The manufacturing sector saw sales fall last year, the Bank of Korea’s annual corporate analysis report showed Tuesday.According to the central bank report, 12,297 manufacturing firms nationwide saw their sales shrink by 1.6 percent from the previous year. Their sales grew 0.5 percent in 2013.This is the first time that the manufacturing industry has posted negative on-year growth since 1961, when South Korea started to compile official statistics on their performance. A large portion of manufac

The won gained against the U.S. dollar amid expectations of a delay in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, but the South Korean currency is showing signs of weakening again after the Chinese central bank cut its benchmark rates to jumpstart the country’s sagging economy.On Monday, the greenback rose by 9.1 won from a trading session before to finish at 1,133.8 won, as the U.S. currency was strong against most Asian counterparts from China’s monetary easing once more.Local currency de

Hyundai Card on Thursday launched a customer-oriented digital service allowing smartphone users to have a spending-limit on purchases and cash advance on their credit cards.The service, dubbed “Lock & Limit,” will be available through the “Digital Hyundai Card” on customers’ mobile apps. Applicable to both online and off-line payments, it allows customers to renew their payment and cash-borrowing ceilings once a day, according to the company.    Hyundai Card’s “Lock & Limit” service allows custo

Samsung Group said Thursday that its chairman Lee Kun-hee has donated 20 billion won ($17.6 million) to Youth Hope Fund Korea, which launched on Sept. 21 under President Park Geun-hye’s initiative for active job creation. A group spokesman said it was from Lee’s private fortune, adding that it reflected the chairman’s philosophy to foster a talented workforce.While Lee has been hospitalized, the spokesman clarified that this one-time donation is a part of his comprehensive offering to the societ

The number of “zombie companies” unable to generate revenue to pay tax and interest dues has soared to surpass 3,000 over the past five years, data showed Wednesday.The Bank of Korea said the number of firms with the ratio of operating profit to interest costs below 1 increased to 3,295 as of the end of 2014, up from 2,698 in 2009.  Bank of Korea governor Lee Ju-yeol (Yonhap)The percentage of such troubled companies rose to 15.2 percent last year from 12.8 percent five years earlier, according t

(123RF)Bank industry workers voiced criticism over Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan’s remark that Korea’s bank operating hours are too short.　The controversy has showed no signs of abating since Oct. 11 when Choi, who doubles as deputy prime minister, told reporters during his Peru visit for the G20 meeting that the country’s financial industry gets overpaid despite its short operating hours, undermining the global ratings on competitiveness of Korea’s financial sector. 　Typical Korean bank bran

 The Korean currency has been extremely volatile against the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen over the past few months, confusing local exporters and investors, according to analysts.They note that the won-dollar exchange rate appears to have lost direction at the current stage amid the ambiguous stance of the U.S. Federal Reserve on hiking the key base rate.The dollar, which rose from 1,120 won in early July to about 1,200 won in early September, or 6.6 percent, has returned to the 1,120 level agai

Asiana Airlines CEO Kim Soo-cheon (second from left) participates in a rice reaping event with the flag carrier employees and residents at a farm village in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, Saturday.  (Asiana Airlines)

BMW Group Korea is bolstering its efforts to secure its position as a pioneer in green technologies by faithfully keeping pace with globally strict eco-related regulations and growing demands for alternative automobile fuel sources.The local unit is closely communicating with its German headquarters over their global strategy to expand the environmentally friendly vehicles, which would have competitive automobile performance in addition to high fuel efficiency.One case in point is the i8 plug-in

The Bank of Korea kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.5 percent and revised its economic growth outlook this year down to 2.7 percent from 2.8 percent, officials said Thursday.Korea’s monetary policymakers appear to have chosen to take a wait-and-see stance toward the interest rate as the uncertainty over a potential rate hike in the U.S. lingers, analysts said. There were some market predictions that the BOK might conduct a rate cut once more amid the weak improvement in private con

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan on Thursday expressed his intention to run for the April 13 general elections as a ruling Saenuri Party contender.During the National Assembly’s interpellation session on economic policymaking, the legislator-turned-minister said he would decide whether to declare his candidacy after considering the coming situation.                                                              Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan (Yonhap)His remarks came aft