The amount of cargo processed at South Korea’s seaports declined 0.6 percent on-year in November due to a large drop in domestic cargo, the government said Monday.The volume of cargo handled at the country‘s seaports came to 107.3 million tons last month, compared with 108 million tons processed in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. The November figure also marks a significant drop from 112.89 million tons processed a month earlier.The a

South Korea will seek to sharply increase its goal for fisheries exports in 2012 as overseas demand for them continues to rise, the government said Sunday.The government is targeting fisheries exports of $2.5 billion for the coming year, up from an estimated $2.2 billion for this year, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.The ministry had originally planned to achieve the $2.5 billion mark of fisheries exports by 2014.The ministry said it has established a task

Korea will set up a new trading system for bonds issued by smaller firms in May next year in a bid to help them raise funds, a trade association said Monday.The envisioned electronic over-the-counter trading system will deal with debts sold by unlisted local small and medium enterprises with total assets below 500 billion won ($436 million), according to the Korea Financial Investment Association.Their debts will only be sold to “qualified institutional buyers,” or those deemed capable of suffic

Korea’s major banks are expected to see their net profits slip next year amid external uncertainties and tightened regulations, data showed Monday.The combined net income of the country’s four major banking groups, including Woori Finance Holdings Co. and KB Financial Group Inc., are forecast to fall 6.62 percent on-year to 8.89 trillion won ($7.74 billion), according to 20 analysts consulted by Seoul-based financial information provider FnGuide.Top player Woori Finance is likely to post the ste

Banks, brokerages, insurance firms carry out early retirement plans to cut costsKorea’s financial sector is headed for a fresh round of restructuring, with major banks pushing employees to opt for early retirement plans amid growing worries over the lackluster earnings outlook.Domestic banks, brokerages and insurance firms are taking steps to reduce their workforces as they brace for lower earnings due to the stronger regulatory supervision including a cut in commission fees and the uncertaintie

Creditors demanded Kumho Petrochemical sell off its stake in Asiana Airlines to facilitate the petrochemical company’s separation from Kumho Asiana Group.“We urged Kumho Petrochemical to dispose of some 14 million shares it holds in Asiana Airlines to meet the requirements for its separation from Kumho Asiana Group,” an official at one of the creditors said Monday. For this, the creditors decided to remove the collateral on the 7.72 percent of the airliner’s common stocks, or some 14.13 million

Korean stocks finished 0.56 percent lower on Monday as uncertainties about Europe overshadowed upbeat U.S. data, prompting institutional sell-offs, analysts said.The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. After opening briefly higher, the benchmark KOSPI dropped 10.52 points to 1,856.70. Trading volume was moderate at 424 million shares worth 2.97 trillion won ($2.58 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 448 to 357. “Investors are not paying much attention to past economic data as they ar

South Korean stocks finished 0.56 percent lower on Monday as uncertainties about Europe overshadowed upbeat U.S. data, prompting institutional sell-offs, analysts said.The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.After opening briefly higher, the benchmark KOSPI dropped 10.52 points to 1,856.70. Trading volume was moderate at 424 million shares worth 2.97 trillion won ($2.58 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 448 to 357.“Investors are not paying much attention to past economic data as the

By Lee Ji-yoonKT Corp, the nation’s second-largest telecom operator, plans to start its long-awaited Long Term Evolution service from next week after a Seoul court gave it the green light on Monday to ditch its feature phone service.According to KT, it will shut down the second-generation network service in phases, first in Seoul at 10 a.m. on Jan. 3, starting faster LTE service straight away on that day. The Seoul High Court on Monday overturned a lower court ruling in favor of some 900 users w

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) -- The late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had been groomed from as early as 1974 to take over the helm of the communist nation from his father, a newly-disclosed diplomatic document showed Sunday.It showed that Kim, who died on Dec. 17, had prepared for two decades to become the North’s leader, unlike his third son Jong-un, who became the crown prince just a few years ago.According to a diplomatic cable by East Germany’s ambassador to Pyongyang, dated Nov. 12, 1974, qu