South Korea’s stock market is expected to trade in a tight range this week with economic indicators from China and the currency exchange being among the major factors that will determine its direction, analysts said on Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,996.67 last week, down 0.75 percent from a week earlier after undergoing choppy trading.The local currency’s ascent against the U.S. dollar and the weakening yen of Japan could weigh on the market amid wo

Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second-largest carmaker by market value, said it will eliminate as many as 800 jobs in the U.K. this year as the European auto market may shrink for the sixth year in a row. The manufacturer will start talks with labor representatives for the cutbacks, which it plans to implement by about the second quarter, Tokyo-based Honda said today in an emailed statement. The company’s plant in Swindon, England, has a workforce of 3,500 people, said Fiona Cole, a spokeswoman. “Thes

Mercedes-Benz Korea named Britta Seeger, 44, as its new chief executive to become the first foreigner and female to head operations here, the company said on Sunday.Seeger’s prior work experience includes senior manager at the Daimler Group headquarters in Germany. The newly appointed CEO is expected to start her work in March, the company said, to take over from the late Thomas Urbach who passed away in November last year. Seeger’s career at Daimler began in 1992 at the sales division of the co

   The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Sunday that it will reevaluate all of its existing fiscal spending plans from scratch to come up with the necessary funds needed to meet President-elect Park Geun-hye's campaign pledges, sources from the presidential transition team said Sunday.   Park, who takes office as the country's first woman chief executive on Feb. 25, has said she will need 134.5 trillion won(US$127.3 billion) over the next five years to follow through on the various promises

Worldwide sales of mobile phones, including smartphones and feature phones, reached 1.74 billion last year, growing 1.8 percent from the previous year, data showed Sunday.The on-year growth was attributed to robust demand for some of the latest models in the smartphone market, such as Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 phones as well as Apple Inc.'s iPhone 5, according to the data by Strategy Analytics.Strong shipments of the Samsung and Apple phones, combined with seasonal de

  NHN Japan, a subsidiary of South Korea's top portal operator NHN Corp., is likely to see the number of its "LINE" messenger users break the 100 million mark this week, sources said Sunday.   LINE, launched in June 2011, is the company's free group messenger application that runs on the Android, Blackberry and iOS operating systems.   The service, which has been launched in roughly 230 countries, has ranked No. 1 in downloads on Google Play and App Store platforms in 41 countries.   After garne

  South Korea saw the number of its leading export products fall from a year earlier, raising alarm bells over the country's trade competitiveness, data showed Sunday.   The number of South Korea's leading export products reached 61 in 2011, down from 71 the previous year, according to the data by the financial industry and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). Leading export products refer to product categories in which South Korea ranks first in export market share.   The data show

South Korea's Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group emerged as the biggest exporter of automobiles to Germany last year, industry data showed Sunday.   Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. have sold 155,673 units in the biggest European market in 2012, according to data by the International Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK).   Renault SA came second with 150,740 units and Skoda third with 142,611 units last year.   Hyundai-Kia was third with 128,931 units in 2011, when Ren

Economic participation among younger people in South Korea dropped to the lowest level in about 27 years, data showed Saturday, indicating the frozen job market is taking its toll especially on young job seekers.According to the data by Statistics Korea, the economic participation rate among those in their 20s stood at 60.1 percent last month, down from 62.3 percent tallied in the same month a year earlier.The figure marked the lowest level since February 1986, when the rate was 59.6 percent.The

South Korea's stock market is expected to trade in a tight range next week with economic indicators from China and the currency exchange being among the major factors that will determine its direction, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,996.67 this week, down 0.75 percent from a week earlier after undergoing choppy trading.The local currency's ascent against the dollar and the weakening yen of Japan could weigh on the market amid worries th