Nearly half of all tenants in South Korea have signed up for a monthly rent contract, a report showed on Monday, underscoring the shift in tenancy agreements accelerated by a prolonged period of low interest rates and stagnant property prices. According to Real Estate 114, the proportion of the mont

Oct. 17, 2011

Regulator’s move to promote ‘shared growth’ is met with protestKorea’s major credit card firms said on Monday they would slash the transaction fees they collect from small merchants as a reluctant response to the growing calls for a rate cut to bolster their shaky profits amid regulatory pressure. S

Oct. 17, 2011

Surplus cash flow halves, corporate borrowing surgesDespite repeated assurances from government officials, fears of a global recession are hurting Korea Inc. on liquidity as many large firms face worsening cash flow, data showed Monday.The annual excess cash flow forecast of 83 listed firms stood at

Industry Oct. 17, 2011

South Korea’s state-run power company said Sunday that it will send mobile text messages to the public in the event of low electricity reserves in a bid to swiftly alert people to potential power outages.The move comes one month after the country was caught off guard by one of the worst power cuts i

Industry Oct. 16, 2011

South Korean lenders saw their combined net profit from overseas operations grow more than two-fold in the first half from a year earlier on the back of increased interest income, the financial regulator said Sunday.Net income by 131 overseas units and branches managed by 11 local banks reached $429

Oct. 16, 2011

South Korean shares are expected to gain some ground this week as the international community moves to resolve the eurozone crisis, analysts said Saturday.The forecast comes as the benchmark KOSPI closed at 1,835.40 on Friday, up 75.63 points, or 4.3 percent, from a week earlier. The index had risen

Oct. 16, 2011

Apple Inc. is expected to offer a Korean-language version of its Siri voice command feature starting in 2012, the U.S.-based technology giant said Saturday.The company said on its website that it will begin offering Siri services in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Spanish starting next year,

Technology Oct. 16, 2011

Data shows small card payments account for 30.6% of total transactionsThe Korean government is expected to keep the current credit card payment system, a turnaround from its previous stance announced on Monday, backing down to protests from small retailers and consumers. The Financial Services Commi

Oct. 13, 2011

Korea’s money supply expanded at its fastest pace in five months in August and banks’ household loan growth slipped to an eight-month low in September, the Bank of Korea said on Wednesday.The data came ahead of the central bank’s rate-setting meeting slated for Thursday amid widespread expectations

Oct. 12, 2011

Major European  economies see leading indicators slump  on debt woesKorea’s economic conditions declined for three months in a row based on the composite leading indicator of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, data showed on Wednesday. Korea’s CLI for August stood a

Oct. 12, 2011

The Bank of Korea is widely expected to keep the benchmark rate steady at its rate-setting meeting on Thursday, a survey by Korea Financial Investment Association showed on Tuesday.The KOFIA survey, conducted on local bond dealers, brokers and analysts between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, revealed that 96.3

Oct. 11, 2011