South Korean stocks closed 0.3 percent higher on Tuesday as investors hunted for bargains, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.After opening lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.03 points to 1,983.7. Trading volume was moderate at 271.8 million shares worth 3.3 trillion won (US$3 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 408 to 386.The key index staged a rally on Monday after dropping for three consecutive trading sessions."The loca

Business March 26, 2013

South Korean stocks traded 0.21 percent higher late Tuesday morning, led by gains in techs and autos, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added4.23 points to 1,981.90 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech blue chips drove up the shares, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics rising 0.8 percent and top chipmaker adding 1.2 percent. Leading flat panel manufacturer LG Display gained 1.11 percent.Carmakers also gathered ground, with No. 1 industry player Hyundai Motor adding 2.09

Business March 26, 2013

South Korean stocks turned higher following a weak start on Tuesday but continued to trade range-bound amid ongoing concerns over the fiscal crisis in Cyprus, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 3.6 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,981.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Blue chips led the climb, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics adding 0.54 percent and the country's top automaker Hyundai Motor rising 0.46 percent.The local currency was trading at 1

Business March 26, 2013

South Korean stocks closed 1.49 percent higher Monday on rising hope of the settlement of the fiscal crisis in Cyprus, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 28.96 points to 1977.67. Trading volume was low at 264.3 million shares worth 3.38 trillion won (US$3.02 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 540 to 266."The stock market gathered ground following the eased concerns over the fiscal crisis in

Business March 25, 2013

Cyprus avoided bankruptcy, and potential turmoil across the eurozone, by securing a last-minute 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout with promises to sharply cut back its oversized banking sector and make large bank account holders take losses to help pay much of the bill.Negotiations into early Monday ended with approval of the deal by the 17-nation eurozone's finance ministers. The European Central Bank had threatened to cut off crucial emergency assistance to the country's banks by Tuesday i

Business March 25, 2013

South Korea's foreign ministry was officially christened the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday after shifting its responsibility for trade negotiations to the commerce ministry. The name change meant that the ministry, formerly called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, got a shorter name and lost its 15-year-long jurisdiction over trade affairs as part of a government-wide reorganization plan by President Park Geun-hye. Still, trade experts express concerns that if the commerce minis

Business March 25, 2013

President Park Geun-hye named her close aide and former four-term lawmaker Lee Kyeong-jae to head the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and selected eight new vice ministerial-level officials, her spokesman said Sunday.Lee graduated from Seoul National University and worked for a local newspaper as a reporter for more than 20 years. He entered politics in the 1990s, taking several positions in the presidential office and then served as a ruling party lawmaker from 1996 until 2012. The 72-yea

National March 24, 2013

The Park Geun-hye administration will actively engage with North Korea with more support and exchange projects if the communist neighbor strives to follow international norms, a senior official at Seoul's presidential office said Sunday."Support for North Korea and diverse inter-Korean exchange programs will be expanded as long as the North cooperates with peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula by refraining from provocations and joining the international community," said a high-ranking official

North Korea March 24, 2013

Scientists at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, claimed they have developed the lightest solid material on Earth that can balance on top of a flower.　The material, called "graphene aerogel," is a combination of freeze-dried carbon and graphene oxide, weighing only 0.16 mg per 1 cubic centimeter.　The graphene, hailed as a "wonder material," was first developed by Russian-born physicists working at the University of Manchester, who managed a 1-atom-thick graphene flake by continuously peelin

Technology March 22, 2013

South Korean stocks closed 0.44 percent lower Thursday due the gloomy outlook over first-quarter corporate earnings, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed8.59 points to 1950.82. Trading volume was low at 258 million shares worth 3.52 trillion won (US$3.16 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 493 to 295."Local shares trade lower despite the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to maintain stimulus measures

Business March 21, 2013

South Korean stocks traded 0.14 percent higher late Thursday morning on gains in techs and shipbuilders, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.84 points to 1962.25 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech blue chips continued to gather ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics rising 0.34 percent and top flat panel manufacturer LG Display adding 2.18 percent.Shipbuilders also traded higher, with No. 1 player Hyundai Heavy Industries moving up 1.45 percent and Samsung He

Business March 21, 2013