Despite the gloomy global and eurozone economic woes, German businesspeople in Korea presented positive forecasts concerning their business prospects for this year.Industry leaders from 10 German companies and the German ambassador to Korea expressed this view during the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry Economic Outlook seminar on Jan. 19. Friedrich Stockinger, KGCCI president and chief of Trumpf Korea, stated that “2012 will mark the year of the black dragon, but I am confident th

Korea’s consumption of petroleum products soared to its highest ever last year despite record-breaking oil prices.Last year’s average price of Dubai oil, which accounts for 80 percent of Korea’s crude oil imports, jumped 35.6 percent from a year before to $105.98 per barrel, breaking the previous record of $94.29 in 2008, according to the Korea National Oil Corporation.Prices of the North Sea Brent oil ($111.08 per barrel), Omani crude oil ($106.73 per barrel), Iranian heavy crude oil ($105.71 p

The number of people who moved out of the Seoul metropolitan area exceeded those who moved into the capital for the first time in four decades, a government report said on Monday, indicating a gradual decentralization of population in the country.The population of the Seoul metropolitan saw a net outflow of 8,000 residents, Statistics Korea said, posting the first year of population contraction from change of legal residence since the agency started compiling data in 1970. “We’re seeing a disper

Controversy surrounding the effectiveness of the online game curfew has been called into question yet again since the law was implemented three months ago.According to industry officials, the average number of people logging onto six different online games by the country’s big three online game firms slightly decreased to 41,796 people from 43,744 people, which was the average figure recorded ahead of the policy implementation.This is only a 4.5 percent decrease, leading to assumptions that a la

LG Innotek Co., an electronics parts maker affiliated with South Korea’s LG Group, said Monday its net loss increased in the fourth quarter from a year earlier on weaker demand.Net loss amounted to 93.3 billion won ($82.9 million) in the October-December period, larger than a net loss of 19.7 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales inched up 6.8 percent on-year to 1.21 trillion won in the quarter while operating profit tumbled 66.7 percent to 60 billion won,

LG Uplus, the nation’s smallest telecom carrier, said Monday that it will pour an additional 955.6 billion won into building network infrastructure for the Long Term Evolution service this year.The figure represents about 24 percent of its equity capital, and is an increase from the 1.7 trillion won invested in 2011.The company will step up efforts to complete the nationwide coverage of LTE by March as planned, earlier than rival companies SK Telecom and KT Corp. Within the year, it aims to secu

Korean stocks closed 1.24 percent lower Monday on slower-than-expected growth in the U.S. and uncertainty about European debt woes, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI dropped 24.28 points to finish at 1,940.55, marking the first decline in six sessions. Trading volume was moderate at 406 million shares worth 6.3 trillion won ($5.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 531 to 299.“The U.S. economy grew 2.8 percent in the last quarter of 2011.Th

Economic growth is likely to be the weakest in the first three months of this year as external uncertainties will peak in the period, Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said Monday. “Growth uncertainties are seen to be significant in the first quarter. The risk from the European debt crisis is likely to ease in the second and third quarters,” Bahk told reporters at a news conference.Bahk’s projection comes amid signs of faltering growth. The economy grew 0.4 percent, the least in two years in the Oct

One of the close aides to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has quit South Korea‘s foreign ministry as he wants to focus more on his role as special adviser to Ban, Seoul officials said Monday. Kim Won-soo, a career Korean diplomat, has served as Ban’s deputy chief of staff and special adviser since 2007, when the former South Korean foreign minister took the helm of the U.N., while maintaining employee status at the ministry. As Ban embarked on his second five-year term as U.N. leader early th

The Korea Foundation said it will open a forum on hallyu, or the Korean Wave, at the foundation’s cultural center in Seoul on Tuesday to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Korea Society, a private, non-profit, New York-based organization that promotes understanding between the U.S. and Korea.Under the theme, “Riding the Wave: Korea’s Growing Cultural Reach,” the discussion will start at 2 p.m. with moderator Stephen Noerper, vice president of the Korea Society.Panelists include Alexandra Munr

The incorporation of the very-high altitude unmanned aerial vehicle Global Hawk into the South Korean military and the U.S. Forces Korea will be delayed due to the U.S. government’s decision to reduce defense spending. On Thursday the U.S. government announced that it will cut defense spending by about $500 billion over the next 10 years. As a result, the U.S. military’s plans to introduce advanced defense systems such as the Global Hawk were also modified. According to reports, the U.S. militar

President Lee Myung-bak will embark on a weeklong visit to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this weekend, his office said Monday, a trip expected to focus on enhancing economic cooperation, especially Seoul’s efforts to diversify sources of crude imports.The trip comes as South Korea prepares to reduce its crude oil imports from Iran in line with a U.S.-led campaign to dry up the Middle Eastern nation’s oil exports revenues as punishment and pressure over its alleged nucl