South Korea's current account surplus narrowed in June from the previous month on smaller exports, but its combined surplus hit a record high in the first half, the central bank said Tuesday.   The current account surplus reached US$7.24 billion in June, down from a record surplus of $8.64 billion the previous month,according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is thebroadest measure of cross-border trade.   The smaller surplus in June mainly came as exports of display panels, steel

South Korea's industrial output grew slightly in June from a month earlier despite tough economic conditions at home and abroad, a government report showed Tuesday.   According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries expanded 0.4 percent last month from a month earlier.   The expansion marked a turnaround from the 0.1-percent on-month contraction the previous month.   The June output, however, still shrank 2.6 percent compared wi

Traffic accident victims may in the future have to report all damage to the police for insurance coverage, no matter how minor it is.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Monday that it was working on revising the traffic law to obligate policyholders to submit a police certificate before making their insurance claim.Under the current law, no report is necessary as long as the resulting injuries are light and both parties reach an agreement on compensation.“Cases of insuranc

South Korea's top central banker said Monday the global economy faces growing uncertainty over the fallout from advanced economies' unconventional monetary policy.Advanced economies, led by the U.S., have adopted an unorthodox monetary policy dubbed quantitative easing (QE) in a bid to prop up their economies in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.Ample liquidity unleashed by such accommodative policy has been flowing into emerging markets, raising risks of asset bubbles and appreciatin

But prospects in public sector dim as state-run energy firms withdraw projects

Officials of the United States’ National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Seoul on Sunday to investigate the crash-landing of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in San Francisco earlier this month that killed three and injured over 180 others.The fact-finding commission will carry out an inspection at Asiana Airlines headquarters, starting from this Monday until August 7, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Sunday.The joint committee is to consist of NTSB officials,

   South Korean stocks are expected to trade higher next week on abated concerns over the listed firms' second-quarter earnings, analysts said Saturday.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,910.81 points on Friday, up 2.2 percent from the previous week.   Earlier this week, Seoul shares gathered ground as the pledge by financial leaders of the Group of 20 to support growth boosted investor sentiment.   Market watchers earlier expected that local stock market will

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of computer memory chips and smartphones, said Friday that its second-quarter profit spiked 49.6 percent from a year earlier, buoyed by robust shipments of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones and higher chip prices.Net profit came to 7.77 trillion won ($6.96 billion) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 5.19 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Revenue soared 20.7 percent on-year to 57.46 trillion won in

South Korea's top central banker said Friday that the country is seen as overcoming the negative impacts of the yen's weakness on the local economy, but weak domestic demand still remains a concern."It seems that (Korea) has weathered well the impacts of the yen's slide (as the second-quarter growth data shows)," Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo said before holding a monthly meeting with heads of local banks.The BOK said Thursday that the South Korean economy grew 1.1 percent on-quarter i

South Korea's trade commission said Thursday that it has decided to recommend a three-year extension of anti-dumping duties on imports of stainless steel bars from Japan, India and Spain.Under the latest extension, Japanese and Spanish products will be subject to an anti-dumping tariff of 15.39 percent with those from India subject to tariffs ranging from 2.76 percent to 15.39 percent, according to the Korea Trade Commission.South Korea has been imposing anti-dumping tariffs, ranging from 3.33 p

The government plans to provide financial support to Korean companies seeking to take over overseas firms in the plant design and engineering, embedded software and system-on-chip businesses.The government is promoting the scheme to rapidly cultivate talent in those areas with high-value technologies.“The Industry Ministry is in discussion with K-Sure, the nation’s official export credit agency, to develop a plan to support partial loss incurred during the M&As,” said a ministry official.“The M&