Deposit withdrawals from secondary banks sharply reduce as officials work to calm marketThe government and financial institutions were trying to calm savings banks’ jitters on Tuesday, pledging fresh support for troubled secondary banks hit by toxic property loans.Concerns over an industry crisis showed signs of subsiding as deposit withdrawals across the country nearly halved from the previous da

Korea aims to export a record $10.7 billion worth of software in 2011 as local companies make inroads into the global information technology (IT) service sector, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said exports could jump 17.1 percent on-year as software companies become more competitive on the international market by offering reliable programs that meet overseas requireme

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. led the world’s flat-screen TV market last year, but they lagged behind Japanese companies in emerging 3-D TV markets, an industry report showed Monday. According to market researcher DisplaySearch, Samsung Electronics clinched 18.7 percent of the flat-screen TVs sold in the global market in 2010, followed by LG’s 13.1 percent and Sony Corp.’s 10.3 p

Korea has secured the right to catch 60,000 tons of fish in Japanese waters in 2011, unchanged from the year before, the government said Monday.The agreement, reached with Japan late last week, reflects complaints raised by local fishermen operating in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.Under the deal, 870 Korean boats will be all

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s No. 2 semiconductor maker, said Monday that it has developed a new memory chip for mobile gadgets that can transfer data at a speed eight times faster than previous devices.The WIDE IO mobile dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip can transfer data at a speed of 12.8 gigabyte per second, compared with 1.6 gigabyte per second of previous devices, the company s

Korea’s household credit grew at the fastest pace in more than eight years in the fourth quarter as economic recovery and eased lending rules spurred demand for bank mortgage loans, the central bank said Monday.Household credit, the sum of loans and credit purchases, climbed 25.3 trillion won ($22.7 billion) to 795.4 trillion won in the three months ended Dec. 31 from the previous quarter, the Ban

Korea Express Co.’s controlling shareholders have set a March 4 deadline for initial bids as they sell about 40 percent of Korea’s biggest logistics company, according to a person familiar with the situation.Arrangers Korea Development Bank and Nomura Holdings Inc. sent letters to about 10 domestic investors seeking bids, said the person, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t pub

Korea Electric Power Corp. said Friday that it will invest 8 trillion won ($7.2 billion) in smart grids until 2030. A smart grid is a new electric transmission system that allows two-way communication, as well as trade, between suppliers and consumers. KEPCO will spend 400 billion won a year for the next five years to improve facilities for the supply and distribution of electricity, the company s

Korea‘s severest foot-and-mouth disease outbreak is expected to come under control by early March as nationwide vaccination efforts take effect, a senior policymaker said Friday.In a radio interview with a local broadcaster, Farm Minister Yoo Jeong-bok said the number of FMD cases has started to fall off in recent weeks after the first round of nationwide vaccinations have been completed on all ca

POSCO, the world’s third-biggest steelmaker by output, and its units raised their cost-cutting target for this year by 20 percent to sustain profits amid rising iron ore and coal prices.The group aims to cut overall costs by 2.4 trillion won ($2.2 billion) this year from a previous target of 2 trillion won in an effort to “Improve competitiveness,” Chung Jae-woong, a spokesman for Pohang, Korea-ba

This is the 42nd in a series of articles introducing the Korean government’s R&D policies. Researchers at the Science & Technology Policy Institute will explain Korea’s R&D initiatives aimed at addressing major socioeconomic problems facing the nation. ― Ed.To bring back and utilize human resources that have gone overseas has been a goal of companies and governments of developing countries for a l

Korea will take steps to improve its overall business environment to world-class levels by 2014 so it can better attract foreign firms and investors, a senior policymaker said Thursday.In a meeting with executives of foreign-invested companies and diplomats in Seoul, Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Joong-kyung said a “three-year foreign investors plan” will be established by March that aims to rev

Korea’s population mobility fell in 2010 as people were discouraged from moving amid slumping property market conditions, a government report showed Thursday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, a total of 8.23 million people changed their legal residence last year, down 3.1 percent from a year earlier. This marked the fourth consecutive year with less movement since 2007 when the mobility

Asian Development Bank appointed Korea’s former financial regulator Rhee Chang-yong as its new chief economist, the bank said Thursday.Rhee, a Korean national, was the vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission and chairman of the Securities & Futures Commission, and has over 20 years experience as an economist, financial advisor and academic, according to the bank. (Bloomberg)

Korea will seek to acquire technology for indigenously manufacturing electric car line systems used to provide power to its bullet trains, the government said Wednesday.The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said work to develop special metal components and nuts that can permit 25,000 volts of electricity to flow constantly from overhanging wires to a fast moving train should be deve

BARCELONA (Yonhap News) ― Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest maker of mobile phones, said Wednesday that it has released the updated version of bada, the company’s proprietary mobile operating system.Samsung added a multitasking feature and mobile payment technology called Near Field Communication and voice recognition functions to the second generation of its mobile software, bad

GM Daewoo Auto & Technology, the Korean unit of U.S. carmaker General Motors Co., on Wednesday revealed its new small passenger car, the Chevrolet Aveo, in Korea.“The all-new Chevrolet Aveo is a fun to drive car with a confident attitude and a big heart,” said Mike Arcamone, president GM Daewoo.“Its bold exterior styling exudes attitude while its big heart is readily apparent with the most spaciou

Korea’s jobless rate fell in January from a year earlier as the non-farm private sector expanded recruitment amid the economic recovery, a government report showed Wednesday.The jobless rate was 3.8 percent last month, down from 5 percent from a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea. But it was up from the previous month’s 3.5 percent.The number of working people stood at 23.19

Daewoo Securities and Samsung Securities increased their dominance in the domestic market with sharp rises in profits last year.Operating profits of the Samsung Securities and Daewoo Securities in the three last quarters of 2010 made 37.63 percent of total raised in the industry, the Korea Exchange said Wednesday.Daewoo topped the list by raising an operating profit of 269.5 billion won followed b

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Korea’s second-largest money manager, plans to boost the number of overseas employees by as much as 30 percent this year and acquire companies to strengthen coverage of emerging markets. Foreign hires in 2011 will mostly be fund managers, analysts and marketing personnel, chief executive officer Koo Jae-sang said in an interview, declining to say where the emplo