Daewoo E&C to resume its operations in Libya

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., a major South Korean shipbuilder, said Thursday that it will resume its operations in Libya following a suspension due to its civil war.The move came as the builder has successfully checked the facilities at a thermal power plant being built in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a former rebel stronghold during an uprising-turned-civil war last year that resulted in the killing of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.Daewoo E&C said its seven construction sites

Nov. 29, 2012

Shares soar 1.15% on U.S. budget hopes

South Korean stocks rallied 1.15 percent on Thursday as investor sentiment was lifted by hopes that U.S. politicians are inching closer to an agreement to avoid a budget crisis, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 22.07 points to 1,934.85. Trading volume was moderate at 382.2 million shares worth 4.77 trillion won ($4.4 billion), with gainers far outnumbering decliners 536 to 271.“The market has been reacting sen

Nov. 29, 2012

Samsung Electronics, partners discuss shared-growth plan

Samsung Electronics officials discussed next year’s shared-growth plan with its partners at Sungkyunkwan University’s Suwon campus on Thursday, the company said.High-ranking Samsung officials and about 450 first- and second-tier subsidiary firms of the tech giant assessed their business-to-business communication and difficulties in operation. “In this time of great challenge, calls for change and communication are key for strengthening corporate competitiveness,” Samsung Electronics’s co-prosper

Nov. 29, 2012

Seoul shares start higher on U.S. gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as investor sentiment got a boost from overnight gains on Wall Street following a brighter outlook on the U.S. fiscal cliff issue, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 14.22 points, or 0.74 percent, to trade at 1,927.00 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics increasing 0.28 percent, while leading carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.34 pe

Nov. 29, 2012

Business sentiment hits 4-year low

South Korea’s business sentiment for December hit its lowest level in nearly four years due to concerns over the persistent eurozone crisis, record high household debt and the U.S. fiscal cliff, a poll showed Wednesday.The monthly business survey index for December fell to 82, the lowest level since March 2009 when it stood at 76.1, according to the survey of the country’s 600 largest businesses by sales by the Federation of Korean Industries, the lobby for the country’s large businesses.The ind

Nov. 28, 2012

Korea logs current account surplus for 9th month

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the ninth straight month in October as exports gained ground, weathering the global slowdown and the local currency’s gain, the central bank said Wednesday.The current account surplus reached $5.82 billion in October, down from a revised $5.91 billion in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.In the first 10 months of this year, the cumulative current account surplus re

Nov. 28, 2012

SK Lubricants starts work on Spain plant

SK Lubricants Co., a unit of South Korea’s top refiner SK Innovation Co., said Wednesday that it has broken ground for a joint-venture plant for lube base oil in Spain in an effort to tap the global market.The plant will be built in Cartagena, a city in the southeastern coastal area of Spain, by the second half of 2014, and will have a daily capacity of 13,300 barrels of Group III lube base oil used for materials of high-grade lubes, SK Lubricants said in a statement. In order to build the plant

Nov. 28, 2012

Shares down on U.S. budget woes

South Korean stocks closed 0.65 percent lower on Wednesday as continued concerns on the U.S. fiscal cliff issue weighed on investor sentiment, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 12.42 points to 1,912.78. Trading volume was moderate at 403.5 million shares worth 3.85 trillion won ($3.55 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 523 to 270.“Lingering worries over a U.S. budget impasse offset positive factors su

Nov. 28, 2012

S. Korea, Paraguay agree to strengthen economic ties

South Korea and Paraguay have agreed to strengthen their economic cooperation, as they mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the foreign ministry here said Wednesday.Jang Keun-ho, head of the Latin American and Caribbean Bureau of Seoul's foreign ministry, and his Paraguayan counterpart Julio Cesar Arriola held a Joint Economic Commission, the fifth of its kind, in Seoul a day earlier, and discussed ways to strengthen ties on a wide range of issues of mutual concern, including trade, inv

Nov. 28, 2012

S. Korea logs current account surplus for 9th month in Oct.

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the ninth straight month in October as exports gained ground, weathering the global slowdown and the local currency's gain, the central bank said Wednesday.The current account surplus reached US$5.82 billion in October, down from a revised $5.91 billion in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.In the first 10 months of this year, the cumulative current account su

Nov. 28, 2012

Seoul shares start higher on Greek bailout settlement

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on the settlement of the Greece bailout deal, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 5.80 points, or 0.3 percent, to trade at 1,914.31 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech blue chips drove up the shares, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics increasing 0.71 percent, while LG Electronics gained 1.05 percent. Top steelmaker POSCO added 0.47 percent.Carmakers also traded higher, with No.1 player Hyundai Motor ris

Nov. 27, 2012

S. Korea's brand value ranks 9th worldwide: think tank

South Korea's brand value reached US$1.6 trillion this year, ranking ninth among 39 countries surveyed, a local think tank said Tuesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy has received good marks in the corporate field, thanks mainly to its strong exports and market share growth around the world, according to the state-run Institute of Industrial Policy Studies (IPS).Brand value covers both corporate and country-level recognition and products made in the country. It also calculates the level of social

Nov. 27, 2012

Samsung TV sweeps East European markets

South Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. retained its top position in the east European countries’ television market in the first nine months of the year, industry data showed Monday.Samsung claimed 35 percent of the region’s flat panel television market in the January-September period, with its market share reaching 35.1 percent for liquid crystal TVs and 38.7 percent for light-emitting diode TVs, according to market researcher GfK Group.The South Korean company was the top smart TV a

Nov. 26, 2012

Incheon Airport’s passenger count hits record high

The number of passengers traveling via Incheon International Airport reached an all-time annual high of 35.14 million this year, solidifying its status as one of the busiest airports in the world, its operator said Monday.Travelers using the nation’s main gateway, located west of Seoul, surpassed the previous year’s tally of 35.06 million people as of Sunday, according to airport officials.The airport is expected to register 38.9 million travelers by the end of the year, 5.9 million higher than

Nov. 26, 2012