South Korean stocks began higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investors were buoyed by encouraging remarks by U.S. President Barack Obama before his State of the Union address, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 5.58 points, or 0.29 percent, to 1,951.37 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most shares trended upwards, with brokerage houses and insurance companies driving up the index. No. 2 brokerage firm KDB Daewoo Securities r

South Korea's jobless rate rose above 3 percent in January for the first time in five months, but job growth quickened thanks in part to a hike in the manufacturing sector, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 3.4 percent last month, up from the previous month's 2.9 percent. The rate rose above 3 percent for the first time since August.Job creation, however, accelerated. About 322,000 jobs were created last month compared wit

The Korean won showed the highest volatility after the Japanese yen among Asian currencies last month, spurred by Tokyo’s outright monetary easing, data showed Tuesday. In January, the daily currency volatility rate of the won against the U.S dollar averaged 0.34 percent, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The rate roughly refers to the average daily variation compared to the previous session’s closing quotation.The Japanese yen topped at 0.7 percent, and the Korean won ranked

The Ministry of Knowledge and Economy said on Tuesday that the revised rules of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act that aimed to improve business services for foreign investors would take effect in June.The revised ordinances aimed at sorting out qualified foreign firms and providing them with benefits in terms of financing and services, officials said.Under the new system, access to state-owned or public land will only be allowed for firms that maintain a foreign investment proportion of 30 p

Samsung Display Co. on Tuesday dropped an injunction seeking a ban on rival LG Display Co. using organic light-emitting diode technology, raising hopes the two companies are moving to settle their display technology dispute.The two companies have been involved in a legal tussle over display technology since July when 11 people affiliated with the Samsung unit were indicted on charges of leaking core technology to LG.In September, Samsung filed an injunction seeking a ban on use of 18 confidentia

Prosecutors have again placed former Shinhan Financial Group chairman Ra Eung-chan under investigation for his alleged embezzlement into a slush fund.The prosecution recently launched an investigation into the allegation that a slush fund totaling 300 million won ($278,000) ― fostered by Ra ― was offered to then-lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk, brother of President Lee Myung-bak, in 2008.The allegation was made by civic group Solidarity for Economic Reform that Ra had ordered Shinhan Bank’s then-CEO Lee

Hyundai Motor seems to be gaining appeal among its high-end customers, with large-car sales in the United States last month hitting a new record, industry sources said Tuesday. The Korean auto giant sold 3,522 units of its larger, pricier models such as the Equus, Genesis, Genesis Coupe and Grandeur in the U.S. market in January.The sales made up 8.1 percent ― the highest-ever ― of its total car sales at 43,713 vehicles in the month. Last year, Hyundai sold a combined 46,376 vehicles in the U.S.

Money saved likely to be used for welfare, economic stimulus

Some South Korean family-controlled conglomerates have either created or strengthened their organizations handling corporate social responsibility, officials said Tuesday, in what could be an attempt to soothe widespread corporate bashing.The move comes as many South Koreans have called for corporate social responsibility in recent years amid widespread perception that conglomerates are to blame for the wealth gap.GS Group plans to unveil programs meant to provide social contributions after its

South Korea’s top 20 listed companies saw their combined market capitalization jump over 16 percent in 2012 from a year earlier, accounting for more than half the total value of companies listed on the main bourse, data showed Tuesday.The combined market cap of the top 20 companies reached 605.5 trillion won ($553.3 billion) in December 2012, up 16.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the bourse operator Korea Exchange.The figure takes up 52.46 percent of the aggregat