The Korea Herald

[Graphic News] Cheaper yen benefits Japanese carmakers

IndustryApr 23, 2013

The cheaper yen is improving the competitiveness of Japanese carmakers, while their Korean and German rivals are expected to struggle with falling profits. According to IBES earnings estimates on Tuesday, Toyota is estimated to log $4.79 billion in operating profit in the first quarter, a 60.5 percent increase from a year ago. Japan’s Nissan and Honda were also to see a 38 percent and 23.6 percent increase in profits, respectively. Despite their increased sales this year, however, Korea’s Hyunda
Employers oppose retirement age extension

IndustryApr 23, 2013

Businesses say retirement age extension will lead to less recruitment of young workers
[Photo News] Polo new lineup

TransportApr 23, 2013
Seoul denies G20’s backing of cheap yen

Apr 23, 2013

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday dismissed some local market analysts’ view that the Group of 20 countries recently reached a consensus not to tackle the Japanese yen’s weak position.“The G20 communique (drawn up by finance ministers in Washington, D.C., over the weekend) does not involve any common consent that the members would tolerate the cheap yen,” Finance Ministry’s international finance policy director Choi Hee-nam told a news briefing.Concerning arguments that the G20 members did not cri
Reactor stoppage causes power concerns

Apr 23, 2013

Unit 1 of the Shin Wolseong nuclear power plant in the nation’s southeastern region stopped operations on Tuesday due to a malfunction, according to the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co.“The cause of the problem has yet to be identified, but the reactor is in stable condition without risk of a radiation leak,” a KHNP official said. The 1-million-kilowatt reactor, located near Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, began commercial operations in July 2012.With the temporary closure of the Shin Wols
Divorce rate for seniors reaches record: data

Apr 23, 2013

The number of couples who divorced after living together for more than 20 years surpassed those with less than four years of marriage for the first time last year, Statistics Korea said Tuesday. The number of divorce cases filed by couples married for over 20 years reached 30,200 in 2012, compared with 28,200 of those married less than four years.This is up from 28,300 in 2011 for divorced couples with 20 years of marriage, but down from 30,700 for those married for less than four years.Couples
KORES under audit over overseas mining

IndustryApr 23, 2013

Korea Resources Corp., a state-run mineral resources explorer and developer, is under investigation by the nation’s top audit agency for wasting its budget in pursuit of overseas mining projects over the past five years, industry sources said. One of the target overseas mining projects under investigation by the Board of Audit and Inspection is the Boleo copper-cobalt-zinc project in Mexico, the sources said. KORES secured a 10 percent stake in the project for $276 million in 2008, but it increa
KEB denies claim of hacker’s attack

Apr 23, 2013

Korea Exchange Bank, the nation’s fifth-largest lender, on Tuesday denied allegations that international hackers broke into its online security system to expose the personal details of bank customers. KEB made the statement after the list of what hackers claimed to be KEB customers’ confidential data was disclosed on their website, pastebin.com. “Our investigation results point to the fact that not a single piece of personal information or email address that was exposed by the hackers matches ou
Shares fall on weak yen

Apr 23, 2013

South Korean stocks closed 0.4 percent lower Tuesday as foreigners became net sellers of local shares amid the weak yen, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 7.68 points to finish at 1,918.63. Trading volume was low at 253 million shares worth 3.4 trillion won ($3.08 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 478 to 316.“The local stock market lost steam as the Japanese currency is anticipated to trade lower against
Korea’s Q1 int’l air passenger traffic surges to new high

IndustryApr 23, 2013

South Korea’s international air passenger traffic jumped to a new first-quarter high this year on a sharp increase in the number of visitors to and from other Asian countries, the government said Tuesday.In the three months ending on March 31, the number of air passengers to and from the country reached 12.51 million, up 10 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The number of passengers to and from China jumped 14.8 percent on
Credit card spending growth slows in March

IndustryApr 23, 2013

South Korea’s credit card spending grew at a slower pace in March than a year earlier as the economic slowdown dented consumer sentiment, a trade association said Tuesday.Purchases made with credit cards totaled 45.3 trillion won ($40.5 billion) last month, up 5.6 percent from the 42.9 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association.The number is far lower than the 14.5 percent on-year growth tallied in March 2012, the data showed. The figure
Banks’ overseas earnings slip 11.8% in 2012

IndustryApr 23, 2013

South Korean banks saw their combined net profit from overseas operations shrink 11.8 percent last year from a year earlier due mainly to a profit decrease in stocks and bonds investment, the financial regulator said Tuesday. Net income of 139 overseas units and branches managed by 11 local banks reached $636.2 million in the January-December period of 2012, compared with $721.6 million the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The weaker bottom line came as their net pr
Seoul’s Myeong-dong becoming boon for cosmetics industry

Apr 23, 2013

According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, sales of three major department stores declined 4.1 percent from the previous year in January. South Korea’s economy is likely to grow at a pace of 2.8 percent in 2013. The nation’s consumer prices have risen at a slower pace and will reach 2.5 percent this year. Private consumption will continue to remain slow due to rising household debt. The growth of the country’s retail industry will be lower than the inflation rate due to the economic downtur
Make banking personal again

Apr 23, 2013

How often do you visit a bank branch? Or speak to someone from your bank on the phone? Chances are, not very often. Banking is migrating to digital channels, which raises the question of what’s going to happen to the personal relationship between banks and their customers. In an increasingly digitized world, how do we keep the “personal” in personal banking?Arguably, banks have some catching up to do. At the heart of it all, banks need to think experiences, not channels. They need to become fund
Prolonged Gaeseong complex suspension chokes SMEs

IndustryApr 23, 2013

A prolonged suspension of the joint inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea has begun to hurt South Korean small companies that have factories in the communist country, officials said Tuesday.North Korea has shown no signs of lifting the entry ban to the complex in its western border city of Gaeseong amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The North pulled out all of its 53,000 workers from the complex earlier this month, bringing operations of the 123 South Korean factories there to a hal