Korea’s trade deficit with Japan fell in the first half, compared with a year earlier mainly because exports by Asia’s fourth-largest economy benefited from Japan’s devastating quake in March, data showed Sunday.Korea’s exports to Japan rose 49.9 percent on-year to $17.7 billion in the January-June period while imports grew 11.3 percent to $32.1 billion, according to data compiled by the Ministry

Korea’s financial watchdog said Sunday it plans to inspect large local banks and insurers every other year, a change from the current annual checkups, in a bid to ease unintended burdens on financial firms.Instead, the Financial Supervisory Service is seeking to strengthen the sector-wide monitoring system and focus on issue-based inspections when potential systemic risks crop up.In the wake of th

The Korea International Trade Association said Sunday the number of people who found jobs through its online recruitment services has topped 10,000 in less than two years. The website, named JobTogether (http://jobtogether.net/), was opened in September 2009 as part of KITA’s campaigns to tackle labor shortages in the local trade industry and rising unemployment in Korea. As of May, 10,838 job see

Korea’s state pension fund is said to inject at least 250 billion won ($234.3 million) into a Korean-led consortium for its project to buy Titleist golf brand, industry sources said Sunday.The group led by Fila Korea Ltd. struck a deal with Fortune Brands Inc. in May to take over the U.S.-based liquor firm’s golf equipment unit Acushnet for $1.23 billion. Other partners include Mirae Asset Private

Finance ministers of South Korea and Japan agreed to step up policy coordination in pushing for “a strong, sustainable and balanced growth,” both sides said.During their meeting in Tokyo on Friday, South Korea’s Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda shared the view that the economy in East Asia still faces risk factors, despite its steady rebound from the global

Some automated teller machine services of Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s largest lender, were paralyzed for around three hours on Saturday morning, bank officials said, rekindling concerns over banking security in the country. Customers had difficulties depositing and withdrawing money through ATMs across the nation between 7:30 a.m. and 10:20 a.m., according to the officials.Kookmin Bank said its of

Hyundai Motor Co., Korea’s largest carmaker, said Friday that it started selling the 2012 model Santa Fe sport utility vehicle on the local market.The updated model of the popular SUV has a restyled radiator grille, new headlights and positioning lamps that improve the overall attractiveness of the vehicle, the company said.It also said the new Santa Fe will have 18-inch aluminum wheels, a black h

Toyota Motor Corp said it would recall about 114,000 hybrid cars in Japan, Europe and the United States because of faulty transistors in control boards.Toyota said it would conduct a voluntary safety recall in the U.S. involving about 45,500 Highlander hybrid sports utility vehicles and 36,700 Lexus RX 400h sports utility vehicles.Some transistors in the recalled cars were “inadequately soldered a

Audi AG is taking aim at Ferrari SpA with a convertible version of the R8 GT supercar, as the Volkswagen AG unit hones a high-end sporty image in its quest to overtake Bayerische Motoren Werke AG as the luxury-car leader. The R8 GT Spyder, Audi’s most expensive series production car, boasts carbon-fiber in the front and rear spoilers to reduce weight and help the car accelerate to 100 kilometers p

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Google is in preliminary talks to acquire the online video site Hulu, the Los Angeles Times reported on its website Friday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the discussions.Hulu’s owners have met with Google and other prospective buyers including Yahoo! and Microsoft, the newspaper reported.The site, which broadcasts television shows through on-demand streaming, is owned by