South Korean banks’ lending rates fell to a fresh record low in November as market interest rates declined amid the central bank’s monetary easing, the Bank of Korea said Friday.The average rate for banks’ new loans to households and firms stood at 4.94 percent last month, down 0.04 percentage point from the previous month, according to the BOK.The November data marked the lowest level since 1996 when the central bank began to compile related data.The BOK lowered the key interest rates in July a

South Korea’s shipbuilding and shipping conglomerate STX Group said Friday that its European unit has clinched a deal to build a cruise ship.Under the deal with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the world’s second-largest cruise operator, STX France will build the cruise ship by mid-2016, the group said. The deal includes an option to build another cruise ship.The group did not reveal the financial terms for the deal, but market watchers estimate the price per vessel will be less than the previous t

A government-backed private equity fund to invest in overseas plant-building projects, led by South Korean companies, will invite major sovereign funds in the Middle East as investors.The fund, created by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, selected Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets as the fund operator on Thursday and will start courting investors during the first half of next year. “The plant fund, the first of its kind, plans to attract $500 million not only from local investors but als

High gasoline prices lead consumers to seek fuel efficiency in 2012

South Korean builder Daelim Industrial Co. said Friday that it has won a $155 million order to build a coal power plant in the Philippines.Under the contract with San Ramon Power Inc. on Thursday, Daelim Industrial will complete the project 35 months after work begins, the local builder said in a regulatory filing.The plant to be built in Mindanao, Philippines’ second-largest and easternmost island, will be able to generate 100 megawatts of electricity, Daelim Industrial said. (Yonhap News)

Trade Minister Bark Tae-ho will sign up as a candidate for director-general of the World Trade Organization, the ministry said Friday."The government has decided that Trade Minister Bark Tae-ho will run for WTO director-general to be elected by late May next year. His candidacy will be registered through the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the U.N. Secretariat and International Organizations in Geneva,"  the ministry said in a statement.Incumbent WTO director-general Pascal Lamy’s

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Friday on gains in logistics and construction heavyweights, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 1.47 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1988.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Logistics shares gathered ground, with Hyundai Glovis increasing 0.68 percent, while CJ Korea Express climbed 1.47 percent. Korean Air, South Korea's top flight carrier, added 0.22 percent.Construction firms also traded higher, with No. 1 bui

South Korea's industrial output bounced back in November, raising expectations that industrial activities might be picking up, a government report showed Friday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries gained 2.9 percent last month from a year earlier, turning around from the previous month's 0.8 percent on-year contraction. The output also grew 2.3 percent on-month, marking the third straight month of expansion. The ser

South Korea posted a record current account surplus for November as exports gained ground, the central bank said Friday, giving support to the already-strong local currency to the U.S. dollar.The current account surplus reached US$6.88 billion in November, up from a revised $5.78 billion in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The November surplus marked the 10th straight month of a surplus run, making the acc