Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors have secured the No. 1 position in sales among Asian carmakers in the European market, outstripping Toyota Motor.According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Hyundai-Kia sold 58,585 vehicles in 28 European countries in May, grabbing 4.7 percent of the market.Though the two affiliated companies saw their market share inch down 0.5 perce

Samsung Electronics marked its splash into the global fourth-generation telecom market in earnest with a contract for providing long-term-evolution equipment to Japan’s second-largest mobile phone operator.Samsung will be offering its LTE equipment to KDDI to help the firm launch its LTE services starting next year, the Seoul-based electronics company said on Monday.LTE is the fourth-generation of

Korea’s economic growth is expected to expand 4.5 percent on-year in 2011 as the steady pace of the global economic recovery contributes to more exports, a state-run think tank said Monday.The forecast by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade is up from its earlier prediction of 4.3 percent.Last year, the Korean economy, Asia’s fourth-largest, expanded 6.2 percent. “The economy wi

The heads of Korea’s major think tanks Monday emphasized the importance of the nation’s continued efforts to “normalize” macroeconomic policies, citing a sufficient amount of liquidity unleashed in the domestic market.In their meeting with Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan in central Seoul, they also shared the view that Korea’s economy is faced with growing external risks from slowing recovery in adv

The steelmaker POSCO announced Monday that it was ranked top in the U.S.-based steel industry analysis firm World Steel Dynamics’ World-Class Steelmaker’s list for the second consecutive year. In this year’s report, World Steel Dynamics rated 34 steelmakers in 23 categories including technological capability, profitability and access to raw materials. POSCO scored 8.12 points to take the top spot.

STX Corp. announced Monday that it signed a memorandum of understanding on building a shipyard for Russia’s state-run shipbuilder United Shipbuilding Corp. at the international economic forum held in St. Petersburg on Friday.Under the agreement, STX, which counts construction and shipbuilders among its subsidiaries, will undertake the $1 billion project to build a shipyard in St. Petersburg. The c

Mobile retail outlets will not be able to activate new mobile phones on Saturdays starting from next month as the government plans to enforce the 40-hour per week work scheme for smaller workplaces.The country’s three mobile carriers ― SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG Uplus ― said that electronics systems at the mobile retail outlets will not function on Saturdays beginning July 1.The move comes as the

Cyber network problems have occurred again in the nation’s brokerage sector, following similar cases in NH Investment & Securities, Leading Investment & Securities, and Dong Yang securities earlier this year.Customers of Hyundai Securities suffered troubles in their online investment in stocks for about an hour early Monday due to a glitch in the brokerage firm’s network system.The investors could

The largest money-laundering scam conducted through overseas tax-havens has been uncovered by the Korea Customs Service.According to reports, the Korea Customs Service uncovered a money laundering scam by a local intermediate trading firm involving foreign currencies valued at 762.5 billion won ($704.1 million).The company imports petrochemical products, which it then exports to other markets. The