About 65,600 people with more than W300 million yearly income to be affected by new tax High-paid salaried workers would make up only 20 percent of those paying the “Buffett tax,” while the others are expected to be payers of comprehensive income or capital gains tax, a government report found Tuesday. The National Assembly on Saturday passed a controversial bill raising income taxes for the ri...

Dragons all over from wine and leather bags to underwear The Chinese zodiac is always the favorite sales promotion theme for local retailers and hotels at the beginning of each year. 2012 is the Year of the Black Dragon, which makes the most auspicious animal of the zodiac and symbol of the emperor sound even more powerful and mystifying. In the Chinese zodiac, combinations of 10 heavenly stem...

Business leaders pledge to turn crisis into opportunity Chiefs of major conglomerates laid out their New Year’s goals and plans for their businesses on the first day of work this year. Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee said the country’s biggest conglomerate should think outside the box and place more emphasis on new projects, new products and new technologies in his New Year’s message on Mond...

KT Corp. will launch the long-awaited Long Term Evolution service on Tuesday, rekindling competition for faster smartphone services among local telecom carriers. KT said it aims to secure 4 million LTE subscribers within the year by completing nationwide coverage in 84 cities by April, the same level of coverage as market leader SK Telecom, which started the service in July. “The company’s LTE ...

Samsung chairman highlights gaining public’s trust, thinking outside the box Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee said the country’s largest conglomerate will concentrate on corporate social responsibility in 2012 at its New Year’s greeting at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on Monday. “We will take full social responsibility as the nation’s representative firm,” he said, adding that the group’s compet...

The chairwoman of Hyundai Group said Monday that her company needs to be well prepared for resuming its stalled North Korean business in 2012 in the aftermath of the death of the communist state’s leader last month. Hyundai Asan Corp., the inter-Korean business arm of Hyundai Group, has operated the tour program to the North’s scenic Mount Kumgang for a decade. However, South Korea halted the to...

Conglomerate leaders seek long-term growth, more job creation, boosting exports in 2012 Leaders of some of the nation’s largest conglomerates have pledged to invest more in their businesses in the New Year to tide over economic woes as the eurozone debt crisis persists. Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee is expected to emphasize greater investment in a bid to pull through tough economic conditi...