Car sales by five South Korean automakers moved up 2.2 percent in November from a year earlier, due to a rise in demand for new vehicles at home and abroad, and more aggressive marketing efforts by carmakers, industry data showed Monday.The combined sales of local car manufacturers reached 782,055 vehicles last month, a gain from 765,345 vehicles sold a year ago.The total excludes complete knockdown kits shipped abroad for assembly. Carmakers said new models released by carmakers such as Hyundai

Industry Dec. 1, 2014

South Korea’s mobile carriers said Friday they will start selling the new iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 from early next month, following their Seoul debut in October. The latest tablet series by Apple will be available for purchase at retail stores from Dec. 3, SK Telecom and KT Corp. said in a press release. The release comes about a month after the tablets were first unveiled in South Korea on Oct. 31. A few thousand of them will be available for prepurchase, starting from Friday, until the stock

Industry Nov. 28, 2014

The South Korean unit of Australia-based asset manager Macquarie Funds Group faces a three-month business suspension and was fined 100 million won ($91,000) for business malpractice linked to bond trading, the country’s financial watchdog said Friday.According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Macquarie Investment Management Korea has been involved in the business malpractice of “parking” bonds at brokerages for a certain period, not immediately recording bond purchases on the balance sheets

Nov. 28, 2014

SK Innovation, South Korea’s top petrochemicals company, said Friday it will end a battery-cell joint venture with German partner Continental AG due to slow growth in demand for electric cars.SK Innovation and Continental, Europe’s second-largest car parts maker, established a joint venture in January 2013 to develop and produce lithium-ion battery systems for vehicles. Although the companies agreed to invest 270 million euros ($336 million) over five years, they are ending the partnership early

Industry Nov. 28, 2014

South Korea’s communications watchdog said Thursday it will seek criminal charges against local mobile carriers for violating the new handset subsidy payment law that caused problems for buyers of Apple’s new iPhone 6. The Korea Communications Commission said after a meeting that it is also considering referring the executives of the three mobile carriers to the prosecution to hold them responsible for the illegal subsidies. The move comes weeks after the KCC warned in early November that there

Industry Nov. 27, 2014

Vehicle output in South Korea is expected to rise slightly to 4.51 million units in 2015 from this year, thanks to growing demand, a report by a state-run industrial think tank showed Thursday.According to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, next year’s numbers represent a 0.5 percent gain from the 4.49 million cars that are expected to be produced in the country this year.Domestic sales of automobiles should increase 1.7 percent on-year to a little over 1.66 million units ne

Industry Nov. 27, 2014

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the 32nd straight month in October on a rise in exports and a fall in dividend payments overseas, data showed Thursday.The current account surplus reached $9.01 billion last month, compared with a revised $7.41 billion in September, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.With the October data, the country’s accumulated current account surplus during the January-Octo

Industry Nov. 27, 2014

Korea’s investment advisory companies saw their earnings soar 173 percent in the first half of fiscal 2014 from a year earlier due to a rise in returns from equity investments, the financial watchdog said Thursday.The combined net profit of 166 local and foreign investment advisers reached 51.6 billion won ($46.5 million) between April and September, compared with 18.9 billion won in the same period last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The firms close their books on March 31

Industry Nov. 27, 2014

One-third of South Korea’s fisheries imports up to September this year were from China, a study said Sunday, adding the figure is expected to further increase when a bilateral trade deal takes effect.The tally by the Korea Maritime Institute showed Korea imported some 959,000 tons of fisheries products in the January-September period, of which 31.6 percent came from China.In terms of value, imports from China amounted to $3.11 billion. This marks a 19.3 percent increase in volume and 18.4 percen

Industry Nov. 23, 2014

Samsung Electronics’ global presence in mobile phones and high-end TVs declined in the third quarter while its market share in DRAMs and displays rose, industry data showed Sunday.Analysis of quarterly reports released by the tech company showed Samsung’s market share in the IT mobile sector dipping 1 percentage point to 23.9 percent in the July-September period compared to the first half of this year.The numbers based on findings by Strategy Analytics, a global research and consulting firm, als

Industry Nov. 23, 2014

South Korea’s automobile market will grow 2 percent on-year to record-high sales of 1.65 million units in 2015, a report by the Korea Automotive Research Institute showed Sunday.The research arm of Hyundai Motor Group said next year’s car sales will surpass the 1.64 million cars sold in 1996, the boom year for the country’s car industry.KARI said next year’s increase will stem from the growing number of older cars on the road that need to be replaced, a rise in demand for SUVs and new vehicles h

Industry Nov. 23, 2014

South Korean banks saw their combined net profit from overseas operations jump 32.1 percent in the first six months of the year from a year earlier due mainly to a drop in bad debt expenses and a rise in interest income, the financial watchdog said Sunday.Earnings by 156 overseas units and branches of local lenders stood at $373.4 million in the January-June period, compared with $282.7 million the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The overseas income accounted for 10

Nov. 23, 2014