Low profitability -- mainly caused by the protracted slump in the nation’s exports -- is undermining the credit standings of more companies this year, according to the three major local ratings agencies.Korea Investors Service revised down the ratings of 45 firms -- mostly affilites of conglomerates -- over the past 10 months.The 2015 figure has already surpassed the 33 posted in 2008 and 34 in 2009, when the global financial crisis hit the nation. The 45 in downgrading recorded as the highest n

The income gap between regular and nonregular employees further widened this year amid continuous increase in the number of temporary and part-time jobs, data of the state-run statistical office showed Wednesday.According to Statistics Korea, the average monthly wage of regular workers came to 2.69 million won ($2,380) as of August, up 92,000 won or 3.5 percent, from a year earlier.In contrast, the on-year increase of the average wage for nonregular workers stood at 14,000 won or 1 percent growt

An increasing number of stock investors in Korea are using mobile gadgets, including smartphones and tablet PCs, for their trading, the Korea Exchange said Monday.The mobile-based equity trading is particularly prevalent on the secondary tech-heavy KOSDAQ. The ratio of “buy or sell” orders via mobile gadgets to the total came to a record of 25.06 percent as of Oct. 28, compared to 21.27 percent at the end of 2014.In 2010, the KOSDAQ saw the share of mobile trading stay at 3.8 percent. Most of th

Despite the bounce-back in the third-quarter gross domestic product, some global investment banks’ outlook on the Korean economy still remains “pessimistic.”In addition, there are projections that the Bank of Korea could choose to conduct an interest rate cut once more early next year due to weak improvements in a variety of indexes.BNP Paribas economist Mark Walton said in a report -- released Friday -- that questions remain over the sustainability of the third-quarter growth.“Weak external dem

By Kim Yon-seMore companies are seeking to go public on the tech-focused Kosdaq market this year on the back of the Korea Exchange’s active coordination with government policies aimed at vitalizing venture start-ups.According to the Korea Exchange, the number of companies that issued initial public offerings came to 73 in the first 10 months of 2015, skyrocketing 192 percent from 25 in the same period last year.Meanwhile, the number of firms that submitted their IPO proposals for registration on

An Israeli NGO said Tuesday it was suing Facebook for failing to remove pages that encourage the killing of Jews, after a wave of attacks by Palestinians left nine Israelis dead.Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of the Shurat HaDin organisation that filed the lawsuit in the New York State Court on Monday, said the claim holds the Internet giant responsible for the presence of posts that incite violence.It calls on the company to remove over 1,000 inflammatory pages and improve its monitoring mec

Britain's anti-fraud organization is probing potential money-laundering offences related to the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, its director told British lawmakers on Tuesday."There are outstanding matters which touch upon money-laundering," David Green from the Serious Fraud Office told the British government's Culture, Media and Sport select committee."There are a number of matters we are still looking at and digging into."The SFO cannot pursue scandal-plagued world governing body FI

South Korea has approved its labor workers' visit to North Korea for an inter-Korean friendly footballcompetition in Pyongyang this month, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday.The labor unions of the two Koreas have agreed to hold the football event starting Wednesday to run until Saturday in the North Korean capital city, according to the South's Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.It will be the first friendly football match between labor workers fro

BEIJING (AP) - A U.S. Navy warship sailed past one of China's artificial islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday, in a challenge to Chinese sovereignty claims that drew an angry protest from Beijing, which said the move damaged U.S.-China relations and regional peace.China's Foreign Ministry said authorities monitored and warned the USS Lassen as it entered what China claims as a 12-mile (21-kilometer) territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago, a group of reefs, isl

For the third time in eight years, General Motors is recalling cars that can leak oil and catch fire, sometimes damaging garages and houses.The recall, which covers 1.4 million vehicles dating to the 1997 model year, is needed because repairs from the first two didn't work. More than 1,300 cars caught fire after they were fixed by dealers, the company said.In the previous recalls in 2008 and 2009, GM told owners to park the cars outside until repairs can be made since most of the fires happened

President Park Geun-hye called on the embattled defense procurement agency to ensure that the project to develop South Korea's own fighter jets will succeed within the planned period, the top agency official said Tuesday.Chang Myoung-jin, the head of Defense Acquisition Program Administration, said Park gave the instruction after receiving his briefing on the 18 trillion-won ($15.9 billion) project to produce the fighter jets by 2025.Chang made the comment in a defense subcommittee session, acco