BARCELONA (Yonhap News) ― Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest maker of mobile phones, said Wednesday that it has released the updated version of bada, the company’s proprietary mobile operating system.Samsung added a multitasking feature and mobile payment technology called Near Field Communication and voice recognition functions to the second generation of its mobile software, bad

Technology Feb. 16, 2011

Daewoo Securities and Samsung Securities increased their dominance in the domestic market with sharp rises in profits last year.Operating profits of the Samsung Securities and Daewoo Securities in the three last quarters of 2010 made 37.63 percent of total raised in the industry, the Korea Exchange said Wednesday.Daewoo topped the list by raising an operating profit of 269.5 billion won followed b

Feb. 16, 2011

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Korea’s second-largest money manager, plans to boost the number of overseas employees by as much as 30 percent this year and acquire companies to strengthen coverage of emerging markets. Foreign hires in 2011 will mostly be fund managers, analysts and marketing personnel, chief executive officer Koo Jae-sang said in an interview, declining to say where the emplo

Feb. 16, 2011

Korea aims to become the fourth-largest fisheries exporter in the world by 2020 through better marine resources management and creation of large, globally competitive fishing companies, the government said Tuesday.The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that the country will move to push up exports to $5.5 billion in the target year from around $1.8 billion shipped out in 2

Feb. 15, 2011

Daum Communications Corp., the operator of Korea’s second-most visited search engine, said Tuesday that its earnings almost quadrupled last year from a year earlier on increased ad-based revenue.Net profit reached 112 billion won ($99.7 million) last year, compared with 31 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales soared 44 percent on-year to a record 346 billion wo

Industry Feb. 15, 2011

Korea retained its status as the world’s fifth-largest automaking nation last year with over 4.2 million vehicles produced, a local industry body said Tuesday.The country’s five automakers produced some 4,272,000 cars in 2010, up 21.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA).China, the world’s largest market for automobiles, became the world’s

Feb. 15, 2011

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Shares of Korean telecom giant KT Corp. are seen as undervalued among foreign investors, as Korea’s telecom industry is expected to further expand, boosted by smartphones, financial sources here said Monday.“Institutional investors in Hong Kong as well as in Singapore are looking into opportunities to buy KT shares, as they consider those shares are substantially underval

Feb. 15, 2011

Korea posted a trade surplus for 12 straight months in January, driven by robust exports of ships and vehicles, the nation’s customs office said Tuesday.The trade surplus amounted to $2.92 billion last month, according to data provided by the Korea Customs Service. This marked the 12th consecutive month of surplus since February 2010.Exports totaled $44.68 billion, up 45.4 percent from a year earl

Feb. 15, 2011

Korea’s imports of crude and refined oil products surged in 2010 from a year earlier, fueled by greater local and export demand, a government report showed Tuesday.According to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the country brought in $89.6 billion worth of crude and refined oil products last year, compared with $65.5 billion the previous year.Crude imports jumped 35.4 percent on-yea

Feb. 15, 2011

Korea’s economy could face a “burden” from growing inflationary pressure, the nation’s top economic policymaker said Tuesday, stressing that the government will push to head off price instability.“If raw material prices continue to rise, it could pose a burden on our economic recovery,” Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun was quoted as saying during a meeting with other key policymakers.“In the short

Feb. 15, 2011