Rogers expects unification to make Korea a greater forceChina will dominate the 21st century. The economic policies, particularly monetary policies, pursued by the U.S. are hastening its decline. Commodities, not stocks or bonds, are the smart investments now. This is what American investor and author Jim Rogers has been saying for several years now, and it was the message he brought with him Thur

Central bank governor sees high inflationary pressureKorea’s central bank raised its key interest rate for the second time in three months Thursday as it steps up efforts to control inflation.The Bank of Korea lifted its benchmark base rate to 3 percent from 2.75 percent at a monthly meeting. The rate influences a variety of borrowing costs, including those on overnight loans between financial ins

Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., on Thursday lashed out at a recent proposal by former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan for large businesses to share their excessive profits with smaller companies.The rare attack from usually reticent Lee, 69, came as he was on his way to a monthly meeting of the executive board of the Federation of Korean Industries, the largest business lobby in Kor

 Kang Man-soo, senior presidential economic adviser and former finance minister, was recommended Thursday as the next chairman of state-run KDB Financial Group Inc.The Financial Services Commission requested President Lee Myung-bak appoint Kang to lead the group, which controls Korea Development Bank. He would double as chief of the lender.Kang, 66, will replace Min Euoo-sung, who led the state fi

Korean credit card companies saw earnings surge 46.1 percent last year from a year earlier due mainly to one-off gains, the financial regulator said Thursday.The combined net profit of six local credit card-only companies reached 2.72 trillion won ($2.4 billion) in 2010, compared with 1.86 trillion won in 2009, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a report.The stronger bottom line came

The head of LG Display Co., the world’s No. 2 maker of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, said Thursday electronics giant Sony Corp. is mulling using its proprietary 3-D panels for the Japanese company’s 3-D TVs.Kwon Young-soo made the remark amid its on-going battle with Samsung Electronics Co. to win the 3-D TV industry standard. LG Display developed the proprietary film patterned retarder (FP

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of flat-screen TVs by shipments, is pinning its hopes on African countries to fuel sales growth of flat-screen TVs, a company executive said Thursday.“Africa has huge growth potential,” Yoon Boo-keun, president of Samsung’s visual display division, told reporters ahead of his departure to the continent. “Cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs have been mainst

Higher oil prices will have a greater impact on Korea than other Asian economies, Goldman Sachs said, indicating its economic growth is more exposed to oil price risks.Goldman Sachs said Korea’s economic growth, along with that of Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore, will be reduced by 30 basis points in proportion to a 10 percentage point rise in global crude oil prices.Countries in Asia, with the exc

Hana Financial Group Inc. has nominated its current chairman to continue leading the country’s fourth-largest financial holding company for another year.The group’s board of directors made the decision on Wednesday in a bid to successfully finalize its takeover of Korea Exchange Bank, which started under the leadership of Chairman Kim Seung-yu, according to Hana Financial. Kim Seung-yuThe finaliza

Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor on Thursday unveiled a three-door compact car aimed at younger customers, after a 40-month development program costing 270 billion won ($242 million).The Veloster is the company’s first vehicle with an odd number of side doors ― one on the driver’s side and two on the passenger side. Hyundai Motor Co. launches its new compact passenger vehicle, the Veloster, in

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday threatened to hold up a trade pact with Korea unless President Barack Obama’s administration moves ahead on separate deals with Colombia and Panama.Obama, who faces skepticism on free trade from part of his Democratic Party’s base, has publicly called for approval of deals with all three nations this year but wants time to fine-tune the packages with

Korea’s producer prices rose at the fastest pace in more than two years in February due to a hike in international oil and commodity prices, the central bank said Thursday.The producer price index (PPI), a barometer of future consumer inflation, climbed 6.6 percent in February from a year earlier, up from 6.2 percent the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.It marked the fastest expansio

Ssangyong Motor Co., Korea‘s smallest automaker, emerged from bankruptcy protection Wednesday following the sale of its stake to Indian utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., the company said in a regulatory filing.Ssangyong, previously owned by China’s Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., has been under court protection since February 2009 when its Chinese parent abandoned it in the face

Korea’s bourse operator on Wednesday gave the green light to Hana Financial Group Inc.‘s request to list its new shares on the local bourse, a move expected to expedite the group’s takeover of the country‘s fifth-largest lender.Hana Financial’s new shares will start trading on Thursday, the Korea Exchange (KRX) said in an e-mailed statement, adding that the decision was reached upon a comprehensiv

In the early days of her 30-year career, Lee Young-hui, executive vice president for Korea’s telecom titan KT Corp., said that she had to challenge the norm and work hard to earn even things taken for granted by her male colleagues. “I didn’t imagine promotion was possible for women,” Lee told Yonhap News Agency in a recent interview in her office south of Seoul. “Back then, women were not even el

Korea plans to tighten supervision of savings banks after the government was forced to suspend eight lenders this year because they were unable to meet depositors’ withdrawal demands. The Financial Services Commission will stop setting favorable lending limits for savings banks that have a capital-adequacy ratio of more than 8 percent and a bad-loan ratio below 8 percent, the regulator said in a r

Korea Electric Power Corp., Korea’s biggest electricity producer, plans to invest 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) over the next five years in a smart grid as part of the government’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Adding two-way communications and other enhancements to the nation’s current power-transmission grid nationwide by 2030 may cut about 10 percent of Korea’s annual power consumption, w

Korean lenders’ average capital adequacy ratio fell in the fourth quarter after Hana Bank helped finance its parent company’s purchase of Korea Exchange Bank. The ratio, a measure of capital reserves against assets at risk under the Basel II standard, slipped to 14.6 percent at the end of December from 14.62 percent three months earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement. The a

BOK officials point to drop in money supply growth to more than 5-year low in JanuaryThe Bank of Korea said Wednesday it would focus interest rate policy on firmly securing price stability as Asia’s fourth-largest economy will face upward inflation pressures on both the demand and supply fronts.The Korean central bank also said in a policy report to parliament that it would continue its effort to

Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., said Tuesday that the electronics giant should produce more competitive products in order to dominate the global markets. Samsung Electronics is the world’s top maker of computer memory chips, liquid-crystal display panels and flat-screen TVs. It is also the runner-up in the semiconductor market after Intel Corp. and is the No. 2 mobile brand after