Korean brokerage houses and card companies are feared to face worsening profitability as the Federal Reserve's possible tapering of monetary stimulus will jack up borrowing costs, the top central banker said Monday.Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo said that an internal stress test showed that rises in market rates, triggered by the tapering of the Fed's quantitative easing (QE), is not likely to pose a threat to financial stability, but local securities companies and card firms are feared

Ireland, which has made large strides in recovering from a financial crisis, seeks to emerge as a favorable investment destination for Seoul-based firms, a chief investment official from the country said Monday."Ireland is one of the most globalized economies in the world," said Barry O'Leary, the head of IDA Ireland, which stands for the Industrial Development Authority. "Ireland is interested in bringing businesses that will bring clear substance," said O'Leary.The remark came as the IDA Irela

South Korea's consumer price growth stayed below 1 percent in November, aided by falls in costs of farming products, but quickened slightly from the previous month, a government report showed Monday.The country's consumer price index rose 0.9 percent on-year in November, accelerating from a 0.7 percent on-year gain tallied in the previous month, according to the report by Statistics Korea.The October figure marked the slowest on-year consumer price growth since July 1999 when it increased 0.3 pe

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday due mainly to gains by carmakers and financial firms, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 2.38 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,047.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Carmakers gathered ground, with No. 1 Hyundai Motor rising 0.6 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors adding 0.17 percent. Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis rose 0.98 percent.Financial firms also traded bullish, with Shinhan Financial moving up 2.13

South Korean stocks traded almost flat late Friday morning as investors took a wait-and-see approach on U.S. and Chinese data, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 12.73 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,044.56 as of 11:20 a.m.Shares lost ground across the board, with tech giant Samsung Electronics falling 0.4 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor losing 0.59 percent. Top chipmaker SK hynix lost 0.56 percent.The local currency was changing hands at 1,059.45 w

China's official media pointedly said Friday that Japan is the "prime target" of Beijing's newly declared air control zone over the East China Sea, warning that China is willing to engage in "a protracted confrontation with Japan." China's declaration of its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), announced last week, has sparked strong resistance from Japan, the United States, South Korea and other neighboring Asian nations. The new zone partly overlaps those of South Korea and Japan. The U.S.

One of South Korea's most wanted fugitives and former gang boss, Cho Yang-eun, was extradited from the Philippines Friday.Cho, the former boss of one of the three major criminal syndicates in the 1980s, arrived in Seoul around 4:15 a.m. and was immediately taken into custody.Cho has been on a wanted list for charges of fraud after he fled to the Philippines through China in June 2011, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said. He was arrested inside a casino in the northern Philippine cit

The top two-ranked clubs in the nation's first-division football league will duel for the championship in the year's final match on Sunday, a historic occasion ripe with late-season drama.With the 2013 K League Classic crown on the line, the first-place Ulsan Hyundai will host the No. 2-ranked Pohang Steelers at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, about 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul.Ulsan leads the league with 73 points, and Pohang is right behind with 71 points. Ulsan can c