasuries

Foreign investors scooped up Korean Treasuries last year as Korean debts emerged as relatively safer assets compared to those in slumping Europe and the U.S., data showed Monday.The outstanding amount of South Korean Treasuries held by foreigners reached 61 trillion won ($53.1 billion) at the end of last year, up 27.8 percent from a year ago, according to the data by the Korea Exchange. The proportion of foreign investors in the Korean bond market stood at 15.6 percent. Foreign investors’ won-de

Jan. 16, 2012

Individual investors make more risky trades

Despite the sluggish stock market, Korea’s individual investors showed a stronger appetite for risky investment vehicles, raising worries over the side effects. According to data by the Korea Exchange, individual investors accounted for 37.2 percent of KOSPI 200 stock futures trades in terms of value in the fourth quarter of last year. The figure marks a 10-percentage point increase from 27.2 percent a year earlier. The proportion of individual investors in the highly risky futures trade began t

Jan. 16, 2012