The government is seeking to alleviate the fallout of local oil refiners’ move to raise product prices that were temporarily lowered to help stem inflationary pressure, sources said Thursday.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy recently held talks with local oil companies and called for a “soft landing” approach when they move to mark up gasoline and diesel fuel after July 6, they said.In April, SK I

June 23, 2011

The worldwide semiconductor market is forecast to expand 7.2 percent in 2011 from last year, driven by robust demand for smartphones and tablet PCs, a market researcher said Thursday.Revising up its earlier forecast, IHS iSuppli estimated that global semiconductor revenues will reach $325.9 billion this year, compared with $304.1 billion in 2010. It previously estimated 7 percent annual growth.The

Industry June 23, 2011

Korea’s financial watchdog plans to curb excessive growth of household debt by tightening banks’ loan-to-deposit ratios and requiring non-bank institutions to raise loan-loss reserves, its head said Thursday.Korea is grappling with snowballing household debt as heavy indebtedness is feared to crimp economic growth by putting restraints consumer spending. The government plans to unveil a set of mea

June 23, 2011

Korean exports are expected to surpass the $500 billion mark for the first time ever this year, helped by the steady pace of global economic growth, a private think tank said Wednesday.The Samsung Economic Research Institute report said South Korea is expected to ship out a total of $555.7 billion worth of goods this year, up 19.2 percent from $466.4 billion worth of products exported in 2010.It s

June 22, 2011

Global investment index provider MSCI Inc. retained Korea’s emerging market status on its global equities index, citing problems stemming from its market rigidity and lack of accessibility.The move represents another setback for Korea. MSCI left Korea’s status unchanged in 2009 and 2010 due to the “rigidity” of its investor identification system and lack of an active offshore market for the Korean

June 22, 2011

Creditors of Daewoo Electronics Corp. are seeking to sell the third-largest electronics firm in Korea to a Swedish company following their failed sale efforts with the initial preferred bidder from Iran, sources said Tuesday.Creditors including Korea Asset Management Corp. sealed a contract in last November with Iranian electronics firm Entekhab Industrial Group to sell their combined 97.5 percent

June 21, 2011

Korea’s overall corporate profitability worsened in the first quarter from a year ago as oil costs rose and the local currency’s gain dented prices of export goods, the central bank said Tuesday.The average ratio of operating profit to sales, a key barometer of profitability, reached 6.3 percent in the January-March period, down from 7.2 percent from a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a rep

June 21, 2011

The heads of Korea’s major think tanks Monday emphasized the importance of the nation’s continued efforts to “normalize” macroeconomic policies, citing a sufficient amount of liquidity unleashed in the domestic market.In their meeting with Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan in central Seoul, they also shared the view that Korea’s economy is faced with growing external risks from slowing recovery in adv

June 20, 2011

The Korean stock market is expected to face volatility this week as eurozone countries are still mired in a deadlock over solutions to the worsening Greek debt crisis, analysts said.The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, shed 0.72 percent, or 14.74 points, to close at 2,031.93 on Friday. Losses in tech and large cap shares led the market declines.Last week, the local share market suffered a sev

June 19, 2011

Korean imports of U.S. pork and beef rose at a far faster pace than those of other overseas meat products this year following the outbreak of a contagious animal disease here, government data showed Sunday.Imports of U.S. pork spiked about 2.5-fold from a year ago to 82,569 tons in the January-May period, with overall pork imports rising 121 percent to 179,985 tons, according to the data by a gove

June 19, 2011

Asiana Airlines Inc. said Friday that it will buy three Korea Express Co. units ― Aas Airport Service, Asiana Airport Development Co. and Kumho Terminal Co. In its regulatory filing, the nation’s second-largest air carrier said it will purchase Kumho Terminal for 255.5 billion won ($235.3 million), Asiana Airport Development for 67.7 billion won and Aas Airport Service for 38.3 billion won. With t

Industry June 17, 2011

Korea will expand the “differentiated rate system” for public services as part of its ongoing efforts to tame inflation, a senior Finance Ministry official said Friday.The differentiated rate system will be applied to such services as electricity and highway toll fees by offering diverse rates based on time, amount of usage and other factors, Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong said at a weekly an

June 17, 2011