South Korea's trade volume expanded three-fold in the last 10 years, helping the country become the seventh-largest exporter in the world, a government report showed Wednesday.The findings by the Korea Customs Service said the country's export and import volume that stood at just $291.5 billion in 2001 moved up steadily to $545.7 billion in 2005 and hit a record $891.6 billion last year.For 2011,

The average exchange rate of the Korean won is expected to hover at 1,093 won to the dollar this year, a report by a state-run think tank showed Wednesday.The Korea Development Institute (KDI) report said that the local currency should gain in value vis-a-vis the greenback on the strength of such developments as steady economic growth and favorable trade balance.In 2010, the Korean legal tender tr

Korean banks saw their earnings surge 35.6 percent last year from a year earlier thanks to increased interest income and profits from sales of stock holdings, the financial regulator said Tuesday.Net income by 18 local banks, including top lender Kookmin Bank and Woori Bank, came to 9.4 trillion won ($8.4 billion) in 2010, compared with 6.9 trillion won in 2009, according to a report by the Financ

Korean brokerages saw their foreign operations turn to net losses in the fiscal first half of 2010 from a year earlier due to increased sales and maintenance costs, the financial regulator said Tuesday.The 47 foreign units of 19 local securities companies posted a combined net loss of $16.6 million in the April-September period, compared with a profit of $23.1 million a year earlier, according to

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Korea’s largest builder, said Tuesday that it has posted record high sales last year of over 10 trillion won ($ 8.6 billion), up 7.8 percent from 2009, on strong overseas orders.Earnings rose 19 percent on-year to 544.8 billion won in 2010, the firm said, thanks to gains from equity investments. Operating profit surged 39.5 percent to 584.3 billion won.“Hyun

All five local carmakers saw January sales increase from a year earlier on the back of strong demand from overseas markets, industry data showed Tuesday.Their total sales came to 626,806 vehicles, up 21.9 percent from 514,094 units sold in the same period last year.Their domestic sales grew 1.4 percent to 120,577 units and overseas sales, including exports, jumped 28.1 percent to 506,229 units.Kia

An international consortium led by Korea Resources Corp. recently submitted a bid to develop a coal mine lot in Mongolia, the state-run resources developer said Monday.The consortium of nine Korean, two Russian and four Japanese companies seeks to obtain the right to develop the Tavan Tolgoi mine. The region has one of the world’s largest untapped deposits of coal for making steel with around 1.2

Kookmin Bank, Korea’s largest lender, and local rivals posted a 41 percent jump in combined profit last quarter as widening lending margins increased interest income and provisions for bad loans fell.The 18 lenders net income climbed to 2.1 trillion won ($1.9 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31, from 1.5 trillion won a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service said Tuesday in an e-ma

The Netherlands are providing 1 million doses of foot-and-mouth vaccine to help Korea fight its worst outbreak, its embassy said Friday.At the request of the Korean government, the European country has sent 500,000 vaccines. The remainder is due to arrive on Feb. 3. “The Netherlands expects it will contribute positively to the welfare of the animals and to disease control,” it said in an e-mailed

   A prolonged anti-government protest in Egypt could deal a blow to South Korean exports to the North African state and hamper the recovery of Asia's fourth-largest economy by pushing up commodity costs, watchers said Tuesday.   Thousands of protesters took to the streets of major cities in Egypt last week, demanding their president, Hosni Mubarak, to end his iron-fisted rule of 30-odd years.   M