Tesla Motors Inc., the U.S. electric carmaker backed by Daimler AG and Toyota Motor Corp., said its revenue this year may rise as much as 50 percent because of higher demand for its rechargeable vehicles and battery packs.“We project revenue to increase about 40 to 50 percent in 2011, to $160 million to $175 million,” Deepak Ahuja, Tesla’s chief financial officer, said in a conference call on Feb.

The Financial Services Commission suspended operations of four savings banks on Saturday, following its similar sanction against three debt-saddled players since January.The regulator announced that it halted businesses of Busan II Savings Bank, Jungang Busan Savings Bank, Jeonju Savings Bank and Bohae Savings Bank for six months until Aug. 18.The series of measures against distressed savings bank

The state media regulator, Korea Communications Commission, on Friday approved public broadcaster KBS’s request to increase the monthly viewing fee by 40 percent to 3,500 won ($3).The decision was made during its general meeting from which two of the five commissioners walked out in protest.Households with television sets are all currently obliged to pay a fixed fee of 2,500 won under the Broadcas

 South Korea's communications regulator approved on Friday a 40-percent increase in the subscription fee for public broadcaster Korea Broadcasting System (KBS). The rise in the KBS subscription fee by the Korea Communications Commission is subject to approval by the National Assembly.  Should the proposal win parliamentary approval, KBS's subscription fee will increase to 3,500 won (US$3.14) from

Korea Electric Power Corp. said Friday that it will invest 8 trillion won ($7.2 billion) in smart grids until 2030. A smart grid is a new electric transmission system that allows two-way communication, as well as trade, between suppliers and consumers. KEPCO will spend 400 billion won a year for the next five years to improve facilities for the supply and distribution of electricity, the company s

Korea‘s severest foot-and-mouth disease outbreak is expected to come under control by early March as nationwide vaccination efforts take effect, a senior policymaker said Friday.In a radio interview with a local broadcaster, Farm Minister Yoo Jeong-bok said the number of FMD cases has started to fall off in recent weeks after the first round of nationwide vaccinations have been completed on all ca

POSCO, the world’s third-biggest steelmaker by output, and its units raised their cost-cutting target for this year by 20 percent to sustain profits amid rising iron ore and coal prices.The group aims to cut overall costs by 2.4 trillion won ($2.2 billion) this year from a previous target of 2 trillion won in an effort to “Improve competitiveness,” Chung Jae-woong, a spokesman for Pohang, Korea-ba

   South Korean stocks ended 1.82 percent higher Friday as investors hunted for bargains following recent bearish trading, analysts said. The local currency gathered ground against the U.S. dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 35.92 points to 2,013.14, ending above the 2,000-point level for the first time in three sessions. Trading volume was heavy at 488.9 mi

  A free trade pact between South Korea and the EU will bring great economic benefit to both sides, and break ground for the consolidation of the two markets, an EU diplomat said Friday.      On Thursday, the European Parliament approved the free trade pact with South Korea, bringing it one step closer to coming into force this July. Seoul and Brussels signed their bilateral free trade agreement (

 The European Parliament approved a free trade pact with South Korea on Thursday, bringing it one step closer to coming into force this July, diplomatic sources said.   The trade accord, adopted in Strasbourg, France, during the European Parliament's plenary session, is the most ambitious free trade pact the European Union (EU) has so far negotiated, and the first of its kind with an Asian country