The Korea Herald

AirAsia X launches route between Busan and Kuala Lumpur

IndustryJul 15, 2013

BUSAN ― Asia’s largest budget carrier AirAsia on Monday said that its long-haul, low-cost carrier AirAsia X launched its first flight connecting Busan and Kuala Lumpur.At the launching event held in Busan, AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes ― who is also the chairman of English soccer club Queens Park Rangers ― invited the club’s Korean star and AirAsia celebrity representative Park Ji-sung to celebrate the occasion.The new route between Gimhae International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airpor
Seoul shares up 0.28 pct on Chinese data

Jul 15, 2013

South Korean stocks closed 0.28 percent higher Monday as China's economic growth for the second quarter met market estimates, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 5.18 points to finish at 1,875.16. Trading volume was moderate at 326.1 million shares worth 3.1 trillion won (US$2.8 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 436 to 355.Seoul shares gathered ground after China's National Bureau of Statistics said i
Gov't puts two Woori affiliates up for bidding

IndustryJul 15, 2013

The government kicked off Monday its long-pending sale of Woori Finance Holdings Co. by putting two of its bank affiliates up for a bidding, as it takes a full approach in its fourth attempt to privatize the state-run banking group. The state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC) posted a sales notice to sell its 56.97 percent stake in Kyongnam Bank and Kwangju Bank, the two regional banks tied with Woori Finance as of July 15, according to the KDIC. The bidding comes as the first part of the
Korean won's volatility to dollar hits 18-month high: data

Jul 15, 2013

The volatility of the local currency against the U.S. dollar hit an 18-month high in the second quarter, largely due to the jitters in the foreign exchange market stemming from a weaker yen, the central bank's data showed Monday.The daily volatility rate of the won-dollar cross rate averaged 0.43 percent in the April-June period, the highest since 0.64 percent tallied in the fourth quarter of 2011 amid the Greece-led debt crisis in the eurozone, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Seoul shares up 0.34 pct in late-morning trade

Jul 15, 2013

South Korean stocks traded 0.34 percent higher late Monday morning on reports that China's on-year economic growth for the second quarter met the market estimate of 7.5 percent, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 6.4 points to 1,876.38 as of 11:20 a.m.Carmakers led the market gain, with No. 1 player Hyundai Motor adding 1.44 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors rising 1.54 percent. Top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis moved up 0.98 percent.Logistics
Seoul shares open lower on uncertainties

Jul 15, 2013

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Monday as investors sat on the sidelines amid the rising uncertainties over the Chinese economy and the U.S. firms' second-quarter earnings, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 14.02 points, or 0.75 percent to 1,855.96 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech blue chips lost ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics losing 1.22 percent and leading chipmaker SK hynix falling 1.4 percent. Top flat panel maker
Korea braces for huge tax shortfall

Jul 14, 2013

Financial policymakers and authorities are on high alert as the government is expected to see a shortfall in tax revenue this year amid the economic slowdown.In a report to the Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly on Sunday, the National Tax Service said that the shortfall would reach almost 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion) in the first half of this year, the biggest loss in four years since the global financial crisis.The report showed that the government has collected taxes wo
Transport Ministry protests to NTSB over crash probe

IndustryJul 14, 2013

Asiana considers lawsuit against U.S. TV station for insulting pilots
[Graphic News] South and North Korean economy

Jul 14, 2013

According to a report released by the Bank of Korea in Seoul last week, North Korea’s nominal gross national income amounted to 33.5 trillion won ($29.8 billion) last year, which is equivalent of 2.6 percent of South Korea’s 2012 GNI of 1,279.5 trillion won.
Business titans earn more, donate less

Jul 14, 2013

The country’s 10 largest conglomerates on average spared less in social donations despite raking in a larger net profit last year, Chaebul.com reported on Sunday. A total of seven conglomerates donated more funds for social contribution, but the remaining three gave considerably less, dragging down the average, said the portal devoted to information on top conglomerates here. The seven groups that gave more are Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG, Lotte, POSCO, Hanjin and Hanwha. Samsung Group made the m
Shares likely to gain ground this week

Jul 14, 2013

South Korean stocks are expected to gather ground this week, allaying concerns on a sudden liquidity squeeze as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured that a loose monetary policy would be kept, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 1,869.98 on Friday, up 2 percent from the previous week. The main bourse moved in rangebound earlier in the week, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of Bernanke’s speech. After the Fed chairman’s remarks backin
Home transactions in Korea spike in June

Jul 14, 2013

The volume of home transactions in South Korea jumped to the highest level in more than six years last month, buoyed by the government’s property market stimulus measures, data showed Sunday.According to the data provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a total of 129,907 homes were sold and bought in June, up 128.2 percent from the same month a year earlier.The number is also up 44.1 percent from the previous month when 90,136 homes changed hands. The June figure marked t
China sales of Kia’s K3 compact top 100,000 units

TransportJul 14, 2013

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said Sunday cumulative sales of its K3 compact car in China surpassed the 100,000-unit mark last week thanks to its marketability and beefed-up marketing activity.Kia Motors achieved the landmark in eight months and three weeks, the shortest period of time among the company’s passenger car models unveiled in the world’s biggest auto market.Sales of the K3 compact sedan in China had been hovering above 10,000 units per month since November
Brokerages’ Q1 earnings tumble on market slump

Jul 14, 2013

South Korean securities companies are estimated to have seen their bottom lines plunge in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 from a year earlier due mainly to a prolonged stock market slump, a market tracker said Sunday.According to financial information provider FnGuide, five of six major securities companies, which have three or more first-quarter earnings estimates, have suffered sharp declines in their bottom lines for the April-June period. Local securities firms close their books on March 31
Domestic stimulus has little effect on markets

Jul 14, 2013

Financial markets driven by external conditions rather than domestic policies