South Korea's economy is expected to grow 3.4 percent on-year in 2014 following a recovery in the global economy, a local think tank said Wednesday, noting policy uncertainties still remain a challenge.The prediction made by the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), a research arm of the Federation of Korean Industries, is faster than the 2.6-percent expansion estimated for 2013.This year's growth outlook edged up 0.2 percentage point from KERI's earlier estimate of a 2.4 percent gain made i

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., one of Korea’s largest power plant builders, landed an order worth 1.6 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in Vietnam, the company said Tuesday.Doosan Heavy vice president Kim Hun-tak, Vietnam Electricity chairman Hoang Quoc Vuong and other related officials signed the construction contract for Vinh Tan 4, a 1,200-megawatt coal-based thermal power plant, in Hanoi, Vietnam, Tuesday, according to the company.The power plant, expected to be completed by June 2018

Top executives of Samsung Group affiliates discussed how to become a first mover by deploying a swift decision-making process and seeking constant innovation during a strategy brainstorming session for next year, sources said Tuesday.“The executives put an emphasis on making constant efforts to become a global leader and an innovator,” said an official from the nation’s largest conglomerate. Key participants in the meeting that lasted for two days from Monday at the group’s training institute in

The chief financial regulator clarified that policymakers will sell Woori Investment & Securities with two other units of the state-funded Woori Financial Group.“I believe a batch sale is appropriate. The final decision will be made at a board of directors’ meeting at Woori Financial Group,” Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon told reporters on Monday.His remarks come after NongHyup Financial Group proposed a higher bidding price of 1.1 trillion won ($1 billion) for the auction p

The number of corporate bankruptcies declined in November from a three-month high tallied in the previous month as the economy is on the recovery track, the central bank said Friday.The number of companies that went belly up totaled 84 in November, down from 101 recorded in October, according to the Bank of Korea.The number of newly established companies came in at 6,112 last month, down from 6,445 in October.The default rate of corporate bills ― bonds, checks and promissory notes ― reached 0.12

Stock short-selling turnover on the country’s main bourse topped a five-year high this month, largely due to uncertainties over the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s stimulus cut, data showed Friday.The data compiled by market researcher FNGuide showed that short-selling turnover accounted for 2.01 percent of the combined trading volume on the main bourse in the first 20 days of the month, the highest portion since August 2008 on a monthly basis.Stock short-selling refers to a trading techniq

The U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to taper its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program is expected to hurt South Korea's exports to emerging economies, a report by a local think tank said Friday.The Institute for International Trade, the research arm of the Korea International Trade Association, said the fall in outbound shipments will be felt the most in emerging markets that are more vulnerable to the Fed's decision to reduce its monthly bond purchases by US$10 billion to $75 billion start

The local financial markets reacted well to the impact of the Federal Reserve's decision to taper its stimulus program, the country's top central banker said Friday."Net buying occurred in the local stock and bond markets. The financial markets were well adapting to the Fed's move to reduce quantitative easing," Bank of Korea (BOK) Kim Choong-soo said in a meeting with local bank heads.The governor said that as the size of the tapering largely met market expectations, the yield on 10-year U.S. T

Data from Statistics Korea showed Thursday that Koreans’ overall life satisfaction has remained at a relatively low level despite larger incomes and other achievements.“Koreans’ self-evaluated life satisfaction index fell behind the average of the 34 member countries surveyed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” the state statistics agency said in its analysis of the Korean social trend for the past decade.Citing the Paris-based organization’s report on “How’s Life?: Me

Hyundai Rotem Co., a South Korean tank and train maker, said Thursday that it has secured a 124.8 billion won ($117.7 million) order to provide subway trains to a Brazilian subway train operator. The order was placed by Bahia Metro, an operator of Salvador Metro, which is a metro system under construction in the city of Salvador in Bahia state, Brazil, Hyundai Rotem said. The latest deal pushed Hyundai Rotem’s combined orders to over 1 trillion won since its first deal in 2003 with Brazil for 24

South Korea has agreed to support Uzbekistan’s development of photovoltaic power stations that will include a joint project to identify the best sites for new solar energy farms in the Central Asian nation, the government said Thursday.Under a memorandum of understanding signed Thursday, Seoul and Tashkent will jointly set up and operate a test site for solar energy farms with South Korea also providing technological support.The agreement comes as Uzbekistan is soon expected to launch its first