The Korea Herald

Household debt burden grows

Jun 22, 2011

Ratio of household credit to GNDI rising: BOK Households’ ability to pay their debts was critically weak during the first quarter as the pace of debt growth surpassed that of income growth. According to the Bank of Korea, the nation’s household credit, including loans and credit purchasing, reached 801.4 trillion won ($750 billion) at the end of March, up 8.4 percent from a year earlier. Centr...
Hyundai Motor’s sales soar in India

Jun 21, 2011

Hyundai Motor is enjoying rapid sales growth in India, capturing nearly 20 percent of the emerging market in May. The automaker sold 31,123 vehicles last month, up 14.6 percent from a year ago. Its market in India has reached 19.5 percent, raising the possibility of sales growth for 13 consecutive years. The figure is the highest monthly market share for this year, rising 0.2 percentage points ...
Korea, Japan bourses mull cross-trading

Jun 21, 2011

Korea and Japan’s bourse operators are considering cross-trading as part of efforts to strengthen their footing amid rising competition among global exchanges, an official said Tuesday. The Korea Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange held the first round of working-level talks on the issue late last month, according to a ranking official at the Korea Exchange. “No concrete plan has materialized...
Fate of Hyundai Capital CEO depends on sanction level

Jun 21, 2011

The Financial Supervisory Service is poised to decide whether to order stern disciplinary measures against the CEO of Hyundai Capital for incurring cyber attacks due to allegedly negligent internal controls. As officials of the regulatory body move to fine-tune the sanction level on Hyundai Capital CEO Ted Chung, he could be banned from holding a job in the financial industry for the next few ye...
Number of centenarians almost doubles in 6 years

Jun 21, 2011

The number of Koreans aged 100 or more has almost doubled since 2005 under the country’s improved medical services, Statistics Korea said Tuesday. The number of centenarians numbered 1,836 in November, posting a 9.1 percent increase from 961 in 2005, the state agency reported in its census report compiled every five years. The number of females in the group, 1,580, exceeded their male counterpa...
Local firms’ profitability dips in Q1

Jun 21, 2011

Korea’s overall corporate profitability worsened in the first quarter from a year ago as oil costs rose and the local currency’s gain dented prices of export goods, the central bank said Tuesday. The average ratio of operating profit to sales, a key barometer of profitability, reached 6.3 percent in the January-March period, down from 7.2 percent from a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a ...
More tariffs cut in inflation fight

Jun 21, 2011

Charges on imports dropped on shortage items as prices soar The government plans to extend tariff cuts for 35 out of 46 items due to expire this month and add 14 more items to the list to ease import cost burdens on local consumers, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday. Under the plan, items such as pork, garlic, mackerel, wheat, soybean oil, sugar, and coffee will continue to enjoy lower tariffs....
Hyundai-Kia top Asian carmaker in Europe

Jun 20, 2011

Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors have secured the No. 1 position in sales among Asian carmakers in the European market, outstripping Toyota Motor. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Hyundai-Kia sold 58,585 vehicles in 28 European countries in May, grabbing 4.7 percent of the market. Though the two affiliated companies saw their market share inch down 0.5 ...
Economy to expand 4.5% in 2011: KIET

Jun 20, 2011

Korea’s economic growth is expected to expand 4.5 percent on-year in 2011 as the steady pace of the global economic recovery contributes to more exports, a state-run think tank said Monday. The forecast by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade is up from its earlier prediction of 4.3 percent. Last year, the Korean economy, Asia’s fourth-largest, expanded 6.2 percent. “The econ...
Think tank chiefs call for additional rate hike

Jun 20, 2011

The heads of Korea’s major think tanks Monday emphasized the importance of the nation’s continued efforts to “normalize” macroeconomic policies, citing a sufficient amount of liquidity unleashed in the domestic market. In their meeting with Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan in central Seoul, they also shared the view that Korea’s economy is faced with growing external risks from slowing recovery in ...
Hyundai Securities hit by network glitch

Jun 20, 2011

Cyber network problems have occurred again in the nation’s brokerage sector, following similar cases in NH Investment & Securities, Leading Investment & Securities, and Dong Yang securities earlier this year. Customers of Hyundai Securities suffered troubles in their online investment in stocks for about an hour early Monday due to a glitch in the brokerage firm’s network system. The investors ...
[Herald Inteview] Korean banks’ short-term external debt rising: Fitch

Jun 20, 2011

Credit rating agency Fitch noted the rising short-term external debt held by Korean banks in recent months, but said its portion relative to overall external debt was still sustainable. “The South Korean government has been trying to reduce the industry’s short-term external debt but the level is back on the rise,” Andrew Colquhoun, Fitch’s head of Asia Pacific sovereign ratings, said in an inte...
Rising mortgage rates could dampen spending

Jun 19, 2011

Mortgage rates hit a 30-month high fueled by Bank of Korea’s rates hike this month, raising concerns for damaging effects to the economy. On June 10, the central bank raised the benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25 percent in an effort to counter the rising inflationary pressure. Against market expectations, the central bank had kept the rates frozen for two consecutive months in Apr...
No bid for banking unit of Korea Post: KDB

Jun 19, 2011

KDB Financial Group Inc. denied a news report that the state-owned company plans to acquire banking businesses of Korea Post. KDB officials said Saturday that the company has not reviewed such plan. The report came after the government went against a move by KDB to take over the public-funded Woori Financial Group. KDB has sought to become a “mega” bank in Korea to expand its business overseas....
Seoul bourse to face volatility this week

Jun 19, 2011

The Korean stock market is expected to face volatility this week as eurozone countries are still mired in a deadlock over solutions to the worsening Greek debt crisis, analysts said. The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, shed 0.72 percent, or 14.74 points, to close at 2,031.93 on Friday. Losses in tech and large cap shares led the market declines. Last week, the local share market suffered ...

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