The Korea Herald

Chinese women take on `Man's World' with $400,000 Maseratis

Jan 14, 2011

Beijing resident Lily Liu has always liked driving fast, and she doesn’t mind spending to indulge that passion. Liu, 44, bought a gray Porsche AG 911 Carrera S two years ago for 1.2 million yuan ($182,000) and is shopping for an Aston Martin , the sports car made famous by James Bond movies . The construction company president said she is “quite proud” of being the center of attention when s...
Watchdog halts operations of troubled savings bank

Jan 14, 2011

South Korea's financial regulator on Friday suspended operations of an embattled savings bank as it accelerates efforts to restructure the savings banks industry distressed with souring construction loans. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said it will suspend Seoul-based Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank for six months for failing to meet regulatory capital requirements. As of the end of July, ...
Obama gov't wants Congress to approve Korea FTA before July: Kirk

Jan 14, 2011

The Obama administration wants Congress to ratify the free-trade deal with South Korea before a similar pact between South Korea and the European Union goes into effect in July, the chief U.S. trade official said Thursday. "Our goal is to hand this agreement to Congress before the EU trade agreement goes into effect on July 1," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told a forum here. "Everything we...
S. Korea's business heads vow efforts to outperform expectations

Jan 13, 2011

Heads of South Korea's largest conglomerates on Thursday vowed efforts to outperform expectations for the country's economy this year and urged an early implementation of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States to help achieve their goal. The ambitious plan came from the executive council of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the largest industry lobby in South Korea with a m...
Portugal claims success in bond sale

Jan 13, 2011

Demand strong for bond, but bailout worries linger LISBON (AFP) ― Portugal said it passed a key test on Wednesday with a successful bond sale but analysts were cautious, arguing that a bailout remains a real possibility to ease its debt problems ― and those of the eurozone. The government raised 1.25 billion euros ($1.6 billion), the maximum it sought, attracting strong interest and slightly lo...
BOK unexpectedly hikes key rate to 2.75 pct

Jan 13, 2011

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's central bank unexpectedly raised the key interest rate by a quarter percentage point on Thursday in an apparent bid to contain growing inflationary pressure. Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers hiked the benchmark seven-day repo rate, dubbed the base rate, to 2.75 percent. It marked the third rate increase since the onset o...
Gasoline price tops 1,800 won nationwide

Jan 12, 2011

The price of regular unleaded gasoline topped 1,800 won ($1.5) per liter in all metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide as of Tuesday, the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. said Wednesday. It is the first time that such a phenomenon has been seen since August 2008. The average gasoline price per liter in North Jeolla province remained under 1,800 won until Tuesday when it marked 1800.64 w...
Korea economy posts strong jobs growth

Jan 12, 2011

Korea’s economy added jobs in December at the fastest rate for seven months as manufacturers boosted hiring amid strong exports, official figures showed Wednesday. The number of employed people stood at 23.68 million last month, up 455,000 from a year earlier. It was the largest year-on-year increase in jobs since 586,000 in May. The unemployment rate of 3.5 percent last month was unchanged fro...
Rise in trade with China exposes Korea to pressure

Jan 12, 2011

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Korea has come up against a dilemma as its export-led economy grows more dependent on China, which poses both opportunities and risks at the same time, experts say. China’s influence on the Korean economy is ever more visible as the world’s second-largest economy has become the largest destination of its products. For China, Korea is its third-largest trading partner af...
Korea’s sovereign debt cost declined in Dec.

Jan 12, 2011

The cost of issuing Korea’s sovereign debt declined in December as market jitters eased over geopolitical tensions prompted by North Korea’s latest provocations, data showed Wednesday. The spread on dollar-denominated currency stabilization bonds dropped to 90 basis points last month, down from 114 basis points reported in November, according to the data provided by the Finance Ministry. The de...
Pressure on Portugal rises amid debt fears

Jan 11, 2011

Portuguese bond yields hit record highs as fear of spreading debt contagion rises LISBON (AP) ― Borrowing rates for Portugal briefly spiked after reports over the weekend that Germany and France are pushing it to accept outside help to keep the debt crisis in Europe from spreading. The yield on Portuguese 10-year bonds, a key gauge of investor sentiment, rose to 7.18 percent at one point on Mon...
More discount stores to operate gas stations

Jan 11, 2011

The government will ease regulations to allow more discount stores to operate gas stations, hoping greater competition will help curb fuel price inflation, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Monday. The government is also seeking to cut taxes on diesel while raising rates on liquefied petroleum gas to reduce their price gaps, the ministry and state-run Korea National Oil Corp. said. The ben...
Producer inflation hits 2-year high in December

Jan 10, 2011

Korea’s annual producer inflation hit a two-year high in December, central bank data showed on Monday, adding to evidence of rising consumer inflationary pressure around the region. The producer price index in December rose 5.3 percent from a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. It marked the fastest growth since December 2008, led by food and raw material prices. The data come...
Korea culls 1.3m livestock to combat FMD epidemic

Jan 10, 2011

Korea has ordered the culling of 1.34 million livestock since late November to stem its severest foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in history, the government said Monday. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said quarantine officials ordered the culling of 107,500 heads of cattle, just under 1.23 million pigs and over 3,700 goats and deer on 3,300 farms in the past 40 days. ...
Korea to tighten inspection of capital flows

Jan 10, 2011

Korea’s financial regulator said it plans to tighten inspections of capital flows this year to improve the soundness of its foreign-currency market. “There are persisting destabilizing factors in the global financial markets following the Group of 20 meeting, such as volatile capital movements and currency wars among major countries,” the Financial Supervisory Service said Monday in an e-mailed ...