Korean banks and currency dealers are keeping close tabs on whether the parliament will approve a bill to introduce a bank levy that could cut the inflow of dollars, market sources said Tuesday. In a bid to stem excessive foreign capital flows, the government is seeking to introduce a bank levy that will be imposed on non-core foreign currency borrowing in the second half. The National Assembly,...

South Korea's imports of U.S. beef nearly doubled in 2010 from a year earlier due largely to dwindling concerns over its safety here, the government said Tuesday. The farm ministry said the country imported 125,681 tons of beef from the U.S. last year, up 97 percent from 63,817 tons tallied in 2009. The total effectively exceeded amounts imported by Seoul before the U.S. beef import ban went in...

Korea’s household credit grew at the fastest pace in more than eight years in the fourth quarter as economic recovery and eased lending rules spurred demand for bank mortgage loans, the central bank said Monday. Household credit, the sum of loans and credit purchases, climbed 25.3 trillion won ($22.7 billion) to 795.4 trillion won in the three months ended Dec. 31 from the previous quarter, the ...

A warning of a radioactive leak was issued at a state-run nuclear power research institute in the central city of Daejeon on Sunday, but no radiation leaked outside, institute officials said. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, located 164 kilometers south of Seoul, said it sounded the warning at 2:32 p.m. as the radiation level of its research reactor, the 30 megawatt HANARO unit, surpa...

The government and private sector will organize a 60 billion won ($53 million) fund this year to be used for reshaping the country’s lagging industrial complexes, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Sunday. The investment is part of the Quality of Working Life Valley project launched by the government in October, which is aimed at reinvigorating old industrial sites to attract more young work...

The state media regulator, Korea Communications Commission, on Friday approved public broadcaster KBS’s request to increase the monthly viewing fee by 40 percent to 3,500 won ($3). The decision was made during its general meeting from which two of the five commissioners walked out in protest. Households with television sets are all currently obliged to pay a fixed fee of 2,500 won under the Bro...

South Korea's communications regulator approved on Friday a 40-percent increase in the subscription fee for public broadcaster Korea Broadcasting System (KBS). The rise in the KBS subscription fee by the Korea Communications Commission is subject to approval by the National Assembly. Should the proposal win parliamentary approval, KBS's subscription fee will increase to 3,500 won (US$3.14) from...

Korea Electric Power Corp. said Friday that it will invest 8 trillion won ($7.2 billion) in smart grids until 2030. A smart grid is a new electric transmission system that allows two-way communication, as well as trade, between suppliers and consumers. KEPCO will spend 400 billion won a year for the next five years to improve facilities for the supply and distribution of electricity, the compan...

Korea‘s severest foot-and-mouth disease outbreak is expected to come under control by early March as nationwide vaccination efforts take effect, a senior policymaker said Friday. In a radio interview with a local broadcaster, Farm Minister Yoo Jeong-bok said the number of FMD cases has started to fall off in recent weeks after the first round of nationwide vaccinations have been completed on all...

POSCO, the world’s third-biggest steelmaker by output, and its units raised their cost-cutting target for this year by 20 percent to sustain profits amid rising iron ore and coal prices. The group aims to cut overall costs by 2.4 trillion won ($2.2 billion) this year from a previous target of 2 trillion won in an effort to “Improve competitiveness,” Chung Jae-woong, a spokesman for Pohang, Korea...

A free trade pact between South Korea and the EU will bring great economic benefit to both sides, and break ground for the consolidation of the two markets, an EU diplomat said Friday. On Thursday, the European Parliament approved the free trade pact with South Korea, bringing it one step closer to coming into force this July. Seoul and Brussels signed their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) ...