Korea to redraft business regulations from scratch

The government is set to review and rewrite all of its business regulations from square one as a means to deregulate or remove burdensome rules to boost private investment in Korea, sources said Tuesday. The Office for Government Policy Coordination, part of the Prime Minister’s Office, will lead all related state agencies in the so-called “zero-based” process of evaluating more than 1,800 regulations and guidelines governing business investments.It will then draw up comprehensive measures aimed

June 11, 2013

Household loan growth picks up in April: BOK

Household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions grew at a faster pace in April than in the previous month on an increase in non-housing related loans, the central bank said Tuesday.Household lending handled by local banks and non-bank institutions totaled 656.5 trillion won ($580.8 billion) as of end-April, up 1.4 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The April gain picked up from a 600 billion won on-month gain in March and also marked the highest

June 11, 2013

Seoul lowers bar for job-creating foreign investors

The country is set to strengthen its overall requirements for benefits allowed to foreign-invested firms, but also beef up incentives for those that help create new jobs, the government said Tuesday.Starting Wednesday, only companies with a 30-percent or higher stake owned by foreign investors will be entitled to private contracts on the lease of land within free economic zones in the country, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Previously, any company with foreign ownership

June 11, 2013

FTC expands probe into bullying of SMEs

The Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday that it launched a full-fledged probe into 23 companies in a bid to reveal some of their headquarters’ alleged bullying of retail stores.The 23 firms belong to eight industry sectors ― automobile, dairy, liquor, cosmetics, beverages, bakeries, ice cream and ramen.While the antitrust regulator said it had been conducting written-based inquiries into the companies since June 3, it hinted that it would widen the scope of the probe by dispatching a group of ins

June 11, 2013

U.S. sanctions on Iran to deal blow to 2,300 Korean firms: officials

The Korean government on Tuesday issued a caution to the nation’s trading companies over possible financial damage from the U.S. government’s new sanctions against Iran.The alarm comes as the U.S.-led enhanced military and administrative sanctions against the Middle East country are due to take effect on July 1.Raising the alarm level for trading with the Muslim republic, Seoul said in a statement that “some 2,300 small and mid-sized enterprises are likely to severely be hit by the U.S. action.”

June 11, 2013

Minister Hyun vows to end low-growth trend

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said Tuesday that the government would push to end the nation’s long-standing period of low growth through various economic policies that had been already devised for implementation in the second half of this year.In a meeting with heads of social and economic research centers, Hyun said recovery momentum was still weak although Korea’s first-quarter growth of 0.8 percent was above expectations.Korea continues to face growing risks and unce

June 11, 2013

Shares down on weak Chinese data

South Korean stocks fell 0.62 percent Tuesday due to the weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 12.02 points to close at 1,920.68. Trading volume was low at 258.2 million shares worth 4.37 trillion won ($3.86 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 445 to 378.“Chemical firms and oil refiners traded lower as China’s economic data failed to meet the market expectation,” said Bae

June 11, 2013

FTC to tighten standards for fines on illegal activities

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that it will adopt stricter methods and standards that could drive up fines and other punishment for business practices hurting fair market principles.The Fair Trade Commission said that it has revised a “notice on detailed guidelines with regard to imposing fines.” The revised notice will go into effect next Monday.Under the new rules, the FTC is able to produce a point-based system with which it can measure the “extent of sev

June 11, 2013

Household loan growth picks up in April: BOK

Household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions grew at a faster pace in April than in the previous month on an increase in non-housing related loans, the central bank said Tuesday.Household lending handled by local banks and non-bank institutions totaled 656.5 trillion won ($580.8 billion) as of end-April, up 1.4 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The April gain picked up from a 600 billion won on-month gain in March and also marked the highest

June 11, 2013

Seoul lowers bar for job-creating foreign investors

The country is set to strengthen its overall requirements for benefits allowed to foreign-invested firms, but also beef up incentives for those that help create new jobs, the government said Tuesday.Starting Wednesday, only companies with a 30-percent or higher stake owned by foreign investors will be entitled to private contracts on the lease of land within free economic zones in the country, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Previously, any company with foreign ownership

June 11, 2013

Seoul shares down 0.82 pct in late-morning trade

 South Korean stocks traded 0.82 percent lower late Tuesday morning on losses in techs and insurers, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 15.77 points to 1,916.93 as of 11:20 a.m.   Tech shares traded bearish, with Samsung Electronics falling 2.25 percent and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a South Korean industrial parts maker, losing 1.63 percent.   Insurers also lost ground, with Samsung Life Insurance falling 1.83 percent and Samsung Fire & Marine Insuranc

June 11, 2013

Seoul shares open lower on weak yen

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors' sentiment was dented by the weak Japanese currency, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 9.43 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,923.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech blue chips traded lower, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 1.47 percent and its smaller domestic rival LG Electronics losing 0.26 percent. Top chipmaker SK hynix declined 0.31 percent.Brokerage houses also traded b

June 11, 2013

Finance Ministry seeks partial sale of IBK stake: officials

The Finance Ministry is considering selling some of its dominant stake in the Industrial Bank of Korea in an apparent bid to raise state funds for President Park Geun-hye’s policy agenda, government officials said Monday.While the ministry holds a 65.1 percent stake in IBK, it is seeking to dispose of about 15 percent and maintain its position as majority shareholder with a controlling stake of about 50.1 percent, according to officials.To attract investors, the state-funded IBK, in coordination

June 10, 2013

Seoul shares up 0.46 pct on U.S. hopes

South Korean stocks rose 0.46 percent Monday on the market outlook that the U.S. Federal Reserve may maintain its economic stimulus measures down the road, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 8.85 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 1,932.70. Trading volume was low at 268.1 million shares worth 3.67 trillion won (US$3.27 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 533 to 296.  "Seoul shares gathered ground o

June 10, 2013

Seoul shares up 0.25 pct in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks traded higher late Monday morning on gains in techs and retailers, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 4.89 points to 1,928.74 as of 11:20 a.m.   Tech shares traded bullish, with Samsung Electronics adding 0.28 percent, recouping losses made in the previous tradingsession. The market behemoth plunged 6.18 percent to 1,427,000 won, the lowest since Feb. 6 on Friday.   Retailers also traded higher, with Lotte Shopping rising 0.98 perc

June 10, 2013

Seoul shares open higher on U.S. hope

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday tracking gains on the Wall Street in the previous trading session, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 2.18 points, or 0.11 percent to 1,926.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shares gathered ground across the board, with No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor adding 0.48 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors advancing 0.17 percent. Top chipmaker SK hynix added 3.54 percent. U.S. stocks gained ground on Friday

June 10, 2013

Government likely to raise GDP outlook

The Finance Ministry is reportedly considering revising its outlook for 2013 GDP growth up from the current projection of 2.3 percent in reflection of possibly positive effects from the supplementary budget and a cut in the benchmark interest rate.While the ministry lowered the economic growth projection from 3 percent to 2.3 percent in March, government officials have worried that the state-led gloomy stance is hampering investor and consumer sentiment.“In late June, contemplating policy effect

June 9, 2013

Daewoo Shipbuilding to go up for sale

Financial authorities are poised to put the state-funded Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering up for auction, following their recent policy to privatize Woori Financial Group.To recoup taxpayers’ money injected into Daewoo Shipbuilding, the Financial Services Commission has launched a process to sell its 17.1 percent stake in the company, regulatory officials at the FSC said Sunday.According to officials, the FSC’s initial goal is to reduce the government’s shares in the shipbuilding giant b

June 9, 2013

Shares likely to rebound late this week

South Korean stocks are expected to gain ground late this week after moving sideways early in the week before the central banks of South Korea and Japan hold their respective rate-setting meetings, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed on Friday at 1,923.85, down 3.85 percent from 2,001.05 a week ago. Analysts said that if the Bank of Korea confirms its policy to boost up the ailing economy at its June rate-setting meeting slated for Thursday, the KOSPI will botto

June 9, 2013

Woori sale open to foreigners: FSC head

The sale of Woori Finance Holdings is open to foreign investors as well, Korea’s top financial regulator said Friday, amid the government’s stern move to wrap up the long-pending privatization of the country’s largest banking group.Shin Je-yoon, the chairman of the Financial Services Commission, stressed that there is “no discrimination against foreign banks” concerning the sale.“We’ll announce the plan (of Woori sale) at the end of this month, and (we) don’t have any intention to discriminate (

June 7, 2013