Credit card spending grew at the fastest pace in 14 months in January, data showed on Tuesday, amid signs that the local economy is on a recovery track. Purchases made with credit cards reached 46.9 trillion won ($43.8 billion) in January, growing 9 percent from a year earlier, the largest gain since November 2012, according to data compiled by the Credit Finance Association.The data includes transactions on credit, debit and prepaid cards. Cash advances, overseas spending and card loans were no

March 4, 2014

South Korea’s bio industry has grown over 50 percent in just five years, largely on exports that grew at an equally fast rate, the trade ministry said Tuesday. The overall output of the country’s bio industry amounted to nearly 7.13 trillion won ($6.65 billion) in 2012, up 58 percent from 4.51 trillion won in 2008, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The 2012 figure also marks an 11.5 percent surge from 6.39 trillion won in the previous year. The ministry attributed the growt

March 4, 2014

A fresh round of negotiations for a three-way free trade agreement with Japan and China began in Seoul on Tuesday with the countries expected to focus on setting the overall level of market liberalization.The fourth round of negotiations, to continue until Friday, comes a little over two months after the last session in Tokyo, in which the three countries made what South Korean officials have called minor but significant progress in setting the overall guidelines for negotiations, especially in

Industry March 4, 2014

GS Engineering & Construction, the construction arm of GS Group, is likely to be fined 2 billion won ($1.9 million) by the nation’s financial regulator for failing to address investment risks, industry sources said Sunday. The fine will be the largest issued under current disclosure rules. “In a regular meeting on March 12, the Securities & Futures Commission will decide whether the builder broke the rules or not when the firm issued corporate bonds last year,” an official from the Financial Ser

Industry March 2, 2014

Korea will soon launch a project to make Ulleungdo Island, located some 120km east of the Korean Peninsula, a carbon-free island.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy unveiled the plan on Monday in its 2014 policy plan briefing to President Park Geun-hye. “This will be the nation’s second pilot project for the creation of a green and clean island, following the ongoing Gapado project,” Sung Si-nae, an official with MOTIE, said.Gapado, a small volcanic island near the southern coast of Jejud

Feb. 24, 2014

Foreign exchange turnover by South Korean banks grew 1.3 percent in 2013 from a year earlier on an increase in trade and foreigners’ stock investment, the central bank said Friday.The daily FX turnover averaged $45.98 billion last year, compared with $45.38 billion the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea. The daily trading volume of spots came to $18.18 billion last year, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier, it added.The daily foreign exchange turnover of forward deals gained 7.3 percen

Industry Feb. 21, 2014

Shares of major Korean construction companies were skyrocketing on Friday on the back of a sign of recovery in housing market and a series of massive overseas orders. “The rebound in overseas plants orders, in particular, is expected to give a big hand to lift the industry throughout the year,” industry sources said.This month, a group of South Korean builders, led by Hyundai Engineering and GS Engineering, secured a $6.04 billion contract to build an oil refinery in Iraq. So far this year, loca

Industry Feb. 21, 2014

SK Innovation, the holding company for energy businesses of SK Group, said on Friday that it has won the car battery-related patent lawsuit which LG Chem filed in 2012. The two electric vehicle battery makers have clashed over patents on the inorganic material-coated separator, a key part of large to midsize rechargeable batteries. Seoul Central District Court’s ruling said, “LG Chem’s patent rights for the porous structure of the active layer coating the separator is different from SK Innovatio

Industry Feb. 21, 2014