South Korean stocks finished nearly flat Monday as investors sat on the sidelines on worries over weak fourth-quarter corporate earnings due starting this week, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 0.03 percent, or 0.69 points, to 2,011.25. Trading volume was moderate at 532 million shares worth 3.94 trillion won ($3.71 billion) with losers outnumbering gainers 395 to 392.“The KOSPI closed lower as investors to

British American Tobacco Korea said Monday that it would reposition the price of its Dunhill Finecut Superslim product to 2,500 won ($2.30) from the current 2,700 won. The company said the reduction would take effect on Jan. 17. “The decision to reposition the price reflects current market trends. Superslim segment accounts for about 30 percent of the total tobacco market,” it said.BAT Korea CEO Guy Meldrum said, “We believe the price change will provide wider choice for consumers who are seekin

Sales of imported cars in South Korea jumped 24.6 percent on-year to a record high last year as foreign brand vehicles have successfully made their presence felt in the country, a trade association said Monday.A total of 130,858 foreign-made cars were sold in 2012, compared with 105,037 units tallied a year ago, topping the 130,000 mark for the first time, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. Its earlier sales target for last year was 120,000 units.The sales

South Korea’s financial authorities will dispatch a delegation to the Middle East this week, aiming at vitalizing mutual investment in banking businesses, stocks and bonds.“The project reflects the idea of diversifying foreign direct investment sources, while the nation has mainly resorted to funds from Europe and the United States,” the delegation said in a statement.The planned cooperation with Muslim countries was initiated by the National Policy Committee of the National Assembly and the Fin

The transition committee of South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye is expected to study introducing a new tax on foreign currency exchanges in an effort to keep speculative foreign funds from disturbing the local foreign exchange market, an official said Monday.Park’s campaign team had considered an introduction of what is known as the “Tobin Tax” as an election pledge, though the proposal was not adopted ultimately over concern it could be discriminatory.Named after Nobel Laureate economist

The Financial Supervisory Service is fine-tuning details to launch an investigation into the Korean operation of U.S.-based asset management firm AllianceBernstein Ltd., which made public its stock trading four years after the required timing, regulatory officials said Monday. While the financial regulator said it has yet to launch an official investigation, officials said the case has been under close watch. Its probe generally involves a paper-based review as a preliminary step. “At the presen

Overseas orders for industrial plants won by South Korean companies inched down from a year earlier in 2012, largely due to a drop in demand from Middle Eastern countries, the government said Monday.Orders grabbed by South Korean builders amounted to $64.8 billion last year, down 0.3 percent from $65 billion in 2011, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.The annual figure marks a significant recovery from a 9.7 percent on-year drop posted in the first nine months of last year.“Orders fo

The National Tax Service estimated Monday that the number of non-Korean taxpayers would surpass 500,000 in 2012, up from 465,000 in 2011 and 403,000 in 2010.The NTS released the figure as it is preparing for the year-end tax settlement. Responding to the growing population of foreign workers here, the NTS unveiled a set of guidelines for foreigners who are to file for the year-end tax settlement.Foreign residents are to submit their tax forms on the same schedule as Korean nationals, but their t

South Korean stocks started lower Monday, led by losses in tech and construction shares, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 7.31 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,004.63 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech blue chips led the market decline, with top-cap Samsung Electronics falling 1.11 percent and LG Display, the biggest panel supplier for Apple's iPad tablet computer, dipping 2.27 percent.Top chipmaker SK hynix shed 1.14 percent.Construction firms also tr

The World Bank and Korea Communications Commission (KCC) will sign a deal next week on a joint project to establish a "Global Cybersecurity Center" in South Korea, officials said Sunday.The World Bank, headed by Korean-born physician Jim Yong Kim, proposed it set up the center in South Korea in late 2013, they said.The facility will be tasked with promoting cybersecurity and other information protection in developing nations."The World Bank and KCC plan to sign a memorandum of understanding on e

Korea posted the second-largest drop in labor productivity among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development during the third quarter of 2012.According to the OECD, Korea’s labor productivity fell by 0.4 percent in the July-September period from a quarter before, along with the Czech Republic and Portugal, both of which recorded the same figure.While Norway saw its labor productivity, or the rate of output per worker per unit of time, fall heaviest by 1.3 percent, two mo