Indicators point to continued slowdown

A total of seven out of 10 economic indicators were found to be manifesting slower growth as of October, with two of the indices on the decline, according to government figures. The seven included the business survey index and consumer survey index ― critical measures of future expectations that companies and consumers harbor toward future economic and business conditions.Indices measuring production and construction completed were shown to be sliding, with the only indicator on the rise being t

Nov. 12, 2012

FTA with Turkey unlikely to bring significant benefit to Korea: report

A free trade agreement with Turkey will not likely have significant benefits for the South Korean economy as its impact on growth, tax reduction and job creation might remain marginal, a report showed Monday.South Korea and Turkey had held four rounds of FTA negotiations since April 2010 and both announced the conclusion of their talks on trade of products in March.The two countries plan to conclude negotiations on the service and investment sectors as well within a year of implementing their de

Nov. 12, 2012

Seoul shares open lower on foreign selling

South Korean stocks opened lower on Monday as foreign investors and institutions offloaded local shares, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 5.27 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1899.14 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Big-cap tech firms led the decline, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 0.45 percent and flat panel giant LG Display sliding 1.13 percent. Top chipmaker SK hynix moved down 1.57 percent.Logistics shares also traded in negativ

Nov. 12, 2012

Over 70% of Korean firms back FTA with China

More than seven in 10 South Korean companies support a free trade agreement between China and South Korea, calling for the government to take proactive measures to minimize potential damage, a poll showed Sunday.The survey of 500 South Korean companies conducted by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry found that 71.3 percent of the respondents favored an FTA with China, with 28.7 percent opposing it. However, 84.8 percent of the companies polled said that the South Korean government shoul

Nov. 11, 2012

Number of nighttime entertainment spots falls

The number of room salons, night clubs and other entertainment spots in South Korea declined for a third straight year in 2011, affected by the prolonged economic slump, the country’s tax agency said Sunday.According to data by the National Tax Service, the number of people running such nighttime entertainment spots came to 6,548 last year nationwide, down 10.25 percent or 748 from a year earlier.This marked the third straight year of declines since 2009, when it stood at 7,491. The figures are

Nov. 11, 2012

SK launches global fund for overseas investment

SK Group, South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate, has set up a global fund to secure capital needed for the group’s overseas investment efforts, its officials said Sunday.The private equity fund named “SK KDB Global Investment Partnership” was formed in cooperation with the state-run Korea Development Bank and the National Pension Service, according to the officials.The fund size is about 500 billion won ($459.7 million), and SK Group expects that the amount could reach up to 1 trillion won in

Nov. 11, 2012

Shipbuilders turn to offshore building projects

The nation’s leading shipbuilders are shifting their focus to offshore plant building from traditional shipbuilding, which faced a sharp fall in orders throughout the year amid the prolonged economic recession in Europe. Hyundai Heavy Industries announced on Sunday it has built a production line on 202,000 square meters of land within the Onsan industrial complex in Ulsan to produce modules used to construct offshore plants. About 50,000 tons of large-sized modules for offshore plants will be pr

Nov. 11, 2012

Government to limit firms’ power use

The government plans to launch measures to cut power use this week to prevent a possible blackout during the winter.“It is inevitable that the government will launch a full-scale power-saving campaign, including limits on power usage of businesses, to cope with unprecedented serial shutdowns of nuclear power reactors,” said an official from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy on Sunday. Three nuclear reactors, each with a power generation capacity of 1,000 megawatts, stopped operations last week d

Nov. 11, 2012

S. Korea's trade balance in cultural and entertainment products posts surplus

South Korea's trade balance in music, movies, games and other entertainment products has posted a surplus so far this year, helped by the growing popularity of Korean culture, data showed Sunday.The trade surplus involving personal, cultural and entertainment products came to $37.3 million up until the third quarter, according to the data provided by financial information provider FnGuide and the Bank of Korea.This marked a turnaround from a deficit of $218.5 million tallied during the same peri

Nov. 11, 2012

S. Korea's producer price growth hits 3-month low in Oct.

South Korea's producer prices grew at their slowest on-year pace in three months in October due to eased growth of oil costs and the won's ascent, the central bank said Friday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, inched up 0.2 percent in October from a year earlier, slowing from a 1 percent on-year gain in September, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The October figure marked the slowest expansion since July, when producer prices fell 0.1 percent on-year.The in

Nov. 9, 2012

AmorePacific Q3 net rises 9.1 percent

AmorePacific Corp., South Korea’s leading cosmetics manufacturer, said Thursday its third-quarter earnings increased 9.1 percent from a year earlier on the back of increased sales.Net profit reached 69.6 billion won ($64 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 63.8 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 17.7 percent on-year to 733 billion won in the period and operating profit gained 18 percent to 90 billion won. In the first thre

Nov. 8, 2012

Korean biz bodies hail Obama’s reelection

South Korea’s major business organizations welcomed the reelection of U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday as they tried to gauge opportunities and challenges Obama’s second term could bring to local companies and their exports.The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it hopes that Seoul and Washington will strengthen their economic cooperation and that Obama’s firm leadership will improve conditions of South Korean exporters.The Federation of Korean Industries, the lobby for the cou

Nov. 8, 2012

Little change expected in Korea-U.S. economic ties

Korea and the United States were expected to undergo no drastic change in their economic relations after Barack Obama was reelected U.S. president, analysts in Seoul said Wednesday.Korea’s major economic think tanks forecast that U.S. President Obama’s reelection would help decrease uncertainties regarding his country’s economic policies. But they raised doubt over the outlook for the U.S. economy next year, which is a key factor for Korea’s continued economic growth. The U.S. is Korea’s second-

Nov. 7, 2012

LIG Insurance supports victims of Gumi toxic gas incident

LIG Insurance Co., a major local non-life insurance company, has donated funds it collected through ticket sales for a volleyball match to those affected by the leaked hydrofluoric acid incident in Gumi in October.LIG said the volleyball game was between Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance and NH Nonghyup and held at the Park Chung-hee Gymnasium in Gumi on Tuesday. The donation amount was not disclosed.Company officials said it organized the charity event in the hope of relieving the pains that pe

Nov. 7, 2012

Listed firms’ Q4 earnings expected to fare worse

South Korea’s listed companies are predicted to see their fourth-quarter earnings shrink from three months earlier due to the country’s weak exports amid the rising won, a research firm said Wednesday.According to FnGuide Inc., 114 major listed companies are forecast to report a combined operating profit of 30.4 trillion won ($27.9 billion) for the October-December period, down 4.9 percent from the third quarter.The gloomy earnings outlook comes as the prolonged appreciation of the local currenc

Nov. 7, 2012

Korea’s risk premium falls to pre-crisis levels: data

South Korea’s credit default risk has dropped to levels seen before the 2008 financial crisis erupted, mirroring its solid economic fundamentals, data showed Tuesday. The credit default swap premium on the country’s five-year Treasuries came to 65 basis points as of Nov. 2, the lowest in more than four years since the 64 basis points tallied in May 22, 2008, according to the Korea Center for International Finance. The spread on CDS reflects the cost of hedging credit risks on sovereign or corpor

Nov. 6, 2012

Hanjin, Hyundai face hurdles in bolstering finances

South Korea’s Hanjin and Hyundai groups are confronted with difficulties in their efforts to make their balance sheets cleaner amid controversy over the nature of perpetual bonds they are seeking to issue, industry sources said Tuesday.The controversy came after the country’s financial authority said it is problematic to recognize perpetual bonds as capital. The Korea Accounting Institute is set to decide a final position on the nature of such bonds on Thursday before conveying its decision to t

Nov. 6, 2012