Kia Motors Corp., the nation’s second-largest carmaker, is increasingly betting on cutting-edge design to expand its market share, and the effort is showing off.Kia vehicles were taking over the first ever Automotive Brand Contest organized by the German Design Council in the past week. It was the winner in four categories. It was ranked “Best of the Best” after the compact Sportage SUV, Rio and a

Porsche AG may develop a supercar positioned higher than the 911 GT2 RS to broaden its line-up and sustain growth as orders cool from record deliveries last year. The car could be combined with additional variants of the Cayman and Boxster as well as extended-wheelbase and convertible versions of the Panamera four-door coupe, Bernhard Maier, Porsche’s sales chief, said in an interview. It would ai

The striking labor union at SC First Bank said that it would fly to Britain on Saturday to visit the bank’s headquarters in London as part of its fight against management in Korea.Speaking at a news conference in Seoul on Friday, the union members said they plan to hold a joint news conference with Britain’s labor organizations and to request a meeting with Standard Chartered PLC CEO Peter Sands.T

Affiliates of South Korea’s top 30 conglomerates employed more former government officials as outside directors this year, data showed Friday, amid escalating criticism of the practice.A total of 308 former government officials were working as outside directors at the 1,140 affiliates of the leading conglomerates as of end-June, up from 256 a year earlier, according to the data compiled by local r

South Korean stocks ended 0.46 percent lower on Thursday, as foreign investors continued to sell amid persistent concerns related to the U.S. debt ceiling issue and the eurozone debt crisis, analysts said. The local currency climbed against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 9.91 points to 2,145.04. Trading volume was moderate at 358.6 million shares worth 7.

South Korean manufacturing companies chalked up a net cash outflow in 2010 as they revved up capital spending and securities investments, the central bank said Thursday.According to a survey of 6,778 manufacturers by the Bank of Korea, their average net cash outflow came to 248 million won ($235,000) last year, a turnaround from a net inflow of 1.01 billion won the previous year.“Last year, local

SC First Bank sues labor union leaderSC First Bank filed a complaint against its labor union leader on Wednesday with the police on charges of defamation, according to bank sources.The bank claimed that labor union leader Kim Jae-yool damaged the bank’s image by distributing leaflets making accusations about management to the public, the sources said.In its statement, the union criticized the bank

About 10 South Korean companies are preparing to file a suit against the government over economic losses caused by Seoul’s sanctions on Pyongyang, a businessman said Wednesday.South Korea imposed sanctions on the North last year in retaliation to the communist country’s two deadly attacks on the South that killed 50 South Koreans.The punitive measures suspended all trade and exchange programs with

Korea’s cutting-edge transportation IT infrastructure will be introduced in Colombia as LG CNS, Korea’s tech firm, won the $300 million project to set up an intelligent transport system in Bogota, the company said on Tuesday.Bogota, Colombia’s capital, is one of the three biggest cities in Central and South America. Under the deal, LG CNS will establish systems for bus management, as well as issua

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― The recent alliance between Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group and Japan’s Sharp Corp. will likely present a counterweight to South Korean liquid crystal display makers that have been dominant players in the global LCD market, an expert said Tuesday.Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, agreed with the Japanese electronics giant last week t

The employment rate among Korean women in their 50s hit the highest level in decades in the second quarter, as many females joined the workforce to meet growing education and living costs, data showed Tuesday.According to the data by Statistics Korea, the employment rate among the cited age group stood at 59.3 percent in the April-June period, the highest level since the third quarter of 1992, whe

   Samsung Everland Inc. said Monday that it has fired a worker for leaking sensitive corporate information less than a week after employees set up a trade union.   The company, which is an affiliate of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-owned conglomerate, said Cho Jang-hee, the vice chairman of the union, has been dismissed for wrongful conduct and that its in-house disciplinary committ

South Korea's umbrella federation of small and medium-sized enterprises on Monday said it will seek to set up the country's fourth mobile carrier as part of an ongoing effort to boost growth of local venture firms.   The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business said after holding a board meeting that it plans to invest less than 100 billion won ($94.2 million) in the proposed consortium made

   The government will soon look into the country's major refineries and gas stations to see if they are making excessive profits by raising already high fuel prices, the commerce minister said Monday, turning up the heat on them to limit price hikes.   The warning comes as gasoline and diesel prices are rising almost daily, which was expected as the voluntary reduction of oil prices by the countr

Small- and medium-sized enterprises say that positive changes have been seen since Sept. 29 when the government drew up a comprehensive plan to promote shared-growth, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Monday.According to the ministry, which inspected 12 industrial complexes to gauge SMEs’ sentiments, more SMEs responded that large firms were adopting measures promoted under the project.Change

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to outdo its smartphone sales target this year, with the popularity of its latest Android devices and upcoming bada phones, which run on its own mobile software, and a ramp-up in low-cost smartphones, Samsung’s mobile and camera chief said Monday. The world’s second-largest maker of mobile phones, which competes with Apple Inc.’s iPad in the tablet PC sector, is

Riding on solid demand from Europe, Renault Samsung Motors Co., exported a record 70,914 cars in the first half of this year, the company said last week. Renault Samsung is the Korean unit of French automaker Renault SA. Renault Samsung CEO Jean-Marie HurtigerThe figure the carmaker unveiled surpassed the previous high of 50,160 units tallied in the first six months of 2010, with the latest surge

Toyota Motor Corp., to make its earnings target this year, needs the new Camry to wrest back market share from Hyundai Motor Co.’s Sonata sedan. The Camry, the best-selling car in the U.S., has lost ground to the Sonata, with Seoul-based Hyundai raising its U.S. output and surpassing the Camry in May for the first time. “Sonata became a very honorable contender in the market,” said Yoshimi Inaba,

Surge stems from high international prices, weak greenbackDomestic gold prices have rallied to all-time highs on the back of recent surges in international prices of the precious metal and the weak U.S. dollar, industry sources said Friday. An employee at Shinhan Bank shows gold bullion bars. (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)The retail price of 1 don (3.75 grams) of pure gold in the country stood at 217

Antitrust authorities of Korea and the European Union agreed Friday to ensure equal treatment of foreign companies in dealing with international cartel cases, Seoul officials said. The agreement was reached during a meeting in Seoul between Kim Dong-soo, head of South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, and Joaquin Almunia, vice president of the European Commission, according to the FTC officials. Fair