Korea has decided to extend anti-dumping duties on polyester yarn products from China and Taiwan for two years to protect local manufacturers from unfair price-cutting practices, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.The decision comes a month after the Korea Trade Commission requested slapping punitive duties of up to 6.26 percent on polyester filament partially oriented yarn from the two countries. POYs are used in clothing, cars, sofas and curtains. The domestic POY market is worth about 220 bill

Network, copyright differences remain for online content platformPooq, a media platform formed by Contents Alliance Platform, was officially launched on Monday in Korea, with over 5,000 users already subscribing to its inexpensive service.But company officials said that more work needs to be done before it can become a global platform where overseas users can access and watch a variety of TV content provided by Korea’s four terrestrial broadcasters ― KBS, MBC, SBS and EBS.Contents Alliance Platf

Korea’s economy is recovering at a slow pace in the face of expanding downside risks stemming from eurozone debt problems and uncertain global economic situations, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.In a report to lawmakers explaining its policy direction during the rest of this year, the ministry also said that it will place its top priority on bolstering the economy and stabilizing the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.“Despite continued improvement in employment and eased inflation, the economi

Default rate rises much faster for non-banksThe default rate for household loans from secondary lenders is increasing sharply, raising fears of a household debt crisis.The proportion of borrowers from credit card companies who are at least 30 days behind in payments jumped from 4.5 percent in January last year to 5.6 percent in May this year.Loan default rates for capital services firms rose from 6.1 percent to 8.2 percent, and mutual savings banks from 12.2 percent to 14.9 percent in the same p

Korea’s top 10 market heavyweights increased their presence in the local stock market with their portion reaching 35 percent against total market capitalization, data showed on Tuesday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange, the local bourse operator, the combined market cap of the top 10 players, including Samsung Electronics Co., reached 396.59 trillion won ($345 billion) on Monday.The portion has been rising steadily since reaching 33.6 percent in January, a huge jump from 28.8

South Korean stocks turned lower Monday after a strong start, dampened by concerns over the depeening crisis in the eurozone region, analyst said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 5.94 points, or 0.33 percent to trade at 1,783.50 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares traded mixed, with tech giant Samsung Electronics staying flat and chipmaker SK hynix jumping 2.5 per

HONG KONG -- Taiwanese steel manufacturers have filed anti-dumping complaints on South Korean stainless steel products, saying they are sold at excessively low prices, South Korea's trade agency said Monday.Taiwan's leading stainless steel makers Yieh United Steel Corp. (YUSCO) and Tang Eng Iron Works Co. submitted complaints to the country's ministry of commerce, claiming South Korean products ar

But Seoul officials cautious about specific progress in talksSouth Korea and North Korea are considering carrying out a joint project developing rare earth minerals buried in the North but working-level discussions have been suspended since the death of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in December. Korea Resources Corp., the South’s state-run resource explorer, confirmed Monday that they tested four rare earth samples from the North to see if they are economically exploitable, saying, “No

The Fair Trade Commission said on Monday that it has brought the heads of four companies including two U.S.-based firms to prosecutors on charges of concealing that their humidifier sterilizers contain dangerous materials. FTC officials said the four companies labeled their humidifier disinfectants either as “safe for the body” or “safe for the body and harm-free when inhaled.”The legal action was taken as the nation’s health authorities came to a conclusion that sterilizers for humidifiers are