SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― Business sentiment among the self-employed in South Korea worsened in January, data showed Monday, indicating that the prolonged sluggish domestic consumption is presenting tough market conditions for many small-sized business owners. According to data by the Small Enterprise Development Agency, the business survey index among self-employed people for the current market conditions stood at 65.5 last month, down 24.3 from a month earlier. It also dropped by 17.3 from a year

South Korean stocks closed nearly flat on Monday as lingering concerns over a weakening Japanese yen weighed on major exporters, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 0.73 points, or 0.04 percent, to 1,981.91. Trading volume was moderate at 411.6 million shares worth 2.8 trillion won ($2.6 billion) with decliners outnumbering gainers 412 to 383.“The G-20 meeting kept mum on the weakening Japanese yen. There has be

LG Display will invest 706.3 billion won ($655 million) to add a new production line for large-sized organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, panels for televisions, the company said on Monday in a corporate filing. The new line, called the M2 line, is located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and will have a monthly production capacity of 26,000 units. LG Display said it would aim for mass production during the first half of next year, as part of its plans to dominate the OLED TV market over the next s

Hotels, especially five-star ones in Seoul, earned much more from restaurants, conventions and weddings than from room charges.At five-star, or superdeluxe, hotels with more than 300 guest rooms, income from food and other services amounted to more than twice the revenue of room charges in 2011, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service and Statistics Korea.As for the 23 superdeluxe hotels with 300-plus guest rooms in Seoul, room charges accounted for 29.1 percent of their entire

Korea saw a record high level of capital invested in short-term financial instruments as dim outlooks on the economy made investors reluctant to invest in assets with long maturities.Short-term investments ― floating capital that can be immediately transferrable ― in financial products such as securities accounts, repurchase agreements and money market funds amounted to a record 666 trillion won ($617 billion) in December 2012, according to data from the Bank of Korea and Korea Financial Investm

Jailed ex-SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won delivered a message on Monday saying that he is sorry for the confusion he has caused through his arrest on the charges of embezzling corporate funds.In a statement delivered through his attorney, Chey said he feels it was lack of his virtue that such an incident occurred.“It was also much of a shock to me, but the encouragement of SK employees is a relief and an encouragement to me,” he said. “I will do my best to explain myself in the remaining process.

South Korea’s major conglomerates, excluding top two Samsung and Hyundai Motor groups, are likely to pay far less in income taxes this year due to a prolonged economic slump, data showed Monday, sparking fears over a drop in government tax revenue.According to the data by Chaebul.com, a tracker of local business groups, 82 affiliates of the country’s top 10 conglomerates are estimated to pay 11.72 trillion won ($10.8 billion) in taxes this year, up 10.04 trillion won from a year earlier. The inc

South Korea retained its position as the world’s fifth largest automobile producer last year for the eighth year in a row behind China, the United States, Japan and Germany, a local industry group said Monday.Top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and four other local automakers produced a combined 4.56 million units in 2012, compared with 4.66 million vehicles produced a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.South Korea’s output accounted for 5.4 percent of a total

South Korean stocks closed nearly flat on Monday as lingering concerns over a weakening Japanese yen weighed on major exporters, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched up 0.73 points, or 0.04 percent, to 1,981.91. Trading volume was moderate at 411.6 million shares worth 2.8 trillion won (US$2.6 billion) with decliners outnumbering gainers 412 to 383."The G-20 meeting kept mum on the weakening Japanese yen. Th

 South Korean stocks traded 0.21 percent lower late Monday morning, dented by losses in blue-chip exporters, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 4.17 points to 1,977.01 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics shed 0.53 percent, and its smaller local rival LG Electronics decreased 0.4 percent. Top flat panel manufacturer LG Display lost 1.53 percent.Carmakers also traded lower, with No. 1 player Hyundai Motor falling 2.11 percent and its s