The Korea Herald

Top 4 firms lose big in bearish market

IndustryAug 23, 2011

Companies with greater global exposure lost almost W130trThe stock value of local conglomerates took a nosedive this month, with the total market capitalization of the nation’s top four companies shedding 128.8 trillion won ($11.8 billion).The decline over the past 15 days was an average 22.8 percen
Sales of Samsung 3-D TVs plunge in China

IndustryAug 23, 2011

South Korean electronics behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. is suffering a decline in sales of its 3-D TVs in China due to increased competition, an industry report showed Tuesday.According to the report by market research firm DisplaySearch, Samsung Electronics accounted for 9.3 percent of the 3-D TV
Exports to Libya plummet 88 percent

Aug 23, 2011

Korea’s exports to Libya dove nearly 88 percent between January and July in the wake of a civil war that has pummeled the North African economy, a report showed Tuesday.According to the Korea International Trade Association, Korean exporters shipped a mere $119 million worth of goods to Libya in the
‘Jeonse’ deposits exceed 50% of home prices

IndustryAug 23, 2011

“Jeonse” prices soared in the metropolitan area to exceed half the value of new homes last month, research found Tuesday. The lump sum deposit that a tenant has to pay to the landlord reached 50.1 percent of home prices last month, the highest since 2006, research firm Real Today said. A passe
Fiscal woes may hit key sectors

Aug 23, 2011

Ratings agency expects chip, construction, savings bank sectors to sufferKorea’s construction and semiconductor industries could be severely damaged by fiscal woes in Europe and the United States, a local credit rating company predicted.Industries vulnerable to external shocks picked by NICE Investo
BOK to open Shanghai office later this year

Aug 23, 2011

South Korea’s central bank said Tuesday that it plans to open an office in Shanghai later this year in a bid to better monitor the Chinese markets and brace for the financial market opening there.The Bank of Korea said it plans to dispatch two employees on Wednesday to an envisioned office in Shangh
Officials pressed brokerages to alter economic reports

Aug 23, 2011

The government pressured brokerage houses to change their outlook on the Korean economy in their reports from “gloomy” to “positive,” financial industry sources said.The move has sparked fury from some economists and analysts who said the “nonsensical” intervention encroached on the independent rese
Bargain hunters push stock trade to record high

Aug 22, 2011

Bargain hunters jumping into stocks to take advantage of the sharp downturn in the market drove the number of active stock trading accounts to a record high level in the past week, the Korea Financial Investment Association said Monday. A total of 122,786 trade accounts have been created this m
Online sales of gold items rise sharply

IndustryAug 22, 2011

A growing number of Koreans are turning to online retailers to purchase gold items at cheaper prices amid skyrocketing prices of pure gold here. G-Market, a leading online retailer, said Monday that its sales of solid gold items had increased almost sevenfold as of Aug. 15 compared to the same perio
E-Mart to build logistics complex

IndustryAug 22, 2011

E-Mart, Korea’s No. 1 discount store chain, said Monday that it will invest about 400 billion won ($370 million) to establish a logistics complex in Gyeonggi Province by 2014. The complex, located at a 500,000 square meter site in Anseong, 77 kilometers south of Seoul, will become the nation’s large
Foreign investors’ H1 profits soar

IndustryAug 22, 2011

Foreign investors saw the second largest returns on record during the first half of the year, Bank of Korea data showed Monday.According to the central bank, foreign investors’ profits for the first six months of the year rose 6.6 percent from the same period last year to come in at over $8.33 billi
Big investment banks unlikely to come soon

Aug 22, 2011

Global economic woes may delay bills on large financial groupsGrowing U.S. fiscal woes are stirring concern in Korea over a possible stall in the parliamentary passage of revised bills on capital market and financial investment businesses, calling for fostering American-style big investment banks.Th
Samsung, LG sweep global TV market

IndustryAug 22, 2011

Local companies beating out Japanese TV makers with brisk 3-D TV salesSamsung and LG led the global television market during the second quarter of this year on the back of brisk sales of 3-D TVs and other high-end sets, research institute data showed on Monday. Samsung Electronics stood at No. 1 in
SC First Bank’s striking workers likely to return to work next week: union

Aug 22, 2011

Striking workers at SC First Bank are likely to return to workplaces as early as next week, ending their all-out work stoppage that started in June in opposition to the bank’s move to adopt a merit pay scheme, the lender’s labor union said Monday.Unionized workers at the Korean unit of Standard Char
Overseas investment hits new high in H1

IndustryAug 22, 2011

Korea’s direct overseas investment more than doubled in the first half of the year to a record high of $26.9 billion on the back of vigorous resources development projects, the government said Monday.The figure translates to a 132 percent rise from about $11.6 billion a year earlier and amounts to m