State-run financial companies under the management jurisdiction of the Financial Services Commission are reemerging as firms that offer the best-paying jobs of any industry.Employees at nine public financial companies of the regulatory body received an annual monthly salary of some 87 million won ($79,500) on average last year, more than the average 70 million won at Samsung Electronics, Korea’s biggest company listed on the stock market, according to a public disclosure filing.The nine are Kore

LG Chem’s U.S.-based battery plant will start operations this July, marking the end of a long hiatus, the Seoul-based company said on Monday.The plant will start supplying batteries for the Chevrolet Volt hybrid electric car as early as September. “We plan on starting production in July following pilot production and consumer approvals in order to secure high yield and quality,” the company said in statement.The company is focusing on improving the productivity of the plant to eventually expand

SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s leading mobile carrier, said Monday that its daily data transfer topped 1 petabyte in line with the growing use of smartphones and tablet computers in the country. According to SK Telecom, data transfer on its mobile network topped the milestone on April 26, becoming the country’s first mobile operator to set such a record. A petabyte is a measure of data, and one petabyte is a million gigabytes. The figure includes data traffic on the third-generation network, WiFi

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves hit a three-month high in April as a weaker U.S. dollar raised the conversion value of non-dollar assets and investment profit rose, the central bank said Monday.The country’s foreign reserves reached $328.8 billion as of end-April, up $1.39 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea .It marked the highest level since the FX reserves hit a record $328.91 billion in January.Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated

South Korea’s financial regulator said Monday it will start a debt relief program from next month for troubled homeowners as part of its key policy plan to ease the record-high household debt amid a faltering property market.The Financial Services Commission, the country’s top financial watchdog, said it will impose the initial loan-to-value ratio to a mortgage even if the price of the house fell due to the sluggish real estate market. The LTV refers to a tool used by banks to restrict the maxim

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the nation’s largest shipbuilder, won a $700 million order to build five container ships from China Shipping Container Lines, the company said in a press release on Monday. Under the deal, Hyundai Heavy will deliver the ships starting in latter part of 2014. Each container ship will be 18,400-TEU, the worlds’ largest size, loading 18,400 containers. TEU stands for 20-foot equivalent unit. When it comes to container ship orders this year, the company sealed a $600 millio

FSS officials say bailout needs to prevent bankruptcies of subcontractors

South Korean stocks closed 0.22 percent lower Monday despite the European Central Bank's (ECB) stimulus measure as investors were at odds over its impact on the global economy down the road, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 4.23 points to finish at 1,961.48. Trading volume was low at 291.7 million shares worth 3.9 trillion won (US$3.56 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 447 to 356.  "Seoul s

South Korean stocks traded 0.34 percent higher late Monday morning on gains in builders and logistics companies, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 6.7 points to 1,972.41 as of 11:20 a.m.   Builders led the market gain, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction adding 3.34 percent and Daewoo Engineering & Construction climbing 1.74 percent. GS Engineering & Construction moved up 2.57 percent.  Logistics firms also gathered ground, with CJ Korea Expres

South Korea's financial authorities will increase surveillance on speculative movements in local shares this week, market sources said Monday. A team of officials from the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the Korea Exchange and prosecutors will launch a probe into price-rigging activities, according to sources.The local stock market has been suffering from price-rigging deals involving several so-called "celebrity shares," which are usually related to

South Korean stocks opened higher on Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street in the previous trading session, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 14.28 points, or 0.73 percent, to 1,979.99 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor rising 0.5 percent and top steelmaker POSCO adding 0.95 percent. Leading chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.02 percent.U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday on the coun

Affiliates of South Korea's top 10 business groups saw their presence on the main bourse decline in May from end-2012 amid the protracted economic slowdown, data showed Monday.The market capitalization of the top 10 conglomerates' listed firms came at 713.1 trillion won ($651 billion) on Thursday, down 2.27 percent from 729.7 trillion won tallied in end-2012, the Korea Exchange (KRX) data showed.The number accounts for 56.62 percent of the combined market cap of the companies listed on the main