Samsung Electronics Co. will launch a WiFi-only version of the Galaxy Tab in the domestic market, which is one-third cheaper than its predecessor, the company said Tuesday. Samsung Electronics started to receive pre-orders for the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab at the price of 600,000 won ($536) this week through its online Web site and retail shops in Korea. It did not disclose the launch date.The WiFi-onl

The delinquency rate of Korean financial companies‘ household loans gained in 2010 from a year earlier, a report showed Tuesday, adding concerns over worsening loan repayment ability.The default rate stood at 1.09 percent of their total lending as of the end of 2010, up 0.06 percentage point from end-2009, the Financial Supervisory Service said in the report to the National Assembly.Out of the tot

Korea’s exports of used vehicles dropped in 2010 from a year earlier, a local trade body said Tuesday, despite a large boost in overseas sales of new Korean cars last year.The country shipped 239,556 pre-owned vehicles to overseas countries last year, down 9.4 percent from 264,742 units a year earlier, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).Revenue from overseas sales of

Korea’s KOSPI Index, which posted its biggest monthly decline in two years last month, had its mid-year target cut at Citigroup Inc. on concern higher oil prices will hurt corporate profits.The mid-year estimate for the benchmark stock gauge was reduced to 2,050-2,150 from 2,200-2,300, Citigroup analysts led by Michael Chung wrote in a report dated yesterday. The brokerage increased its Brent crud

Korea’s Finance Ministry said on Tuesday in a closely watched monthly report that economic uncertainty has increased globally and that domestic demand in Asia’s fourth-largest economy showed signs of softening. “Recovery in the world economy is improving but uncertainty has increased due to such factors as the political unrest in the Middle East, possible monetary policy tightening in emerging eco

Apple Inc.’s iPad won approval from U.S. regulators to display navigational charts for some charter pilots, a step that may speed the end of the decades-old tradition of paper maps in the cockpit. With the Federal Aviation Administration endorsing iPads in a test project at Executive Jet Management, a unit of Warren Buffett’s NetJets, the way is open for pilots at airlines and other commercial car

Korea’s household savings rate stayed far below the average for major economies in the world, a report showed Monday, apparently indicating that the latest economic crisis resulted in a decline in income reserved for bank savings. According to the report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Korea’s household savings rate ― the ratio of savings to total disposable income ―

The head of Korea’s largest trade organization urged the country’s National Assembly Monday to quickly ratify the free trade agreement with the European Union.SaKong Il, chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, said the Korea-EU FTA is the key to boosting the country’s annual trade volume to over $1 trillion for the first time in its history. SaKong Il“The Korea-EU FTA is expected to

Output of five automakers in Korea rose 6.4 percent on-year in February with strong demand at home and abroad also keeping their sales humming, an industry group said Monday.Led by industry leader Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp., the automakers produced 297,350 vehicles last month, compared with 279,368 units a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Asso

Korea is seeking to sell bonds to a broader range of investors, especially within Asia, to limit the risk of large, swift investment outflows triggering a crisis, a finance ministry official said.“We would like to broaden our bond buyers overseas so that we can avoid a financial crisis caused by the sudden flight by a few,” Woo Hae-young, director of the Government Bond Policy Division at the Mini

Korea has been bolstering the vertical farming industry since 2009 as a future growth engine and a measure to stabilize food supplies. The country is a latecomer to the scene but is pinning high hopes on its advanced technologies in electronics and communications to help it emerge as a competitive player in the field.The concept of integrating agriculture into a built environment was invented in a

Cities produce crops as Korea looks for green ways to boost food outputA farm in Yongin on the outskirts of Seoul is ripe with salad greens. But rows of lollo and romaine lettuces are not sprouting from the earth. The plants are thriving on plastic shelves inside a seven-story office building.The “vertical farm,” run by Insung Tech, cultivates indoor crops by artificially supplying air, water, lig

A malicious code embedded in personal computers to attack Internet sites in Korea began to destroy hard drives of their host computers on Sunday, communication authorities said. Key government agencies and financial institutions suffered cyber assaults Friday and Saturday with minor damage caused. On Sunday, the code for the so-called “distributed denial-of-service” attacks activated an order to d

Hanwha SolarOne Co., a solar-products maker formerly known as Solarfun Power Holdings Co., formerly announced the change of its name and NASDAQ ticker symbol in a ceremony in New York City on Friday. Peter Xie, president and CEO of the company affiliated with Hanwha Chemical Corp., rang the closing bell to mark the completion of the company’s rebranding. The Shanghai-based company changed its name

Korean stocks closed 2.2 percent higher on Thursday, recouping losses from earlier this week, as a series of encouraging economic data spurred strong foreign and institutional buying, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 42.42 points to 1,970.66. Trading volume was moderate at 277.2 million shares worth 5.13 t

Korea’s No. 1 carmaker launches i40 D-class vehicle at Geneva auto showGENEVA (AP) ― Fast-growing Hyundai may be best known for its small cars, but plans to break into the premium market with a new sedan has the big guys looking over their shoulders.The Korean automaker is not half as well known in Europe as Toyota, for example, and consumers typically associate its cars with affordability rather

Korea’s business community declared an “energy emergency” Thursday, pledging to implement energy conservation measures to help the country cope with high-flying oil prices.The resource-poor country relies almost entirely on imports for its oil needs, with 82 percent being imported from the Middle East.In a meeting with Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Joong-kyung in Seoul, business leaders from the

Experts remain cautious due to oil prices, external uncertaintiesKorea’s industrial output grew faster than expected in January on strong overseas demand, with semiconductor and auto makers leading the way, official figures showed Thursday.But the government remained cautious about future economic trends, citing higher oil prices and other external factors that might serve as a drag on recovery he

Foreign investors swung to massive net selling of Korean stocks in February as mounting inflation threats and political uprisings in Arab countries put a damper on sentiment, the financial regulator said Thursday. Foreigners pulled 3.7 trillion won ($3.3 billion) of Korean shares out of the local bourse last month, compared with net buying worth 1.4 trillion in January, the Financial Supervisory S

Korea needs to sign a three-way free trade deal with Japan and China in a bid to boost prosperity in Asia and better prepare for external shocks, a senior finance ministry official said Thursday.“Economic integration should be pursued to help the East Asian countries flexibly deal with global uncertainties and realize their co-prosperity in this region,” Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong told an