Korea will likely see a slow economic recovery as various indices ranging from domestic consumption to exports registered lackluster figures, a state-run think tank said on Sunday.Exports, the country’s main growth engine, dropped about 9 percent in February from a year ago, but Korea was able to record a trade balance surplus of some $2 billion, the Korea Development Institute said in the report.The fall in exports is in part due to sluggish outbound shipments of ships and automobiles, as well

March 10, 2013

The number of female employees at domestic banks is nearly equal that of their male peers, but only a few reach high-ranking positions, according to banks and news reports. The reports said about 48.8 percent of workers at six major domestic banks were female but only 4.4 percent of bank executives were women.Even at Hana Bank, Korea Exchange Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea ― whose proportion of female employees exceeded 50 percent ― female executives were scarce, fueling concerns that gender

March 7, 2013

British American Tobacco Korea said Monday that it would apply a 200 won price cut to three types of its 2,500 won ($2.30) ultra-slim cigarette Vogue, starting March 14. The company said it decided to adjust the price of Vogue 1 mg, Vogue Blue and Vogue 0.3 mg to better compete against the 2,300 won rival products. Now 2,300 won a pack, “(Vogue) will be armed with stronger competitiveness in the (tobacco) market,” BAT Korea chief executive Guy Meldrum said in a statement. Previously, the tobacco

Industry March 4, 2013

KT&G said Thursday that it began changing names for four of its tobacco products, removing words that can create a false impression that cigarettes are harmless to the body.Starting from the beginning of February, the company began changing name of “Timeless TIME Lights” to “Timeless TIME MID” and three kinds of the “Esse Soon” lineup to “Esse Soo.” “Soon” in Korean stands for “pure” or “mild” and soo means “excellent.” Last September, the government planned to revise the National Health Promoti

Industry Feb. 28, 2013

Citibank Korea and Standard Chartered Bank Korea have raised commission fees for loan services despite state regulators’ efforts to lower them, according to reports.Since the third quarter of 2012, state financial regulators have publicized a list of banks’ service fees, in an attempt to cut lending fees that are closely related to loan interest. However, the two foreign banks raised lending fees, largely surpassing those of their domestic counterparts. For mortgage loan services, fees were 0.41

Feb. 27, 2013

Despite the global economic slowdown, Korean banks are increasingly determined to set up more branches overseas to boost trade financing and diversify sources of profit, a report showed.The report released by the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday said that securing more foreign currency assets was the key objective of the 2013 expansion plans of banks here.Banks here opened a total of 11 branches abroad in 2012, largely in Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia.

Feb. 25, 2013

Standard Chartered Bank Korea, the Korean operation of London-based Standard Chartered that spans more than 70 countries worldwide, has been struck by not one, but a series of blows by the nation’s financial authorities.The three state regulators ― the Financial Supervisory Service, the National Tax Service and the Financial Services Commission ― took turns squeezing the British Bank. On Friday, the FSC finalized its decision to impose a 17 million won ($16,000) fine on the bank for offering and

Feb. 24, 2013

Lotte Group’s financial affiliates ― Lotte Insurance, Lotte Card and Lotte Capital ― were found to have relied most on illegitimate support from the group to boost sales, compared with their financial rivals, sources said Sunday. Amid mounting calls for economic democratization and fair competition in business, Lotte affiliates have been marching in the opposite direction to bring larger profits to chaebol, or local conglomerates, the financial policy team of Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Jus

Feb. 17, 2013