Hyundai’s Sonata gets top marks in U.S. consumer surveyKorea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. ranked as the best-selling passenger carmakers in Canada in the first half of this year, industry sources said Thursday.The two leading automobile makers in South Korea sold a combined 64,671 passenger cars in the North American country in the January-June period for a market sh

Korean banks’ short-term foreign borrowing rose in June as lenders rushed to secure foreign currency funds amid worries the eurozone debt crisis may worsen, the financial watchdog said Thursday.A total of 16 local banks refinanced 107.4 percent of their maturing short-term foreign debt through fresh borrowing in June, up from 94.9 percent in the previous month, according to the Financial Superviso

Business leaders committed to solidifying diplomatic, economic, cultural ties with foreign countriesKorea’s business leaders are expanding their scope into the international arena, but not as representatives of their companies; they are honorary consuls of foreign countries.Despite the extra duties these roles bring to their already busy lives, such as issuing visas and passports, the new job help

Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. emerged as the world’s fourth-largest carmaker in 2010 on solid sales in the United States and China, a Japanese market researcher said Tuesday.Their combined output just surpassed 6.60 million units last year, up 23.6 percent from 5.34 million cars a year earlier, according to Fourin Inc. Hyundai and Kia are the flagship companies

Korea’s free trade agreement with the European Union is expected to deal a blow to the local agricultural and livestock industry for the next decade as farmers compete with an inflow of cheaper products from the world’s largest economic bloc.The Agriculture Ministry forecasts that farmers here will produce 177.6 billion won ($166.5 million) fewer goods each year for the next 15 years. Stock farmer

Korea’s central bank is widely expected to freeze the key interest rate for July following a rate hike in June due to growing household debt and lingering external economic uncertainty, a poll showed Tuesday.Eighteen out of 19 economists predicted that the Bank of Korea will freeze the benchmark seven-day repo rate at 3.25 percent on Thursday, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financi

Apple Inc. customers in South Korea who couldn’t download Rovio Mobile Ltd.’s best-selling “Angry Birds” on their iPhones will soon be able to find out why flinging vindictive fowl at green hogs can be addictive. Korea scrapped rules yesterday requiring developers to have mobile games rated by the government, said Yi Ki-jeong, a manager at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Seoul. The

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of TVs, maintained its lead in Europe’s major TV markets during the first five months of this year, a market researcher said Tuesday.According to GfK Group, the Korean TV maker accounted for 31.9 percent of Europe’s liquid crystal display TV market in May.Its market share stood at 30.8 percent in the January-May period. Samsung’s hometown rival LG

A General Motors Co. Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle is taken for a test drive through the Presidio in San Francisco, California (Bloomberg)Nissan Motor Co., General Motors Co. and other makers of electric and hybrid vehicles will be required by U.S. safety regulators to install warning systems that will automatically sound alerts to pedestrians. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administra

Hana Financial Group and Lone Star Funds reached an agreement to extend a deal to buy Korea Exchange Bank within six months, Hana said Friday.Hana, the nation’s No. 4 banking group, held a meeting of its board members later in the day to review the terms of the deal.In November, Hana struck a deal with the U.S. buyout fund to acquire its controlling 51 percent stake in KEB for 4.69 trillion won ($

British American Tobacco Korea said it reduced the price of the superpremium “Dunhill SWITCH” by 200 won to 2,800 won ($2.60) from Friday.BAT Korea reportedly said the company took the action in consideration of consumers’ burden on the price of the cigarettes.The company introduced the new brand with “RELOC” inner wrapping on the local market on June 7. (cheesuk@heraldm.com)

Friedrich-Wilhelm GausePharmaceuticals might not have been the most discussed sector before the Korea-European Union Free Trade Agreement came into effect from July 1. However, it is forecast to have a huge influence on public health since the deal is deeply connected to drug pricing of original drugs and will eventually affect national health insurance finance. “It will be a great opportunity for

Apple Inc. has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission to block U.S. sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s smartphones and tablet PCs, escalating the legal tussle between the two mobile giants. Apple’s ITC filing comes less than one week after Samsung filed a similar complaint with the federal agency, seeking to block Apple from importing the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch product

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s leading shipbuilder, said Wednesday it will not bid for a stake in Hynix Semiconductor Inc., raising speculation that creditors may fail again to sell the world’s second-largest computer memory chipmaker.Hyundai Heavy had been regarded as the sole potential investor for the 15 percent stake up for sale.“We decided not to submit a bid for Hynix Semiconducto

Samsung Electronics Co. will likely report lower-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, hit by flagging demand for TVs and slumping display prices, analysts said Wednesday. Samsung, Asia’s largest maker of smartphones, TVs, chips and display panels, is estimated to have earned 3.35 trillion won ($3.14 billion) in the April-June period, compared with 4.28 trillion won a year earlier, accord

Korea’s financial industry is to face limited impact from the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union as there are few barriers in market access. On the other hand, the insurance industry is expected to benefit from the overall increase of trade.The Korea-EU FTA, which took effect July 1, is pushing banks, insurance companies, asset managers and other financial institutions in both economies

WIPO Director General Francis GurryInnovation is a central driver of economic growth, development and better jobs. It is the key for firms to successfully compete in the global marketplace. Innovation provides the answer to numerous economic and social challenges, whether financial crisis recovery, climate change or the fight against deadly diseases. It is the source of improvements in the quality

A conference on economic opportunities and challenges arising from the Korea-EU FTA which came into effect on July 1 will take place in Seoul on Thursday.The conference, taking place at the Koreana Hotel from 2 p.m., will also examine the current economic crisis in Europe and economic development in Korea. The event is being jointly hosted by the Center for Free Enterprise, a Seoul-based free mark

South Korea's antitrust watchdog on Tuesday approved the merger between Hite Brewery Co. and Jinro Co., saying the liquor giants' business consolidation will not hamper market competition.    Hite Brewery is the country's dominant beer maker, and Jinro is the leader in the market of soju, a Korean distilled beverage made from rice and other starches. Jinro was taken over by Hite Brewery in 2005.  

Union workers at GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., staged a partial strike on Tuesday after wage negotiations with management broke down, the carmaker said.   Unionized employees at the company's Incheon, Gunsan and Changwon factories stopped work for about three hours from 1:50 p.m., after holding a similar work stoppage the previous day, GM Korea said.   G