South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday its U.S. financial unit has raised a combined $1 billion by selling dollar-denominated bonds in New York in a bid to secure funds for marketing promotions.Hyundai Capital America issued two kinds of $500 million bonds denominated in dollars due in either three or five years, Hyundai Motor said in a statement.The three-year bond has a coupon rate of 1.625 percent, 1.3 percentage points above U.S. treasury bond yields, while the five-year

South Korea’s top air carrier Korean Air Lines Co. said Tuesday that it will resume direct flight services to Saudi Arabia in November after a 15-year break.Korean Air said it will offer three weekly flights to the Saudi capital of Riyadh and the country’s largest port city of Jeddah starting from Nov. 9 with the 218-seat A330-200 passenger jet.The flag carrier operated direct flight services to Saudi Arabia from 1977 to 1997.The planned resumption of direct flights to Saudi Arabia is designed t

Hyundai Motor said Tuesday that it will provide its hydrogen fuel cell electric car Tucson ix to the city of Copenhagen next year with the aim of joining Denmark’s initiative for environmentally friendly transportation. Fifteen Tucson ix sport utility vehicles will be leased for official use by the Danish city government in the first half of next year, following a memorandum of understanding for a pilot program that was signed in May last year. While Hyundai has recently joined hands with Europe

South Korean consumers’ confidence stayed below par for the second straight month in September as the protracted eurozone debt crisis heightened economic uncertainties, the central bank said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index ― a gauge of consumers’ overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending ― came in at 99 for September, unchanged from the previous month, according to a survey by the Bank of Korea.The September figure marked the lowest level since the index hit 98 in Janu

Volatility marked the politics-driven stocks listed on the stock exchanges of South Korea where election season has rolled around.Investors who bet on these so-called “political” stocks lost 1.55 trillion won ($1.3 billion) between June 11 last year and May 31 this year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The FSS had recently conducted a survey on some 35 stocks that appeared to be moving in tandem to the current political climate or the three central figures running in the presiden

Government promises over 100,000 jobs for youth, greater budget to fight sex crimes and school violenceThe government’s 2013 budget plan appears to focus on support for more welfare programs to stabilize the livelihood of ordinary people, while maintaining a budget balance. The budget plan includes expanded support for small and mid-sized companies from 69.5 trillion won this year to 78 trillion won, and an additional 10 billion won for companies that open branches overseas. The government plans

Blizzard Entertainment on Tuesday showcased its latest edition “World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria” at a press conference held in Seoul. Launched three years after its predecessor “World of Warcraft: Cataclysm,” "Mists of Pandaria" premiered in Korea as Blizzard’s the fourth expansion set. The game company will give the public a chance to try out the new "Mists of Pandaria" for free starting on Thursday. "Mists of Pandaria" will begin nationwide charged service on Oct. 1. The new game involves

Hyundai Motor Group announced Tuesday that its automobile financing subsidiary has successfully made inroads into the Chinese market through a joint venture.“Hyundai Capital Services launched Hyundai Capital China, a joint venture firm in collaboration with Beijing Automotive Industry Group Investment,” the automotive group said in a statement.It said the joint entity, headquartered in Beijing, will provide Chinese consumers with auto financing for Hyundai and Kia vehicles.The group’s initial in

TOKYO (UPI) -- Japanese electronics firm Hitachi says it has invented a way of storing data that could keep it safe and stable for hundreds of millions of years.The technology behind the long-term storage capability involves a laser that is employed to encode data into a piece of quartz glass with dots corresponding to binary code that can be read back by an optical microscope, ZDNet reported.Hita

CUPERTINO (UPI) -- U.S. technology giant Apple’s foray into mobile maps with its iPhone 5 had to do with advertising and a growing rivalry with Google, industry observers said.Apple’s iPhone 5, which went on sale Friday included a new online maps service that was “littered with flaws, some laughable,” The New York Times reported Monday.But behind the effort to compete with Google is the lucrative

South Korean consumers' confidence stayed below par for the second straight month in September as the protracted eurozone debt crisis heightened economic uncertainties, the central bank said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index -- a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending -- came in at 99 for September, unchanged from the previous month, according to a s