The Korea Herald

KB chief to address IIF in Bangkok

Mar 12, 2012

KB Financial Group chairman Euh Yoon-dae will participate in a meeting of the Institute of International Finance as a board member to discuss Asian financial issues.This meeting of the IIF, the world’s largest industry group of financial institutions, will be held in Bangkok from March 13-15.As a speaker for the third session, Euh is scheduled to deliver a speech on the “changing environments of the financial industry and risk management of financial companies.”Euh, who has 30 years of experienc
FTAs to create jobs and accelerate growth: minister

Mar 12, 2012

South Korea should actively pursue free trade agreements (FTAs) with other countries to help create more jobs and spur growth as its domestic market remains relatively small, the country's top economic policymaker said Monday. "As Korea's domestic market size is limited, we must make the
S. Korea's exports fall after FTA with EU: report

Mar 12, 2012

South Korea's exports to the European Union (EU) fell after the implementation of the Seoul-Brussels free trade deal due to the region's deepening debt crisis, a report showed Monday.According to the report by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), South Korea's shipments to the EU in the
SK to acquire Australian coal producer

IndustryMar 12, 2012

SK Group said it would acquire a 40-percent stake in Australian coal producer Cockatoo Coal Ltd. which has a bituminous coal reserve that amounts to 15 times Korea’s annual imports.SK Networks and other SK affiliates plan to complete the acquisition for at least 380 billion won (about 313 million Australian dollars) within the first half of this year, SK Group said in a press release. Cockatoo runs coal mines in 13 areas in Queensland and New South Wales, the total reserve of which is estimated
Herald begins upgraded news messaging service

TechnologyMar 11, 2012

The Korea Herald is expanding its text message service that provides up-to-date news with English learning help. The nation’s largest-circulation English newspaper has been providing “Herald Topic” since 2010 using short message service technology. The daily on Monday introduced another version of the service based on the long message service to meet user demand for more detailed news and study materials.Herald Topic has been well received by its nearly 2000 subscribers for fast, up-to-date loca
Lee Kun-hee’s stock value hits record high

IndustryMar 11, 2012

The value of securities held by Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee has exceeded the 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion) mark for the first time, setting a new record in Korea’s stock market.According to Chaebul.com on Sunday, stakes held by the nation’s richest entrepreneur came in at 10.1 trillion won at Friday’s close, largely driven by the strong performance of Samsung-affiliated companies. The figure is a 13.7 percent surge from 8.88 trillion won earlier this year, after Lee’s stakes exceed
Korea Herald improves mobile offerings

TechnologyMar 11, 2012

Herald Topic offers up-to-date news, English learning through longer text messageThe Korea Herald’s new long message service launched on Monday is its latest effort to broaden content platforms and give readers faster access to news and easier ways to learn English. The LMS is an upgraded version of its “Herald Topic” mobile text service, which offers the latest news in the form of an English headline with the Korean translation of selected words. Herald Topic SMS has hosted about 2,000 subscrib
Large firms set to scale back capital spending this year

Mar 11, 2012

Korea’s large firms are expected to spend less on their facility expansion than last year due mainly to continued economic uncertainties, a report showed on Sunday.According to the report compiled by the Hyundai Research Institute, the nation’s large companies are likely to reduce their capital spending by 2 percent this year.The nation’s 30 largest conglomerates earlier announced that they will invest a combined 150 trillion won ($134 billion) in 2012, up 12.3 percent from the previous year.Of
Seoul to increase support for Middle East work experience

Mar 11, 2012

The government said Sunday it will support more than 1,200 young adults in finding work and volunteer opportunities in the Middle East on the back of the region’s construction and investment boom.Under the program aimed at raising “young global leaders,” a total of 1,247 individuals 18 or over will be able to land jobs, internships or volunteer work in the region in 2012, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.This year’s number is more than double last year’s 563, and about 10 percent of this
Korea, Turkey strike deal on key issues in free-trade talks

Mar 11, 2012

Korea and Turkey agreed on key issues such as tariff concessions and dispute settlement schemes in their free trade talks, Seoul’s trade ministry said Sunday, raising the prospect of the two countries soon concluding their free trade negotiations.During the four-day meeting in Seoul that started on Wednesday, both countries reached an agreement on tariff concessions and other key issues, while negotiations for service and investment are going to continue, the ministry said.“The agreement at the
Homeplus targets sales of 12.2 trillion won this year

IndustryMar 11, 2012

Homeplus Co., the South Korean unit of British retail giant Tesco Plc, said Sunday that it is targeting12.2 trillion won ($10.9 billion) in sales this year, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier. Homeplus will also hire 1,000 recruits, the company said in a statement. In an effort to achieve its goal, the discount chain will go ahead with business projects like the opening of a distribution center for fresh food and enhancing its online business.Homeplus is the second-largest discount store chain i
NTS to get increased surveillance powers to combat black market

Mar 11, 2012

The National Tax Service is set to gain access to information about all suspicious financial transactions from a state-run financial investigative agency starting late this month, better equipping it to find cheats in the underground economy. The National Assembly in February passed a bill allowing information sharing between the NTS and Financial Intelligence Unit, an investigative arm under the Financial Services Commission, to crack down on employers who pay their workers cash under the table
Price-fixing cases surged in 2011: FTC

IndustryMar 11, 2012

Price-fixing cases detected by the Fair Trade Commission surged last year, data released by the nation’s antitrust watchdog showed Sunday. According to antitrust authorities, a total of 96 cases of price-fixing were found in 2011, a 41.2 percent increase from 68 cases in the previous year. They said they have filed charges in 23 severe cases, with the figure surpassing the combined number of 19 cases charged over the past four years. The number of cases had decreased in recent years, with seven
Gasoline tax cut debate resurfaces

Mar 11, 2012

More Koreans demand tax cut, while policymakers see little benefit Sky-high oil prices are reigniting debate over a fuel tax break, pushing policymakers toward a tricky decision in a crucial election year.With petrol prices across the country setting new records by the day, low-income earners and professional drivers are increasingly blaming their hardships on taxes, which account for more than half of what they pay at the pump.The government, however, appears to be walking a tightrope between t
Household non-consumption expenditures surge

Mar 11, 2012

The portion of taxes, insurance payments and financial costs against South Korean household income reached a record high last year due mainly to increased debts and social insurance contributions, data showed on Sunday.According to data compiled by Statistics Korea, South Korean households with two or more members spent a monthly average of 722,000 won ($645) on taxes, interest payments and insurance payments last year, which accounted for 18.8 percent of their monthly average income of 3.84 mil