GM Korea, the third-largest carmaker in Korea, said it agreed Tuesday to give out a record bonus of 7 million won ($6,616) in additon to a 4.7 percent salary raise for its workers.“Management and the union were able to reach a compromise on Monday. But this is a tentative agreement which will be finalized tomorrow,” Kim Sung-soo, a spokesperson at the company said. “We need the majority (of the un

Seoul stocks tumbled 2.2 percent Tuesday, stretching losses for a third day on worsening euro zone debt crisis and disappointing U.S. market performance overnight.The benchmark KOSPI slipped 2.2 percent to close at 2,109.73. KOSDAQ lost 1.55 percent and closed at 490.63.“This week, in large, is an adjustment period digesting the euro zone contagion fear as well as the weak unemployment data in the

Exports of Korean cars reached a record high in the first half of the year, benefiting from the demand drop for Japanese vehicles along with improving consumer sentiment abroad, data said Monday.A report by the Korea Customs Service said Asia’s fourth-largest economy exported $19.1 billion worth of cars in the January-June period, bagging 30.4 percent more revenue than a year earlier. In terms of

The level of foreign debt is poised top $400 billion, complicating Seoul’s capital control efforts increasingly watched by major credit rating agencies abroad. Foreign debt in the first quarter May made the steepest hikes in three years, reaching $381.9 billion at the end of March. Noting an increase of $21.9 billion in just three months from December, the Finance Ministry predicted the figure to

Prosecutors are investigating Goldman Sachs Group on allegations that the investment bank defrauded local insurers Heungkuk Life Insurance and Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance.The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday it was taking on complaints by the two insurers that the U.S. investment bank sold a high risk, high yielding investment product known as collateralized debt obli

The National Pension Service, the world’s largest public pension, is under fire for its alleged lack of supervision of its staff operating a huge fund after the nation’s top auditor found irregularities. The Board of Audit and Inspection said some NPS officials were found to have given business favors to brokerages with school background ties in exchange for entertainment and money.The public agen

The Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday gave the green light to the merger of the nation’s two biggest online retailers operating under EBay Inc., ruling that the combination would not hinder the industry’s level of competition.The watchdog’s approval of the Gmarket-Auction merger came after their parent EBay had applied for the deal in March. After studying the deal for three months, the FTC said th

Revised estimate comes after reduction in government’s growth projectionThe average level of revenue KOSPI-listed firms are expected to generate in the second half of the year dropped, stock analysis said Tuesday, raising concerns over a slower economic growth on weaker consumption and waning exports.The estimation of operating profits for 115 listed companies on KOSPI for the July-December period

Mirae Asset Global Investment, the largest mutual fund manager in the country, said it is in talks to take over Canada’s BetaPro Management Inc., an exchanged traded funds manager, the local brokerage said Monday.The mutual fund arm of the financial group said price or timing of the acquisition is yet to be finalized. The deal is widely expected to be valued at well over $100 million.“We’re consid

Toyota Motor Corp said it would recall about 114,000 hybrid cars in Japan, Europe and the United States because of faulty transistors in control boards.Toyota said it would conduct a voluntary safety recall in the U.S. involving about 45,500 Highlander hybrid sports utility vehicles and 36,700 Lexus RX 400h sports utility vehicles.Some transistors in the recalled cars were “inadequately soldered a

Toyota and other Japanese car sales down more than a fifth in JuneLocal automakers led by Hyundai, Kia and SsangYong reported all-time high sales with double-digit growth in the first half, benefiting from the demand-drop for Japanese vehicles after the March earthquake.Domestic sales at Hyundai Motor Co., the industry leader, jumped 7.2 percent on-year to 344,422 units in the January-June period.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s BMW brand outsold Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz last month, expanding its lead as the top-selling luxury auto brand in the U.S. so far this year.BMW’s U.S. sales, helped by deliveries of the new 5 Series sedan and sport-utility vehicles, rose 13 percent last month to 21,637 compared with a year earlier, the Munich-based automaker said yesterday in a statement.Mercedes sa

Unionized workers at SC First Bank are expected to drag out their strike for an extended period of time in opposition to the management’s push for a performance-based pay system.The dispute between the management and workers continued as about 3,000 workers went on strike for a fifth day on Friday, leading to customer concerns of a prolonged walkout.The local unit of Standard Chartered Plc is tryi

Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan addresses a news conference on Thursday. (Yonhap News)Growth outlook lowered to 4.5%, inflation likely to be 4% this yearThe government has cut its growth forecast for the economy and raised the outlook for inflation this year, backing off from its ambitious growth plan due to weakening consumption and persistent price hikes. In a downbeat assessment of Asia’s fourth-

The number of Chinese firms making inroads into the local market has climbed almost three-fold over the past decade, reflecting its expanding presence as Korea’s No. 1 trading partner and the world’s second-largest economy, tax authorities said Monday.The National Tax Service said the number of companies headquartered in mainland China reached 620 as of the end of 2009, up from 225 in 1999. Combin

NongShim, the country’s largest instant noodle maker, was fined 155 million won ($143,022) for deceptive advertising of its latest product, Shin Ramyun Black, the corporate watchdog said Monday.The Fair Trade Commission called the company’s description of the item as an “ideal product meeting the nutrition ratio” misleading and ordered them to fix the advertisement.“Some food manufacturers, of lat

Jeju United striker Shin Young-rok is awake after a 50-day coma, resulting from a serious heart attack in May, Cheju Halla General Hospital announced on Jeju Island, Monday.Shin is now capable of communicating freely and will eventually be able to return to his normal life with the help of rehabilitation therapies, the hospital said. Jeju United manager Park Kyung-hoon (right) clasps hands with st

Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said Friday that the private sector needs to take a bigger role in the economy, vowing to create a business-friendly environment. In his first meeting with heads of the nation’s five major business lobby groups, Bahk attributed the economy’s fast recovery from the financial crisis to “jobs created, overseas investments made and taxes paid” by the private sector busine

Korea Eximbank should focus on long-term projects of a global scale as the key export credit agency of the country, Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said Thursday. Speaking at a forum organized by the state-run bank, Bahk said, “The Bank should reduce short-term products such as trade financing, which can be mainly provided by the private sector, but increase mid- to long-term financing for large-sca

Watchdog’s move comes as price-fixing, collusive wrongdoings on increaseThe Fair Trade Commission will step up efforts to crack down on international cartels, promising stern punishment for those engaged in unfair trade practices or abusing their market dominance, commission chief Kim Dong-soo said Wednesday. “A typical example of foul play in the market economy is cartels, the No. 1 enemy of the