LG Group on Thursday said it will refuse any monetary gifts from its vendor companies. It also will urge its executives to hold smaller wedding ceremonies as a part of the company’s ethics campaign. LG said the rules regarding the money gifts ― money that Koreans give at weddings or funerals ― will be applied to all of LG’s affiliates starting this year. Employees also will be banned from taking presents or money from vendors for promotions. “We have outlined these new rules and passed them arou

South Korean stocks finished 0.58 percent down Thursday as the strengthening won weighed heavily on the local big-name exporters, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 11.69 points to 2019.41. Trading volume was moderate at 484.5 million shares worth 5.99 trillion won ($5.64 billion) with gainers outnumbering losers 440 to 375.“Large-cap exporters such as Hyundai Motor are directly affected by the weakening Ja

The number of South Koreans who subscribed to the long-term evolution network increased more than 13 times last year as a growing number of people opted to connect their smartphones to the faster mobile network, data showed Thursday.The country’s LTE subscriber base reached 15.9 million as of the end of 2012, expanding 13.4-fold from a year earlier, according to industry data. The figure translates to 40,000 new LTE subscriptions a day.The number of Korean LTE subscribers is estimated to account

Halla Climate Control Corp. fell the most in almost five months in Seoul trading after Hyundai Motor Co. chose Japan’s Denso Corp. to supply air-control equipment.Halla Climate, a maker of car air-control systems and components, slumped 11.4 percent to 21,400 won at the close in Seoul, its biggest drop since Aug. 7. South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index declined 0.6 percent.Hyundai Motor will use Denso’s air-control parts for U.S.- made Sonata sedans, the auto company, South Korea’s biggest carmak

The revised Retail Industry Development bill, which the National Assembly passed on Tuesday, is expected to affect large discount store chains’ legal actions against ward offices’ rules on business hours and closing days of major retailers.Seven retail chains, including E-mart and Homeplus, have filed suits against 11 district offices in Seoul so far over their latest regulations aimed at protecting mom-and-pop stores from the retail giants’ dominance. This week’s revision of the Retail Industry

South Korea’s peak electricity consumption shot up to a new all-time high Thursday as temperatures dropped to the lowest so far this winter.The peak demand surged to 76.93 million kilowatts at 10:18 a.m. with the average consumption between 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. coming to 76.52 million kilowatts, according to the state-run Korea Power Exchange.Such a record demand came as the mercury dropped to as low as minus 16.4 degrees Celsius in Seoul, the lowest since the ongoing cold season began.The electri

Korea may drop to second in the international ranking for shipbuilding exports in 2012, giving the top spot to China for the first time since 2001, the Institute for International Trade said on Thursday. In the first 10 months of last year, exports of Korean shipbuilders marked $33.5 billion (35.6 trillion won), a 29.5 percent drop from the same period in 2011. It was the first time the nation’s shipbuilding industry posted minus growth since 1999 when the nation was hit hard by the currency and

Huawei Technologies Co., ZTE Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. were named in a new patent- infringement complaint filed by InterDigital Inc. over technology related to the latest mobile-phone standards.The complaint, filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, builds on one that InterDigital lodged against Huawei, ZTE and Nokia Oyj in 2011, which is scheduled for a hearing in February. The case includes new patent claims against Huawei, ZTE and Nokia and adds Samsung, which