The combined debt held by state-controlled companies is snowballing as some were found to have maintained conventional management practices, such as reckless borrowing, irresponsible overseas projects and excessive incentives for executives.According to the public agencies’ management information provider Alio, nine major state-run firms saw their collective debt surge 5.2 percent or 17.8 trillion won in six months.Their outstanding debt came to 358.5 trillion won ($325 billion) at the end of Ju

Dec. 22, 2013

Data from Statistics Korea showed Thursday that Koreans’ overall life satisfaction has remained at a relatively low level despite larger incomes and other achievements.“Koreans’ self-evaluated life satisfaction index fell behind the average of the 34 member countries surveyed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” the state statistics agency said in its analysis of the Korean social trend for the past decade.Citing the Paris-based organization’s report on “How’s Life?: Me

Dec. 19, 2013

Diageo Korea said Thursday that it will provide 17 unmarried mothers and their families with rental homes in coordination with the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family and Gyeonggi Urban Innovation Corp.Under its recent expansion of social contribution activities, the local unit of the U.K.-based liquor group Diageo has decided to donate 500 million won ($455,000) to the housing offering for single moms facing financial difficulties, said company spokespeople.The homes, which will be offered for

Industry Dec. 19, 2013

The nation’s department stores and home shopping operators collected high commissions from their shop vendors or subcontractors this year despite government calls for reductions, data indicated Wednesday.Seven major department stores including Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae were found to have received an average 28.5 percent commission on their contract retailers’ sales, the Fair Trade Commission said. The average figure is a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. The government has

Dec. 18, 2013

Foreign delegates from the Group of 20 plan to visit the inter-Korean Gaeseong industrial complex on Thursday.While the officials are visiting South Korea to participate in the G20 Seoul Conference, the North recently allowed their visit, which was arranged by the Ministry of Unification, officials said.According to the Finance Ministry of South Korea, 31 figures will visit, including 15 senior finance ministry officials from 14 countries such as France, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the U.K.The d

Dec. 18, 2013

A male Korean employee at KB Kookmin Bank’s Tokyo branch allegedly committed suicide amid a probe by the two countries into the lender’s wrongdoings, according to financial industry sources on Tuesday.KB Kookmin Bank and its parent company KB Financial Group have dispatched a group of executives to the branch to confirm the facts and background information surrounding his death, while Japanese police reportedly have yet to verify whether the incident was a suicide.A former manager of the branch

Dec. 17, 2013

The Korea Exchange suspended the stock trading business of Hanmag Securities, which incurred technical faults in operation of investors’ sell and buy orders on Thursday.The brokerage firm is estimated to have suffered losses worth 46 billion won on the day ($41 million) due to its order mistake, according to the main bourse.Hanmag said it failed to settle all transactions on Friday, making the firm virtually bankrupt. Considering the firm’s equity capital stays at 19.8 billion won as of October,

Dec. 13, 2013

Visa and MasterCard will be obliged to cut their membership fees for Korean consumers by 50 percent compared to the current level, under instructions by financial authorities.“After offering a grace period of about six months, the regulatory policy will take effect in the latter half of 2014,” said an official at the Financial Supervisory Service.The stern action of the authorities comes after allegations that the two major companies have allegedly made dubious contracts with Korean credit card

Dec. 12, 2013

Nine travel agencies were found to have overcharged consumers fuel adjustment fees, which are calculated on the basis of oil prices, in their proxy sales of air tickets, the Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday.The companies are Hana Tour, Interpark Tour, Online Tour, Mode Tour, Yellow Balloon Tour, Web Tour, Tour Baksa, Naeil Tour and Very Good Tour.They were also found to have engaged in inflating flight usage taxes when they publicized tour products on their cyber homepages, according to the

Dec. 11, 2013

The number of divorce cases among elderly or middle-aged Koreans surpassed 30,000 for the first time in 2012, according to Statistics Korea data released on Tuesday.According to the state statistics agency, the number of divorces among people whose married life exceeded 20 years reached about 30,200 last year. This comprised 26.4 percent of the total number of divorces in 2012 among couples of all ages.Further, this marked the first time that the number of divorces among elderly couples surpasse

Dec. 10, 2013

Financial authorities plan to prevent foreign investors from bidding for the state-funded Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.Government officials said Tuesday that the state policy decision came after Russia’s state-controlled oil producer Rosneft was rumored to have recently expressed interest in DSME, which is scheduled to be put up for auction in the coming months.An official cited national security reasons for the exclusion of non-Korean bidders, saying that the shipbuilder manufacture

Dec. 10, 2013