Seoul City will hold its first plebiscite vote in August on the controversial free school meal ordinance, which was approved last year by the city council.The plebiscite vote, introduced in Korea in 2004, has been carried out three times to make important policy decisions in other regions. But the Seoul referendum will be the first one to have been demanded by citizens. The Commission for Anti-Wel

Seoul National University may waive tuition fees for students from low-income families from the fall semester, an official said Thursday. Of the 16,325 undergraduate students at the school, some 1,700 to 2,000 are expected to benefit from the new measure. “(The school) is considering offering a full scholarship to students from low-income households in the bottom 50 percent of the income bracket,”

Just 44 items to be taken from pharmacy controlThe Ministry of Health and Welfare’s attempt to permit sales of over-the-counter drugs, including cough drops, pain killers and digestion pills, was crushed Wednesday as representatives of pharmacists, doctors, consumers and the administration failed to reach an agreement. Instead, the group agreed to allow a total of 44 items including the energy dri

Korea and China have agreed to make efforts for a bilateral free trade agreement to boost trade and further deepen economic ties, the Trade Ministry in Seoul said Thursday.The agreement came at Wednesday’s high-level talks held on Korea’s southernmost resort island of Jeju, in which both sides shared views that a bilateral free trade pact will solidify their economic and trade relations, according

POSCO will set up a joint venture with the Chinese steelmaker Tonghua Iron and Steel Group.According to the Korean steelmaker, it has formed an agreement with the Chinese firm to establish an automotive plate processing joint venture with an annual processing capacity of 200,000 tons.The plant will be located in a special economic development zone in Huinan Country in Jilin Province. POSCO will ho

Corporate image has a major influence on local consumers who said their purchases were largely based on the image companies cultivate, according to a survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.More than 80 percent of those surveyed said they were influenced by corporate image when purchasing products, while only about 15 percent said they were not. Consumers also were found to hold domes

Woori Finance Holdings Co.’s deal to buy a Los Angeles-based bank has fallen through due to regulatory hurdles, sources said Thursday, casting a shadow on its ambition to strengthen its footing in the United States.In May last year, Woori Finance, Korea’s No. 2 banking group, agreed to buy a controlling stake in Hanmi Bank, the flagship of Hanmi Financial Corp., for $240 million in a bid to expand

Korean stocks ended 1.91 percent lower on Thursday as investor sentiment was frozen by concerns about the escalating Greece debt crisis and the pace of the global recovery, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI tumbled 39.9 points to 2,046.63. Trading volume was light at 231.1 million shares worth 5.76 trillion won ($5.28 billion) with losers outpacing

Household loans extended by Korean financial firms grew by the largest amount in four months in April on a sustained increase in home-backed lending, the central bank said Thursday.Household lending handled by local banks and non-bank institutions totaled an outstanding 606.9 trillion won ($558.2 billion) as of the end of April, up 4.6 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of

BC Card Co. is upping the ante in the dispute over an overseas fee system imposed by Visa.According to industry sources, BC Card has decided to file a report with the Fair Trade Commission about Visa over the U.S.-based company’s policy of charging fees on transactions taking place outside of Korea.Visa charges a fee equal to 1 percent of the transaction amount for every time a Visa card is used i

The financial authorities have been in trouble again in realizing the project to recoup taxpayers’ money by selling the state-controlled Woori Financial Group.Though the Financial Services Commission had said it would accept letters of intent from potential bidders for Woori Financial by June 29, sales terms seem to be unattractive to local investors.Research analysts issue the possibility that th

Robert Taylor, an American entrepreneur living in Seoul, clearly remembers one of his earliest attempts to pitch his life coaching services to a marketing director at a big Korean firm. “For 45 minutes, we sat there while he told me why my business wouldn’t work,” said Taylor. “He assured me that cold calling simply couldn’t succeed in Korea, because everything is based on relationships.”Fortunate