The logistics sector is estimated to have posted operating losses of about 6 billion won ($5.7 million) over the past weeks in the wake of the railway union’s ongoing strike launched early this month, according to the state-run Korea Railroad Corp. on Sunday.KORAIL officials said the number of available freight trains fell by 2,546 (or about 170 trains a day) nationwide between Dec. 9 and Dec. 23.As a result, shipments on freight trains during the period were equivalent to only 39 percent of the

The credit card industry is likely to undergo another period of heated competition in the saturated market, as Hana Financial Group plans to launch a merged entity between Hana SK Card and Korea Exchange Bank’s credit services unit next year.KEB, one of the two major commercial banks of Hana Financial Group, said in a statement Tuesday that it has decided to spin off its credit card business.According to group executives, KEB Card will later be absorbed into Hana SK Card. “After going through fi

The combined debt held by state-controlled companies is snowballing as some were found to have maintained conventional management practices, such as reckless borrowing, irresponsible overseas projects and excessive incentives for executives.According to the public agencies’ management information provider Alio, nine major state-run firms saw their collective debt surge 5.2 percent or 17.8 trillion won in six months.Their outstanding debt came to 358.5 trillion won ($325 billion) at the end of Ju

Data from Statistics Korea showed Thursday that Koreans’ overall life satisfaction has remained at a relatively low level despite larger incomes and other achievements.“Koreans’ self-evaluated life satisfaction index fell behind the average of the 34 member countries surveyed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” the state statistics agency said in its analysis of the Korean social trend for the past decade.Citing the Paris-based organization’s report on “How’s Life?: Me

Diageo Korea said Thursday that it will provide 17 unmarried mothers and their families with rental homes in coordination with the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family and Gyeonggi Urban Innovation Corp.Under its recent expansion of social contribution activities, the local unit of the U.K.-based liquor group Diageo has decided to donate 500 million won ($455,000) to the housing offering for single moms facing financial difficulties, said company spokespeople.The homes, which will be offered for

The nation’s department stores and home shopping operators collected high commissions from their shop vendors or subcontractors this year despite government calls for reductions, data indicated Wednesday.Seven major department stores including Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae were found to have received an average 28.5 percent commission on their contract retailers’ sales, the Fair Trade Commission said. The average figure is a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. The government has

Foreign delegates from the Group of 20 plan to visit the inter-Korean Gaeseong industrial complex on Thursday.While the officials are visiting South Korea to participate in the G20 Seoul Conference, the North recently allowed their visit, which was arranged by the Ministry of Unification, officials said.According to the Finance Ministry of South Korea, 31 figures will visit, including 15 senior finance ministry officials from 14 countries such as France, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the U.K.The d

A male Korean employee at KB Kookmin Bank’s Tokyo branch allegedly committed suicide amid a probe by the two countries into the lender’s wrongdoings, according to financial industry sources on Tuesday.KB Kookmin Bank and its parent company KB Financial Group have dispatched a group of executives to the branch to confirm the facts and background information surrounding his death, while Japanese police reportedly have yet to verify whether the incident was a suicide.A former manager of the branch

The Korea Exchange suspended the stock trading business of Hanmag Securities, which incurred technical faults in operation of investors’ sell and buy orders on Thursday.The brokerage firm is estimated to have suffered losses worth 46 billion won on the day ($41 million) due to its order mistake, according to the main bourse.Hanmag said it failed to settle all transactions on Friday, making the firm virtually bankrupt. Considering the firm’s equity capital stays at 19.8 billion won as of October,

Visa and MasterCard will be obliged to cut their membership fees for Korean consumers by 50 percent compared to the current level, under instructions by financial authorities.“After offering a grace period of about six months, the regulatory policy will take effect in the latter half of 2014,” said an official at the Financial Supervisory Service.The stern action of the authorities comes after allegations that the two major companies have allegedly made dubious contracts with Korean credit card

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Time magazine on Wednesday named Pope Francis its person of the year, saying that in nine months in office the head of the Catholic Church had become a new voice of conscience."Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly -- young and old, faithful and cynical -- as Pope Francis," explained Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs.

Nine travel agencies were found to have overcharged consumers fuel adjustment fees, which are calculated on the basis of oil prices, in their proxy sales of air tickets, the Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday.The companies are Hana Tour, Interpark Tour, Online Tour, Mode Tour, Yellow Balloon Tour, Web Tour, Tour Baksa, Naeil Tour and Very Good Tour.They were also found to have engaged in inflating flight usage taxes when they publicized tour products on their cyber homepages, according to the