The number of marriages of international couples in South Korea declined for the second consecutive year, while the birthrate for such families continued to rise, according to a government report.Statistics Korea said in its report released on Thursday that the number of multicultural marriages stood at 29,224 in 2012, down 4.8 percent from 30,695 from a year earlier. The figure reached 35,098 in 2010.Data showed that the proportion of multicultural partners out of total marriages also dropped f

A group of Korean companies filed a class action suit against eight global investment banks in the United States on Monday, claiming that the big financial firms manipulated foreign exchange rates.The IBs are Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, National Association, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS.In their damages claim filed with a court in New York state, the plaintiff including Simmtech Co. said the IBs rigged foreign exchange rates via a cartel and ultimately in

Korea’s financial indices including equity prices and foreign exchange rates gained Friday as U.S. monetary policymakers overnight hinted at a longer-than-expected stimulus package.The benchmark KOSPI, which stayed below the 2,000 mark for five consecutive trading sessions, closed at 2,005.64, up 38.08 points from a session earlier. The secondary KOSDAQ also rose by 0.99 points to close at 512.74.The U.S. dollar fell 4.5 won to close at 1,063.4 won, heralding another round of the Korean currency

Six credit card businesses in the consumer goods-distribution industry will be scrapped as financial regulators move to crack down on the reckless issuance of quasi-cards among department stores and other big retailers.According to the Financial Supervisory Service, they are Grand Department Store, JU Department Store, Daehyun, Shinwon, Chonan Arario and Buan Paradise Hotel.Officials said the cards issued by the large retailers engaged in irregular offerings of benefits to cardholders or reckles

Laotian President Choummaly Sayasone will visit South Korea next week for a summit with President Park Geun-hye about ways to expand economic, political and cultural cooperation and exchanges, Seoul’s presidential office said Thursday.The Nov. 21-23 trip will mark the first-ever visit to South Korea by a Laotian president since the two countries reopened diplomatic relations in 1995. Their ties were first forged in 1974, but were cut off a year later after the Southeast Asian nation was communiz

Financial authorities plan to order Visa and MasterCard to slash some of their service charges, officials said on Wednesday.The two giant companies have allegedly made dubious contracts with Korean credit card issuers, which could put an excessive burden of membership and settlement service fees onto cardholders, according to officials at the Financial Supervisory Service.“Many local consumers, who only use their cards in the domestic market, currently have to pay Visa and MasterCard the service

JTI said Wednesday that it would introduce Ploom, a premium tobacco vaporizer, in the local market on Nov. 18. The product is a vaporizer that delivers real tobacco vapor from a sophisticated and easy-to-use device.Ploom is in a separate category from both e-cigarettes and ordinary cigarettes.A discreet vapor is created through the heating of tobacco, unlike e-cigarettes which create vapor by heating a nicotine-containing liquid.Ploom capsules will be available in six variants: Mevius, Camel, Co

Customs authorities have launched an investigation into three casino operators in Seoul and Busan for allegedly engaging in illegal foreign currency trading.The three firms are Paradise Casino Walkerhill, Paradise Casino Busan and the Busan unit of Grand Korea Leisure, according to the Korea Customs Service.Paradise Casino Busan was found to have performed irregular foreign exchange trading worth about 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion), followed by Paradise Casino Walkerhill with 500 billion won a

Regulatory inspectors have launched a full-fledged investigation into the nation’s four biggest financial groups over allegations of business irregularities.KB Financial, Hana Financial, Shinhan Financial and Woori Financial have been placed under a “simultaneous and extraordinary” probe, officials at the Financial Supervisory Service revealed Tuesday.Main targets of the regulators include former Hana Financial Group chairman Kim Seung-yu and former KB Financial Group chairman Euh Yoon-dae, both

South Korean banks reported worsening profitability overseas this year, having previously advanced into foreign countries in reflection of the saturated domestic market.The Financial Supervisory Service said Tuesday that 148 operations of Korean banks in 33 countries posted a return on assets, a key index for earnings ratio, of 0.83 percent during the first half of the year.The figure is lower than the 0.96 percent of 2012 (1.13 percent in the first half of 2012) and 1.19 percent in 2011, report

U.S. and British financial firms seem to be applying different strategies in Korea in the field of stock investment and the operation of brokerage branches.Investors from the United States and Britain account for a large proportion of foreign investors on the local bourse. Last month, those firms collectively net purchased Korean stocks worth more than 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion) of the total 5.3 trillion won shares held by foreign investors.However, a growing number of U.S. and U.K.-based fin

South Korea, once aid dependent, has announced a plan to boost funding for global financial aid institutions to help secure its international status as an aid donor.The Finance Ministry, in a recent report to the National Assembly, unveiled its intention to allocate 8.8 trillion won ($8 billion) next year to organizations that specialize in giving aid to countries with financial difficulties.The organizations include the two major Washington-based entities ― the International Monetary Fund and t

Seven out of 10 foreigners working in Korea were paid less than 2 million won ($1,800) a month this year, Statistics Korea revealed Thursday.According to the state-funded agency, about 525,000 foreign workers were paid less than 2 million won in 2013. They took up 71.4 percent of the total 735,000 salaried non-Korean employees.Of them, the monthly wage for 42,000 workers was below 1 million won, accounting for more than 5 percent of all foreign workers. About 159,000 non-Koreans were paid betwee

Korea’s commercial banks saw their profitability sharply worsen this year due mainly to a retreat in their earnings on interest, data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed Monday.Regulatory officials at the FSS revealed that the two major profitability indices ― return on asset and return on equity ― for the first-tier banking industry this year have dropped to their lowest levels since 2003.For the first nine months of this year, the banking sector posted 0.32 percent in collective ROA,