Italian fashion brand Gucci is closing both of its outlets from Shilla Duty Free in Incheon International Airport to move to Lotte Duty Free, a decision slapping Shilla for giving exclusive favors to the brand’s rival Louis Vuitton.Gucci is said to have complained to Shilla over the lower commission fee and favorable spots the Hotel Shilla affiliate gave to Louis Vuitton. The 10 to 20 percent of c

Lump-sum deposits, or jeonse, neared 60 percent of average housing prices in Seoul and its surrounding areas in the first quarter, reflecting a growing burden on low- and middle-income living on leases.A report on the housing market by KB Bank on Thursday said deposits for jeonse stood at 58.9 percent of apartment prices on average, the highest since it reached 59.5 percent in November 2004.Jeonse

The Korean economy expanded at a slower pace than estimated by the central bank in the first quarter on weak domestic demand.The gross domestic product grew 1.3 percent in the January-March period, falling short of the 1.4 percent estimate made in April, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday. Though the strongest performance in three quarters, the lower than expected figure reflects domestic demand mak

Lone Star Fund is in talks with Hana Financial Group to recoup another quarterly dividend off the Korea Exchange Bank as part of its re-negotiation to sell its majority stake over to Hana, sources involved in the negotiation said Monday.The insider said details of the payout dividend are expected to arrive when the two officially extend the $4.3 billion takeover deal of KEB for six months. The two

Kia Motors Corp., Korea’s second-largest automaker, announced plans last week to raise output at its Georgia plant by 20 percent, underscoring the U.S. industry’s biggest market-share gain this year.Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., raised its U.S. share 0.8 percentage points to 3.8 percent through May, topping gains of 0.7 point for General Motors Co. and 0.6 point for Hyundai, according to

High-end vehicles lead foreign carmakers’ charge in Korean marketBuoyed by a growing love for sports cars by the well-to-do, foreign luxury car brands are upping their share of the domestic car market.Auto analysts say more are turning to exotic options accompanying fast, topless thrills often with luxury amenities like rain-sensing windshield wipers and automatic climate control with pollen filte

Korea launches task force to enforce strict origin managementLack of strict origin management by the government is making it difficult for local exporters to take advantage of preferential tax treatment they are entitled to once the Korea-EU free trade agreement goes into effect on July 1.Only one-quarter of local companies eligible for tax benefits from the trade deal have attained certificates p

CJ Group, the country’s largest food company, is bidding to take over Japan’s biggest food-additive maker, Hayashibara, reportedly in consortium with Japanese private equity firm Unison Capital.CJ confirmed the bidding scheduled for July but declined to comment on its consortium with Unison capital.Acquiring Hayashibara is part of CJ Group’s plan to expand into amino acids and other biochemical fo

Global corporations should pursue revenue opportunities in such clean technologies as solar cells and smart-grids to keep up with the trend toward a low-carbon economy, said Gil Forer, the head of Ernst & Young’s global cleantech unit.Forer said corporations should take advantage of transformational opportunities and adopt clean technologies.“A number of factors including the growth in world popul

One in three employers worldwide is experiencing difficulty filling vacancies due to lack of available talent despite an over-supply of available workers, staffing company ManpowerGroup said Thursday.In its sixth annual Talent Shortage Survey, the U.S.-based company said 90 percent of employers across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa have problems filling critical positions, citing a lack

Chang denies advice on corrupt investment in Busan Savings BankThe snowballing lobby scandal involving Busan Savings Bank is taking a new twist as two scholarship foundations threatened to sue an asset management agency, claiming that it advised them to invest in the failing bank.The private Pohang University of Science and Technology and Samsung Dream Scholarship Foundation said they would file a

The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses has launched a probe into major retailers including Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae over alleged anticompetitive practices such as imposing unfairly high commission fees on dealers, it said Tuesday.The non-profit organization will investigate whether merchants selling their products through major retailers are being bullied with commission fees far

The interest payment burden on household debt has reached 480,000 won ($447) per head annually, the Bank of Korea said, revealing the exceedingly high level of loans and credit card bills taken up by the private sector.The figure from this March is the second-highest level after it reached a record high of 485,838 won for the one-year period ending last March.The central bank said private loans fr

The nation’s educational expenditure fell by the most in six years, mainly due to the declining number of students brought on by the country’s low birthrate, a state-run agency said Monday.The Statistics Korea said households with two persons or more spent 292,357 won ($269) monthly in education costs per child on average in the first quarter, down 14,434 won or 4.7 percent from same time last yea

A low birthrate and rapidly aging population is projected to pull South Korea’s economic growth rate from second place to ninth among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members by 2026.A report by the club of 34 major economies said the annual rate of growth in the South Korean economy will fall to 2.4 percent after 2026, a sharp downturn from its 6.2 percent expansion in 2010,

Watchdog likely to suspend around three more savings banksFinancial regulators plan to launch fresh investigations into 10 more savings banks that survived the probe earlier this year, brewing another round of major upheaval in the country’s scandal-ridden secondary banking sector.A taskforce of auditors from three state agencies ― Financial Supervisory Service, Financial Services Commission and K

South Korea has no intention of sacrificing its "principle" for an apology fromNorth Korea for last year's deadly attacks for the sake of the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue, Seoul's point man on cross-border affairs said Saturday.   Tensions persist on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea continues to ignore the South's demand for an apology for two deadly military attacks -- the March 2010

A U.S. government team led by Robert King left North Korea on Saturday, the North's state media said, after winning the release of an American citizen detained in the reclusive state for the past six months.   King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, left North Korea "by air after visiting the DPRK (North Korea) to consult humanitarian issues between the DPRK and the U.S.," the

The Fair Trade Commission said Thursday that it imposed 434.8 billion won ($402.5 million) in fines on four major oil refineries for anticompetitive practices and referred three of them ― SK Energy, Hyundai Oilbank, and GS Caltex ― to prosecutors for investigation. The corporate watchdog said it found evidence of the four colluding to prevent oil supplies to gas stations held by their competitors,

Korea Post said it will upgrade its postal and banking services to prepare for market consolidations with the coming of more free trade pacts.Delivering a two-year plan, its president Kim Myong-ryong stressed the importance of providing better services as a state-run agency connecting supply chains and circulating money across the country. Korea Post chief Kim Myong-ryong delivers a two-year plan