Shoplifting, employee and supplier fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors cost the nation’s retail industry 2.41 trillion won ($2.13 billion) over the past year, an international report found Thursday. The amount was equivalent to 1.3 percent of the industry’s total sales in 2011, according to the Global Retail Theft Barometer Report, which monitors the cost of “shrink” in the global retail industry. Korea was first included this year on the list of 43 countries to be surveyed o

Incheon International Airport Corp. said Thursday it has been honored as one of the world’s best airports for its superior services by the Airports Council International, a global association of airports.In the new “Roll of Excellence” program, the council listed airports that have made if into the top five in terms of service quality for five consecutive years and lauded Incheon, the sole Asian airport operator that has reigned as the best airport for six years in a row to 2010.Hong Kong’s Chek

LG Electronics said Thursday it will issue new shares worth about 1.062 trillion won ($939 million), for the first time in six years in a sign that the company is in need of financing facility investments and other capital expenditures for next year.The company announced that it will issue 19 million new shares priced at 55,900 won per share and list them on Jan. 9.“The purpose of issuing new shares is to increase the competitiveness of our core businesses, such as smartphones, and secure our in

The Financial Supervisory Service is set to conduct inquiries into five credit card companies to monitor their cyber security measures against possible leaks of customer information.The firms are BC Card, Shinhan Card, Hyundai Card, KB Kookmin Card, Lotte Card.BC Card has been scheduled to be under yearly regulatory probe and the remaining four issuers will be subject to extraordinary scrutiny in the wake of the frequent financial accidents in the credit card sector.The FSS has already completed

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) — Yahoo has begun to distribute an iPad magazine that illuminates the Internet company's ambitions and the chronic hiccups that have thrown its fate into doubt.The free magazine, called Livestand, has intriguing potential because its software can be customized to pull a

SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday that it has placed 13 more companies on its watch list that limits mutual investments and loan guarantees.The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said the number of corporate affiliates on the list stood at 1,618 from 55 business group

Apple Inc. said that the U.S.-based company plans to launch its new iPhone 4S in the South Korean market on Nov. 11.Apple said on its Web site on Tuesday that it will launch the iPhone 4S in 15 countries including South Korea and Hong Kong and customers will be able to pre-order the smartphone starting Friday.Apple has applied for a radio wave certificate at a South Korean national agency for its iPhone 4S, signaling that the launch of its latest smartphone in Korea is imminent.The iPhone 4S was

South Korea’s non-life insurers suffered massive losses from their car insurance business in the fiscal first half as heavy summer downpours led to a surge in claims, watchers said Wednesday.The combined net loss of 14 local non-life insurers’ auto insurance businesses reached 108.3 billion won ($959.1 million) in the April-September period, according to industry data. Local insurers close their books on March 31.The losses were mostly attributed to severe flooding in July that swamped thousands

Samsung Electronics Co. took second place in the U.S. smartphone market during the third quarter, trailing behind Taiwan-based HTC Corp., a market research firm said Wednesday.     Even though Samsung became the leading smartphone maker worldwide, it lagged behind HTC in the worl

Critics call for regulator to reject Hana’s KEB takeoverThe nation’s financial regulator has been under mounting pressure to take stern action against Lone Star Funds, which was convicted of manipulating stocks of Korea Exchange Bank’s credit card affiliate.In particular, a group of lawmakers, professors and lawyers are calling for the Financial Services Commission to reject Hana Financial Group’s application to acquire KEB from Lone Star.Their calls come amid speculation that the FSC may “simpl

Local analysts optimistic that referendum on bailout unlikely to happen in GreeceKorea’s stock market ended slightly lower on Wednesday, erasing earlier losses sparked by the heightened concern that a Greek referendum might derail Europe’s rescue plan. The benchmark KOSPI index closed down 11.62 points, or 0.61 percent, to 1,898.01. The tech-packed junior KOSDAQ eked out a gain of 1.13 points, or 0.23 percent, to end at 483.49.The Korean won opened at 1,131 won in a reflection of shaky sentiment