Korea and China began their fourth round of negotiations on a free trade agreement on Tuesday amid growing attention to whether the two sides will be able to draw up negotiation guidelines for each industry sector.During the three-day meeting that runs through Thursday in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the two countries will discuss various issues including the classification of so-called “sensitive products,” Seoul’s Trade Ministry said.During the previous round of FTA talks, the two side

The Market dominance of Hyundai and Kia among locally made vehicles is stronger than ever, especially when it comes to midsize and large cars. Their combined market share has reached nearly 90 percent in those sectors, the companies said Tuesday. In September, Hyundai and Kia vehicles made up 89.2 percent of midsize and large cars sold by five Korea-based carmakers, which also include Renault Samsung, GM Korea and Ssangyong. The figure was a 4 percentage point increase from 85.2 percent in Augus

POSCO and Hyundai Heavy’s push for restructuring raises alert on ripple effect

Japanese electronics makers have continued to show lackluster performance since the global financial crisis. In 2011, Japan’s eight largest electronics makers recorded huge losses of 1.1 trillion yen ($13.8 billion), with global companies like Sony, Sharp and Panasonic restructuring their businesses. There are exceptions however. These include Hitachi, Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric, the three general electronics firms. Hitachi’s current account surplus last year was 347 billion yen, up 45 perc