Most Popular
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Seoul blanketed by heaviest Nov. snow, with more expected
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NewJeans to terminate contract with Ador
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NewJeans terminates contract with Ador, embarks on new journey
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Seoul snowfall now third heaviest on record
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Samsung shakes up management, commits to reviving chip business
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Korean Air gets European nod to become Northeast Asia’s largest airline
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Hybe consolidates chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s regime with leadership changes
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Heavy snow of up to 40 cm blankets Seoul for 2nd day
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How $70 funeral wreaths became symbol of protest in S. Korea
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Chaos unfolds as rare November snowstorm grips Korea for 2nd day
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Trade surplus narrows to $2b in Dec.
South Korea’s trade surplus shrank from a year earlier as exports dropped at a faster rate than imports, the government said Tuesday.The country’s trade surplus came to about $2.03 billion last month, compared with a $4.48-billion surplus in November and $3.8-billion surplus in October.The drop comes mainly from a large reduction in exports, which dropped 5.5 percent from that of December 2011 to some $45.1 billion. Imports shrank 5.3 percent on-year to $43.07 billion, according to the Ministry
Jan. 1, 2013
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Consumers in the smart era: Turning ‘complaints’ into ‘trust’
Starting with 8,063 in 1987, the number of consumer complaints registered with the Korea Consumer Agency has surged by 96-fold in the past 25 years. In particular, the figure increased from 309,545 in 2006 to 778,000 in 2011, a 2.5-fold increase that coincided with the introduction and explosive use of smartphones, social networking services, online sales channels, etc. The arrival of the smart era has fundamentally altered the scale, scope, speed and potential impact of consumer complaints. Thi
Jan. 1, 2013
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CEO educator to launch model entrepreneurship academy
Family-controlled South Korean conglomerates, better known as chaebol, still dominate the nation’s corporate world, but the number of venture firms has continued to grow despite the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2001. Over the past decade, some star start-ups, including Mirae Asset, Naver and NCSoft, have become big business groups and these successes have expanded the base of entrepreneurs. “To see more Steve Jobs-type innovative CEOs in Korea, I believe that it is more important to support ne
Jan. 1, 2013
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S. Korea's trade surplus narrows to $2 billion in Dec.
South Korea's trade surplus shrank from a year earlier as exports dropped at a faster rate than imports, the government said Tuesday.The country's trade surplus came to about US$2.03 billion last month, compared with a $4.48-billion surplus in November and $3.8-billion surplus in October.The drop comes mainly from a large reduction in exports, which dropped 5.5 percent from that of December 2011 to some $45.1 billion. Imports shrank 5.3 percent on-year to $43.07 billion, according to the Ministr
Jan. 1, 2013
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Overseas construction orders up 10% in 2012
Overseas orders clinched by South Korean builders rose almost 10 percent this year from the previous year, but they missed the government’s target of $70 billion, a report showed Sunday.Local builders won overseas orders worth $64.9 billion in 2012, up 9.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. But the volume was lower than the government-set target of $70 billion, it added.The government said that the eurozone debt crisis led local builde
Dec. 30, 2012
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Park to keep conglomerates in check
Following is the 10th in a series of articles on President-elect Park Geun-hye’s key policies. ― Ed. President-elect Park Geun-hye rubbed shoulders with the nation’s corporate sector last week, in a crucial meeting which many said was held in a tense atmosphere due to her economic democratization pledges.For the corporate world, especially the big-scale conglomerates, it is good news that Park will be the next president rather than her liberal rival Moon Jae-in, who pledged tighter reins on chae
Dec. 30, 2012
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Foreign firms spend less on charity, but more on environment, study says
Foreign-invested firms in Korea spend less money on the social contributions to the local community but spare more money on environment-friendly management, a study showed last week.According to joint research conducted by the Korea University Institute for Business Research & Education and the Korea Economic Daily, foreign-invested firms in Korea spent only one-quarter the amount Korean firms did for corporate social responsibility operations in 2011. The research is the first of its kind to ev
Dec. 30, 2012
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Daunting economic tasks await Park
Even with a new government poised to try guide the nation to clearer waters, the economy is seen as unlikely to pick up soon as global markets have yet to show signs of a rebound. “Our economy is still too dominated by exports, and recovery seems out of the picture for many of the countries around the world, so it’s hard to say that the economy will improve drastically in the New Year,” said Cho Young-moo, a senior research fellow at LG Economic Research Institute. The U.S. economy, still cloude
Dec. 30, 2012
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Korea's 2012 per-capita GDP estimated to stay almost flat
South Korea's per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to only marginally inch up in 2012 compared with the previous year due to the slowing economy, a report showed Sunday. Korea's per-capita GDP is estimated to reach $22,705 this year, up 1.3 percent from a year earlier, according to a report by Korea Investment & Securities Co. In calculating the figures, the full-year economic growth rate was estimated at 2.3 percent and the local currency was set at an average of 1,127.1 ag
Dec. 30, 2012
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Seoul shares to waver in choppy trading next week
South Korea's stock market will likely remain choppy with no clear direction next week amid mounting concerns over corporate earnings in the fourth quarter of this year, analysts said Saturday.Earnings estimates are expected to come down for the fourth-quarter, Park Jung-sup, an analyst at Daishin Securities.FnGuide Inc., a financial information provider, has said 114 major listed companies are forecast to report a combined operating profit of 30.4 trillion won (US$28 billion) for the October-De
Dec. 29, 2012
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Industrial output grows 2.9% on-year in Nov.
South Korea’s industrial output bounced back in November, raising expectations that industrial activities might be picking up, a government report showed Friday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries gained 2.9 percent last month from a year earlier, turning around from the previous month’s 0.8 percent on-year contraction. The output also grew 2.3 percent on-month, marking the third straight month of expansion. The ser
Dec. 28, 2012
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Banks’ lending rates fall to new record low
South Korean banks’ lending rates fell to a fresh record low in November as market interest rates declined amid the central bank’s monetary easing, the Bank of Korea said Friday.The average rate for banks’ new loans to households and firms stood at 4.94 percent last month, down 0.04 percentage point from the previous month, according to the BOK.The November data marked the lowest level since 1996 when the central bank began to compile related data.The BOK lowered the key interest rates in July a
Dec. 28, 2012
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STX’s European unit wins cruise ship order
South Korea’s shipbuilding and shipping conglomerate STX Group said Friday that its European unit has clinched a deal to build a cruise ship.Under the deal with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the world’s second-largest cruise operator, STX France will build the cruise ship by mid-2016, the group said. The deal includes an option to build another cruise ship.The group did not reveal the financial terms for the deal, but market watchers estimate the price per vessel will be less than the previous t
Dec. 28, 2012
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Korea seeks equity in Mideast
A government-backed private equity fund to invest in overseas plant-building projects, led by South Korean companies, will invite major sovereign funds in the Middle East as investors.The fund, created by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, selected Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets as the fund operator on Thursday and will start courting investors during the first half of next year. “The plant fund, the first of its kind, plans to attract $500 million not only from local investors but als
Dec. 28, 2012
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2012 key stock index rises 9.4%
The KOSPI climbed 0.49 percent on Friday to close at 1,997.05 points on the last trading day of 2012.The Korean won also gained, with the dollar ending at 1,070.6 won, down from 1,072.2 won on the previous day. The won appreciated 7.86 percent to the greenback this year, up from 1,151.8 won per dollar at market close on the last trading day of 2011.Buoyed by advanced economies’ quantitative easing and international agencies’ upgrade of Korea’s credit rating, the won’s appreciation accelerated, p
Dec. 28, 2012
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Korea posts record current account surplus in Nov.
South Korea posted a record current account surplus for November as exports gained ground, the central bank said Friday, giving support to the already-strong local currency to the U.S. dollar.The current account surplus reached $6.88 billion in November, up from a revised $5.78 billion in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The November surplus marked the 10th straight month of a surplus run, making the accumulativ
Dec. 28, 2012
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Trade Minister Bark runs for WTO director-general
Trade Minister Bark Tae-ho will sign up as a candidate for director-general of the World Trade Organization, the ministry said Friday.“The government has decided that Trade Minister Bark Tae-ho will run for WTO director-general to be elected by late May next year. His candidacy will be registered through the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the U.N. Secretariat and International Organizations in Geneva,” the ministry said in a statement.Incumbent WTO director-general Pascal Lamy’s t
Dec. 28, 2012
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Daelim wins $155 order from Philippines
South Korean builder Daelim Industrial Co. said Friday that it has won a $155 million order to build a coal power plant in the Philippines.Under the contract with San Ramon Power Inc. on Thursday, Daelim Industrial will complete the project 35 months after work begins, the local builder said in a regulatory filing.The plant to be built in Mindanao, Philippines’ second-largest and easternmost island, will be able to generate 100 megawatts of electricity, Daelim Industrial said. (Yonhap News)
Dec. 28, 2012
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Seoul shares open higher on builders, logistics
South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Friday on gains in logistics and construction heavyweights, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 1.47 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1988.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Logistics shares gathered ground, with Hyundai Glovis increasing 0.68 percent, while CJ Korea Express climbed 1.47 percent. Korean Air, South Korea's top flight carrier, added 0.22 percent.Construction firms also traded higher, with No. 1 bui
Dec. 28, 2012
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S. Korea's industrial output grows 2.9 pct on-year in Nov.
South Korea's industrial output bounced back in November, raising expectations that industrial activities might be picking up, a government report showed Friday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries gained 2.9 percent last month from a year earlier, turning around from the previous month's 0.8 percent on-year contraction. The output also grew 2.3 percent on-month, marking the third straight month of expansion. The ser
Dec. 28, 2012
