South Korea's two biggest mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co. and KT Corp. -- said Friday they plan to release the long-awaited iPhone 5 in the local market next week. SK Telecom and KT tweeted they plan to start receiving pre-orders for the Apple device starting at 10 p.m. and officially launch the phone on Dec. 7.The move comes nearly three months after the U.S. smartphone maker, which is facing off against Samsung Electronics Co. in a global patent war, unveiled its first smartphone that runs o

South Korea remained the nation with the largest income gap between men and women among advanced countries with the gender pay gap hardly narrowing over the past decade, a report showed Friday.According to the report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Korea found its gender income gap to be 39 percent, the highest among 28 surveyed member nations, as of 2010.It means that South Korean women are paid 39 percent less than their male counterparts, lower than

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday as investor sentiment was dented by rising concerns on the U.S. fiscal cliff issue, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 0.3 percent, or 5.76 points, to 1,929.09 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Carmakers led the decline, with No.1 player Hyundai Motor falling 0.22 percent, while its smaller auto parts affiliate Hyundai Wia moved down 0.84 percent.Brokerages also fell, with Samsung Securities losing 0.61 percent, wh

Eating out takes up nearly half of average household spending on food, research showed, reflecting the increase in dual-income families. The cost of eating out took up 20 percent of total food spending in households up until 1990, but gradually increased and reached 44 percent in 2003, 45.2 percent in 2007 and 46.6 percent last year, according to a report by the Korea Rural Economic Institute on Thursday. There was a significant gap between the rich and poor in terms of eating out ― the top 40 p

HSBC Holdings Plc. is considering pulling its retail banking out of South Korea, industry sources said Thursday. The British banking giant has apparently been looking into closing down the retail banking section, after its botched attempt to sell 11 local branches to state-run KDB Financial Group Inc. in July, according to the sources and the Financial Services Commission. “We’re looking at all available options,” a HSBC spokeswoman said over the phone. She declined to elaborate further on the m

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., a major South Korean shipbuilder, said Thursday that it will resume its operations in Libya following a suspension due to its civil war.The move came as the builder has successfully checked the facilities at a thermal power plant being built in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a former rebel stronghold during an uprising-turned-civil war last year that resulted in the killing of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.Daewoo E&C said its seven construction sites

A South Korean consortium led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. has won a $630 million deal to build a power plant in Uruguay, the local builder said Thursday. Under the contract with Usinasy Trasmisiones Electricas, Uruguay’s state-owned power company, the consortium will build a 530-megawatt thermal power plant in Punta del Tigre, about 40 kilometers west of the capital city, Montevideo, according to South Korea’s top builder Hyundai Engineering. The consortium will complete the power

South Korean stocks rallied 1.15 percent on Thursday as investor sentiment was lifted by hopes that U.S. politicians are inching closer to an agreement to avoid a budget crisis, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 22.07 points to 1,934.85. Trading volume was moderate at 382.2 million shares worth 4.77 trillion won ($4.4 billion), with gainers far outnumbering decliners 536 to 271.“The market has been reacting sen

The U.S. state of Georgia will provide Kia Motors with tax benefits for the coming 16 years, in reflection of the carmaker’s major contribution to the regional economy, company officials said on Thursday.Kia Motors, which operates manufacturing plants in West Point, Georgia, recently signed a pact on mutual investment with five municipal governments in the state.The pact features reduction and exemption of a variety of taxes between 2013 and 2029 and fiscal support from the local governments for