Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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SK hynix to pay Rambus $240 mln for new license deal
SK hynix Inc., the world's No. 2 memory chip maker, said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with Rambus Inc. on a new license deal that would cost the South Korean company a total of US$240 million over the next five years, ending a decade-long legal battle over memory chip technology. Under the new agreement, SK hynix will pay $12 million in royalties each quarter over the next five years to the U.S.-based technology licensing company for using its semiconductor technology, the South Ko
IndustryJune 12, 2013
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S. Korea's jobless rate falls to 3 pct in May
South Korea's jobless rate fell in May from a month earlier but job creation slowed amid concerns labor market conditions might remain tough for many job seekers, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 3 percent last month, down from the previous month's 3.2 percent. The rate also fell from a year earlier when it was 3.1 percent.The jobless rate adjusted for inflation, however, edged up to 3.2 percent from April's 3.1 percent.J
June 12, 2013
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MSCI keeps S. Korea's emerging market status
Global investment index provider MSCI Inc. retained South Korea's emerging market status on its global equities index Wednesday, citing the country's high barrier in the financial sector."Many international institutional investors consider that the accessibility of the Korean equity market is not at Developed Market standards," MSCI said in a statement.MSCI, the research arm of U.S. banking group Morgan Stanley, announced the decision on its Web site early Wednesday morning (Seoul time). "The li
June 12, 2013
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Korea to redraft business regulations from scratch
The government is set to review and rewrite all of its business regulations from square one as a means to deregulate or remove burdensome rules to boost private investment in Korea, sources said Tuesday. The Office for Government Policy Coordination, part of the Prime Minister’s Office, will lead all related state agencies in the so-called “zero-based” process of evaluating more than 1,800 regulations and guidelines governing business investments.It will then draw up comprehensive measures aimed
June 11, 2013
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20% of big firms’ workers are women
About 1 out of 5 workers at the nation’s biggest companies is female, and the rate has slightly increased over the past five years, data showed.The number of workers at the nation’s 100 top-selling companies reached 747,190 as of the end of last year, according to figures released by the Financial Supervisory Service. Among them, 149,568 employees, or about 20 percent, were female. Lotte Shopping, the nation’s No. 2 retailer, had the highest ratio of female employees, employing 16,438 women, abo
June 11, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Cook strives to keep Apple innovative
U.S.-based tech giant Apple on Monday revealed its much-anticipated new mobile operating system, hinting that its innovative prowess had not died with its cofounder Steve Jobs.“IOS 7 is the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of iPhone,” the company’s CEO Tim Cook said at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.Throughout the presentation, Cook repeatedly stressed the word “innovation,” as if to state that his company is still capable of producing groundbreaking produ
TechnologyJune 11, 2013
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KT commits W3tr for creative economy
KT Corp., the nation’s leading mobile carrier, on Tuesday pledged to spend 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) on the nation’s information, communication and technology industry for network advancement and to create up to 25,000 new jobs. “Our goal is to become a first-rate ICT firm recognized by our global peers and be known as a firm capable of leading both the industry and our rivals,” said KT chairman Lee Suk-chae on Tuesday at a press conference.He declined to elaborate, but signaled that there w
TechnologyJune 11, 2013
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Household loan growth picks up in April: BOK
Household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions grew at a faster pace in April than in the previous month on an increase in non-housing related loans, the central bank said Tuesday.Household lending handled by local banks and non-bank institutions totaled 656.5 trillion won ($580.8 billion) as of end-April, up 1.4 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The April gain picked up from a 600 billion won on-month gain in March and also marked the highest
June 11, 2013
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Seoul lowers bar for job-creating foreign investors
The country is set to strengthen its overall requirements for benefits allowed to foreign-invested firms, but also beef up incentives for those that help create new jobs, the government said Tuesday.Starting Wednesday, only companies with a 30-percent or higher stake owned by foreign investors will be entitled to private contracts on the lease of land within free economic zones in the country, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Previously, any company with foreign ownership
June 11, 2013
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FTC expands probe into bullying of SMEs
The Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday that it launched a full-fledged probe into 23 companies in a bid to reveal some of their headquarters’ alleged bullying of retail stores.The 23 firms belong to eight industry sectors ― automobile, dairy, liquor, cosmetics, beverages, bakeries, ice cream and ramen.While the antitrust regulator said it had been conducting written-based inquiries into the companies since June 3, it hinted that it would widen the scope of the probe by dispatching a group of ins
June 11, 2013
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U.S. sanctions on Iran to deal blow to 2,300 Korean firms: officials
The Korean government on Tuesday issued a caution to the nation’s trading companies over possible financial damage from the U.S. government’s new sanctions against Iran.The alarm comes as the U.S.-led enhanced military and administrative sanctions against the Middle East country are due to take effect on July 1.Raising the alarm level for trading with the Muslim republic, Seoul said in a statement that “some 2,300 small and mid-sized enterprises are likely to severely be hit by the U.S. action.”
June 11, 2013
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Retail giants run new types of stores to get around regulations
Retail giants such as Shinsegae E-mart and Homeplus are opening new types of stores to get around regulations.Owners of small grocery shops are up in arms to drive out the variant forms of business run by the big firms. Supermarkets and their affiliated chains of smaller stores, E-mart Everyday, Homeplus Express and Lotte Super (known locally as super-supermarkets, or SSMs), are required to close at least two days a month and between midnight and 10 a.m. under a revised retail industry law that
IndustryJune 11, 2013
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Minister Hyun vows to end low-growth trend
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said Tuesday that the government would push to end the nation’s long-standing period of low growth through various economic policies that had been already devised for implementation in the second half of this year.In a meeting with heads of social and economic research centers, Hyun said recovery momentum was still weak although Korea’s first-quarter growth of 0.8 percent was above expectations.Korea continues to face growing risks and unce
June 11, 2013
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Shares down on weak Chinese data
South Korean stocks fell 0.62 percent Tuesday due to the weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 12.02 points to close at 1,920.68. Trading volume was low at 258.2 million shares worth 4.37 trillion won ($3.86 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 445 to 378.“Chemical firms and oil refiners traded lower as China’s economic data failed to meet the market expectation,” said Bae
June 11, 2013
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FTC to tighten standards for fines on illegal activities
SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that it will adopt stricter methods and standards that could drive up fines and other punishment for business practices hurting fair market principles.The Fair Trade Commission said that it has revised a “notice on detailed guidelines with regard to imposing fines.” The revised notice will go into effect next Monday.Under the new rules, the FTC is able to produce a point-based system with which it can measure the “extent of sev
June 11, 2013
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Household loan growth picks up in April: BOK
Household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions grew at a faster pace in April than in the previous month on an increase in non-housing related loans, the central bank said Tuesday.Household lending handled by local banks and non-bank institutions totaled 656.5 trillion won ($580.8 billion) as of end-April, up 1.4 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The April gain picked up from a 600 billion won on-month gain in March and also marked the highest
June 11, 2013
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Seoul lowers bar for job-creating foreign investors
The country is set to strengthen its overall requirements for benefits allowed to foreign-invested firms, but also beef up incentives for those that help create new jobs, the government said Tuesday.Starting Wednesday, only companies with a 30-percent or higher stake owned by foreign investors will be entitled to private contracts on the lease of land within free economic zones in the country, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Previously, any company with foreign ownership
June 11, 2013
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KITA kicks off sourcing fair for major buyers
Amid the prolonged slowdown of the manufacturing industry, the Korea International Trade Association has looked to the service industry for growth.The association kicked off the Korea Grand Sourcing Fair 2013 on Tuesday at COEX in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, and at Kin’s Tower in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province.Some 56 potential purchasers from China, ASEAN member states and the European Union were invited to the event and to meet with local small and medium-sized companies involved in the service
BusinessJune 11, 2013
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Steelmakers spearhead energy-saving campaign
When the government announced a national electricity crisis late last month, following the sudden shutdown of two nuclear reactors, the heaviest burden was immediately placed on the steel industry.In response to the nationwide energy-saving campaign and in preparation of a possible blackout situation, major companies set up emergency action plans.The steel industry, which largely contributed to the country’s industrial growth over the past decades, is a massive energy consumer, and accounts for
BusinessJune 11, 2013
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Dell targets Korean gamers with new Alienware
Dell Korea said Tuesday it added new high-performance gaming PCs to its flagship Alienware lineup, specifically targeting a sizable group of gamers here in Korea.Two different sizes of laptops, Alienware 14 and 17, and a desktop series called Alienware X51 feature some of the latest technologies suitable for all levels of gamers. The 14-inch series weighs 2.9 kilograms and is designed to increase mobility and portability for gamers on the move, whereas Alienware 17 is designed for more hard-core
TechnologyJune 11, 2013