The credit card commission dispute has entered a new phase as the country’s bars, night clubs, massage parlors, hagwon, and other small businesses plan to go on a nationwide strike at the end of this month over transaction fees. The Federation of Professional Economic-Person Societies, which covers the so-called nightspot business, said on Tuesday it would hold a 50,000 people-strong rally in Seoul on Nov. 30 to call on credit card companies to lower the transaction commission rate to 1.5 percen

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's trade surplus grew significantly from a year earlier in October on robust exports, the government said Tuesday.The country's trade surplus reached US$4.3 billion last month, up from $2.67 billion a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.E

South Korea’s STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. said Monday its Canadian unit will participate in an Ottawa government-led 36 trillion won ($32.7 billion) project to build a large fleet of ships.STX Canada Marine Inc. will sign a formal contract with Canada’s Seaspan Corp. to jointly build non-combat ships including support ships, ice breakers and sea exploration vessels, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding said.The construction of the non-combat vessels is estimated to be worth 9 trillion won, but STX Of

Renegotiating the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement is impossible and the investor-state dispute or ISD settlement clause is a long-standing international practice, Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said Monday, rejecting the opposition parties’ call for the clause to be removed from the accord.Speaking on a local radio station, Kim said Korea has been including ISD settlement clauses in agreements with other nations since 1976 and that the clause has not proved damaging to Korea since.The “ISD clause

South Korea announced a package of measures Monday to support the renewable energy industry, pledging to expand export financing for companies, boost investment in research and development and relax regulations.The Presidential Committee on Green Growth unveiled the measures during a meeting presided over by President Lee Myung-bak, saying South Korea should increase government support for the sector to strengthen its position in the global renewable energy industry.Under the plan, the governmen

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. are likely to see their combined sales exceed 7 million units next year on the back of improved brand images, production quality and increased capacity, analysts said Sunday.For this year, South Korea’s top duo of carmakers expect to sell a combined 6.5 million units with Hyundai Motor posting sales of 4 million units. But they warned last week that they may face increased competition with foreign rivals and unfavorable business conditions dow

South Korea will likely raise highway and train service fares by the end of this year following years of unchanged rates aimed at curbing inflation, a source said Friday.The finance ministry and the transportation ministry are currently in the last phase of talks to determine when and by how much th

The government said on Friday it is considering setting a limit on the total number of lottery tickets issued in a bid to cool red-hot lottery fever. The Korea Lottery Commission, an agency under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, raised the lottery ticket issuance limit for this year to 2.8 trillion won ($2.5 billion) on Thursday, up from 2.5 trillion won, to meet the surging demand.The Finance Ministry is now trying to stem the lottery boom from heating up further after the launch of a pens

College graduates make up 30% of irregular workforceThe number of “irregular” workers with low pay and less job security in Korea reached nearly 6 million, data showed on Friday, underscoring that the country’s employment condition continues to deteriorate. Statistics Korea said the number of non-regular workers in Korea stood at 5.99 million as of end-August, accounting for a 34.2 percent share in the total workforce. The total number of salaried workers, including temporary employees, rose 2.7

Google chairman Eric Schmidt will visit Korea early next month for a series of talks with KT chairman Lee Suk-chae and other leaders of tech companies, industry sources said Friday. This will be the second time for the Google chief executive to visit Korea.Amid diverse smartphone-related issues expected to be discussed during the talks, industry sources predicted that mobile payment services would be the main topic. KT, which in February acquired the nation’s top credit card firm BC Card, this w

Increasing their wealth is a priority for more high-net-worth families than merely maintaining what they already have, according to a survey of individuals with an average household net worth of more than $20 million.About 74 percent of those surveyed said that growth of wealth was a priority over t

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks got off to a strong start on Friday, tracking overnight rallies on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 33.79 points, or 1.76 percent, to 1,955.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Financial shares,

SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's current account surplus jumped more than 10-fold in September from the previous month on brisk exports, the central bank said Friday, showing that overseas shipments are weathering global economic uncertainty.The current account surplus reached US$3.1 billion

The number of holding companies in South Korea grew over the past year as businesses continued efforts to streamline their corporate governance structure, the corporate watchdog said Thursday.The number of holding firms in South Korea stood at 105 as of end-September, up 9 from the same period a year earlier, according to a report by the Fair Trade Commission. Over the period, 24 firms were added to the list, while 15 were taken off. Of the total, 13 are financial holding companies, while the re