The South Korean stock market is anticipated to bounce back this week, snapping its two-session losing streak, on the government’s latest stimulus package that has whetted foreign investors’ appetite for local shares, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 1.92 percent from the previous week to close at 2,073.10 on Friday, extending its losing streak to a second session. Earlier this week, Seoul shares traded bullish on the strength of better-than-expected

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s top automaker, will begin selling a revamped Genesis luxury sedan in China this month, a company official said Saturday, as it seeks to better compete with German brands in the high-end segment of the world’s largest car market. The revamped Genesis, which was introduced in South Korea in November and in the United States in April, will hit showrooms in China on Aug. 18, the official said on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the med

South Korean insurance companies saw their net income soar 36.2 percent in the first six months of 2014 from a year earlier, buoyed by a rise in investment-related earnings, the financial watchdog said Sunday. The combined net income of local life and nonlife insurers reached 3.38 trillion won ($3.26 billion) in the January-June period, compared with 2.48 trillion won the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.Life insurance firms logged a 23.3 percent on-year jump in prof

South Korea’s top two tech firms are aiming for a bigger world market share this year with their ultrahigh-definition TVs for combined sales of close to 5 million units, industry officials said Sunday. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics predict a fast expansion of UHD TV demand, up to 12 million units this year from just 1.6 million last year.Japan’s Sony and China’s major players have been successfully penetrating the relatively new market that took shape in 2012, eroding sales by the two S

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, said Tuesday it swung to a net loss in the second quarter from a year ago mainly due to a reserve for expected loss from large-scale projects and the stronger home currency.Net loss came to 616.6 billion won ($601.7 million) in the April-June period, compared with a net profit of 66.8 billion won a year ago, the shipbuilder said in a regulatory filing. Sales fell 2.1 percent to 12.81 trillion won in the period. The company also posted 1.

Korea Gas Corp. CEO Jang Seok-hyoKorea Gas Corp. CEO Jang Seok-hyo hosted a communication session with employees on Monday to explain the pending management issues, the company said on Monday. The move came after the KOGAS labor union launched a strike last week against the company’s plan on debt and employee benefit restructuring. “The most imminent task ahead of the company is to regain the trust of the public back through innovative corporate reform measures,” Jang said. One of keys in the re

South Korean stocks on Friday reached a new high for 2014, bolstered by expectations that government stimulus measures may boost the local economy, analysts said.Starting the day in positive territory, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose to 2,036.20 at one point during the trading session before finishing at 2,033.85, up 0.36 percent, or 7.23 points, from Thursday’s close.Trading volume was modest at 264.51 million shares worth 3.85 trillion won ($3.73 billion), with advancers o

Hyundai Engineering and Construction, the nation’s top builder, said Friday its net earnings for the second quarter surged 20.8 percent on-year to 156.9 billion won ($152.1 million), helped by the start of large-scale overseas projects.Operating profit soared 39.3 percent to 279.6 billion won in the same period, with sales numbers jumping 35.5 percent from the year before to a little more than 4.7 trillion won, the company said in a regulatory filing. “The sharp increase in earnings across the b

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s No. 2 automaker, said Friday its net income for the second quarter plunged 13.3 percent on-year to 1.02 trillion won ($988 million), due to unfavorable exchange rates that offset gains in the total number of cars it sold. Operating profit also nosedived 31.7 percent to 769.7 billion won in the same period, with earnings generated by sales falling 8.1 percent to 12.05 trillion won, the company said in a regulatory filing.Kia reported selling 775,253 cars in the thr

SK Innovation, the holding company of SK Group’s energy units, including SK Energy, said Friday its net income swung to the red from a year earlier due to a weak refining margin and foreign exchange losses.Net loss reached 23 billion won ($22.33 million) in the April-June period compared with a year ago when the company logged 267 billion won of net profit, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company also posted an operating deficit of 23 billion won, while its sales dropped 2.1 percent

POSCO, South Korea’s top steelmaker, said Thursday its second-quarter net income more than doubled from a year ago, mainly due to better earnings from its foreign operations. Net profit stood at 487 billion won ($474.8 million) in the April-June period, up 102 percent compared to 241 billion won tallied a year earlier, POSCO said in a regulatory filing. Overall revenues as outlined in the consolidated report rose about 7 percent to 16.7 trillion won in the three-month period with operating profi

Hydro Asia is the largest regional meeting to discuss water issues on an academic level. The event has been held in Korea since 2007 and K-water took over hosting the regional event from 2014. The event originates from Hydro Europe, created by the University of Nice in France, which implemented the launch of the program in association with six European universities in 2001. The objective of Hydro Europe is to promote ― in a global European vision ― the key concepts, methodologies, tools and good

Climate change is emerging as a critical factor in the development of a sustainable water management model as many countries across the world have suffered from various water-related natural disasters, such as unprecedented drought and floods triggered by changing climate conditions.“Climate change is no longer a story that we are far from, but it is a serious problem that we are facing today,” said Choi Gye-woon, CEO of Korea Water Resources Corp. ― also known as K-water ― in his opening remark

“You had me at hello” and “Nice boots, let’s go to my place” may be viewed as opposite extremes on the spectrum of dating dynamics. Korean employers and headhunters appear to subscribe to the latter. They select workers on obsolete premises without any relevance to the ultimate objective: healthy labor relations and productive workforce. Their job application forms screen applicants’ height, weight, eyesight, blood type, family finances, drinking habits, you name it. Some ask about shoe size to

The year 2013 was a turning point for self-made billionaire Park Hyeon-joo, founder of Mirae Asset Financial Group. The company, debuted in 1997 as a mutual fund management firm, advanced onto the list of the nation’s top 30 conglomerates by assets last year for the first time in its 17-year history. According to the Fair Trade Commission, the nonmanufacturing group was ranked 29th with 9.7 trillion won ($9.4 billion) in terms of assets. Mirae Asset has continued to expand its assets for the pas

The Seoul government is set to announce its final plans for opening the rice market as early next week despite strong objections from farmers as well as ongoing debates about high import duties, a pre-condition for the market opening. “We could no longer delay our decision. We have no other alternative, but to accept the market opening by imposing tariffs (on rice imports),” Yeo In-hong, vice minister of agriculture, food, and rural affairs said during the last public hearing, held at the Nation

South Korean stocks retreated 0.7 percent on Friday as concerns of a fresh wave of bank failures in Europe dampened investors’ appetite for riskier assets, analysts said. The local currency fell sharply against the U.S. greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index tumbled 14.1 points to 1,988.74, failing to retain the psychologically important 2,000-point level, after reports of accounting irregularities at one of Portugal’s largest banks. Trading volume was moderate at 271.9 milli

South Korea’s leading tech giant Samsung Electronics said Friday it has renovated its application store as “Galaxy Apps” to provide users with a wider choice for customization of mobile devices.The version is an update from the company’s previous “Samsung Apps” store and offers hundreds of apps exclusively available to users of Samsung Galaxy smart devices. Samsung said the new app store will be available to 130 million users in 161 countries. “At Samsung, we continuously strive to create value

The Science Ministry said Friday that it is well gearing up to hold the meeting of a United Nations agency specialized in information and communication technologies slated for October in the country. With the event 100 days away, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said the meeting will be an opportunity for South Korea to become a “fast mover” in the information and communications sector, developing from the current “fast follower” status. South Korea will host the 19th Internation

South Korea has expressed concerns over Chile’s ongoing consideration to impose an environment tax on diesel cars, a move that could hurt the nation’s vehicle exports to the Latin American country, a government official in Seoul said Friday.South Korea’s concerns were conveyed in a recent letter to the Chilean government, according to the official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It also noted such a tax may violate the countries’ bilateral fr