South Korean stocks closed 0.36 percent lower on Monday as key exporters lost ground amid concerns over a strengthening won and a lack of strong upward momentum, analysts said. The local currency tumbled against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 6.98 points to 1,939.71. Trading volume was light at 336.2 million shares worth 4.33 trillion won (US$3.96 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 433 to 378."Unfavorable foreign exchange conditions, we

The global economy is likely to face a currency war this year, triggered by Japan's drive to weaken its currency through an open-ended asset-buying program, a central bank policymaker said Monday. "It is not an exaggeration that the global economy will face a currency war. An atmosphere of protectionism is spreading," Ha Sung-keun, a policymaker on the seven-member monetary policy committee of the Bank of Korea (BOK), told reporters.Japan's drive to weaken its currency aimed at propping up its f

South Korean stocks traded 0.46 percent lower late Monday morning due to losses in blue-chip exporters, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 9.03 points to 1937.66 as of 11:20 a.m.Big-cap tech names led the decline, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics plunging 2.75 percent and the leading electronic components maker Samsung Electro-Mechanics falling 3.11 percent. Top steelmaker POSCO also shed 3.41 percent.Carmakers also traded in negative territory,

Hana Financial Group Inc. said Monday it plans to buy an additional 40 percent stake in the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) in April by swapping shares, taking firmer control of South Korea's No. 5 lender.Hana Financial completed the deal to buy a 51.02 percent stake in KEB from Lone Star Funds for 4.69 trillion won ($4.34 billion) in February 2012, making it Korea's No. 3 banking group. It also bought further stakes to raise its holdings to 60 percent last year.The group said it plans to buy the rema

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start on Monday as investors shed holdings amid lingering concerns over fourth-quarter corporate earnings, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 10.71 points, or 0.55 percent, to 1,935.98 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Key exporters lost ground. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics, which announced its quarterly results on Friday, slumped 2.19 percent and top steelmaker POSCO fell 1.09 percent.The local currency was

The number of male workers taking paternity leave soared nearly 30 percent last year, but their rate still came far behind that of their female counterparts, government data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of male employees getting paternity leave in2012 came to 1,790, up 27.6 percent from a year earlier.Since the measure was introduced in 1987, the number of fathers applying for the time off has been on a steady rise, with only tw

Several foreign budget carriers are setting their sights on South Korea as the country’s low-cost air travel market is expected to continue to grow considerably, industry sources said Sunday.Japanese low-fare airline Jetstar Japan has recently decided to offer flights to South Korea and China and conducted a field study of Gimhae International Airport on the outskirts of Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, according to the sources.Singapore’s budget carrier Tiger Airways is reportedly cons

South Korea’s per-capita gross national income (GNI) is estimated to have reached an all-time high in 2012 despite the country’s low economic growth, the finance ministry Sunday.The country’s nominal per-capita GNI probably came to US$22,720 last year, up 1 percent from the previous year’s $22,489, according to the ministry.The ministry’s estimate is based on the assumption that the country’s nominal gross domestic product expanded 3.2 percent in 2012 from a year earlier, amounting to 1,240.5 tr

Hanwha Group has become the first of the nation’s top 10 industrial groups to upgrade the employment status for a substantial number of its non-regular workers.On Sunday, the company said a total of 2,043 individuals of non-regular status would be elevated to regular employee status to receive benefit packages and equal promotion opportunities.The figure included those who had been hired as contracted workers but were promised to be upgraded to regular worker status after two years. More than ha

Foreign investors are scurrying to exit the South Korean stock market with a net selling binge, possibly shifting to the Japanese market as a weaker yen whets their investor appetite, analysts said.Overseas investors sold off local stocks worth a combined net 1.54 trillion won (US$1.45 billion) in the Seoul bourse for the last two weeks, according to the data by the Korea Exchange (KRX).They sold off a net 490 billion won last Friday, the largest daily net selling since 498 billion won tallied o

Despite the ambitious goals of local shipbuilders to attract more orders based on technological breakthroughs and more offshore plants, Korea’s heavy industries appear to have been hit by the rapid fall of the Japanese yen.During the past four months, automakers and shipyards saw their combined market capitalization plunge 34 trillion won ($32 billion), industry data showed Sunday.Companies selling to Japanese counterparts earn less due to a stronger won, while those who vie with Japanese firms