Korea’s financial regulator said Wednesday it will require credit card companies to set aside more loss reserves against credit card loans amid growing concerns over burgeoning household debts.The measures to limit credit card companies’ lending and prop up their financial health came after the sector recorded sharp growth in household loans last year. Mushrooming household debts have been cited a

March 30, 2011

 South Korean researchers said Wednesday that they have developed a highly sensitive biochip capable of precisely detecting diseases and environmental pollutants.   The new biochip has been tested to be 100,000 times more sensitive in detecting individual molecules of diseases and pollutants compared to conventional screening devices, said the state-run Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and B

TechnologyMarch 30, 2011

  South Korea's top central banker has stressed the need to steadily tackle growing household debt, which market watchers fear will undercut the country's economic growth momentum.   South Korean household debts came to nearly 800 trillion won ($721.8 billion) as of the end of last year, which analysts say had been stoked by the country's low borrowing costs.     In a dinner meeting with reporters

March 30, 2011

    Renault Samsung Motors Co., the South Korean unit of French automaker Renault SA, said Wednesday it will cut its output by about 20 percent from next month due to an undersupply of parts from quake-hit Japan.   The company is said to import up to 18 percent of all parts for its vehicles from Japanese suppliers, largely because of Renault's strategic alliance with Japan's Nissan Motor Co.   Ren

MobilityMarch 30, 2011

   South Korea's consumer prices grew at the second-fastest pace among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in February, data showed Wednesday.   According to the data offered by the OECD, South Korea's consumer prices jumped 4.5 percent last month from a year earlier, the second steepest hike among its 34 member nations. Estonia ranked first with 5.

March 30, 2011

The South Korean economy grew 6.2 percent last year, the fastest expansion in eight years, as exports remained robust and facility investment jumped amid improved consumer spending, the central bank said Wednesday.   The country's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic performance, was revised up from an earlier estimate of 6.1 percent for last year, according to the Bank o

March 30, 2011

Korea has decided to downsize areas originally included as part of the country’s six free economic zones to reflect changing development requirements, the government said Tuesday.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said a review panel ruled to exclude 12 areas covering 90.4-square kilometers of land from the FEZs, a move expected to cut back on overall costs and construction time.Seoul first designa

March 29, 2011

Korea will host an annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank in 2015, a chance that the government expects would deepen its economic cooperation with American countries, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The decision was unanimously made during the 52nd round of the IDB annual meeting that ended on Monday in Canada, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in a press release.Founded i

March 29, 2011

The government, telecom operators, handset makers and credit card companies are teaming up to expedite the development of a new mobile payment technology. The Korea Communications Commission announced Tuesday the launch of a coalition to foster near-field communication technology, which allows shoppers to apply their mobile devices to an electronic reader at the check-out to pay for goods and serv

IndustryMarch 29, 2011

Telecom industry giant and world’s No. 2 phonemaker struggling to shirk blame for high call feesSK Telecom and Samsung Electronics, known for their airtight alliance on phone marketing and sales, are showing signs of a major rift with both parties attempting to shift blame for spiking call fees, according to industry watchers. On the government’s mounting demands on telecom companies to slash the

IndustryMarch 29, 2011

The Trade Ministry is to again revise the Korean-language version of the Korea-EU free trade agreement, and resubmit the bill for ratification to the National Assembly for the third time.“The government was recently informed that several errors were found while reviewing the Korea-EU FTA’s Korean translation,” Rep. Nam Kyung-pil, National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee

IndustryMarch 29, 2011

Korean commercial and state-controlled banks are seeking to strengthen their investment banking sectors in the belief they will be their new growth engines.Beyond the saturated loan issuance market, most local banks share the view that investment banking is one of many priorities for globalization in the coming years.Among them are KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank and Industrial Bank of K

March 29, 2011