Hallyu actor Kim Soo-hyun models for Lemona.                                                                                         (Kyung Nam Pharm. Co., Ltd.)The stock of Kyung Nam Pharm Co., the maker of decades-old vitamin C product Lemona, crashed Monday on charges of stock manipulation. 　The pharmaceutical company’s stocks closed at 7,200 won ($6.20), down 1,170 won, or 13.98 percent, on the tech-laden KOSDAQ. 　The Financial Sup

The United Nations climate change fund chose Korea’s renewable energy supply model as its first project to fund, the South Korean Finance Ministry said in a press release Friday. 　In the 11th Green Climate Fund meeting held in Zambia from Nov. 2 to 5, the climate fund board decided to adopt the Korean proposal on the integrated supply and storage system for renewable energy.　Korea’s renewable energy model, with a duration of five years, aims at replacing unsustainable energy with renewable energ

(123RF)Korea’s per capita gross domestic product is expected to catch up with Japan within the next five years, according to a growth outlook report of the International Monetary Fund.　The report forecast that Korea’s nominal per capita GDP will reach $36,750 in 2020, up 31 percent from last year’s $27,970. During the same period, Japan’s nominal per capita GDP will grow 6 percent to $38,714. 　The IMF’s latest macroeconomic estimates are presented in its World Economic Outlook, which is released

(123RF)The financial regulator and the ruling party agreed Monday to lower credit card fees for small businesses from early next year to lighten their financial burden.　Financial Service Commission officials who attended a meeting to discuss the issue said the government decided to cut credit card commission rates from 1.5 percent to 0.8 percent.　The beneficiaries include family-owned or self-employed small enterprises with a maximum annual revenue of 200 million won ($175,000), according to the

(123RF)Financial authorities launched an investigation over local banks to assess the solidity of their loan approvals for apartment buyers, industrial sources said Sunday. 　The Financial Supervisory Service started the solidity crackdown last Wednesday starting with two state-run banks, including Woori Bank and Nonghyup Bank. The financial watchdog will continue investigations into other major lenders and some of the large-scale regional lenders, with a focus on the soundness of the lenders’ lo

 Korea’s exports recorded $43.47 billion in October, down 15.8 percent from a year earlier to mark the sharpest fall in six years, the Trade Ministry said Sunday.　But ministry officials said monthly trade managed to post a surplus as imports on-year dropped 16.6 percent to $36.78 billion.　October marked the 10th consecutive straight month of export contraction and the 45th straight month of trade surplus. 　The officials attributed the fall in exports to continued weak global demand and drops in

Korea Forest Service officials visit a South Korea-Indonesia joint forest biomass plantation in Indonesia. (KFS)South Korea and Indonesia vowed stronger cooperation in forest industry and administration, South Korean forest authorities said Thursday.　The Korea Forest Service and its Indonesian counterpart held a symposium on wood biomass in the Indonesian city of Jakarta, Wednesday, to share the two countries’ forest policies and know-how. South Korean exporters seeking inroads to Indonesia also

The Korea-Indonesia joint forest biomass plantation in the Indonesian city of Semarang, central Java (KFS)Korea’s forest authorities vowed to strengthen their overseas base for fostering biomass industries, a potential mainstay of the South Korean renewable energy industry.　The Korea Forest Service has sought a business model of forest biomass energy and encouraged business enterprises and investors to engage in that industry with great potential, with a total budget of 748 million won ($656,000

The Korea National Food Cluster, or Foodpolis, is the strongest pick of headquarters for foreign food companies seeking to enter markets in Asian economies, the Korean Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday.　In a press conference for foreign journalists, Lee Ju-myeung, director general of the food industry policy unit in the ministry, said that the world’s first state-supported food cluster offers a balanced incentive package that exceeds other food clusters in practicality. 　“We offer more than ju

(123RF)Korea is a better place to do business than Hong Kong, the World Bank’s latest report revealed on Tuesday. According to the multilateral agency’s annual report on business environment rankings, South Korea ranked fourth out of 189 member countries, up a notch from last year’s rank. The World Bank report ranks the economies in 10 categories. South Korea moved up in ease of registering property (79th to 40th), protecting minor investors (21st to 8th), enforcing contracts (4th to 2nd) and re

Gore Korea country head Hans Baik (Gore Korea)W. L. Gore & Associates, commonly known as Gore, received two awards from global research and management consultancy Great Place to Work, the Korean operation of the U.S.-based manufacturer said Friday. 　In Korea, Gore was named as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in Korea (2015)” for the fifth consecutive year. Globally, it was also ranked No. 3 as one of the “25 Best Multinational Workplaces” for the fourth consecutive year.　The Great Pla

BAT Korea CEO Guy Meldrum (front row, second from left) poses with union leaders from its Sacheon factory after signing a wage pact for the next three years at the firm’s Seoul headquarters Wednesday. (BAT Korea)British American Tobacco Korea and the labor union at its Sacheon factory have reached an agreement on three-year salary negotiations without any hiccups, the tobacco manufacturer said Friday. 　The agreement states the percentage of salary increase and adjustment in the calculation of wa

Hyundai Engineering & Construction, has ranked No. 1 in the construction and engineering industry section of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for three consecutive years, the company announced on Wednesday. 　The DJSI, which marks its 16th anniversary this year, is the first global index to track the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. It is compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices, a subsidiary of McGraw-Hill Companies -- the world’s largest, global resource for index-based concepts, d

ENTIQ cofounder and managing director Eric Van Der Kleij (second from left) and senior development executive Jae-won Peter Chun (third from left) attend the company’s press luncheon in central Seoul, Tuesday. (British Embassy Seoul)ENTIQ, a U.K.-based accelerator and incubator, vowed to bring some of the state-of-the-art financial technologies, including real-time regulation technologies, to Korea for its prospective financial technology market.“Real-time regulation is an emerging technology and

(123RF)The first-tier financial institutions are gearing up to make the best of a golden opportunity to attract a large number of individual customers, as the bank account switching system is scheduled to take effect on Oct. 30.　Pledging to enhance the country’s financial sector by nudging the industry into stronger competition in 2013, policymakers announced that bank customers would be allowed to switch banks without having to adjust their deposit withdrawals.　Some critics, however, do not for

KFS Minister Shin Won-sop (left) and other key participants look around an exhibition hall at the sixth IWFC in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, on Wednesday. (KFS)The five-day 6th International Wildland Fire Conference will end Friday, with governments, international organizations and experts joining hands in sharing and spreading knowledge of fire. 　On the opening day of Oct. 12, global administrators, policymakers, scholars and students gathered at Alpensia Resort, Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province

Iranian state television broadcast unprecedented footage Wednesday of a deep underground tunnel packed with missiles and launcher units, which officials said could be used if "enemies make a mistake".   The pictures were released just three days after Iran tested a new long-range missile that the United States said may have breached a UN Security Council resolution.   The footage also came a day after Iran's parliament approved the country's July 14 nuclear deal with six world powers.   Iranian

Cambodian activist Phymean Noun has been awarded the $50,000 World's Children's Prize for helping children who live in garbage dumps in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.   Another $50,000 was evenly split between the winners of the World's Children's Honorary Award: Javier Stauring of the Catholic Archdiocese in Los Angeles who works with jailed children, and India's Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi who fights against child slavery and for children's right to education.    The prizes wer

A British nurse who was successfully treated in January after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone is now "critically ill" due to a resurgence of the virus, the hospital treating her said on Wednesday.   "We are sad to announce that Pauline Cafferkey's condition has deteriorated and she is now critically ill. Pauline is being treated for Ebola in the high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital," it said in a statement.   Cafferkey was taken to the specialist unit in London -- the only one

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled its latest Tizen-powered smartphone Wednesday as part of efforts to boost sales in India and its neighboring countries.   The Samsung Z3, an upgrade from the Samsung Z1 released earlier this year, runs on the Tizen platform developed by Samsung, which is based on Google Inc.'s Android platform.   Samsung said shipments of the Samsung Z1, which went on sale in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in January, reached 1 million units as of end-Jun