Childbirth in Korea grew over 10 percent in January from a year earlier as improving economic conditions encouraged couples to have more babies, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the number of babies born in January stood at 47,500, up 10.7 percent, or about 4,600 from the same month a year earlier. The January figure marked the 11th consecutive on-y

Japan’s earthquake will likely exert upward pressure on energy prices over the short term as the disaster, along with unrest in Arab countries, increases market volatility, the finance minister said Wednesday.“The massive earthquake in Japan is expected to disrupt supply and demand of major energy resources over the short haul, possibly causing price fluctuations,” Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun

Shinhan Financial Group Co.’s new chairman vowed Wednesday to make all-out efforts to restore its tainted image and regain shareholder trust following last year’s high-profile management feud.Han Dong-woo was inaugurated as the chairman of Shinan Financial, replacing Ryoo Shee-yul, who had served as the acting chief of the country’s third-largest banking group by assets since October.“I will use e

South Korea, battling outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and bird flu, will increase tariff-free import quotas of breeding pigs, chickens for breeding and seed corn to ease a shortage and stabilize prices.The government boosted the quotas for breeding pigs to 5,000 from 1,850 head and to 661,000 from 461,000 for breeding chickens, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Wednesday. The measures

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., the biggest unit of Korea’s Hyundai Group, jumped the most in almost four months in Seoul trading as opposition to a share sale plan prompted speculation it may be a takeover target.The shipping line rose by the daily limit of 15 percent limit, the biggest climb since Nov. 30, to close at 33,250 won in Seoul. The stock was the second-best performer on the KOSPI index W

Reinstating debt-to-income caps may further weaken property marketKorea’s plans to reinstate mortgage lending limits that were temporarily scrapped in August to spur property transactions may lead to a further decline in the real estate market. Korean banks will resume restrictions on the amount of loans homebuyers can get as a proportion of their annual income starting in April, the government sa

Increasingly ugly bickering between Korea’s two electronics giants over 3-D TV technology now looks set to turn into a court battle.LG Display recently requested Samsung Electronics to confirm news reports that a senior Samsung executive publicly insulted LG engineers using a profanity.  LG 3-D TVLG Display supplies display panels to LG Electronics. They been engaged in a heated war of words with

Korean imports of Japanese fishery products have dropped in the past week due to consumer concerns over their possible contamination with radiation and disruptions in supply in the neighboring country, the customs office said Tuesday.Before the 9.0-magnitude quake struck Japan on March 11, Korea’s daily weekday imports of fishery products from the country averaged $3.4 million, according to the Ko

Korea’s mid-size builders have been dogged by severe financial problems due to a prolonged slump in the local housing market, a trade association said Tuesday. Over a quarter of the top 100 local builders, including LIG E&C Co., were put under a workout program or court receivership as of Tuesday, according to the Construction Association of Korea.The biggest reason for their cash shortages is a p

Woori Finance Holdings Co., Korea’s No. 2 banking group, said Tuesday it picked Lee Soon-woo, executive vice president of Woori Bank, as the new chief executive officer of the group’s flagship banking unit.The state-run financial services company said its seven-member special president selection committee selected Lee Soon-woo, 61, to lead Korea’s second-largest lender for three years.Woori Bank i

A Korean consumer has lodged a lawsuit with a Seoul court against Apple Korea demanding the company return the repair cost of her liquid-damaged iPhone 4, court officials said Tuesday.In the lawsuit filed with the Seoul Central District Court, the woman, only identified by her surname Kang, demanded Apple Korea return 290,000 won ($259), which the company charged her last month for exchanging the

Korean retailers said Monday that they have decided to suspend imports of foods and products from Japan due to growing consumer concern over their possible contamination with radiation released from an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant.Lotte Mart Co., Korea’s third-largest discount store chain, said it will not sell pollack which have mainly been imported from Japan, starting Tuesday.“Though

Korea’s state-run Korea Gas Corp. said Monday that it has developed a design technology for the world’s largest liquefied natural gas tank. The tank has a storage capacity of 270,000 kiloliters, up 35 percent compared with that of the largest existing tank, helping reduce the construction cost per LNG tank by 23.5 billion won ($20.9 million), KOGAS said in a statement. The company said it is consi

With President Lee Myung-bak’s appointment of a new government financial regulator earlier this year, reform is once again a serious topic in Korea’s one-step-forward, two-steps-back financial services industry.“The most revolutionary area (of reform) will be the introduction of hedge funds,” said Ernst J. Lee, spokesperson for the Financial Services Commission, echoing recent pronouncements by hi

Small and medium enterprises must take the lead in promoting balanced growth between large companies and their subcontractors, the commerce minister said Monday.In a meeting with heads of smaller companies, Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Joong-kyung said that in order for Korea’s economy to make the next leap forward, SMEs that largely act as subcontractors to conglomerates must become more globa

Korea needs to engineer the local currency’s ascent against the U.S. dollar rather than raise interest rates to contain inflation more effectively, experts said Monday.The government, however, remains opposed to the idea, saying the currency issue should be approached in a broader context as it could have far-reaching ramifications over the overall economy.The argument comes as Korea’s inflation l

Hyundai Motor Co., Korea’s largest automaker, saw a great boost to its sales in China last month, becoming the third best-selling brand in the world’s largest market for automobiles, company officials said Monday.The company sold 50,717 vehicles in China last month, up 36.7 percent from the same period last year.The figure represents a near 30 percent drop from a month earlier when the company sol

The Korean unit of General Motors said Monday it would reduce production this week by up to 10 percent because of a possible lack of parts from Japan following the devastating earthquake.GM Korea ― formerly GM Daewoo ― said it would stop four hours a day of overtime work from Monday at its plants in the western city of Bupyeong and in the southwestern port of Gunsan.The company said it would also

Managers at Hansalim, Korea’s biggest cooperative of consumers, recently realized the depth of the food scare when they took a look at the surging number of their cooperative’s members. Established in 1986, Hansalim saw its membership swell by nearly 20 percent to 250,900 in January from a year ago, just by word of mouth. It spends almost nothing on public relations.The sharp increase in membershi

Prices of liquid crystal display panels have been falling since a devastating earthquake hit Japan earlier this month, industry data showed Monday, beating market forecasts that prices would trend higher on an undersupply.According to market research firm DisplaySearch, prices of LCD panels for 46-inch TVs came to $330 and those for 40 and 42-inch TVs stood at $234 as of Saturday, down about $4-14