Korean stocks ended 1.22 percent higher on Thursday as foreign investors sharply increased their holdings on reviving appetite for riskier assets, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 24.6 points to 2,036.78. Trading volume was light at 290.3 million shares worth 6.56 trillion won ($5.8 billion), with gaine

Growth in Korea’s labor productivity in the manufacturing sector slowed in the fourth quarter of 2010 due to weaker private consumption and business investments, a government report showed Thursday.According to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the labor productivity index in the three month period gained just 3.3 percent on-year to 137.0, marking the third straight quarter of slowe

Korea’s top trade official said Thursday that the government is carefully looking into the impact of a free trade deal with China on Asia’s fourth-largest economy as there are divided views on benefits.“We are cautiously examining the impact of a free trade deal with China on our economy,” Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said in a meeting with business leaders. Kim said there are opinions that

One out of every seven in the Korean online community experienced hacking last year, while one out of six said their personal information was exposed online without their consent, according to government figures on Thursday.In the corporate sector, one out of eight companies said their websites were disturbed or hacked, the Korea Communication Commission said, citing a survey it conducted on indiv

   SEOUL, March 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's central bank is expected to hike its key interest rate by 0.75 percentage point this year to fight oil and commodity price gains, a senior economist at HSBC Holdings Plc. said Thursday.   "South Korea's central bank may raise its interest rate 75 basis points further from where we are now through the course of this year," HSBC Group Chief Economist Step

Apple has been fiercely criticized for approving the “gay conversion” application which offers guidance on how a homosexual can convert to heterosexuality.The “gay cure” application, which can be used on Apple’s handheld devices, was created by a religious organization, Exodus International.According to Britain’s Daily Telegraph, the organization believes in teaching “freedom from homosexuality th

   South Korea's top wire and cable maker LS Cable Ltd. said Thursday that it has changed its English name to LS Cable & System Ltd. to reflect the company's growing businesses.   Shareholders adopted the new English name on Wednesday as the new name better indicates the company's expansion into businesses that offer a package of applications, equipment, software and systems to clients, the compan

  Cumulative exports by South Korea's second-largest automaker Kia Motors Corp. surpassed 10 million units on Thursday, a feat achieved 36 years after it started overseas shipments in 1975, the company said.   It took 30 years for Kia Motors to reach the 5 million unit export mark, but only six years since 2005 to reach 10 million.   The number only includes vehicles shipped from South Korea.Overs

  Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top memory chipmaker, said Thursday that it has begun mass production of a new type of mobile dynamic random access memory (DRAM) that packs denser memory in a slimmer package.   Earlier this month, Samsung started mass producing the 4-gigabit, low power double-data-rate 2 (LPDDR2) DRAM based on 30-nanometer class technology, the company said in a statement.

    South Korea's trade commission said Thursday that it has decided to extend anti-dumping duties on Chinese float glass products, citing unfair price cuts.   The Korea Trade Commission said punitive duties of 12.04-36.01 percent will be maintained on Chinese imports for the next three years.   The decision follows investigations carried out following formal complaints raised by KCC Corp. and Han