A majority of Korean businesses believe their earnings will worsen this year due to the local currency’s ascent against the U.S. dollar, a poll showed Wednesday.According to the survey by the Federation of Korean Industries, 55.9 percent of respondents said the local currency will likely trade at a band of 1,000 won to 1,050 won to the greenback this year, up from the 2010 average of 1,156 won.The

May 25, 2011

Korean stocks finished 1.26 percent lower on Wednesday as foreigners extended their selling amid concerns over Europe’s debt risks, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.After starting higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slumped 25.89 points to 2,035.87. Trading volume was moderate at 341.8 million shares worth 6.84 trillion won ($6.2 billion), w

May 25, 2011

Korea should be alert against economic uncertainties at home and abroad, such as the eurozone debt crisis and household debt, as they will serve as downside risks to the growth path, experts said.The Korean economy has maintained its upward momentum, aided by sustained exports, but its growth path is fraught with a set of economic uncertainties, which warrant a close watch, experts said in a month

May 25, 2011

Korea plans to clamp down on stock market manipulation and trading on undisclosed information after $26 billion was wiped from the value of the nation’s listed companies in a matter of minutes last November.The Financial Services Commission is drafting revisions to capital-markets laws to increase penalties, said Ernst Lee, a spokesman at the regulator. The revisions, which will require approval b

May 25, 2011

Korea is moving to quicken a regulatory revision in a bid to launch the first local hedge fund within the year, an official at the financial regulator said.The Financial Services Commission had planned to submit a revision bill to the capital market law to parliament in July or August as part of its efforts to spur the creation of local hedge funds. Instead of rewriting the law, the FSC will seek

May 24, 2011

Korean stocks plunged 2.64 percent on Monday as foreign investors unleashed holdings on falling risk appetite, analysts said. The local currency dipped against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index plunged 55.79 points to 2,055.71. Trading volume was moderate at 289.8 million shares worth 6.24 trillion won ($5.7 billion), with losers far outnumbering gainers 691 to 146.“F

May 23, 2011

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, said Friday it has agreed to join Denmark’s efforts to promote clean energy cars in a move to tap the fast growing market for green vehicles in Europe.A memorandum of understanding (MOU) to that end was signed Wednesday in Denmark between the South Korean automaker and the city of Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, Hyundai Motor officials said.C

Mobility May 15, 2011

BOK freezes key rate at 3 % South Korea's central bank unexpectedly froze the key interest rate on Friday for the second straight month as economic uncertainty such as the eurozone debt crisis persists even in the face of inflation risks.   Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers held steady the benchmark seven-day repo rate, dubbed the base rate, at 3 percent for May. 

May 13, 2011

South Korea plans to considerably decelerate the growth in greenhouse gases emitted by the country’s farming sector as part of its broader efforts to help stem global warming, the government said Thursday.The plan also calls for increasing the country’s overall greenhouse gas absorption capabilities by around 6 percent over the next decade, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisherie

Industry May 12, 2011

Korea’s money supply grew at the weakest pace in nearly seven years in March as payments of corporate tax drained money circulation, the central bank said Thursday. The country’s M2, a narrow measure of its money supply, reached 1,677.5 trillion won ($1.55 billion) in March, marking a 4.3 percent increase from the figure posted a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. The March reading was

May 12, 2011

Korean banks’ home-backed loans grew by the largest amount in four months in April as the economic recovery spurred loan demand, the central bank said Thursday.Local banks’ mortgage loans reached an outstanding 292.3 trillion won ($269 billion) as of the end of April, up 2.4 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The April number jumped from a 2.1 trillion won on-mont

May 12, 2011

NAIROBI (Yonhap News) ― Samsung Electronics Co. aims to post $10 billion in revenue by 2015 in Sub-Saharan Africa with its consumer electronics and mobile products built for the market, the chief of the company’s African unit said Wednesday.Samsung has been stepping up efforts to make inroads into the African market, which has a population of 1 billion with a growing number of middle-class people,

May 12, 2011