South Korea will raise electricity prices by 4.9 percent starting next month as part of its efforts to reflect rising power production costs, the commerce ministry said Tuesday.Electricity bills for household consumption will grow 2 percent from August, while those for commercial and industrial use will increase 4.1 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Econ

South Korean banks' loan delinquency rate fell to the lowest level in six months in June due mainly to a decline in project financing loans, the financial watchdog said Tuesday.The average delinquency rate of bank loans to companies and households stood at 0.97 percent as of the end of June, down 0.33 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).Th

Korea plans to set up high-tech facilities to stave off flooding at the country’s seaports, including flap gates similar to those being built in Italy’s Venice, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs unveiled a package of measures to minimize the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, typhoons and tidal waves, which are increasingly freque

The average age of new smartphone owners has risen, according to a recent report.A report entitled “Mobile divide in the smartphone era,” recently announced by KT’s DigiEco and the office of research affairs at Yonsei University, said that the portion of new smartphone users in their 40s has jumped to 24.7 percent in November last year, from 11.6 percent earlier in May.The percentage is higher tha

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday that the country’s free trade deal with South Korea is a “model agreement” for the world’s largest economy.The Korea-U.S. FTA, known as KORUS FTA, was signed in 2007 and supplemented last December. It has been awaiting approval from the legislatures of both countries. “We consider KORUS a model agreement,” Clinton said i

Banks, major firms expand hiring of high school graduatesAll eyes are now trained on the corporate sector amid high expectations that South Korean companies at large would hire more high school graduates following an unprecedented move in the banking sector. Last week, Korea’s 18 banks said they would double their hiring quota for high school graduates, largely prompted by the government’s policy

The conflict between terrestrial and cable television operators over broadcast rights is expected to take a new turn as chiefs of terrestrial TV stations agreed to form a negotiation panel last Friday.In a meeting organized by Choi See-joong last week, chairman of the state media regulator, representative of five major broadcast stations ― SBS, KBS, MBC, EBS and OBS ― said a panel must be formed t

JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, July 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's gross national income (GNI) is forecast to grow to $30,000 per capita by 2014 before increasing by an additional $10,000 in the four years that follow, the finance minister said on Saturday."Our country's gross national income may exceed $30,000 in the first quarter of 2014 and $40,000 in 2018," Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said in a for

South Korea may end its six-year antidumping measures against Chinese pigments as their prices have risen enough to pose little threat to local competitors, Seoul's trade commission said Thursday.The decision to end the antidumping tariffs on Chinese anatase titanium dioxide used in paint and plastic goods was reached at a meeting of the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) on Wednesday.South Korea began

With skepticism spreading about the possibility of the U.S. government securing ratification of a free trade pact with South Korea this summer, South Korean officials expressed concern Wednesday over major diplomatic and political fallout at home.The Lee Myung-bak administration has eagerly awaited the passage of the free trade agreement (FTA) bill before the U.S. Congress goes into recess on Aug.

Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan on Wednesday visited a wet market with representatives of business groups, making a timely move to coordinate with the private sector to revive sagging domestic demand. The visit to Sooyu Traditional Market in northern Seoul, along with ruling Grand National Party leader Hong Jun-pyo and Huh Chang-soo, chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, is aimed at promo

About 10 South Korean companies are preparing to file a suit against the government over economic losses caused by Seoul’s sanctions on Pyongyang, a businessman said Wednesday.South Korea imposed sanctions on the North last year in retaliation to the communist country’s two deadly attacks on the South that killed 50 South Koreans.The punitive measures suspended all trade and exchange programs with

Korean banks’ foreign currency deposits rose in the first half on solid exports and prospects that the local currency’s sharp ascent may ease soon, industry data showed Wednesday.Foreign currency-denominated deposits at five major banks amounted to $14.56 billion as of end-June, up $2.27 billion from the end of last year, according to industry data.The rise came even as the local currency apprecia

South Korea plans to permit healthy savings banks to engage in consumer finance in a bid to help them secure stable sources of income, the financial watchdog said Wednesday.The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said consumer finance loans will be allowed for savings banks with more than 10 percent capital adequacy ratio and less than 8 percent sub-standard loan ratio. Consumer finance refers to