The number of people working at small- and medium-sized enterprises increased by 3.47 million between 1999 and 2009, industry data showed Sunday.Under local regulations, SMEs are defined as companies with less than 1,000 employees and total assets less than 500 billion won ($458 million), and companies that meet the requirements but are affiliated to large companies are excluded from the category.

Global mobile phone market gets significant boost by burgeoning demand for smartphonesSamsung Electronics, the world’s second-largest phone maker, has held the biggest U.S. market share for 11 straight quarters anchoring its position as a top seller in the region, according to market research data.Strategy Analytics on Monday said Samsung’s market share stood at 27.4 percent after selling 12.6 mil

Six out of 10 salaried workers are willing to apply for the salary peak system to stay employed longer, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Monday. The salary peak system provides older workers with an opportunity to work past their retirement age, but for a smaller salary once their “peak” has passed. A survey taken by the chamber showed that out of 353 salaried workers, almost 60

South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. started work Sunday on a $219 million project to expand a gas-fired power station near Baghdad, an Iraqi Electricity Ministry spokesman said.The Al-Quds station located in a suburb northeast of the capital will increase production to 1,400 megawatts from 900 megawatts after 18 months, said Qais al-Waeli, spokesman for the ministry's gas projects

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of computer memory chips and the second-biggest semiconductor company, reduced its gap with industry leader Intel Corp. in 2010, according to an industry report Sunday, fueled by its memory business.Samsung accounted for 9.2 percent of the global chip revenue in 2010, up from a 7.6 percent share in 2009, according to the latest report from IHS iSu

Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s No.2 memory-chip maker, won a patent infringement appeal against Rambus Inc., a U.S.-based technology licensing firm, the South Korean company said Saturday. If the ruling stands, Hynix will not have to pay the hefty compensation it was slapped with in 2009.“We welcome this ruling as it has helped us establish the basis for pursuing future negotiations with Rambus,

The Korean branch of U.S.-based global social commerce powerhouse Groupon is facing growing criticism after it posted wrong information about displayed items and even sold products that it had not secured. Groupon Korea on May 2 canceled a “secret megadeal” two hours before the event launch, during which the company was expected to hand out 500,000 giftcons ― mobile gift coupons ― which would give

Shinsegae Co., South Korea’s second-largest retailer by sales, said Friday that it has finalized a deal to acquire Kim’s Club Mart Co., the supermarket chain operator of leading local fashion retailer E-Land Group.Kim’s Club Mart will be purchased by Shinsegae’s discount unit E-Mart Co., Shinsegae said. The purchase price is reported to be less than 200 billion won (US$184.5 million). 　On May 2, S

South Korea logged a trade surplus in April for the 15th straight month, fueled by exports of petroleum products, ships and vehicles, the nation’s customs office said Sunday.The trade surplus reached $5.14 billion last month, according to data released by the Korea Customs Service. The figure marks the 15th consecutive month of surplus since February 2010.Exports stood at $49.15 billion in April,

Samsung Electronics, despite its current legal squabble with Apple Inc., will out roll out so-called “Retina Displays” to secure demand from the California-based company and win a bigger share in the rapidly-growing tablet PC market. Samsung is expected to start mass-producing the displays by the end of this year, industry sources said. The new displays, based on the PenTile RGBW technology, will

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. applied for 1,099 patents last year, industry sources said Friday.The company is the first in the industry to have applied for more than 1,000 patents in one year.During the same period, the world’s largest shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. applied for 844 patents, while Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. made 665 patent applications. According to in