YEOSU, South Jeolla Province ― The southern coastal town famous for its seascape and bountiful seafood is in the final stages of preparation for the World Expo. Construction clatter fills the waterfront Expo site in front of the Yeosu Expo train station, to which the KTX travel time from Seoul will be reduced to 2 hours and 50 minutes by the time the world fair kicks off on May 12. Themed “Living Ocean and Coast,” the Yeosu Expo will be the first world fair to be held above water to highlight th

YEOSU, South Jeolla Province ― The upcoming World Expo will no doubt be a watershed event in the history of Yeosu, a butterfly-shaped peninsula on the southern coast and 365 surrounding islands. To highlight the city’s aspirations for a successful fair, Mayor of Yeosu Kim Chung-seog has worn a blue jumper or blazer sporting an expo logo to work everyday since he was elected in June 2010. “Our aim after the expo is to build an international center of marine tourism and leisure sports, and to beco

Korea’s trade balance swung into the red for the first time in two years in January as the Lunar New Year holiday reduced the shipment volume and the eurozone fiscal crisis dented exports. The country logged a trade deficit of $1.96 billion last month, compared with a surplus of $2.9 billion a year earlier, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy data showed Wednesday. Exports unexpectedly fell 6.6 percent on-year to $41.54 billion in January, marking the first contraction in 27 months on a year-on-ye

Korea’s trade balance swung into the red for the first time in two years in January as the Lunar New Year holiday reduced the shipment volume and the eurozone fiscal crisis dented exports. The country logged a trade deficit of $1.96 billion last month, compared with a surplus of $2.9 billion a year

Korea’s knowledge economy minister vowed Tuesday to provide policy support to small and medium businesses so that they can reap benefits from the ratified Korea-U.S. free trade agreement.“That’s why we will launch a trade comprehensive assistance center under the Korea International Trade Association (this month),” said Minister Hong Suk-woo during a luncheon hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce. The goal of the center, he said, is to provide assistance to Korean businesses that are intere

The Australia Chamber of Commerce celebrated Australia National Day at the Grand Ambassador hotel in Gangnam, southern Seoul, on Friday.Participants were greeted with a Down Under theme as cabanas decorated one side of the room and Aussie favorites like fish and chips and meat pies were served. No day marking the country’s birthday would be complete without a good old fashion Aussie barbeque.Austcham Executive Director Rod Rothwell said that he wanted to give the feeling of home to the 145 guest

Despite the gloomy global and eurozone economic woes, German businesspeople in Korea presented positive forecasts of their business prospects for this year.Industry leaders from 10 German companies and the German ambassador to Korea spoke during the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry Economic Outlook seminar on Jan. 19. Friedrich Stockinger, KGCCI president and chief of Trumpf Korea, said that “2012 will mark the Year of the Black Dragon, but I am confident that even without the help

Biz association chief says FTA would make bilateral economy strongerBusiness cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo is getting stronger and closer as more and more Japanese companies are setting up operations in Korea, a top Japanese business leader said. “We thought that in Japan, our supply chain was perfect, but the earthquake and tsunami made our perfect supply chain a disaster. So Japanese companies started to think about diversifying the supply chain,” Tsutomu Awaya, chairman of Seoul Japan C