The United States government said Friday it will keep pressing South Korea to refrain from interventions in the foreign exchange market.“The Korean authorities continue to intervene in the foreign exchange market, and the won remains weak compared to its pre-crisis levels,” the Department of the Treasury said in a semiannual report to Congress on international economic and exchange rate policies.“We will continue to press the Korean authorities to limit their foreign exchange interventions to th

South Korean stocks will try to pull off a technical rebound this week, in the face of persistent eurozone uncertainties that have weighed down global economic recovery efforts, local analysts said Saturday.The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, closed at 1,824.17 points on Friday, up 2.34 percent from a week earlier after China expressed its resolve to stimulate its economy, and U.S. housing market figures showed signs of improvement.The announcement and positive data helped calm market jitt

Automaker sees sales of 2012 models stutter due to launch of K9, cheaper import carsHyundai Motor is considering moving up the release dates for the Equus and Genesis 2013 versions as sales of the 2012-versions of the premium models have been sluggish.The recently sagging sales of the two models were attributable to a growing popularity of affiliate Kia Motors’ K9, a V8-powered luxury sedan, which was unveiled in early May.With many consumers acquainted with the news of the K9’s debut and active

The conglomerate sector has been a key investigation target of the National Tax Service and the Fair Trade Commission as the political power of the incumbent administration has weakened.The prosecution is also investigating some conglomerates’ business units for irregular practices.Over the past few months, the investigative authorities have been widening the scope of inquiries into several units of major business groups for alleged practices like tax evasion, embezzlement and price-fixing.Congl

Korean oil refiners are striving to either diversify crude oil import sources or expand the scope of trade contracts in advance of a possible ban on oil imports from Iran.Among the alternative sources of crude oil are countries in Africa and Europe, according to the Korean National Oil Corp.KNOC data showed Wednesday that the nation recently imported about 1.7 million barrels from Gabon. This was the first time in more than two years since Korea imported Gabonese oil in December 2009.Imports fro

Hyundai Motor Group dismissed the rumors that Hyundai Steel and Hyundai Hysco, two of the conglomerate’s seven subsidiaries, will merge.In their regulatory filing on the Korea Exchange, the two Hyundai units also denied the merger rumors, respectively. They said the news was “groundless.”Stock prices of the two companies fluctuated during the trading session on Tuesday, hit by the speculation that steel producer Hyundai Steel and steel sheet products manufacturer Hyundai Hysco were pushing for b

The Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday that it had fined Samsung Electronics 1.6 billion won ($1.4 million) for irregular practices in its transactions with subcontractors.This is the second time that Samsung Electronics has been fined for unfair subcontracting, as the company was fined 11.5 billion won by the antitrust regulator four years ago.According to the FTC, the memory chipmaker engaged in 28,574 cases of irregular subcontracting, equivalent to 76.3 billion won between 2008 and 2010.A to

South Korea may have to suspend Iran oil imports at the end of this monthGasoline prices in the local market are likely to climb by about 300 won ($0.26) per liter for several weeks in the wake of the European Union’s tightened sanctions on Iran, analysts said Monday.Considering the 50-liter fuel tank of an ordinary car, the situation means a surge by 15,000 won in consumer prices when a driver fills up his gasoline-empty car at a gas station.The European Union legislated rules in March to stop

Europe-based M+W continues to express desire to acquire builderTransparency has emerged as a point of contention surrounding the sale of Ssangyong Engineering and Construction, as the company could be handed over to an investor via a “private contract.”The possible sale of Ssangyong E&C via this sort of behind-the-scenes contract would be legitimate under the law as the state-run Korea Asset Management Corp., the builder’s biggest shareholder, has already failed to select a preferred bidder twic

SK Group said it will participate in a large-scale environmental cleanup business in China in coordination with a group of Korean subcontractors.The group’s coming advancement into the Chinese government-led environment sector comes after the country unveiled its project to invest about $530 billion in environmental protection over the next four years.SK Group’ inroads into the overseas business feature group chairman Chey Tae-won’s commitment to “shared growth” with subcontractors.For the overs

Kia Motors has vowed to cultivate its brand power to near that of European and Japanese automakers within five years, following a similar vision its affiliate Hyundai Motor unveiled in April.Kia disclosed the goal to become a premium auto brand during the 2012 gathering of Kia dealership owners worldwide at a hotel in Vancouver May 14-17.Kia Motors vice chairman Lee Hyung-keun told participants that the company has set a vehicle sales target of 2.21 million units in the overseas market in 2012,

Korean carmakers plan to roll out new K5, Sonata hybridsHyundai Motor and Kia Motors have yet to clarify their stance on whether to develop Genesis or K9 hybrid vehicles, though global carmakers are in heated competition to launch eco-friendly models of large-sized sedans.The players manufacturing hybrids for the luxury and premium-luxury segments include BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus.Spokespeople for Hyundai Motor Group declined to comment on the possibility that Hyundai-Kia would follow s

Hyosung Group chairman Cho Suck-rai stressed that Korea and Japan should seek a comprehensive and high-level of bilateral trade liberalization.His remarks came during his keynote speech as the chief of the Korean delegation during the 44th annual gathering of Korea-Japan business leaders in Osaka, which kicked off Wednesday.“Like the members of the European Union, it would be better for us ― Asian countries ― to push for market integration,” Cho told participants. “For the success of the Asian m

Two powerful acquirers tender bids for both Hi-Mart, Woongjin CowaySK Group and Lotte Group are engaging in fierce competition to take over big enterprises in the mergers and acquisitions market.The groups’ units -- SK Networks and Lotte Shopping -- have submitted letters of intent for the bidding to take over Hi-Mart. They also tendered bids for Woongjin Coway.The participation of the nation’s third-largest and fifth-largest business groups in the two biddings is drawing wide attention in the m

Starting Norwegian firm, automaker to sign MOUs on green carsHyundai Motor is expanding its business collaboration with Scandinavian countries to boost the carmaker’s supply of environmentally friendly vehicles.Following a pact between Hyundai and the governments of the four countries ― Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland ― in January 2011, the automaker signed a memorandum of understanding with a Norwegian firm on green car supply in Seoul on Tuesday.Under the MOU, Hyundai and Norway-based larg

 More non-Korean chiefs arrive in Korea as import auto market heats upAs Korea’s import car market grows, global automakers are increasingly opting for foreign chief executives for their Korean units.When the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association was established 17 years ago, the import car sector had only one foreign CEO.Of the 16 member firms of KAIDA, seven now have foreign CEOs. They are Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Chrysler, Jaguar/Land Rover, Stuttgart Sports Cars (or Porsche Kor

Samsung Electronics chief operating officer Lee Jay-yong dismissed market rumors that Samsung Group may have big new plans for the automotive industry.“(Samsung Group) will not carry out automobile business,” Lee told reporters over the weekend.He reiterated that executives had already made it clear that the auto sector would not be included in the group’s future business categories.The group will only continue to provide carmakers with auto-oriented semiconductors and batteries for electronic-v

Antitrust regulator slaps only 45 million won in fines on 9 online malls The Fair Trade Commission said Sunday that it has sanctioned some conglomerate-based online shopping malls for fabricating product labels in violation of laws on electronic commerce.They included the cyber shopping malls for the nation’s big three department stores ― Lotte (lotte.com), Hyundai and Shinsegae ― and four home-shopping operators ― GS, CJ, NS and Lotte (lotteimall.com).Two other players were the Interpark INT an

Four models to be unveiled in the biennial event for first time in AsiaThe sixth Busan International Motor Show, which will kick off on May 24, will feature futuristic concept cars with state-of-the-art technologies, carmakers said Friday.Some of the concept cars ― prototypes that give consumers a peek at future designs ― will be showcased for the first time in Asia via the 11-day auto fair at the BEXCO in Busan, they said.Hyundai Motor will unveil several futuristic models, such as the HND-7/He

Five more companies rated at bottom on shared-growth indexSeven big enterprises paid relatively little attention to “shared growth” with subcontractors, according an index released on Thursday by the presidential panel on shared growth.They were Dongbu Corp., Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, Homeplus, Hyosung, LG Uplus Corp. and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, according to the Commission of Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies.In the commission’s first unveiling