South Korea doesn't need to feel pressed for time in deciding whether to join the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, a top U.S. trade official said Wednesday."There's no formal deadline," Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said at a press conference for foreign journalists in Washington. "The idea is that if economies aren't ready right now, that they'll be able to join once it's done and essentially accede to the TPP."Marantis said an envisioned TPP deal woul

Shinhan, Nonghyup banks under FSS probe for network glitch

The Bank of Korea will not test how the Korean economy performs and responds to its monetary policy, Governor Kim Choong-soo said in a meeting with economic researchers and professors on Wednesday.Kim’s remarks came in defense of the central bank’s decision to freeze its key base rate at 2.75 percent this month for the fifth straight month, reiterating that the global economy, albeit slowly, is heading for recovery.There has been consensus in the market that the central bank may move to lower it

SK C&C, one of the nation’s biggest IT service companies, on Wednesday said it secured an order to provide solutions for a mobile wallet for China Unicom Pay to pave the way into the Chinese mobile commerce market.With the deal, SK C&C has added a Chinese business partner to its list of counterparts in the U.S. that includes Google, FDC, PayPal and the Dunkin brands. China Unicom Pay is an affiliate of one of China’s top three mobile communications providers, China Unicom, which handles all paym

LS Cable & System, a leading Korean wire and cable maker, said Wednesday it has developed what it claims is the world’s thinnest communications cable as part of its drive to target overseas markets.The cable, which measures 7 millimeter in outer diameter, is the world’s thinnest, compared with existing products that measure 7.2 to 8 millimeters in diameter, LS Cable & System said in a press release.The cable maker said the thinner diameter is easy to install and saves installation space, which c

Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corp., a South Korean builder, said Wednesday that it has signed a $270 million deal to build facilities to produce gold bars in Saudi Arabia.Under the deal with Ma’aden, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned mining company, Hanwha E&C will construct the facilities as well as a residence and research center near Al Humiyah, about 450 kilometers southwest of the kingdom’s capital Riyadh.The facilities, to be built in two years, will be capable of processing 2 million tons o

Samsung Display Co., the world’s biggest display maker, has decided to drop a patent suit against LG Electronics Co. over liquid-crystal display technologies, paving the way for both sides to end a long-running legal battle, industry sources said Wednesday.The two display giants have been embroiled in a patent tussle over organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and LCD technologies that broke out on the heels of a police investigation into an alleged leak of technologies from Samsung Display to LG D

South Korean stocks dropped 0.97 percent on Wednesday as investors stepped to the sidelines on an aborted bailout plan for Cyprus, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 19.15 points to 1,959.41. Trading volume was moderate at 322.4 million shares worth 3.7 trillion won ($3.3 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 562 to 251.“The Cyprus rejection raised concerns on the eurozone region and foreigners continued to

KB Financial Group chairman Euh Yoon-dae has seemingly been successful in resolving the recent conflict between management and outside directors.Euh was tackling a false allegation ― raised by a KB Financial senior executive ― that some outside directors dispatched by financial authorities sought to block KB Financial from taking over ING Life Korea.Foreign investors were informed of the allegation, which had not been verified, via a report by the U.S.-based Institutional Shareholder Services In

Samsung Display Co., the world's biggest display maker, has decided to drop a patent suit against LG Electronics Co. over liquid-crystal display technologies, paving the way for both sides to end a long-running legal battle, industry sources said Wednesday.The two display giants have been embroiled in a patent tussle over organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and LCD technologies that broke out on the heels of a police investigation into an alleged leak of technologies from Samsung Display to LG D

The Republic of Liberia in West Africa and a local fisheries company are caught in an escalating dispute possibly worth $6 million over illegal fishing in Liberian waters. Liberia recently said it would press criminal charges against Dongwon Industries ― Korea’s largest tuna brand ― for fishing with a forged license in its waters, according to both the Liberian government and Greenpeace. A Dongwon-owned tuna fishing vessel had been caught fishing with the fake documents in 2011 and 2012. License