Renewed fears about the fiscal crisis in Europe following credit rating downgrades by Standard and Poor’s are likely to have a limited impact on the Korean market, brokerages said Monday.France, Austria and seven other European countries saw their ratings go down a notch or two on Friday, raising concerns about the trouble-laden eurozone and its effect on financial markets worldwide. “The downgrade has been already factored into market prices since Standard and Poor’s put 15 European nations on

The Korean-German Chamber of Commerce will host a seminar on Korea’s economic outlook on Jan. 19.The meeting will start with a political overview given by German Ambassador Dr. Hans-Ulrich Seidt followed by a report on the current economic and business situation by Frank Robaschik, correspondent from the Germany Trade and Invest office. KGCCI Treasurer Rene Wittenberg will comment on exchange and interest rates development. There will also be short reports from several industry representatives a

The first general meeting of the year for the British Chamber of Commerce will take place later this week.The meeting runs from noon to 3 p.m. on Jan. 19 at the Grand Hyatt hotel’s Namsan room. On the agenda will be the chairman’s annual report, statement of accounts, election of the executive committee for this year and the appointment of auditors.Voting members are permitted to enter free of charge while non-voting members will pay 60,000 won.Reservations need to be made by Jan. 17 to administ

The European Union Chamber of Commerce offices in Seoul and Busan plan to hold networking events this month in their respective cities.The Seoul meeting will take place on Jan. 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lotte Hotel’s Pierre Bar on the 35th floor. Cost is 60,000 won for members and 70,000 won for non-members.To book at place call Sophie An at (02) 725-9994 or e-mail eumarketing@eucck.org; more information at www.eucck.org.The chamber’s Busan branch will hold their New Year networking event on Jan. 2

The Australia Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the largest Australia Day celebration on the Korean Peninsula, organizers said.The chamber plans to showcase Australian produce like wines from Western Australia, Aussie style barbeque by Meat and Livestock Australia, meat pies provided by Jesters Pies, Aussie beer, fish and chips and down-under style desserts including Lamington and Pavlovas.To keep the party going, the chamber employed a classic Australian rock band and will offer prizes.The ev

South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. was the No. 2 seller of vehicles in the Russian imported car market last year, with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. ranking fourth, industry data showed Sunday.Hyundai Motor sold a total of 163,447 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the Russian market last year, trailing only General Motors Co., according to the data.In the overall Russian car market, including foreign and domestic brands, Hyundai Motor placed third, after Russian carmake

A delegation led by a state-run trade agency and 10 Korean businesses will be luring investors in Hong Kong as some 2,500 bankers, industry leaders and government officials from 32 countries gather for a conference. The annual Asian Financial Forum, which kicks off Monday, is aimed at discussing opportunities and challenges faced by the rapidly growing region and hosting more than 400 meetings between 120 promising firms and their potential investors. The 10 Korean companies are engaged in secto

Concerns were growing among TV viewers on Sunday after cable TV operators threatened to stop airing the programs of terrestrial broadcasters from Monday afternoon in protest of stalled talks on retransmission fees. An emergency council of cable stations said Friday that most of the nation’s 94 cable operators have agreed to halt the broadcasts of terrestrial channels MBC, KBS 2TV and SBS both in high-definition and lower-quality standard definition. “We will hold another meeting on Monday mornin

Korea’s global competitiveness in the construction sector took 9th place in a ranking launched by the government, underscoring its need to enhance transparency and design skills. The Land Ministry said Sunday it has developed an index with the Korea Institute of Construction Technology to assess and compare the fundamentals of the industry as well as the capabilities of local builders between 22 leading economies.The index takes account of four dimensions of each market ― size, growth rate, stab