South Korea’s economy is expected to grow 2.5 percent this year, a state-run think tank said Monday, slashing its growth outlook sharply on slowing exports growth affected by heightened global uncertainty.The latest growth projection is far lower than the 3.6 percent expansion that the Korea Development Institute forecast in May. It is also much lower than the government’s 3.3 percent growth estimate for this year. “We expect that the economic growth rate will fall to 2.5 percent this year as bo

Cho Won-hyuk stands in front of his bedroom mirror and spreads dollops of yellow-brown makeup over his forehead, nose, chin and cheeks until his skin is flawless. Then he goes to work with a black pencil, highlighting his eyebrows until they're thicker, bolder. “Having a clean, neat face makes you look sophisticated and creates an image that you can handle yourself well,” the 24-year-old college s

South Korean stocks opened higher on Monday as investor sentiment got a boost from the U.S. Fed's latest stimulus measure, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed0.85 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2008.43 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech blue chips drove up the shares, with LG Electronics gaining 1.59 percent and SK hynix, the world No. 2 memory chipmake

Online pet supply store Monami Pet is offering a special discount in September to celebrate the brand’s re-launching and the inauguration of its new CEO, Song Ha-kyung, company officials said on Sunday.Starting Sept. 1, the online pet supply store has been selling about 5,000 types of pet supplies, including best-selling pet feed brand ANF and Natura at prices lower than at competing retailers, the officials said.In addition, Monami Pet has been promoting other events such as free testing events

ITC initially rules Apple did not infringe Samsung patentsProtectionism is rising as a hot topic following the U.S. International Trade Commission’s initial ruling last week that Apple did not violate four of Samsung Electronics’ patents.Edward Gildea, administrative law judge at the ITC, said in a notice posted on its website that the Cupertino-based Apple’s gadgets ― such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod ― did not infringe on Samsung’s intellectual properties earlier on Saturday, local time.The ev

South Korean stocks are expected to keep their upward momentum this week on improved investor sentiment following recently-unveiled stimulus measures by the U.S. Federal Reserve, analysts said Saturday.The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, jumped 4.04 percent, or 78 points, last week to close at a five-month high of 2,007.58 on Friday.On Friday alone, the index rallied 2.92 percent as investors cheered the Fed’s decision to purchase mortgage bonds as long as it needs and keep interest rates

South Korea’s top central banker has stressed the need to smooth the volatility of cross-border capital flows as emerging countries cannot block liquidity inflows stemming from advanced economies’ monetary easing steps.Central banks in the U.S. and the eurozone announced in September moves to take unconventional monetary easing steps in a bid to prop up their fragile economies, dogged by the eurozone debt crisis.The Federal Reserve pledged Thursday to pump $40 billion every month into the U.S. e

Major shareholders of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. plan to make a second public notice of bidding this week to sell a 41.75 percent stake in the aircraft manufacturer, Korea Finance Corp. said Sunday.The state-run Korea Finance Corp., which is in charge of the sale as the biggest shareholder of KAI with a 26.41 percent interest, will announce the second bidding on Monday, it said. The deadline to submit preliminary bids is Sept. 27.Other major shareholders include Hyundai Motor Co. and Doosan

Automobiles, electrical goods exports led speedy recovery: analystsAmong the world’s major economies, South Korea is most rapidly recovering from the global financial crisis stemming from the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008, studies showed Sunday. The Korean market posted the highest overall share price increase among 11 major economics of the world during the past four years, according to research by the Korea Center for International Finance. The KCIF assessed 10 other countries that rank the