Growth momentum likely to slow down across manufacturing sector

IT products, automobiles expected to see moderate growth despite continued global economic slumpKorea’s major industries have a bleak outlook for next year, with the exception of semiconductors, general machinery and display panels, thanks to a delayed recovery of the global economy.A slump in demand from advanced economies, Korean manufacturers’ key markets, will slacken export growth of IT products such as mobile phones and television sets, and pull down prices, market watchers said.Automakers

IndustryDec. 30, 2011

Korea’s economy faces challenges in 2012

Eurozone woes, concerns on slower export growth, stronger Korean won likely to affect financial marketsEvery year has a theme, in retrospect, that helps explain what dominated the country’s economy. In 2011, the eurozone debt crisis was the undisputed prime culprit in putting a dampener on the Korean economy. As the country rings in the new year, hopes are ripe that things will be different; unfortunately, the theme of 2012 might be dishearteningly familiar as the eurozone’s problems are expecte

Dec. 30, 2011

Damages from social commerce surge

Damages from social commerce rose sharply from three cases in 2010 to 633 cases in 2011, the Korea Consumer Agency said Friday, as visitors to the online discount shopping sites more than doubled over the past year.Ninety-five cases were reported against Eoulim Communications which runs a social commerce site named Best Place. Eighty-eight cases were filed against Groupon, followed by 66 against Ticket Monster, 60 against Namu Internet’s We Make Price, 57 against Moongssa.com, 53 against Forward

IndustryDec. 30, 2011

Korea to open new stock market for small firms

Korea’s financial watchdog unveiled on Friday a set of new initiatives that include the establishment of a third stock market for small companies in 2012, heralding a new phase for the country’s direct funding mechanism.In its 2012 policy report, the Financial Services Commission said the envisioned stock market will be dedicated to small and medium enterprises so that they can secure fresh funds for new investments. Korea runs two stock markets. The main bourse, KOSPI, is made up of blue-chip c

Dec. 30, 2011

Korea to post fiscal deficit despite trade surge

The government logged a cumulative fiscal surplus of 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in the January-October period in 2011, but predicted the account will post a deficit in the year-end fiscal settlement, the Finance Ministry said Friday.The cumulative surplus for the first 10 months in 2011 is up 12 trillion won from same time last year. The government logged a 9.9 trillion won deficit during the same time in 2010. “The surplus increase in October was largely because of the temporary increase in

Dec. 30, 2011

Google top US Web destination in 2011: Nielsen

Google was the most-visited Web destination in the United States in 2011, followed by Facebook and Yahoo!, industry tracker Nielsen said Thursday.Google received an average of 153.4 million unique US visitors a month from home and work computers, according to Nielsen.Facebook notched up 137.6 millio

TechnologyDec. 30, 2011

KCC seeks to revise law on online identification, personal information

The Korea Communications Commission said Thursday that it will consider putting a stop to the system that checks Internet users’ private information and also prohibit the collection of resident registration numbers online. In a briefing on next year’s policies to President Lee Myung-bak, the state media and telecom regulator said it will revise the information and communications network law step-by-step until 2014 to prevent the collection and use of resident registration numbers online.Beginnin

Dec. 29, 2011

102-year-old woman undergoes colectomy

Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital announced on Monday that professor Kim Jun-ki successfully conducted a colectomy on a 102-year-old woman, possibly the oldest patient here to undergo the surgery.The woman, identified by her family name Moon, was diagnosed with two kinds of intestine cancer earlier this year. She received laparascopic surgery to remove tumors on the rectum and colon. Four days after the surgery, her recovery was significant, her doctors said. This is the first time a simultaneous tumor

TechnologyDec. 29, 2011

Medical fees fixed for seven treatments

As early as this summer, medical fees for treatment of seven diseases will be fixed and covered by the national health insurance scheme, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday.The seven treatments are cataract surgery, hemorrhoids treatment, tonsil removal, caesarian section, hysterectomy, appendectomy and herniotomy. The program will be applied to local clinics and small hospitals from as early as July next year and extended to general hospitals or top-tier teaching hospitals by July 20

TechnologyDec. 29, 2011

Outbound travelers to hit three-year high

The number of South Korean travelers going overseas is expected to hit a three-year high in 2011 on the back of the rising availability of cheap tour packages and leisure time, government data showed Thursday.A total of 11.97 million South Koreans left the country over the January-November period, up 1.8 percent from the same period last year, according to the data released by the Ministry of Justice.Leading local travel agency Hanatour Service Inc. predicted that the tally will reach 13 million

Dec. 29, 2011

Industrial output grows 5.6% in Nov.

South Korea‘s industrial output growth slowed in November, stoking worries that the nation’s economy is losing steam due to rising global uncertainties, a government report showed Thursday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining and manufacturing industries expanded 5.6 percent last month from a year earlier, slowing from a 6.3 percent advance in October.Industrial output also fell 0.4 percent on-month in November, marking the second straight month of contraction. I

Dec. 29, 2011