The Korea Herald

Seoul’s Myeong-dong becoming boon for cosmetics industry

According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, sales of three major department stores declined 4.1 percent from the previous year in January. South Korea’s economy is likely to grow at a pace of 2.8 percent in 2013. The nation’s consumer prices have risen at a slower pace and will reach 2.5 percent this year. Private consumption will continue to remain slow due to rising household debt. The growth of the country’s retail industry will be lower than the inflation rate due to the economic downtur

April 23, 2013

Seoul’s Myeong-dong becoming boon for cosmetics industry

Make banking personal again

How often do you visit a bank branch? Or speak to someone from your bank on the phone? Chances are, not very often. Banking is migrating to digital channels, which raises the question of what’s going to happen to the personal relationship between banks and their customers. In an increasingly digitized world, how do we keep the “personal” in personal banking?Arguably, banks have some catching up to do. At the heart of it all, banks need to think experiences, not channels. They need to become fund

April 23, 2013

Seoul shares fall 0.4 pct on weak yen

South Korean stocks closed 0.4 percent lower Tuesday as foreigners became net sellers of local shares amid the weak yen, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 7.68 points to finish at 1,918.63. Trading volume was low at 253 million shares worth 3.4 trillion won (US$3.08 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 478 to 316. "The local stock market lost steam as the Japanese currency is anticipated to tra

April 23, 2013

Seoul shares down 0.65 pct in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks traded 0.65 percent lower late Tuesday morning, led by losses in techs and autos, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 12.49 points to 1,913.82 as of 11:20 a.m. Tech heavyweights lost ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 1.06 percent, and top chipmaker SK hynix losing 0.69 percent. Leading flat panel manufacturer LG Display decreased 1.31 percent. Carmakers also traded lower, with Hyundai Motor falling 0.27

April 23, 2013

Seoul shares open lower on blue-chip losses

South Korean stocks opened lower on Tuesday due mainly to losses in large-cap shares of techs and builders, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.09 points, or 0.21 percent, to 1922.22 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech blue chips led the decline, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.73 percent and its smaller local rival LG Electronics losing 0.22 percent. Samsung Techwin, a defense machinery firm, shed 0.15 percent.Builders also traded

April 23, 2013

NTS to expand investigations into offshore tax evaders

National Tax Service Commissioner Kim Duk-joong said Monday that the tax agency will expand its investigations into companies or the wealthy suspected of holding offshore accounts and purposefully not making disclosures for tax payments.Also, the tax agency will target those who have avoided regular filings of their gift and inheritance taxes after transferring their assets or operational ownerships to next of kin or business subsidiaries.The NTS will maximize the use of the financial regulators

April 22, 2013

NTS to expand investigations into offshore tax evaders

G20 approval of weaker yen to impact Korea

The tacit endorsement of Japan’s monetary easing by finance chiefs of the Group of 20 is expected to further make Japan’s exchange rates to the dollar competitively higher, while adversely affecting Korea’s won and exports, analysts said Monday.The G20 finance ministers did not directly criticize Japan’s easy-money policy that has recently boosted the pace of Japan’s yen depreciation through the central bank’s bond-buying scheme, in line with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to revive its econom

April 22, 2013

Credit delinquents start to apply for rescue fund

Financial authorities on Monday started to take preliminary applications for the “National Happiness Fund” recently set up to rescue individual credit defaulters.While the preliminary application process will continue until April 30, the authorities will screen applicants between May and October, said the Financial Services Commission. Eligible applicants should be in arrears for at least 180 weekdays and their debt should not exceed 100 million won ($88,500).Debtors are allowed to submit applic

April 22, 2013

Credit delinquents start to apply for rescue fund

Korean firms hoard W2tr in tax havens

Korean enterprises remitted about 2 trillion won ($1.6 billion) to tax havens such as Ireland, Luxembourg and Delaware state in the U.S. last year, data from the Bank of Korea showed Monday.A BOK official noted that the nation’s 30 major business groups including Samsung operate a combined 250 subsidiaries in tax havens.Several of the overseas units in such areas providing tax benefits are reportedly known as bogus firms with no business activities, allegedly established to raise offshore fundin

April 22, 2013

Hyundai overtakes GM Holden in Australian car market

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, has overtaken GM Holden Ltd., the Australian unit of General Motors, in sales of cars in Australia for the first time in March, industry data showed Monday.Hyundai Motor maintained fourth place in sales of cars in Australia by selling a total of 8,402 units in March, up 7.6 percent from a year ago. Sales of Hyundai’s Tucson ix35 sports utility vehicle reached 1,529 in March, up 83 percent from a year ago.GM Holden trailed behind Hyundai by sell

April 22, 2013

Seoul shares gain 1.03 pct on bargain hunting

South Korean stocks closed 1.03 percent higher Monday as investors scooped up shares on bargain hunting, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 19.56 points to finish at 1,926.31. Trading volume was low at 254.9 million shares worth 3.6 trillion won (US$3.25 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 521 to 283. "The market gain came as investors scooped up undervalued shares despite the listed firms' w

April 22, 2013

Seoul shares up 0.14 pct in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks traded 0.14 percent higher late Monday morning, led by gains in techs and mobile carriers, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.64 points to 1,909.39 as of 11:20 a.m. Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics edged up 0.07 percent, an top chipmaker SK hynix added 0.35 percent. Leading flat panel manufacturer LG Display advanced 1.17 percent. Mobile carriers also gathered ground, with No. 1 SK Telecom rising 1.33 percent and KT moving u

April 22, 2013

Seoul shares open higher on U.S. gains

South Korean stocks opened higher on Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street in the previous trading session on investors' bargain hunting, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 7.37 points, or 0.39 percent, to 1914.12 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics adding 0.81 percent and its smaller local rival LG Electronics rising 0.91 percent. Leading auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis ad

April 22, 2013

Savings bank victims file W900m lawsuit against KDIC

Bond owners who were victimized in the 2011-12 savings bank woes filed a group lawsuit against state-controlled Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. over the weekend, the Korea Finance Consumer Federation said Sunday. A total of 573 suitors submitted a class action suit against Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. to the Seoul Administrative Court, claiming severe loss on transaction-frozen deposits in the wake of the savings bank fiasco.Out of the lost 20 billion won, suitors claimed about 900 million won ($

April 21, 2013

Minister urges big companies to help with economic democratization

Korea’s Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that large Korean companies need to run their businesses in line with the incumbent administration’s economic democratization policy.Hyun, who is also the deputy prime minister, told reporters after the Group of 20 meeting of finance leaders in Washington, D.C., on Saturday that companies that devised their management and operation plans without considering economic democratization are headed in the wrong direction.He added that companies should accept

April 21, 2013

Minister urges big companies to help with economic democratization

KDB Daewoo Securities under regulatory probe

The Financial Supervisory Service will conduct a regulatory inquiry into KDB Daewoo Securities, a brokerage unit of the state-controlled KDB Financial Group, for the next three weeks.The financial regulator said it has dispatched about 20 inspectors to the Yeouido, Seoul, headquarters of KDB Daewoo Securities, which holds the No. 1 position in Korea’s securities market.This marks the first time in about three years for the brokerage house to be subject to a sector-wide probe by the FSS.A key reg

April 21, 2013

Seoul shares likely to move in tight range next week

South Korean stocks are expected to move in a narrow range in the coming week amid concerns on poor quarterly earnings and the global economic slowdown, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed on Friday at 1,906.75, down 0.88 percent, or 17.48 points, from one week ago. Analysts anticipate that the benchmark index may move around the 1,900 level next week. They said investor sentiment could be weighed down by concerns on quarterly earnings of So

April 21, 2013

Seoul shares likely to move in tight range next week

South Korean stocks are expected to move in a narrow range in the coming week amid concerns on poor quarterly earnings and the global economic slowdown, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed on Friday at 1,906.75, down 0.88 percent, or 17.48 points, from one week ago. Analysts anticipate that the benchmark index may move around the 1,900 level next week. They said investor sentiment could be weighed down by concerns on quarterly earnings of

April 20, 2013

Finance chief says yen bigger issue than N.K.

South Korean Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said Japan’s weakening yen is hurting his country’s economy more than North Korean threats, an example of a “spillover” that merits discussion. “Japan’s economic policies are doing their part to help the world economy recover,” Hyun said Wednesday in an interview in Washington before a meeting of Group of 20 finance chiefs. “But if this causes problems, and then the problems cause new responses from partnering nations, for example a currency war, the wo

April 19, 2013

FSC vows early privatization of Woori Financial Group

Financial Services Commission chief Shin Je-yoon said the FSC will consider disclosing data on short selling positions after a case involving the largest KOSDAQ-listed firm stirred controversy over short selling.Shin also said he will “put (his) neck on the line” for the privatization of Woori Financial Group to take place early during the Park Geun-hye administration.Celltrion CEO Seo Jung-jin said Tuesday he will sell off his entire controlling stake in the nation’s largest biotech company on

April 19, 2013

FSC vows early privatization of Woori Financial Group