The board of directors of Korea Electric Power Corp. agreed to propose a 10.7 percent increase in electricity charges to the government, the state-run energy supplier said on Tuesday. KEPCO insisted that the proposal is inevitable to stabilize living costs and meet rising production costs. “Electricity is a precious shared resource that is produced at only 40 percent efficiency from 100 percent imported carbon-emitting energy sources, such as oil, coal and liquefied natural gas,” said Lee Gi-pyo

South Korean stocks closed 0.36 percent lower on Tuesday as investors' sentiment was undermined by fruitless European meetings and pessimistic Chinese economic data, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 6.68 points to 1,829.45. Trading volume was light at 363.9 million shares worth 3.3 trillion won ($2.89 billio

Thirteen South Korean companies made the ranks of Fortune Magazine’s Global 500 list on Monday. According to the magazine’s online edition, Samsung Electronics Co. was ranked 20th in terms of sales in 2011. SK Holdings, which was 82nd in 2011, climbed to 65th this year. However, Hyundai Motor Co. slid from 55th to 117th.Samsung Electronics Co. was also 32nd on the Most Profitable list, which was first place among South Korean corporations.Royal Dutch Shell, the Netherlands-based energy company,

South Korean stocks started higher on Tuesday as foreign investors scooped up shares of local heavyweights, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.02 points, or 0.22 percent, to 1,840.15 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed 0.36 percent and its smaller rival LG Electronics rose 0.33 percent.Shipbuilders also lent sup

Some key members of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea expressed concerns on Monday about Korea’s tax authorities’ decision to levy a 4.5 billion won fine ($3.95 million) on the EUCCK for failing to report and pay income generated from its in-house magazine ad sales.A senior member of the 26-year-old organization said the EUCCK may have to close its doors due to the heavy fine.“Most likely, (the EUCCK) will not be able to pay, (as) it is close to bankrupt,” he told The Korea Herald,

SK Telecom said Monday that it transmitted 3-D broadcasting content through its Long Term Evolution networks for the first time in the world.In an opening ceremony of the 3-D Media Lab in Sangamdong, Seoul, SK Telecom successfully field-tested the 3-D broadcasting transmission.This marks the first time where media and telecommunications technologies of 3-D broadcasting equipment and LTE networks have been integrated, SK Telecom noted.As 3-D visuals take up a lot more data space than conventional

Smoothie King Korea announced Monday that it has completed an M&A takeover of its U.S.-based parent company, making it the first Korean beverage chain to stage a takeover of its overseas head office. According to the company, the takeover was finalized on July 7.The Korean franchise of the beverage and health food chain was able to complete the process thanks to a 58 billion won ($50.9 million) investment from Standard Charted Private Equity, the National Pension Service, and other investors. Co

The nation’s antitrust watchdog said Monday that it had imposed a combined 38 million won ($33,260) in fines on six online shopping malls run by TV celebrities for unfair business practices. The companies included Aura-J, run by actress Jin Jae-young, I Am Yuri by singers Yuri and Baek Ji-young, and Amai by singer Hwang Hye-young, all of which posted sales last year ranging from 2 billion won to 20 billion won. The Fair Trade Commission investigated the nation’s top 10 online shopping malls base

South Korea’s economy is expected to expand in the second half of this year despite cloudy external market situations caused by prolonged eurozone debt problems, data showed Monday.According to the data released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the composite leading indicator of economic activity for South Korea inched up to 100.1 in April, up from 99.9 in the previous month.This is the first time in 11 months the indicator for Korea has surpassed the 100 mark. South

LG CNS, an information technology service firm, said Monday that it will have its employees carry their identity cards inside their smartphones for office access.With plans to test the system in October, the firm signed an agreement to cooperate with telecoms KT and LG Uplus on near-field communication technology which is deemed to strengthen information security on the same day.The firm will equip the employee’s smartphone with a universal subscriber identity module applet which will enable the

A report showed on Monday that LG Electronics owns the highest number of patents related to Long Term Evolution, the fourth-generation communications network technology.The report released by U.S.-based technology and intellectual property research firm TechIPm said the country’s electronics firm LG was noted to be the leading possessor of LTE essential patents as of the second quarter this year. LG was followed by Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Nortel, InterDigital and Qualcomm, according to the rep

Samsung Electronics, the largest phone maker, will release a tablet that features Microsoft Corp.’s Windows RT software when the operating system debuts, people with knowledge of the matter said. Samsung has made a handheld computer built on Windows RT, the first version of Windows that works on ARM Holdings Plc technology, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been made public. Windows RT devices will be released in October, one person said. The decision to s