Japan’s weak yen policy may be good news for Japanese companies seeking export breakthroughs, but it is gradually becoming a nightmare for Korean companies directly competing with their Japanese peers overseas.Automobiles and tech consumer products are two sectors in which Koreans will face tough competition with Japan, and a weak yen is forcing Korean exporters to revise down their sales and profit forecasts this year.More than 80 of the 113 listed companies have revised down their target for o

Jan. 29, 2013

When Japan set its inflation target and declared a change in its monetary regime for a weak yen, global investors and economists took this as a sign that currency wars would soon be launched to aid the economy, especially the export sector.Japan’s weak yen policy, aimed at pulling its economy out of deflation and recession, became one of the hottest topics at the recently concluded World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters that its central bank w

Jan. 28, 2013

Korea’s four major financial holding companies are about to post their worst annual earnings for 2012, with their stock prices likely to take a hit going forward.Four holding companies ― Shinhan, KB, Woori and Hana ― are expected to post a combined net profit of 7.87 trillion won in 2012, down almost 1 trillion won, from a year earlier, according to FNGuide, an online securities information provider.This fall could reach 2 trillion won in total should Hana Financial leave out negative goodwill w

Jan. 27, 2013

The Bank of Korea said Sunday that it has allowed 12 local commercial banks, beginning with Korea Exchange Bank, to extend renminbi-denominated loans to Korean traders for the first time.This comes as Korea’s central bank and the People’s Bank of China agreed to let their companies settle trade bills with their respective currencies using part of the two sides’ currency swap deal worth 64 trillion won or 360 billion yuan.Korean importers would be able to borrow from their local lenders that will

Jan. 27, 2013

Korea’s lottery ticket sales hit an all-time high last year, exceeding the regulatory limit imposed by the country’s gambling watchdog for two consecutive years.Sales reached some 3.2 trillion won ($3 billion) in 2012, up about 3.4 percent from 3.08 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Lottery Commission, which is under the wing of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, on Monday.An increase in consumer purchases of tickets for online lotteries, pension lotteries and traditional electron

Jan. 21, 2013

The Bank of Korea is expected to brief the transition team of President-elect Park Geun-hye on overall monetary policy and economic outlook on Friday.BOK officials said that the subjects presented would range from overviews of its monetary policy to household debt and its economic forecast for 2013. Although the team’s official policy briefing ended on Thursday with the statistics bureau, the team included the central bank at the last minute after it had omitted it from the seven-day briefing sc

Jan. 17, 2013

Korea Customs Service is to follow the example of the National Tax Service and crack down on wealthy individuals and corporations that illicitly channel money out of the country to dodge tax payments.In a report to the transition team of President-elect Park Geun-hye, the KCS said that it would also toughen its inspections on corporations that have set up paper companies in offshore havens to avoid taxes.This is in line with efforts by the president-elect to secure a budget to finance welfare ex

Jan. 16, 2013

The transition team of President-elect Park Geun-hye is considering expanding the rights for government agencies to file complaints with prosecutors against malpractices by conglomerates.The Fair Trade Commission, the country’s antitrust watchdog, has had the exclusive right to do so against corporate violators.But the team is also seeking to disperse this power to the Small and Medium Business Administration, the Board of Audit and Inspection, the Public Procurement Service and the Anti-Corrupt

Jan. 15, 2013

DETROIT (AP) ― Ford says it plans to hire 2,200 engineers, computer programmers and other white-collar workers this year as U.S. demand for new vehicles picks up. That’s in addition to the 8,100 salaried and hourly jobs Ford added in the U.S. last year as it increased production and introduced new cars. U.S. car and truck sales rose 13 percent to 14.5 million in 2012, the highest level in five years.Ford will use social media to find tech-savvy candidates. It’s also stepping up recruitment of mi

World Business Jan. 13, 2013

Economic-related ministries and agencies are preparing for their policy briefings to President-elect Park Geun-hye, starting with the Small and Medium Business Administration on Friday.Next in line will be the National Tax Service, which is expected to brief and make suggestions on taming and regulating the underground economy, or the black market.It has been conventional for the Ministry of Strategy of Finance to brief the team before the NTS.Political analysts observed that the tax agency has

Jan. 10, 2013