Hyundai Group plans to enter the hotel business as it was named the preferred bidder for a controlling stake in Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul, a six-star luxury resort in central Seoul, on Monday. Hyundai proposed a bid of 160 billion won ($140 million) to acquire the shares on the condition that the group will pay in several installments. Starting with the potential acquisition, the group said, it would step up efforts to find the new growth engines that Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun s

Six Korean construction companies are estimated to have secured orders exceeding 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion) in 2011 due mainly to increased overseas contracts, industry sources said Monday.POSCO Engineering & Construction Co., GS E&C and Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. ranked in the top three in terms of orders won, with Samsung C&T Corp., Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. and Daelim Industrial Co. also faring well, they said.“POSCO orders surged by 3 trillion won to around 14.4 t

The chief of a panel on shared growth on Tuesday lashed out at large conglomerates for boycotting discussions on sharing profits with their smaller partner companies.Former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan who heads the commission for shared growth said the business giants were “neglecting their social responsibility” as they refused to show up at the panel’s first meeting this year.Of the 25 members of the commission, nine representing the large companies did not attend the meeting Tuesday.“We have

South Korean stocks ended 1.8 percent higher Tuesday as investors shrugged off recent eurozone sovereign downgrades and snapped up shares of blue-chip banks and exporters, analysts said. The local currency gathered ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI soared 33.47 points to 1,892.74. Trading volume was heavy at 426.6 million shares worth 5.91 trillion won ($5.16 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 553 to 269.Foreigners scooped a net 393.3 billion won worth of shares, extendi

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it will begin producing 46-inch transparent liquid-crystal displays by the end of this month, becoming the world’s sole manufacturer of such displays.The new transparent display, the second attempt made by the global IT giant, is currently expected to be placed in refrigerator doors with the cooperation of some U.S. firms, according to Samsung officials.Locally, the 46-inch displays will also be installed as the screen doors for the subway stations on subway

Mobile network carriers will be obliged to warn consumers about a potential “bill shock” from July as part of a revision to telecommunication law that took effect on Tuesday. With the rapid adoption of data-heavy smartphones here, consumers have complained about damages from expensive data rates in excess of their fixed-bill plans. Even though local telecom operators have carried out safety measures voluntarily to prevent consumer damages, now such efforts have become legally binding from July 1

The government’s decision to delay its controversial plan to adopt competition for train operations until the April parliamentary election is intensifying a backlash as critics slam the shift, calling it “a political move.”The Transport Ministry said Tuesday it will put off bidding to run new bullet-train routes departing Suseo in southern Seoul by two months, saying the “timing was inappropriate.”“After consulting with lawmakers, we offered to adjust the pace of the project as some questioned i

PARIS (AP)- Ratings agency Moody's says it is maintaining France's top-tier AAA credit rating for now after the country was downgraded by rival Standard & Poor's.Moody's maintained France's outlook at stable. S&P rates France's outlook as negative.Moody's cited the economy's overall strength but sai

MOSCOW (AFP) - Fitch on Monday cut the outlook on Russia's debt due to uncertainty over protests against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule which has intensified the risk of a sustained capital flight."Political uncertainty in Russia has risen and the global economic outlook has worsened since Fit

Korea’s trade deficit with Japan sharply fell last year as the powerful earthquake and the appreciating yen pushed up the island country’s imports, a report showed Monday.Korea’s exports to Japan spiked more than 41 percent on-year to $360.3 billion between January and November last year, the report by the Korea International Trade Association showed. Imports rose 7 percent to $624.3 billion.Korea’s trade deficit with its second-largest partner came in at $264 billion over the 11-month period, d