South Korea steps closer to completing FTA networkThe Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement is set to take effect on Friday, opening new doors for the country’s economy.The negotiations over the pact, which began in May 2007, came to a close in October 2009 when the agreement was penciled in, and in October 2010 the agreement was formally signed by the leaders of Korea and the EU.The EU approved the deal,

POSCO began construction on its third FINEX steel mill at its steelworks in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province on Tuesday.The new FINEX plant, which will have an annual production capacity of 2 million metric tons, is scheduled for completion in 2013.The company said the construction budget for the new FINEX plant is 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion), equal to that used in building the second FINEX p

STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Co. on Tuesday set up a 3.8 billion won ($35 million) fund to give low-interest loans to suppliers in collaboration with two local banks.The new shared-growth fund will be used to extend loans to STX Offshore and Shipbuilding’s suppliers at rates between 1.9 percentage point and 2.5 percentage points lower than the benchmark rates, the company said.The fund was establ

POSCO chief executive Chung Joon-yang was appointed the new president of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea at the organization’s general meeting on Monday.Chung replaces Kim Doh-yeon who will now head the National Science and Technology Commission. Chung Joon-yang. (POSCO)The POSCO chief executive has been a full member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea since 2008, and wil

(AP-Yonhap News)Google Inc. and Apple Inc. are the two most sought-after foreign companies among South Korean job applicants, a market survey showed Monday, pointing to their popularity here.According to the latest survey of 1,428 job seekers by SaraminHR Co., 16.7 percent of the respondents selected Google Korea as the most desired company to work at among foreign firms, citing the company’s corp

Korean women continue to be paid less than men despite improvements in their social standing.A Statistics Korea report showed that the average salary of women stood at 67 percent that of men last year. While the figure is higher than that for 2009 ― when it was 66.5 percent ― it remains disparate from the rapid rise in women’s presence in universities, professional vocations and as successful appl

S-Oil Corp. begins operating out of its new office in Mapo, Seoul, on Monday. This is the first time the company, which previously rented offices in the 63 City building in Yeouido, has set up headquarters in its own building since its establishment in 1976. S-Oil’s new office in Mapo, Seoul. (S-Oil)According to the company, the new building was designed to resemble the square-sailed boat used dur

POSCO, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, has been named the company with the best corporate governance structure in Korea.According to the steelmaker, it was so named by the Corporate Governance Service and the Korea Exchange on Friday.The company added that its filling of the audit committee with outside directors and other activities giving enhanced independence to auditors also contributed

The government will release almost 3.5 million barrels from its oil reserves in an effort to control international and domestic oil prices, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy announced Friday.According to the ministry, the government will release 3.467 million barrels in compliance with the International Energy Agency’s Initial Contingency Response Plan.Korea’s oil reserves, held by the government

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea is turning up the heat on the Korean government to reduce non-tariff barriers and modify regulations to align them with international standards.On Friday, a week ahead of the tentative implementation of the Korea-EU free trade agreement, the EUCCK published a report outlining non-tariff issues regarding access to the Korean market in 20 categories. S

Friction between politicians and the business community is escalating, fueled by the National Assembly’s plans to call Federation of Korean Industries chairman Huh Chang-soo and other top businessmen to its hearings.At a press conference Tuesday, Huh said that he was opposed to the plans to remove tax benefits for businesses. He criticized policies such as halving university tuition fees as impuls

POSCO announced Wednesday that its construction subsidiary POSCO A&C signed a contract to build a housing complex for a coalfield in Sakha Republic in eastern Russia.Under the contract, issued by Russia’s largest resource developer Mechel, POSCO A&C will build a 48,000 square meter housing compound for workers at the Elga coalfield in Sakha Republic.POSCO A&C plans to begin works on the compound i

Conglomerate denies reports on selling SK Securities to SK C&CSK Group remains undecided despite the fast-approaching deadline for complying with fair trade laws dictating that the group divest itself of stakes in SK Securities Co.On Tuesday, the group denied a Yonhap News Agency report that it had decided to sell SK Securities shares to the IT services provider SK C&C if the revised bill is not p

The steelmaker POSCO announced Monday that it was ranked top in the U.S.-based steel industry analysis firm World Steel Dynamics’ World-Class Steelmaker’s list for the second consecutive year. In this year’s report, World Steel Dynamics rated 34 steelmakers in 23 categories including technological capability, profitability and access to raw materials. POSCO scored 8.12 points to take the top spot.

STX Corp. announced Monday that it signed a memorandum of understanding on building a shipyard for Russia’s state-run shipbuilder United Shipbuilding Corp. at the international economic forum held in St. Petersburg on Friday.Under the agreement, STX, which counts construction and shipbuilders among its subsidiaries, will undertake the $1 billion project to build a shipyard in St. Petersburg. The c

The largest money-laundering scam conducted through overseas tax-havens has been uncovered by the Korea Customs Service.According to reports, the Korea Customs Service uncovered a money laundering scam by a local intermediate trading firm involving foreign currencies valued at 762.5 billion won ($704.1 million).The company imports petrochemical products, which it then exports to other markets. The

Mortgage rates hit a 30-month high fueled by Bank of Korea’s rates hike this month, raising concerns for damaging effects to the economy.On June 10, the central bank raised the benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25 percent in an effort to counter the rising inflationary pressure. Against market expectations, the central bank had kept the rates frozen for two consecutive months in April

The first Global Green Growth Summit 2011 will begin in Seoul on Monday. The two-day summit, timed to mark the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Global Green Growth Institute, will be held under the theme of Building Planet-Responsible Civilization. Headquartered in Seoul, the Global Green Growth Institute was launched on June 16, 2010 with the aim of developing a green-growth economic dev

POSCO will set up a joint venture with the Chinese steelmaker Tonghua Iron and Steel Group.According to the Korean steelmaker, it has formed an agreement with the Chinese firm to establish an automotive plate processing joint venture with an annual processing capacity of 200,000 tons.The plant will be located in a special economic development zone in Huinan Country in Jilin Province. POSCO will ho

BC Card Co. is upping the ante in the dispute over an overseas fee system imposed by Visa.According to industry sources, BC Card has decided to file a report with the Fair Trade Commission about Visa over the U.S.-based company’s policy of charging fees on transactions taking place outside of Korea.Visa charges a fee equal to 1 percent of the transaction amount for every time a Visa card is used i