South Korean households’ savings increased at the slowest pace in six years in 2013 as they struggled to meet spending commitments and sought after investment vehicles offering higher returns amid low interest rates, data showed on Tuesday.Households’ deposits at banks stood at 501.7 trillion won ($469 billion) at the end of last year, up 6.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea.Of them, savings deposits, which earn interests for a relatively long peri

Unionized workers of the Korea Exchange on Wednesday filed a complaint against Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok with the prosecution for abuse of authority and neglect of duties.The KRX union continuously criticized the Finance Ministry’s recent decision not to privatize the main bourse and to maintain it in the public agency list. “It was a practice going against the law and principles,” the union said in a statement. The workers argued that the government is hampering gl

The majority of South Korean small and medium enterprises expect sales to rise in 2014 compared with the year before as the global economy improves and the government lifts unnecessary red tape, a poll showed Monday.According to the Center for Large and Small Business Cooperation under the Federation of Korean Industries, 54.8 percent, or 190, of the 347 SMEs polled said they are forecasting a rise in sales.Another 30.3 percent of the companies expected sales numbers to be on par with 2013, with

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., started receiving preorders for its new Malibu diesel midsize sedan on Monday.The country’s third-largest original equipment manufacturer said the new model will take on European imports that have expanded their market presence in the country in recent years, thanks largely to their competitiveness in diesel engines. The cars are expected to go on sale later this month.The car, to be officially unveiled on Thursday, will h

South Korea’s international traders organization said Monday that it will provide 80 billion won ($74.7 million) in export marketing support to small and medium enterprises this year to help them expand overseas.The money will come from a designated trade support fund and provided to companies that reported exports of less than $10 million last year, with up to 200 million won for each company, the Korea International Trade Association said.It said the annual interest rate for the fund has been

The chairwoman of Hyundai Group vowed to invigorate the embattled conglomerate, currently undergoing a self-imposed debt reduction program, and its shipping affiliate as she launched a new vessel on Friday.“The launching of the ship will help Hyundai Group and Hyundai Merchant Marine make the next leap forward," Hyun Jeong-eun said at the christening ceremony for Hyundai Dream, a 131,000 twenty-foot equivalent container unit vessel on Geoje Island, some 470 kilometers southeast of Seoul.Hyun's a

CARLSBAD, New Mexico (AP) -- Back-to-back accidents and an above-ground radiation release have closed the U.S. government's only deep underground nuclear waste dump indefinitely, raising questions about a cornerstone of the Department of Energy's $5-billion-a-year program for cleaning up waste scattered across the country from decades of nuclear bomb making.On Feb. 5, the mine was shut and six workers sent to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation after a truck hauling salt caught fire.N

BEIJING (AFP) -- China this month arrested more than 1,000 people suspected of involvement in baby-trafficking, in a police operation which also rescued 382 infants, local media reported on Friday.A total of 1,094 suspects involved in four baby trafficking rings were detained in a nationwide operation which began on February 19, the Beijing News daily said, citing a police statement.China has a flourishing underground child trafficking industry, for which tens of thousands of children are believ

BEIJING (AFP) -- China on Friday issued a report on human rights in the US, denouncing it for foreign drone strikes, state-sponsored spying and “rampant” gun crime after Washington criticized its rights record.Beijing said the U.S. "concealed and avoided mentioning its own human rights problems,” such as a government-run intelligence program known as PRISM which it said "seriously infringes on human rights.”The document came after the State Department issued its annual global human rights report

North Korea rejected Seoul's call for the release of a South Korean Christian missionary who has been held in the communist country for more than four months, officials said Friday.South Korea had demanded that North Korea quickly release Kim Jong-uk and guarantee his safety before his repatriation to the South, according to the officials at the unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations.It was not immediately clear if the North gave a reason for its refusal of the request delive

The banking sector saw its bad loan ratio rise to its highest level in three years in 2013 due mainly to insolvency in some manufacturing segments including shipbuilding and construction.According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the bad loan ratio at 18 first-tier banks in Korea posted 1.77 percent last year, marking the highest since it reached 1.9 percent in 2010. The figures for 2011 and 2012 were 1.36 percent and 1.33 percent, respectively.“While delinquent bank or credit card loans to

South Korean stocks closed almost flat Friday as investors had mixed reactions to remarks by U.S. Fed Chair Janet Yellen, analysts said. The Korean won closed higher against the greenback.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index edged up 1.56 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,979.99. Trading volume was low at 247.1 million shares worth 4.8 trillion won ($4.51 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 414 to 394.Analysts said hopeful remarks by Yellen, who attributed the latest weak U.S. data to

South Korea and the United Arab Emirates agreed Friday to cooperate in nurturing energy-related experts and jointly making inroads into energy markets in third countries, Seoul officials said.Both countries signed a memorandum of understanding in Seoul on cooperation in the energy sector, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Under the deal, they promised to work together to nurture experts in nuclear, oil, natural gas and other energy sectors, while jointly pushing to advance