The Korea Herald

S. Korea's jobless rate falls to 2.9 percent in Oct.

Nov 9, 2011

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's jobless rate fell in October from a month earlier and job creation accelerated at the fastest pace in 17 months, showing signs that long-frozen labor conditions might be thawing, a report showed Wednesday.The jobless rate stood at 2.9 percent last month, down
State oil company plans Kazakhstan investment

Nov 8, 2011

The Korea National Oil Corp. will soon increase its presence in Kazakhstan under massive investment plans to significantly bolster its oil production, the company’s top official in the Central Asian country said.The state-run KNOC has four production fields and four undergoing exploration in Kazakhstan that currently churn out about 15,000 barrels of oil per day.“The company plans to increase its daily production level here to 50,000 barrels within the next few years, which will then make up a c
Officials say Park’s FTA report misguided

Nov 8, 2011

Critics say that local government chief excessively intervened in foreign affairsThe government on Tuesday rebuffed Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon’s concerns about the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, giving little credence to Park’s claims.“Many exaggerated concerns with little basis in facts were found (in the Seoul mayor’s statement). Among Seoul City’s claims there were many distortions and misunderstandings about ISD,” Deputy Trade Minister for FTA negotiations Choi Seok-young said at a briefing
Fitch raises Korea’s outlook to ‘positive’

Nov 7, 2011

Kia Motors Corp. vehicles bound for export are driven into a car carrier ship at the port in Mokpo. (Bloomberg)Fitch Ratings on Monday raised Korea’s sovereign credit outlook to “positive” from “stable” and kept it’s A+ rating amid signs of improving economic fundamentals, sources said. The country’
Forum stresses entrepreneurship, startups

Nov 7, 2011

Entrepreneurship Week 2011 conference opens alongside events held in 118 countriesThe country’s leading entrepreneurs, academics and economic experts emphasized on Monday the need to instill young talent with entrepreneurship and underpin startups as economic drivers in an era of innovation. About 500 businesspeople, scholars and public officials joined the International Conference on Global Entrepreneurship, which was held in Seoul by the country’s five largest business organizations to mark En
Korea may be model for ‘Capitalism 4.0’: Kaletsky

Nov 7, 2011

In his book “Capitalism 4.0,” prominent journalist/economist Anatole Kaletsky predicts a sea change in the relationship between government and the market.The fourth stage of capitalism, he argues, is being created by a new form of collaboration that transcends both unbridled capitalism and state interventionism. The “birth of a new economy” would also mean a new era of healthy growth for emerging powers like South Korea, he said. “For Korea, it’s going to be an opportunity,” Kaletsky, editor-at-
N.K.’s mineral exports to China tripled from 2010: study

Nov 6, 2011

North Korea’s mineral exports to China have tripled this year compared to a year ago, a study showed Sunday.A joint study of Chinese data by the Yonhap news agency and Seoul-based IBK Economic Research Institute showed that China imported 8.42 million tons of minerals from North Korea from January to September this year, worth $852 million.Over the first nine months of last year, China brought in 3.04 million tons of minerals from the North for $245 million.Most of the minerals were anthracite c
Seoul shares expected to gain ground next week

Nov 5, 2011

South Korean stocks are forecast to move upward next week, analysts said Saturday, with the Greek prime minister's latest victory in a confidence vote and an upcoming meeting among European financial ministers likely to embolden investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Pri
G20 leaders fail to agree on how to boost IMF

Nov 4, 2011

CANNES, France (AP) -- Leaders of the world's 20 most powerful economies failed to agree on how to increase the firepower of the International Monetary Fund, so that it can help stem the European debt crisis, though they acknowledged its resources should be boosted. The leaders st
SK chief calls G20 business leaders’ attention to corporate responsibility

Nov 4, 2011

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won called for global efforts to strengthen social corporate responsibility to achieve the sustainable growth of poor countries.Chey made the call during a roundtable discussion at the meeting of business leaders on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Cannes, France, on Thursday.Chey attracted support from participants when he proposed to global companies to set up “social enterprises’ and investment in them for the developing countries’ sustainable growth, according to SK
Korea to export tomatoes, grapes to N. America

Nov 3, 2011

South Korea will export tomatoes and grapes to the North American market starting in 2012 after meeting quality control and quarantine safety requirements, the government said Thursday.The Agriculture Ministry’s Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency said negotiations with the United States to ship tomatoes were successfully concluded last month.“Farms that can meet quality control requirements will be checked by inspectors and be registered as exporters,” it said. “Actual
S. Korea's foreign reserves rebound in Oct.

Nov 2, 2011

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rebounded in October from a three-year low as a weaker dollar raised the conversion value of non-dollar assets, the central bank said Wednesday.The country's foreign reserves reached US$310.98 billion as of the end of October, up $7.6
Momentum building for Northeast Asia trade deal

Nov 1, 2011

Korea positioned to take lead in forging trilateral accord with China, JapanWith the parliamentary ratification of a free trade deal with the U.S. held back by a prolonged standoff between the two main parties, Korea agreed to expand its currency swap deals with China and Japan last month.It signed an agreement to double its currency swap arrangement with China to $57 billion last Wednesday during a visit to Seoul by China’s Vice Premier Li Keqiang. The accord with Beijing came only a week after
Highway tolls, train fares to rise

Nov 1, 2011

The government on Tuesday announced plans to raise highway tolls and train fares in a bid to cope with surging costs and to boost the financial stability of state-run enterprises.The package includes an average hike of 2.9 percent in expressway tolls nationwide starting later this month, and an average increase of 2.93 percent in train tickets from mid-December, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.“The government has frozen toll and train rates since 2006 and 2007 i
Memory chip prices extend slump

Nov 1, 2011

Prices of memory chips used in personal computers and mobile devices logged another drop, according to the latest industry data Tuesday, reflecting still fragile demand for consumer electronics products. Prices of NAND flash memory devices hit a 32-month low in the second half of last month, while prices of dynamic random access memory chips failed to make a rebound and held steady in the same period, according to DRAMeXchange Technology Inc. The Taiwan-based company, Asia’s largest operator of