The South Korean economy grew at a slower pace than previously estimated in the second quarter on weaker facility and construction investment, the central bank said Thursday, cementing market expectations for a rate cut this month. South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic performance, grew a revised 0.3 percent in the April-June period from three months earlier,

Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy S3 overtook Apple Inc.’s iPhone 4S in the U.S. smartphone market in August for the first time since the Apple gadget was released, a report showed Wednesday.“We believe this is the first month since the iPhone 4S launched in October 2011 that it was not the top-selling smartphone in the U.S. market,” said T. Michael Walkley, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity, in a report for U.S. technology review site CNET. Sales figures were not disclosed. The Galaxy S3’s emergen

All passengers in taxis and inter-city and express buses must wear seatbelts from Nov. 24, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced Wednesday.Under the newly revised regulation, the driver must inform the passengers to put seatbelts on and check if they have done so before departure. Passengers including pregnant women, patients and those who cannot wear seatbelts for other physical reasons, such as obesity, will be excluded from the regulation. Local buses will not be affe

Some conglomerates and financial groups rolled up their sleeves to support those who are victims of the typhoons that recently hit the nation.Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo donated 3 billion won ($2.6 million) on Tuesday to an association helping disaster victims.The donated money will be spent aiding the victims of typhoons Bolaven and Tembin, which battered the nation’s west and southwest late last month, company officials said.In addition, the automaker plans to purchase fruits a

Korean stocks closed 1.74 percent lower on Wednesday, as no signs of policy actions in the eurozone prompted investors to scurry to unload shares, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 33.10 points to finish at 1,874.03. Trading volume was heavy at 602.3 million shares worth 4.62 trillion won ($4.07 billion) with decliners far outstripping advancers 580 to 240. “The KOSPI has fared well since its upward tr

Korea this year moved up five notches in terms of its global competitiveness from a year earlier, helped by improvements in the country’s welfare and education systems, as well as its market efficiency, a report showed Wednesday.According to the annual report by the World Economic Forum, the country’s competitiveness index moved up to 19th place of the 144 countries studied this year. The WEF, a Geneva-based independent organization, releases the report every year based on surveys of business le

Foreign investors’ purchase of local stocks hit a record monthly high in August, as fears over the debt-mired eurozone waned and expectations for economic stimulus ran high, the financial regulator said Wednesday. Overseas investors bought a net 6.6 trillion won ($5.82 billion) worth of local equities last month, surpassing the previous record of 6.2 trillion won posted in January this year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. Their shareholdings reached 383.9 trillion won as of the

Korea’s foreign reserves rose to a fresh high in August as investment profit gained and a weaker dollar boosted the conversion value of non-dollar assets, the central bank said Wednesday.The country’s foreign reserves reached $316.88 billion as of the end of August, up $2.53 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The foreign reserves’ previous record high came in April when they hit $316.84 billion. In July, the BOK increased its gold holdings to 70.4 tons, its first pur

The nation’s financial watchdog is currently in talks with Standard Chartered Bank Korea over the reduction of the bank’s planned payments of a high dividend of about 200 billion won to Standard Chartered Korea, officials said on Wednesday. Of the dividend, Standard Chartered Korea is expected to remit about 150 billion won to the headquarters in the U.K, according to industry sources. The payout ratio would reach almost 80 percent for SC Bank considering that its net profit in the first half th

South Korea’s GDP growth ranked 107th in the world last year and eighth among OECD countries, according to the CIA’s The World Factbook on Wednesday. The nation’s GDP growth marked 3.6 percent last year. Qatar topped the list of countries with GDP growth of 18.8 percent, followed by Mongolia (17.3 percent), Turkmenistan (14.7 percent), Ghana (13.6 percent), East Timor (10.6 percent), Panama (10.6 percent) and Iraq (9.9 percent). Among developed countries, Turkey came in first with GDP growth of

The battle surrounding OLED technology theft between tech giants Samsung Display and LG Display is entering another round as Samsung recently filed an injunction against its rival in Seoul.According to legal circles, Samsung filed an injunction against LG at the Seoul Central District Court, claiming that its competitor needed to take responsibility for attempting to steal its core organic light-emitting diode display technology.The battle takes place as both companies are currently working on d

Top 30 conglomerates promise expansion of investment and jobsKnowledge Economy Minister Hong Suk-woo pledged Wednesday to help business activities of the nation’s major business groups not to be affected by the current political disputes over “economic democratization,” or efforts to promote balanced growth and prevent abuse of economic power. “Ahead of the presidential election at the end of this year, discussions related to economic democratization underway in the political circles can hamper

Apple Inc. consulted the designs of mobile phones made by Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., documents showed Wednesday, giving a new twist to the high-stakes patent war between the world‘s two biggest smartphone makers.Samsung and Apple have been embroiled in patent lawsuits spanning four continents as part of efforts to dominate the $219 billion global smartphone market. While courtroom battles are still in process, an Aug. 24 jury verdict in the United States dealt a blow to the

Korean handset makers LG Electronics Inc. and Pantech Corp. said Wednesday they plan to introduce new smartphones that operate on the fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution network in the U.S. market within this month. LG is set to release its 5-inch Intuition via Verizon Wireless starting Sept. 6, while Pantech plans to roll out its 4.3-inch Flex via AT&T on Sept. 16, the companies said in separate press releases. As part of efforts to better cater to local users, LG said it added the “LG Tag+”