Korea ranks 9th in construction competitiveness

Korea’s global competitiveness in the construction sector took 9th place in a ranking launched by the government, underscoring its need to enhance transparency and design skills. The Land Ministry said Sunday it has developed an index with the Korea Institute of Construction Technology to assess and compare the fundamentals of the industry as well as the capabilities of local builders between 22 leading economies.The index takes account of four dimensions of each market ― size, growth rate, stab

IndustryJan. 15, 2012

Gloomy outlook for Korean industries

Eurozone ratings downgrades add to exporters’ worriesExporters and investors are bracing for a fresh wave of turbulence reignited by Standard & Poor’s downgrade of half of the eurozone nations on Friday.The automotive, shipbuilding and electronics industries expressed renewed concern for a recession in Europe and elsewhere from the mass credit rating cuts. Government officials downplayed the effect at home, but analysts agree that stocks and the won will slide in the coming weeks. “Demand is rel

Jan. 15, 2012

Foreigners shift to net sellers in Korea: data

Overseas investors became net sellers of South Korean equities last year as they opted to buy safer assets amid global economic uncertainties, the financial watchdog said Sunday.Foreign investors offloaded a net 9.6 trillion won ($8.4 billion) worth of stocks in 2011, compared with a net purchase of 22.9 trillion won in the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.Overseas investors’ holdings of local stocks stood at 351.5 trillion won, or 30.4 percent of domestic stock owne

Jan. 15, 2012

Insurance M&As to be vitalized

Several insurance firms, such as ING Life and Tongyang Life, will likely be auctioned off this year.Netherlands-based ING recently clarified its business policy to sell its insurance operations in the Asia-Pacific region, citing global economic uncertainties.Market observers state the possibility that the Korean life insurance unit may also be included in the group’s sale target.As ING Life holds the position of fifth or sixth in the local market, heated competition is expected if it is put up f

Jan. 15, 2012

Half of financial firms expect weak results in 2012

Nearly half of all South Korean financial firms are expecting weaker performances in 2012 primarily due to the global economic slowdown and rising household debt, a poll showed Sunday.The survey on 250 financial firms by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed 48.8 percent of the respondents saying they are bracing for lower results compared to 2011, with 26.8 percent forecasting conditions would remain unchanged from the year before. Regarding companies that held pessimistic views, 2.

Jan. 15, 2012

Korea’s exports grow nearly 20% in 2011

South Korea’s exports grew nearly 20 percent in 2011 from a year earlier, primarily driven by robust sales of ships, vehicles and oil-related products, customs data showed Sunday.Exports came to a record high of $556.5 billion last year, up 19.3 percent from $466.4 billion a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service. It made South Korea the world’s seventh-largest exporter for a second year.Imports also grew 23.3 percent on-year to $524.4 billion, bringing the nation’s ann

Jan. 15, 2012

Foreign investment banks warn of higher bank loan default

Foreign investment banks have warned that domestic banks could see their loan delinquency rates rise this year due to the increased possibility of household defaults on their debts, data showed Sunday.Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and other major global IBs expect the uptrend in South Korean banks’ loan delinquency rate, which started during the second half of last year, to gain further ground this year, according to data by the Korea Center for International Finance.The overall delinquency rat

Jan. 15, 2012

Ford Europe wants to brave weak market with new models

Ford of Europe wants to defy tough market conditions created by the euro zone crisis. The carmaker plans to introduce a series of new models in Europe this year, German Ford head Bernhard Mattes told the German Press Agency dpa.The models will include a new Mondeo, an electric Focus, a new Transit and the next generation of Cougars, Mattes said in an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.“We are optimistic that this series of impulses will give us strong competitive

MobilityJan. 15, 2012

BMW recalls Mini Coopers in U.S.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is recalling 88,911 Mini Cooper cars because of a defect that has caused fires, the U.S. auto-safety regulator said.The circuit board on the electric auxiliary water pumps that cool the cars’ turbochargers can malfunction, overheat and cause fires, BMW said today in a posting on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.In October, the agency opened an investigation into Minis after reports of 12 engine fires, including five that destroyed the

MobilityJan. 15, 2012

Korean economy faces rough going in Q1

South Korea's economic growth rate is feared to stagnate or lapse into negative territory in the first half of 2012 on escalating global economic uncertainties that could make a significant dent in the export-focused economy, analysts warned Sunday.The warning came a day after global credit ratings

Jan. 15, 2012

Doomed Russia Mars probe eyes fiery crash

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia's space agency on Sunday called off all predictions of the likely crash site of its ill-fated Mars probe only hours before the 13.5-tonne spacecraft was due to begin its fatal descent.Roscosmos said on its website that fragments of the stranded Phobos-Grunt voyager would probab

TechnologyJan. 15, 2012

Gov’t says impact from European credit downgrade will be limited

The Seoul government on Saturday said the impact from the credit downgrade of European countries will likely be limited, saying the country and its markets have long prepared for the worst."The credit downgrades have long been anticipated, and both the markets and the government have been preparing

Jan. 14, 2012

S&P cuts credit ratings for France, Italy, Spain

PARIS (AP) _ Standard & Poor's swept the debt-ridden European continent with punishing credit downgrades Friday, stripping France of its coveted AAA status and dropping Italy even lower. Germany retained its top-notch rating, but Portugal's debt was consigned to junk.In all, S&P, which took away the

Jan. 14, 2012

Hyundai Motor eyes domestic sales of 700,000 cars

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker, said Friday that it is targeting to sell 700,000 vehicles in the domestic market this year, up 2.4 percent from 2011.Hyundai Motor, which sold 683,570 units locally last year, said competition in the domestic market is exp

IndustryJan. 13, 2012

China OKs KIC’s investment plan

Korea’s sovereign wealth fund has received qualified investor status from China, opening the door for investment in its stock markets, the Finance Ministry said Friday.Korea Investment Corp. received the status of “qualified foreign institutional investor” from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to the ministry.Under the Chinese law, a foreign investor should obtain the QFII status to directly invest in its mainland stock markets. The approval comes more than a year after KIC

Jan. 13, 2012

NCsoft expects China gains

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― NCsoft Corp., a leading online game developer in Korea, will likely see progress in its China business this year thanks to the expected relaunch of its two best-selling online games in China, JP Morgan said Friday.NCsoft is an online gaming company with a focus on the massively multiplayer online role-playing game genre. Its three key MMORPG games, Lineage, Lineage II and Aion account for more than 90 percent of the company’s total revenue. The likely relaunch of Lineag

IndustryJan. 13, 2012