With a recent upturn in exports and production and a slight rebound in private consumption, hopes for an economic recovery are rising in South Korea despite lingering uncertainties at home and abroad, local experts said Sunday.Improved economic data show Asia's fourth-largest economy may be entering into a recovery cycle amid eased political risks following the arrest of former president Park Geun-hye and the fixed schedule for the presidential election next month. (Yonhap)South Korea's producti

South Korea's department store market is estimated to have fallen short of a landmark 30 trillion won ($26.8 billion) last year, due to weaker-than-expected sales amid the high-profile scandal that led to former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment and the growth of online shopping, industry sources said Sunday.Domestic department stores were expected to emerge from years of stagnation to post growth last year as leading players aggressively expanded stores and online distribution channels. (Yo

Hyundai Motor Group's spending on research and development increased 8 percent in 2016 to some 4 trillion won ($3.58 billion), with the number of its patents exceeding 30,000 last year, data showed Sunday.According to annual business reports from Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., their combined R&D spending reached 3.99 trillion won last year, up 8.2 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)The R&D spending growth is faster than its sales growth of 3.5 percent posted last year. Hyundai spent 2

Samsung Electronics Co. showcased its new Galaxy S8 series Thursday with a new, sleek design and cutting-edge features not seen in its predecessors such as the Bixby voice assistant.The company's new flagship will be released in two versions that make use of the premium glass and metal form factor with one sporting a 5.8-inch screen and the other a bigger 6.2-inch panel. (Yonhap)Both boast double-edged Super AMOLED screens that give the illusion of having no bezels. This is a departure from the

The recent boom in overseas property investment has spurred the growth of local real estate funds, industry sources said Sunday.Fund managers here said that interest has been on the rise to acquire overseas property amid the generally lackluster performance of the South Korean bourse and real estate market.Market data showed that the size of locally operated overseas property funds has surged 650 percent vis-a-vis five years earlier.The Korea Financial Investment Association said as of late Febr

Everland, the amusement park operating unit of Samsung C&T Corp., said Sunday it will soon launch a new virtual reality attraction that offers riders an experience in which they control a robot. The Robot VR, which will start operations Friday, was developed jointly by Samsung C&T and a local startup.   (Yonhap)Participants will ride on the robot's arms, which are six meters above the ground. The arms are designed to move 360 degrees, with room for six passengers each, and riders will be able to

The outstanding amount of unpaid basic pensions in South Korea has reached almost 400 billion won ($353.6 million) over the past two years, due largely to a decline in pension applications, parliamentary data showed Sunday.The outstanding balance of uncollected basic pensions stood at 398.7 billion won at the end of 2016, with the payment rate coming in at 65.6 percent, or 4.58 million out of 6.98 million pensioners aged over 65, according to a parliamentary report submitted to the Ministry of H

South Korea and Jordan signed a memorandum of understanding to expand cooperation in water management in the Middle Eastern country that is made up of 90 percent arid desert, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Sunday."We expect the MOU will serve as the occasion for South Korean companies to make inroads into Jordan to help solve the water shortage and other projects there," a ministry official said. This undated file photo is GS E&C's hybrid SWRO-PRO system connected to a d

Nearly 7 out of 10 companies with more than five employees have adopted a "wage peak" or incentive payment systems since the introduction of legislation to extend the retirement age to 60 in 2013, a survey showed Sunday.The government has pursued the wage peak system in which employees accept reduced salaries for several years before retirement to reduce the corporate financial burden with the retirement age extension. In this file photo taken on Nov. 14, 2015, public servants protest against th

South Korea's smart health care industry that is viewed as a next growth engine for the country has been at a standstill for the past five years due to lack of policy coordination, a report by a local think tank said Sunday.According to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, the country's health care-related businesses have been growing steadily in size over the years, but there has been a lack of growth in services provided by local companies."In the 2010-2015 period, the numbe

Corporate tax payments made by South Korea's 10 biggest business groups rose slightly in 2016 from a year earlier due mainly to robust earnings by Samsung Electronics Co. amid surging semiconductor and display panel sales, data showed Sunday.The business groups, which encompass 87 companies, paid 9.82 trillion won ($8.68 billion) in corporate taxes last year, up 2.5 percent, or 239 billion won, from 9.58 trillion won the previous year, according to the data by market researcher Chaebul.com.Samsu

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a leading global shipyard, said Sunday that it secured an order to build four tankers that run on liquefied natural gas.The four vessels ordered by state-run Russian shipping company Sovcomflot will displace 114,000 deadweight tons each and be highly eco-friendly, the shipbuilder said. It said the entire order for the midsize Aframax crude tankers is worth around $240 million. An image of the LNG-powered tanker to be built by Hyundai Heavy for Sovcomflot (Hyundai He

Oil-related tax revenue in South Korea reached a record high last year as low oil prices fueled demand for petroleum goods, government data showed Monday.The country's oil tax revenue totaled a record 23.7 trillion won ($20.6 billion) in 2016, up 8.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data. (Yonhap)The figure has been on the rise since 2014 when global oil prices started to fall. It rose to 20.8 trillion won in 2014 and 21.8 trillion won in 2015 from 20.4 trillion won in 2013.The upti

Bondholders of Hanjin Shipping Co., declared bankrupt last week, are feared to face up to 1.2 trillion won ($1.05 billion) in losses, industry sources said Monday.According to the sources, Hanjin Shipping's privately placed debt offerings were tallied at 939 billion won, while its publicly placed debt sale amounts to 250 billion won. (Yonhap)The state-run Korea Development Bank, other state-run debt guarantee agencies, and retail investors are feared to shoulder up to 1.2 trillion won worth of l