Korea’s imports from Japan have been plunging since the recent massive earthquake amid concerns that disruptions in supply of parts and materials from the neighboring country could hurt the economy here, customs data showed Thursday.Before the 9.0-magnitude quake struck Japan last Friday, Korea’s daily weekday imports from the country averaged $303.33 million for this month, according to the data

Korea’s small- and medium-sized exporters are struggling with delayed payments and a drop in orders from their Japanese partners whose operations were disrupted by the massive quake and tsunami last week.Government bodies and banks are stepping up financial assistance for such firms and trade agencies are operating emergency teams to closely monitor the extent of the damage. The powerful 9.0-magni

Foreign investment banks (IBs) see little short-term impact from last week’s earthquake in Japan on the Korean economy but they are concerned over its longer-term impact as the disaster could eventually hurt the nation’s exports by disrupting the parts supply from the neighboring country, a report showed Thursday.Recent reports on economic conditions at home and abroad by foreign banks including M

The number of people who used Korea’s budget carriers jumped over 30 percent on-year in the first two months of the year as more people chose cheap fares for domestic flights, the transportation ministry said Thursday.According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, passengers who used budget carriers totaled 1.45 million in the January-February period, up 31 percent from a year

By Kim Ji-hyunLG Uplus on Thursday said it has developed an exclusive application, which allows users to read magazines in their original paper format on tablet PCs, to signal its entry into the digital magazine advertisement market. The application is accessible from both Android and Apple operating systems running on tablets such as Galaxy Tabs and iPads so that publishers won’t have to create s

Several South Korean firms are considering evacuating their Japan-based employees or moving their operations to southern Japan amid growing concern over a nuclear crisis there, company officials said Thursday.   Japan is battling to minimize nuclear disaster following Friday's devastating 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami that claimed thousands of lives and crippled a nuclear plant 240 kilometers no

South Korean stocks started 1.19 percent lower on Thursday as Japan's nuclear power plant problem rekindled investor jitters, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 23.27 points to trade at 1,934.7 in the first 15 minutes of trading.    The deteriorating situation in Fukushima's crippled nuclear power plant, hit by last week's massive earthquake and tsunam

Japan’s earthquake and nuclear crisis have put pressure on the already fragile global economy, squeezed supplies of goods from computer chips to auto parts and raised fears of higher interest rates.The disaster frightened financial markets in Tokyo and on Wall Street on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei average lost 10 percent, and the Dow Jones industrials fell so quickly after the opening bell that the st

Korea is to send some of its reserves of a material used for regulating nuclear chain reactions to Japan to limit damage to its quake-damaged nuclear reactors. The Korean government said Wednesday that it will send an emergency shipment of boron following Tokyo’s request for the metalloid, which is being mixed with seawater to limit damage at crippled nuclear facilities in Fukushima. Tokyo has ask