Financial regulators on Thursday issued sanctions against a Korean asset management firm and a brokerage house for incurring huge losses after allegedly making reckless investments in stocks last November.The Financial Supervisory Service held a committee meeting where they fine-tuned the level of penalties they would levy against Wise Asset and Hana Daetoo Securities for their alleged negligence

April 29, 2011

South Korea’s business sentiment for May rose from a month ago on expectations about solid economic growth at home and abroad, a poll showed Wednesday.The monthly Business Survey Index (BSI) for the upcoming month came in at 104.3, compared with 98.4 a month earlier, according to the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the country’s leading business lobby.A reading below 100 means pessimists ou

April 27, 2011

Prices of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices rose marginally in the second half of this month but stayed below the $1 level, an industry report showed Wednesday, casting doubts on the prospect for their quick recovery.The contract price of the benchmark DDR3 1-gigabit 128Mx8 1066-megahertz device rose 1.03 percent from the first half of this month to $0.98 in the second half, according to

Industry April 27, 2011

Foreign life insurance companies operating in South Korea claimed 16.9 percent of the local market in terms of assets last year, industry data showed Wednesday.The combined assets of the nine foreign life insurers reached 68.9 trillion won ($63.8 billion) as of the end of 2010, according to the data. However, the figure is dwarfed by the 408.4 trillion won in total assets held by the three leading

April 27, 2011

South Korea’s automobile exports to Eastern Europe rose sharply in the first three months of this year thanks to an economic recovery in the region, a local automobile association said Wednesday. During the January-March period, South Korean car makers’ auto exports to Eastern Europe, including Russia, reached 72,393 units, compared with 37,670 units a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobi

Industry April 27, 2011

South Korean manufacturers’ business confidence for May rose to the highest level in eight months due to optimism about the economic recovery, the central bank said Wednesday.The index of manufacturers’ outlook on business conditions reached 100 for May, up from 95 for April, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures manufacturers’ outlook on business conditions for the coming month

April 27, 2011

South Korean engineers successfully tested the world’s first operational automatic docking system between two large ships off the country’s southeastern coast, a state-run science and technology university said Tuesday.The test carried out in Busan, 453 kilometers southeast of Seoul, is an integral part of the larger “mobile harbor” project that aims to make it possible to speed up the loading and

Industry April 27, 2011

South Korea and China have agreed to provide flight services between Seoul and Beijing in a move to reduce overall travel time, the transportation ministry said Tuesday.The two nations recently signed a memorandum of understanding to allow their airlines to offer direct flights between Gimpo International Airport, west of Seoul, and Beijing International Airport starting in July, the ministry said

April 26, 2011

The number of South Korean travelers going overseas fell to a 16-month low in March, apparently due to the recent earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, the top destination for outbound tourists, data showed Tuesday.According to the data released by the Justice Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of South Koreans going overseas came to 868,694 last month, down 8.6 percent from

April 26, 2011

The number of passengers using international air flights grew about 6 percent during the first quarter as people were bolstered to travel by the ongoing economic recovery, the transportation ministry said Tuesday.Passengers using international flights in and out of South Korea’s airports came to 10.13 million during the January-March period, up 5.8 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, the

April 26, 2011

South Korea’s consumer co nfidence rebounded for the first time in five months in April on the back of optimism about the economic recovery, the central bank said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index (CSI) ― a gauge of consumers’ overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending ― stood at 100 for April, up from 98 in March, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a monthly report.The April

April 26, 2011

South Korea’s largest-ever international food exposition kicked off Tuesday for a four-day run, bringing together more than 1,100 companies from 45 countries.The 2011 Seoul Food Expo will run until Friday at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, according to its organizer, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).The 29th Seoul Food Expo comes as Seoul

Industry April 26, 2011