The Fair Trade Commission has levied fines on enterprises totaling 913.8 billion won ($846.1 million) so far this year, an all-time high on a yearly basis.The collective figure for this year far surpasses the antitrust regulator’s fines of 347.3 billion won on rule-violators in 2011 and 507.4 billion won in 2010.During the first and second year of the Lee Myung-bak administration, the figure was 131.1 billion won and 110.8 billion won, respectively, under the president’s business-friendly polici

Shifting their focus away from China, leading South Korean retailers are speeding up their expansion into Southeast Asian nations as part of efforts to find new growth engines, industry sources said Thursday. South Korea’s second-largest retailer Shinsegae Group, which opened its discount store in Shanghai in 1997 for the first time as a local retailer, has reduced the number of stores in China to 16 from 27 over the last two years due to their cumulative losses, according to the sources. E-Mart

Korean Air Lines and Qatar Airways showed interest in Ceske Aerolinie AS, the Czech national carrier, Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said.The two airlines responded “positively” to letters sent out to the world’s largest carriers as part of CSA’s search for a strategic partner, Kalousek said Wednesday in Prague. The government expects to receive binding bids for the CSA stake, including the price, by the end of February and the government should choose a buyer in early April, Kalousek

Korean Air was awarded the A380 Award for Top Operational Excellence, presented by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus S.A.S. in the A380 Technology Symposium held in Dubai on Wednesday. The Korean flag carrier said that it was conferred the prize in recognition of its 99.5 percent on-time arrival rate and outstanding operation skills of A380 aircraft.Upon receiving the award, Korean Air has become the world’s only airline to receive three operational awards from Airbus. To present, the airlin

Presidential candidates Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in presented on Wednesday their different views on whether the “game shutdown system” should also be applied to mobile games.The system, introduced by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, prohibits gamers aged 16 or under from connecting to online games between midnight and 6 a.m. The regulation came into effect on Nov. 20 last year.According to the website of Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice, Saenuri Party presidential candidate

British officials say their investigation of why a smartphone caught fire and left an 11-year-old boy's legs burned and permanently scarred is a priority.The family is now demanding the popular BlackBerry Curve 9320 mobile is recalled from shops in time for Christmas.Pete and Sarah McCreath say they are seeking the BlackBerry Curve 9320 smartphone recalled from British stores before Christmas after a BlackBerry device malfunctioned and spontaneously combusted, the Daily Telegraph reported. Sarah

South Korean stocks opened a whisker higher on Thursday on gains in tech and auto heavyweights, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose0.07 percent, or 1.38 points, to 1,948.42 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed 0.27 percent and top automaker Hyundai Motor advanced 0.88 percent.However, LG Electronics slumped 3.2 percent and Samsung SDI fell 2.92 percent following a cartel fine by the European Union.The local curren