Korea will unveil its road map for the sale of a controlling stake in the second-biggest banking group Woori Finance Holdings Co. next week in a bid to restart its stalled privatization, the financial regulator said Wednesday.The Public Fund Oversight Committee, which handles the sale of state-owned firms, will announce on May 17 how to sell the 56.97 percent government stake in Woori Finance, the

May 11, 2011

Korea’s central bank is widely expected to resume its tightening move in May by raising the key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in a bid to stem inflationary pressure, a poll showed Wednesday.A total of 14 out of 17 economists forecast that the Bank of Korea will raise the benchmark seven-day repo rate to 3.25 percent on Friday, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the finan

May 11, 2011

S. Korea's jobless rate inches down to 3.7 pct in April   South Korea's jobless rate inched down in April from a year earlier as the private sector continued to expand recruitment, fueled by strong exports, a government report showed Wednesday.   The jobless rate was 3.7 percent last month, down from 3.8 percent in the same month a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea. It was

Business May 11, 2011

DETROIT (AP) ― Small cars sold briskly in the U.S. last month, as gasoline prices rose and some buyers worried about shortages of Japanese-made vehicles after the March earthquake there.Analysts expected overall industry sales in the U.S. to increase 19 percent from April of last year.Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of sales and marketing, said consumers shifted into smaller cars starting in Marc

Mobility May 8, 2011

 WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor America announced all-time record April sales on Tuesday as the world's biggest economy continues to stabilize after the worst recession in decades.   HMA sold 61,754 units, up 40 percent from a year earlier. The figure for the first four months of this year is 204,374 vehicles, up 31 percent from 155,532 during the same period last year.   Hyundai's sister co

May 4, 2011

Foreign ownership of South Korean stocks exceeded the 400 trillion won ($374 billion) mark for the first time ever in April on their brisk buying spurred by strong corporate earnings, the financial regulator said Wednesday.   Foreign investors' holdings of local shares amounted to 412.51 trillion won as of the end of April, or 30.8 percent of the total market cap, according to the monthly report b

May 4, 2011

An official of South Korea's financial regulator apparently jumped to his death on Tuesday, but the incident does not appear to be related to a scandal involving a local savings bank, police and the Financial Supervisory Service said, according to Yonhap News.  The official, identified only by his surname Kim, was bleeding when he was found by a security guard at the entrance of an apartment on Tu

May 4, 2011

South Korea’s smallest mobile carrier, LG Uplus Corp., said Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings tumbled 90 percent from a year ago, hit by higher costs and lower revenues from subscribers. Net income reached 57 billion won ($54 million) in the January-March period, compared with 543 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales fell 13 percent from one year ago to 2

Industry May 3, 2011

South Korean banks saw their earnings inch up 1.2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier thanks to increased interest income, the financial regulator said Tuesday.The combined net income of 18 local banks, including top player Kookmin Bank and state-run Korea Development Bank, came to 4.4 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 4.3 trillion won a year earli

May 3, 2011

Korea Exchange Bank will convene a board meeting next week to determine whether to pay quarterly interim dividends, the bank said Tuesday, raising the chances of its biggest shareholder Lone Star Funds raking in profits.Board members are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the issue, and the potential dividend payout will be based on the bank’s first-quarter earnings due out on the same day, Ko

May 3, 2011

New orders won by South Korean major builders dropped 10 percent in the first quarter from a year ago mainly due to a slump in the domestic market, a trade association said Tuesday. According to the Korea Federation of Construction Contractors, 31 builders won new orders worth 18.8 trillion won ($17.6 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 20.9 trillion won a year ago. The builders’ d

Industry May 3, 2011

The use of Internet banking in South Korea rose 6.3 percent in the first quarter from three months earlier as more people conducted financial transactions online, the central bank said Tuesday.Online banking transactions reached an average of 38.7 million per day in the January-March period, compared with 36.4 million the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The data is based on

Technology May 3, 2011

The South Korea government is considering lowering its projection of economic growth in 2011 to around the upper range of 4 percent while upping its inflation projection to the upper range of 3 percent due to the rising oil prices, sources said Sunday.The Korean government has been targeting around 5 percent economic growth this year while containing inflation at 3 percent, but mounting inflationa

May 1, 2011