S. Korea's consumer price growth hits 5-month high in July

South Korea's consumer prices grew at the fastest pace in five months in July due to the on-year gain in oil prices, but they ran below the central bank's inflation target band, a government report showed Thursday.The country's consumer prices index rose 1.4 percent in July from a year earlier, picking up from a 1 percent on-year gain in June, according to the report by Statistics Korea.The July data marked the fastest on-year growth since February when the index rose an identical 1.4 percent on

Aug. 1, 2013

DSME to build W520b battleship for Thai navy

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering closed in on winning a battleship order from Thailand, further consolidating its leading position in the world defense market.The Thai government on Tuesday approved the navy’s decision to order a 520 billion won ($463.7 million) frigate from the Korean shipbuilder, according to news reports on Wednesday.DSME is currently the sole preferred bidder for the deal and is highly expected to sign the final contract as early as August, officials said.The 3,700-t

July 31, 2013

Korea outruns Japan in Peru, thanks to FTA

The Korea-Peru Free Trade Agreement turned out to have significantly boosted Korea’s exports to the South American state, as well as its relative share in the local import market.Over the past two years, since the FTA effectuation, Korea’s exports to Peru increased by 11.6 percent, whereas the nation’s general export growth rate was 2.2 percent, the Institute for International Trade said through a report on Wednesday.The total trade volume between the two countries, too, rose by 7.5 percent to $

July 31, 2013

Broadway's 'Spider-Man' musical seeks a new hero

The hit Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” is losing its longtime superhero but producers are holding open casting calls for anyone who wants to don the red and blue suit.Reeve Carney, who has been playing the musical's title character and his alter ego Peter Parker since the show began previews in late 2010, will leave Sept. 15 and two casting calls will be held next month to find his replacement, as well as a future actress to play Mary Jane.The casting calls will be in New York

July 31, 2013

Korea's current account surplus hits record high in H1

South Korea's current account surplus narrowed in June from the previous month on smaller exports, but its combined surplus hit a record high in the first half, the central bank said Tuesday.   The current account surplus reached US$7.24 billion in June, down from a record surplus of $8.64 billion the previous month,according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is thebroadest measure of cross-border trade.   The smaller surplus in June mainly came as exports of display panels, steel

July 30, 2013

S. Korea's industrial output grows 0.4 pct on-month in June

South Korea's industrial output grew slightly in June from a month earlier despite tough economic conditions at home and abroad, a government report showed Tuesday.   According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries expanded 0.4 percent last month from a month earlier.   The expansion marked a turnaround from the 0.1-percent on-month contraction the previous month.   The June output, however, still shrank 2.6 percent compared wi

July 30, 2013

Police certificate to be mandatory in traffic accidents

Traffic accident victims may in the future have to report all damage to the police for insurance coverage, no matter how minor it is.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Monday that it was working on revising the traffic law to obligate policyholders to submit a police certificate before making their insurance claim.Under the current law, no report is necessary as long as the resulting injuries are light and both parties reach an agreement on compensation.“Cases of insuranc

July 29, 2013

Uncertainty grows over fallout from advanced economies' QE: BOK head

South Korea's top central banker said Monday the global economy faces growing uncertainty over the fallout from advanced economies' unconventional monetary policy.Advanced economies, led by the U.S., have adopted an unorthodox monetary policy dubbed quantitative easing (QE) in a bid to prop up their economies in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.Ample liquidity unleashed by such accommodative policy has been flowing into emerging markets, raising risks of asset bubbles and appreciatin

July 29, 2013

Overseas energy projects boost big firms

Top conglomerates made considerable profits in overseas natural resource development last year, in clear contrast to public corporations that recorded huge deficits.The 84 overseas resource development branches of the country’s top 10 conglomerates achieved 3.5 trillion won ($3.1 billion) in sales and 322.6 billion won in net profit last year, according to Chaebul.com, a website tracking the nation’s family-run conglomerates.Their net profit rate per sales reached 9.3 percent, higher than the ge

July 28, 2013

U.S. panel to visit Korea for Asiana crash probe

Officials of the United States’ National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Seoul on Sunday to investigate the crash-landing of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in San Francisco earlier this month that killed three and injured over 180 others.The fact-finding commission will carry out an inspection at Asiana Airlines headquarters, starting from this Monday until August 7, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Sunday.The joint committee is to consist of NTSB officials,

July 28, 2013

Seoul shares expected to rise on eased Q2 earnings woe

   South Korean stocks are expected to trade higher next week on abated concerns over the listed firms' second-quarter earnings, analysts said Saturday.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,910.81 points on Friday, up 2.2 percent from the previous week.   Earlier this week, Seoul shares gathered ground as the pledge by financial leaders of the Group of 20 to support growth boosted investor sentiment.   Market watchers earlier expected that local stock market will

July 27, 2013

S. Korea's consumer sentiment stays above par for 7th month in July

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of computer memory chips and smartphones, said Friday that its second-quarter profit spiked 49.6 percent from a year earlier, buoyed by robust shipments of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones and higher chip prices.Net profit came to 7.77 trillion won ($6.96 billion) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 5.19 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Revenue soared 20.7 percent on-year to 57.46 trillion won in

July 26, 2013

BOK head says Korea weathers impacts of yen's slide well

South Korea's top central banker said Friday that the country is seen as overcoming the negative impacts of the yen's weakness on the local economy, but weak domestic demand still remains a concern."It seems that (Korea) has weathered well the impacts of the yen's slide (as the second-quarter growth data shows)," Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo said before holding a monthly meeting with heads of local banks.The BOK said Thursday that the South Korean economy grew 1.1 percent on-quarter i

July 26, 2013

S. Korea extends anti-dumping duties on Japanese, Indian steel bar imports

South Korea's trade commission said Thursday that it has decided to recommend a three-year extension of anti-dumping duties on imports of stainless steel bars from Japan, India and Spain.Under the latest extension, Japanese and Spanish products will be subject to an anti-dumping tariff of 15.39 percent with those from India subject to tariffs ranging from 2.76 percent to 15.39 percent, according to the Korea Trade Commission.South Korea has been imposing anti-dumping tariffs, ranging from 3.33 p

July 25, 2013

Korea to support M&As to acquire foreign talent in key business areas

The government plans to provide financial support to Korean companies seeking to take over overseas firms in the plant design and engineering, embedded software and system-on-chip businesses.The government is promoting the scheme to rapidly cultivate talent in those areas with high-value technologies.“The Industry Ministry is in discussion with K-Sure, the nation’s official export credit agency, to develop a plan to support partial loss incurred during the M&As,” said a ministry official.“The M&

July 24, 2013