Air Busan, a low budget airline under South Korea's No. 2 flag carrier Asiana Airlines Inc., said Tuesday it will expand its flights to the two Japanese cities of Narita and Sapporo from South Korea's southeast port city of Busan, starting next month.The South Korean airline plans to increase flights linking the northern Japanese city of Sapporo and Busan to five per week starting July 1, up from three a week now. The number of daily flights to Narita near Tokyo from Busan will rise to two from

Industry June 14, 2016

Overseas orders won by South Korean construction companies fell to the lowest in four years, a trade association said Tuesday, in the latest sign that local builders are reeling from the impact of low oil prices.The combined overseas orders came to $14.1 billion between January and the second week of June according to data compiled by the International Contractors Association of Korea.The figures represent a 40 percent decline from $23.5 billion in the same period last year. Overseas orders won

Industry June 14, 2016

South Korea's home transactions continued to shrink from a year earlier in May, the government said Tuesday, in an apparent sign of a slowdown in the property market.The number of home transactions came to 89,267 last month, down 18.8 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.May marked the sixth consecutive month of on-year drop following a 28.4 percent plunge in the previous month.The May tally, however, marks a 3.4-percent rise from

June 14, 2016

Prosecutors launched a second round of raids on affiliates of South Korea's retail giant Lotte Group on Tuesday as their probe into the country's fifth-largest conglomerate widens over the group's alleged slush funds.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it raided a total of 15 places, including 10 of Lotte's affiliates. Lotte Engineering & Construction Co. and Lotte Chemical Co. were included on the raid list. Prosecutors said they confiscated accounting books as well as documents

Industry June 14, 2016

South Korea's stock market is expected to tread on thin ice for the next week on escalating concerns over Britain's exit from the European Union, analysts said Tuesday.A yes vote for a British exit from the economic bloc, called Brexit, could prompt foreign investors, especially those from Britain, flee South Korea in droves, resulting in a big drag on the local bourse, they added.Britain will hold a referendum on June 23 to decide if it will remain in or leave the EU. Market sources say recent

June 14, 2016

The government decided on Tuesday to mandate tobacco companies to place graphic images showing the harmful effects of smoking on the upper part of a cigarette packet starting from December.A revised enforcement ordinance, which requires the pictorial warnings to occupy more than 30 percent of the front and back of cigarette packaging beginning Dec. 23, was passed through the Cabinet meeting, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.The ordinance stipulates that the graphic warning images should b

Industry June 14, 2016

South Korea's chief financial regulator said Tuesday it will oversee whether the restructuring efforts by the country's debt-laden shipbuilders will go as planned in efforts to ratchet up pressure on them to carry out their promised overhaul moves. Financial Services Commission Chairman Yim Jong-yong will chair a bi-weekly meeting, starting from this week, to closely monitor local shipbuilders' self-rescue plans and their implementation, an FSC official said.  (Yonhap)Government officials and th

Industry June 14, 2016

Sales of vehicles from Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors have nearly quadrupled in Mexico in May from a year ago, industry data showed Tuesday.Data compiled by the Mexican Automotive Industry Association showed that the two South Korean carmakers sold a combined 7,727 units in Mexico in May, compared with 2,049 units from the same period last year.Strong sales also raised the combined market share by Hyundai and Kia in Mexico to 6.4 percent, an all-time record high, in May.Last

Mobility June 14, 2016

Park Yoo-chun, a member of the popular K-pop boy band JYJ, is under investigation after a woman in her 20s filed a complaint claiming she was sexually assaulted by Park at a local bar earlier this month, police said Tuesday.The woman, whose identity was withheld, filed the case with the Gangnam Police Station on Friday, claiming the singer raped her at the bar in southern Seoul against her will early in the morning on June 4.(C-Jes Entertainment)She claimed the incident took place in a bathroom

Television June 14, 2016

Embattled Hanjin Shipping Co. is striving to win the hearts of the owners of its chartered fleet to cut charter rates, one of the key conditions set by its creditors to avert court receivership, industry sources said Tuesday.According to the sources, Hanjin Shipping, South Korea's No. 1 container shipping line, has been in talks with the owners of chartered ships since April of this year, but reported little progress in their negotiations.Creditors of Hanjin Shipping approved a creditor-led rest

Industry June 14, 2016