GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., reached a tentative wage deal with its union after days of partial strikes, a company official said Wednesday.The agreement calls for a hike of 92,000 won ($82) in basic salaries and 10 million won in a lump-sum incentive payment and performance-related bonus, said GM Korea spokesman Kim Byeong-soo.Kim said some 14,000 unionized workers are set to vote on the tentative agreement on Thursday and Friday, adding the deal coul

July 24, 2013

South Korea's plastic card spending maintained a stagnant growth in June as card holders continued to hold back their purchasing amid the economic slowdown, a trade association said Tuesday.Purchases made with plastic cards totaled 44.5 trillion won (US$39.7 billion) last month, up 4.1 percent from 42.7 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Credit Finance Association (CREFIA).The country's card spending growth sank to an all-time low in February, growing 3.4 percent o

July 23, 2013

The government said Monday it will finalize its stance on when and how to lower the acquisition tax rates for home purchases by the end of August as part of efforts to stimulate the prolonged slump in the local property market."Consultation is under way among ministries and agencies on the premise that the government will lower the acquisition tax rates in order to normalize the housing market," the finance ministry said in a press release jointly unveiled by the land and transportation ministry

July 22, 2013

The high popularity of South Korean pop culture has helped the country earn more money in its intellectual property rights (IPR) from abroad last year from a year ago, data showed Sunday.   According to data by the Bank of Korea, South Korean companies associated with Korean pop culture earned US$800 million in royalties from IPRs overseas in 2012, up 17.6 percent or $120 million from $680 million in the previous year.   The figure represented 23.3 percent of South Korea's overall IPR income fro

July 21, 2013

The popularity of foreign bottled water appears to be waning in South Korea, apparently affected by the protracted economic slump, industry data released on Sunday indicated.  According to local retailers, their sales of imported bottled water began to decline last year and have experienced a two-digit fall this year.   Market leader E-Mart said its sales of foreign bottled water sank 9.3 percent in the first half, with the monthly decrease rate standing at 4.8 percent in January, 9.1 percent in

July 21, 2013

The number of South Korea's overseas tourists topped 7 million in the first half for the first time, official data showed Sunday.The Korea Tourism Organization said a record 7.23 million South Korean residents traveled overseas in the January-June period, up 9.6 percent from 6.59 million a year earlier.The state-run organization explained that a growing leisure boom among locals has contributed to the rapid increase in overseas departures.Notably, the number of South Korean visitors to Japan jum

July 21, 2013

All passengers will be required to wear seat belts at all times starting in 2015, the government said Friday, as part of measures aimed at improving the country’s road safety.Currently, only drivers and front seat passengers are required to wear seat belts with back seat passengers only required to fasten safety belts when on expressways.Starting from 2015, all passengers will be required to wear their seat belts on any type of road, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a p

July 19, 2013

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― The commerce minister called on the country’s energy firms to actively take part in the global development of shale gas, a new and inexpensive source of energy that may reshape the global energy market once fully developed.“We must quickly set up a strategic plan to join the global efforts develop shale gas when considering the impact the development of shale gas in the North American region will have on our petrochemical firms,” Yoon Sang-jick, the minister of trade, indu

July 18, 2013

South Korea's producer prices declined for the ninth consecutive month in June, largely due to a drop in prices of agricultural and fishery products, the central bank said Wednesday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, edged down 1.4 percent in June from a year earlier, after dipping 2.6 percent on-year in May, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).On a yearly basis, the producer prices fell for the ninth straight month last month. In April, the index fell at the fa

July 17, 2013

POSCO Energy, the energy affiliate of POSCO, completed construction on a 5-megawatt expansion to its solar power plant in Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, Tuesday. The Sinan Solar Power Plant, now with a total capacity of 7 megawatts, was built on salt ponds that had been abandoned for years. It is expected to produce 9,300 megawatt-hours of electricity a year, which is enough to power 3,000 homes annually for the next 20 years, according to company officials. By 2014, the plant will reach a

July 16, 2013

Jeju Island is reflecting policymakers’ calls to revitalize the nation’s international education, including in the English language, according to a research report from the Korea Development Institute.There are three international schools for elementary, junior high and high schools students located in the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.Among them are Canada-based Branksome Hall Asia and U.K.-based North London Collegiate School Jeju, both of which are located in the southwestern part of J

July 16, 2013