Korea’s automakers saw their exports to European countries surge 40.1 percent on a year-on-year basis, which could be interpreted as an outcome of the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement that took effect in early July.Five carmakers including Hyundai Motor posted 347,207 units in exports to EU countries for the first 10 months of 2011, compared to 247,909 units over the same period last year.The 40.1 percent growth is noteworthy, considering the growth of their total exports around the world was 13.2

South Korean stocks slid 1.04 percent on Tuesday as investor sentiment was muted after Standard & Poor’s said it may downgrade the credit ratings of 15 eurozone countries, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI lost 20.08 points to 1,902.82. Trading volume was moderate at 379.3 million shares worth 4.58 trillion won ($4.04 billion) with losers outnumbering gainers 579 to 252.“The threat of a downgrade made investors reluctant to increase risky assets a

Securities companies claim new tax could drive away investorsAs the country’s policymakers began to discuss imposing a capital gains tax on shares to increase tax revenues, domestic brokerages expressed concerns about its negative impact on Tuesday.Although the debate is just getting started among politicians, securities houses are voicing their worries as the stakes couldn’t be higher if the current system is modified. The key point of contention is whether the fallout of a capital gains tax wo

Building globally competitive small and medium enterprises is key to pushing up South Korea’s trade volume to the next level, the new head of the country’s export promotion agency said Monday.Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency President Oh Young-ho said that in order for Seoul to double its annual export volume from $1 trillion reached this month, the capabilities of its SMEs must be enhanced.South Korea’s annual trade volume exceeded the landmark $1 trillion mark for the first time in its

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-biggest semiconductor maker, said Tuesday it has begun full production at its new Austin semiconductor plant earlier than planned, at a time when demand for smartphones and tablet PCs is booming. The company’s new plant in Austin, Texas, reached its target capacity of 40,000 wafers per month in October, a month prior to its initial target, Samsung said in a statement. Samsung produced the first silicon wafer in May on the S2 line in Austin, an automate

South Korean workers turned out to be most vulnerable to an economic crisis compared with their counterparts in other OECD countries, due to the country's extraordinarily low levels of unemployment benefits, a report showed Tuesday.Local labor authorities provided unemployed workers with financial a

The South Korean economy grew slightly faster than previously estimated in the third quarter on sustained exports, but the growth momentum slowed from three months earlier amid global economic uncertainty, the central bank said Tuesday.Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of ec

KT Corp. said Monday that it has bought Enswers Inc., a Seoul-based video search technology provider, for 45 billion won ($40 million) to shore up its cloud computing business. The acquisition, one of the largest deals in South Korea’s technology startup history, will help the company release a new multimedia service for purchasing, storing, managing and browsing online video content, KT said in a statement. KT, South Korea’s dominant fixed-line operator and No. 2 mobile carrier, has been seekin

A group of young Australian experts in water resources management said they could take a page from Korea’s book to tackle water crises in their country during a visit to Seoul on Sunday.Ten public officials, academics and private experts from Australia are participating in the Next Generation Leaders program hosted by the Australia-Korea Foundation. The two countries set a theme and exchange a team of young professionals over two years to help them develop leadership in the field.This year, the

Unionized workers of Korea Exchange Bank have mapped out a plan for a general strike, calling on Hana Financial Group to scrap its preliminary deal with Lone Star Funds.Their plan comes after Hana Financial signed a revised preliminary deal to take over KEB from Lone Star over the weekend.Despite the two parties’ recent agreement to lower the takeover price, the KEB union said it is against Hana’s move to pay Lone Star huge management premiums.“According to the situation, we could choose to stag