Hyundai Motor inks 3-year Grammy Awards partnership

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea‘s largest carmaker, said Wednesday that it signed a three-year contract to support the U.S. Grammy Awards.Under the contract, Hyundai will be the exclusive vehicle partner for the prestigious award sponsored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in the music industry. The carmaker said that its vehicles will be used to ferry celebrities to the awards ceremony slated for February 2012.It will also play a role in the Gramm

MobilityNov. 23, 2011

Daewoo wins order from Saudi Arabia

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., South Korea’s fourth-largest builder, said Wednesday it has clinched a $330 million order to build a residential complex in western Saudi Arabia.Under the deal with the Kele Saudi Arabia Ltd., Daewoo Engineering will construct 360 residence units for 7,200 households in a new town at the coastal city of Jeddah.The construction is scheduled to be completed by February 2016, the builder said. The Saudi government is pushing for a $67 billion housing project t

IndustryNov. 23, 2011

Cargo handling at seaports up 9.6 pct in Oct.

The amount of cargo processed at South Korea’s seaports surged 9.6 percent last month from a year earlier on growing trade and cargo passing through the country, the government said Wednesday.The volume of cargo handled at the country’s seaports came to 112.89 million tons, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.The figure also marks a large gain from the 101 million tons processed in September.“The amount of import-export cargo is growing despite worsening global econ

Nov. 23, 2011

Korea global leader in manufacturing sector: think tank

South Korea is one of the global leaders in the manufacturing sector, bolstered by its competitiveness in autos and semiconductors, a local think tank said Wednesday.The Institute for International Trade (IIT) said in its latest annual report that as of 2010, South Korea was the seventh largest exporting nation in the world.It also said that the country was the fifth largest manufacturer of automobiles and No. 2 in the world in terms of semiconductor sales.The institute under the Korea Internati

Nov. 23, 2011

Korean economy relies heavily on advanced nations

South Korea’s dependence on major advanced economies such as the U.S. and Europe has deepened over the past decade, making its economy more vulnerable to global financial crises originating with the economic powers, a report said Wednesday.According to the report compiled by the Korea Center for International Finance, South Korea and the U.S. had a correlation coefficient of 0.76 in terms of economic growth in the 2000-2010 period. The comparable figure was 0.51 in the 1980s and plunged to minus

Nov. 23, 2011

KT gets green light to end 2G service

The Korea Communications Commission granted KT Corp. permission to end its feature phone service beginning on Dec. 8 on Wednesday.The state telecom regulator said KT will have two weeks to inform its existing 159,000 feature phone users by at least two different methods -- including mail -- that the

TechnologyNov. 23, 2011

BPA spikes 1,200 percent after eating canned soup: study

WASHINGTON, Nov 22, 2011 (AFP) - People who ate canned soup for five days straight saw their urinary levels of the chemical bisphenol A spike 1,200 percent compared to those who ate fresh soup, US researchers said on Tuesday.The randomized study, described as "one of the first to quantify BPA levels

TechnologyNov. 23, 2011

KORUS FTA a boon for auto, tech, textile shares

Shares of South Korean automakers, technology firms and textile companies are expected to benefit from the bilateral trade pact between South Korea and the United States, analysts said Wednesday.The projection comes a day after the National Assembly approved the long-pending free trade agreement (FT

IndustryNov. 23, 2011

Korea seeks to become Northeast Asian FTA hub

Following the implementation of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, about a third of the country’s international trade will involve countries with which Korea has entered into FTAs. While the figure has risen quite rapidly, it remains far below the global average.According to a report by the Korea International Trade Association’s Institute for International Trade, on average countries conduct 49.2 percent of trade with those with whom they have trade pacts.Current negotiations With the country

Nov. 22, 2011

Business groups welcome FTA passage as historic watershed

Business organizations on Tuesday hailed the parliamentary ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement as a major turning point in Korea’s economy and history of trade.Welcoming the FTA passage on behalf of some 70,000 exporters and importers, the Korea International Trade Association said the trade deal will “greatly help Korean businesses predominate the U.S. market and make Korean products more cost-competitive.” “(The FTA) will have a positive impact on creating jobs as exchanges bet

Nov. 22, 2011

Samsung in final talks for Google TV: president Yoon

 

TechnologyNov. 22, 2011

S. Korean firms in Brazil accused of worker abuse

CAMPINAS, Brazil (AFP) - South Korean companies are coming under fire in Brazil, South America's leading economy, for alleged abuse of their workers, amid an investigation by local labor prosecutors."I can't even comb my hair by myself now," said one former employee of South Korean electronics giant

IndustryNov. 22, 2011

Businesses hail parliamentary passage of U.S. FTA

South Korea's major business organizations on Tuesday welcomed the parliamentary ratification of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, saying it will usher in a new era for the country's trade and contribute to economic growth.Defying strong protests from opposition parties, lawmake

IndustryNov. 22, 2011

Air passenger traffic soars in Oct.

The country’s air passenger traffic inched up last month on the back of upbeat demand for international flights for holiday getaways, the government said Tuesday.The number of passengers on international routes shot up 6.4 percent in October compared with a year ago to 3.83 million. That set a fresh high for the month, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. All-time monthly high was recorded last August with 4.23 million.Domestic air passenger traffic also surged 5.5

IndustryNov. 22, 2011

Seoul shares up 0.34% despite U.S. debt talk failure

South Korean stocks closed 0.34 percent higher on Tuesday as hopes for seasonal shopping demand and positive U.S. economic data outweighed the fallout from failed U.S. debt-reduction talks, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.After a weak open, the benchmark KOSPI strengthened 6.25 points to 1,826.28. Trading volume was moderate at 261.4 million shares worth 3.82 trillion won ($3.33 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 443 to 368. “The impact of the U.S

Nov. 22, 2011

LSIS to build power substations in Iraq

LS Industrial Systems Co. said Tuesday it had won two contracts worth $115 million from the Iraqi government to install electrical substations in the Middle Eastern country’s capital.Under the deal, Korea’s top maker of electrical equipment will establish 35 medium-voltage substations in Baghdad within a year. It also plans to supply an additional four air-insulated switchgear substations, including transformers, for a separate order.The contracts come as part of the Middle Eastern country’s $37

IndustryNov. 22, 2011

KB, Shinhan to buy savings banks

Three of four major financial groups to own secondary banking unitKB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group are expected to take over major savings banks, as they won bidding competitions for the distressed sector.The state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday that it selected Shinhan Financial Group as the preferred bidder for Tomato Savings Bank, the No. 2 player in the secondary banking sector.KB Financial Group has been picked as the preferred negotiator for Jeil Savings Bank.

Nov. 22, 2011