[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s decision to deploy the U.S. missile defense system here will likely have repercussions on the country’s trade with China, casting a shadow on its exports prospects, experts said on July 11. Many analysts were cautious to predict how this highly-political issue will play out on the trade front, but investor reactions on Seoul bourses were pretty obvious: key China-sensitive stocks fell, led by Hana Tour and cosmetics maker LG Household & Healthcare. Korea’s Finance Mi

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho called on the country to stay vigilant against possible economic retaliation from China on Seoul for reaching an agreement with Washington to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in South Korea to step up defense against North Korea’s military provocations. “We believe Beijing will make a conscious decision to keep the economy and politics separated, but we are nevertheless establishing contingency plans,” Yoo t

[THE INVESTOR] The Fair Trade Commission has launched an investigation into Yuhan Kimberly on allegations that it is overpricing sanitary pads. Yuhan-Kimberly is a joint venture between Korean pharmaceutical and chemical firm Yuhan Co. and Kimberly-Clark of the US. The antitrust watchdog is looking into whether it can apply laws banning companies from abusing their market dominant position when deciding on product prices. FTC head Chung Jae-chan“We are looking into the matter, and because the in

[THE INVESTOR] The government will issue 1 trillion won (US$ 871.5 billion) in Treasury bills, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced on July 11. The T-bills will be issued in two equal batches on July 20 and July 27. Including the bills that will be issued later this month, the value of outstanding T-bills will stand at 4 trillion won. By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s July exports so far have plunged 21.6 percent from a year ago, fueling worries that exports will continue to spiral in the second half of the year. According to the Korea Customs Service, exports between July 1 and July 10 came in at about US$ 10.35 billion, down 21.6 percent compared to the same period last year. From Jan. 1 to July 10, the country’s exports dropped 10.5 percent from a year ago to come in at US$ 252.1 billion. Until June, South Korea’s monthly expor