The Korea Herald

FSC puts reins on credit cards to curb debt

Dec 26, 2011

New rules include imposition of age, income limit on customers Korea’s financial regulators said on Monday they would toughen qualifications for credit card issuance as part of efforts to stem excessive spending through plastic. The Financial Services Commission unveiled plans for the new credit card issuance guidelines and other measures aimed at reining in fast-rising credit card spending and...
Seoul shares drop on institutional selling

Dec 26, 2011

Korean stocks finished 0.56 percent lower on Monday as uncertainties about Europe overshadowed upbeat U.S. data, prompting institutional sell-offs, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. After opening briefly higher, the benchmark KOSPI dropped 10.52 points to 1,856.70. Trading volume was moderate at 424 million shares worth 2.97 trillion won ($2.58 billion) with losers...
Seoul shares end 0.56% down on institutional selling

Dec 26, 2011

South Korean stocks finished 0.56 percent lower on Monday as uncertainties about Europe overshadowed upbeat U.S. data, prompting institutional sell-offs, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. After opening briefly higher, the benchmark KOSPI dropped 10.52 points to 1,856.70. Trading volume was moderate at 424 million shares worth 2.97 trillion won ($2.58 billion) with ...
KT to start long-awaited LTE service from next week

IndustryDec 26, 2011

By Lee Ji-yoon KT Corp, the nation’s second-largest telecom operator, plans to start its long-awaited Long Term Evolution service from next week after a Seoul court gave it the green light on Monday to ditch its feature phone service. According to KT, it will shut down the second-generation network service in phases, first in Seoul at 10 a.m. on Jan. 3, starting faster LTE service straight away...
KT to start long-awaited LTE service from next week

TechnologyDec 26, 2011

KT Corp, the nation’s second-largest telecom operator, plans to start its long-awaited Long Term Evolution service from next week after a Seoul court gave it the green light on Monday to ditch its feature phone service. According to KT, it will shut down the second-generation network service in phases, first in Seoul at 10 a.m. on Jan. 3, starting faster LTE service straight away on that day. T...
Kumho Petrochemical pressed to sell stake in Kumho Asiana

Dec 26, 2011

Creditors of Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. are pressing the company to sell its stake in Asiana Airlines Inc., a major affiliate of Kumho Asiana Group, in order to separate the petrochemical firm from the group, industry sources said Monday. Park Chan-koo, chairman of Kumho Petrochemical, has been seeking to separate the company and two other petrochemical units from Kumho Asiana Group, owned by...
BOK under pressure to tighten this week

Dec 26, 2011
'Anonymous' hackers target US security think tank

TechnologyDec 26, 2011

LONDON (AP) _ The loose-knit hacking movement ``Anonymous'' claimed to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor. One hacker said the goal was to pilfer funds from individuals' accounts to give away as Christmas donations, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions linked to their credit ca...
IT-related application sales nearly double

IndustryDec 25, 2011

Sales of information technology-based applications in Korea have almost doubled on average over the past three years, driven by soaring demand for high-tech solutions to upgrade products, a poll showed Sunday. Five-hundred companies, chiefly non-IT, raked in more than 160 billion won ($139 million) collectively from the business-to-business transactions last year, according to the Ministry of Kn...
Cleaning robots pep up slumping market for home appliances

IndustryDec 25, 2011

Sales of robotic vacuum cleaners in Korea have more than tripled in three years, perking up the sluggish local market for home appliances, industry data showed Sunday. The market expanded at an average rate of 56 percent over the last three years, from a scant 36,000 units in 2008 to 130,000 this year, the data showed. That is expected to further grow to 170,000 units next year. The upbeat grow...
Demand for luxury goods still high in Korea

IndustryDec 25, 2011

Foreign luxury brands continue to increase prices despite economic slowdown Lee, a 29-year-old office worker, breathed a sigh of relief recently after she passed through the arrival gate at the Incheon International Airport without any tussle with customs officials. Coming back from a business trip to Paris, she was carrying a 1,660 euro ($2,160) Chanel bag within her luggage. But she didn’t re...
Regulators plan to fuel growth to ETF market

Dec 25, 2011

Retirement and pension funds may be allowed to engage in ETF to nurture long-term investment Korea’s financial regulators plan to nurture the fledgling ETF market by allowing pension and retirement funds to engage in the investment vehicle in question as part of efforts to encourage long-term investment practices. The country’s financial regulators led by the Financial Services Commission are r...
Self-employed biz lending accounts for 33.9 percent of SME loans

Dec 25, 2011

The amount of money borrowed by self-employed entrepreneurs accounted for 33.9 percent of all loans taken out by small and medium enterprises, data showed Sunday, raising worries it may weigh on government efforts to curb private sector debt. Korean lenders extended loans worth 157.9 trillion won ($137.4 billion) to self-employed business-people as of the end of November, from a total of all SME...
Korean businesses bracing for escalating uncertainties

Dec 25, 2011

Korea is girding itself for a series of external uncertainties surrounding its economy that are expected to reach their peak in the first quarter of next year, officials said Sunday. Amid a global economic slowdown, the bulk of sovereign debts issued by five highly indebted eurozone countries will mature during the January-March period, the most serious risk factor that could rattle financial ma...
Shares likely to gain ground on improving U.S. data

Dec 25, 2011

South Korean stocks will likely continue to gain ground this week as improving U.S. economic indicators are expected to bolster investor sentiment, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark KOSPI rose about 1.5 percent last week to close at 1,867.22 on Friday. The rise came despite a plunge on Monday caused by news of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Investors were spooked by heightene...