North Korea’s trade volume fell 15 percent last year on-year to reach $5.5 billion due mainly to stronger sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, according to state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency on Monday. According to the KOTRA report, North Korea’s export volume stood at $1.7 billion last year, a 37.2 percent fall from the previous year, and imports came to $3.7 billion, a 1.8 percent rise, during the same period. Its trade deficit rose 125.5 percent to $2 billi

Samsung projected on Friday that it generated 58 trillion won ($51 billion) in sales and 14.8 trillion won in operating profits in the second quarter, the first quarter-on-quarter fall in seven quarters. The decline came from weak smartphone sales despite record high chip earnings, according to analysts. Although the tech behemoth’s earnings are expected to rebound in the third quarter due to the rise of chip demand, the company’s long-term outlook does not look rosy. The tech firm’s market lead

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Tuesday it found 18 holding companies of conglomerates generated income more from brand royalties, rental properties and consulting fees than dividend income.  The main source of holding companies’ income should be dividends from their affiliates but they generated income from other sources for the benefit of their controlling families and as a means to tighten their grip on power, according to the Fair Trade Commission.  (Yonhap)The FTC found holding compan

US aircraft solutions provider Honeywell is tapping deeper into the growing Korean aviation market with its new connected aircraft and flight efficiency solutions that help save fuel costs. In the last five years, Korea’s air traffic has increased by an average of 6.9 percent per year, outpacing the global average of 5.6 percent, according to government data. Honeywell expects this growth to be sustainable, as Korea is focusing on attracting more visitors to the country. “South Korea remains a p

The South Korea government has delivered its opposition to the Trump administration’s gestures to up tariffs on imported cars, claiming the tariff hike may negatively boomerang on the US economy, according to Seoul’s Trade Ministry on Sunday. 　Reflecting the growing anxiety of the local auto industry, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu visited Washington last week to deliver Seoul’s stance on the issue to the related US politicians and business representatives. During consecutive

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog is likely to retain its exclusive right to charge businesses despite prosecutors’ claim that it should be abolished with intent to expand their investigation power, based on a report by a special committee.On Thursday, the special committee dedicated to reforming the nation’s fair trade law announced the results of a three-month review. The highlight was whether to abolish the Fair Trade Commission’s exclusive right to charge businesses. Under the current law, pr

During a forum on Tuesday, experts on North Korea shared views that overheated expectations of inter-Korean economic cooperation should be moderated, as companies may have to wait a long time before seeing the benefits of economic ties. Following the historic US-North Korea summit earlier this month and the inter-Korea summit in April, media outlets and analysts have expressed an optimistic economic outlook for the two Koreas, while industries and governments busily set up task forces to embrace

South Korea is taking the initiative in forest welfare, with the aim of maximizing economic value of forests for the public, according to the chief of the Korea Forest Welfare Institute. “The focus of Korea’s forests has transformed over the 40 years from simple afforestation to forest resources to sustainable forest management,” said Yoon Young-kyoon, president of the Korea Forest Welfare Institute, in an interview with The Korea Herald.Yoon Young-kyoon, president of the Korea Forest Welfare In

Southeast Asia can offer market and business opportunities to South Korea with its young, digitally connected and growing middle class in return for Korea’s sharing of its quickly developed economic strategies, according to a high-ranking official from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Community. “Korea will benefit from ASEAN’s dynamism, creativity and growth potential, as the regional production networks are fast expanding,” said Aladdin D. Rillo, deputy secretary-general for

The nation’s antitrust watchdog chief underlined that prosecutors’ recent raid of the Fair Trade Commission is unrelated with the FTC’s move to overhaul its fair trade law, which includes the abolition of its exclusive right to charge businesses. “Following the raid by the prosecution, there have been news reports that imply conflicts between the prosecutors and the FTC, spreading unnecessary rumors,” FTC chief Kim Sang-jo said in a statement Friday. “Prosecutors’ latest investigation targets th

Members of academia and businesses gathered in Seoul on Thursday to discuss how to tackle environment and energy problems through microbial waste management at the 2018 Daesung Haegang Microbes Forum.With the theme of “From Waste to Energy,” the forum was attended by around 120 participants. It is aimed at having experts contribute to the joint development of both the environment and energy fields through discussions about the technical challenges and potential commercialization of cutting-edge

Samsung SDS’ small shareholders have voiced their anger at the nation’s antitrust watchdog head, claiming his remarks Thursday drove the firm’s shares to plunge. On Thursday, the Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Sang-jo had urged the owner families of conglomerates to sell off stocks of non-key affiliates, referring to the businesses of system integration, real estate, logistics and advertising. “Following Kim’s remark, shares of Samsung SDS -- whose main business is system integration -- plun

South Korea’s leading telecom operator KT once again faces an escalating “CEO risk” as police sought an arrest warrant on Monday for its CEO Hwang Chang-gyu for alleged involvement in the firm’s illegal donations to lawmakers. Hwang was suspected of creating 1.1 billion won ($1 million) in slush funds from May 2014 to October 2017 and of spending 442 million won of the money for illegal donations to 99 lawmakers. Hwang Chang-gyu arrives for questioning at a police station in Seoul on April 17. (

LS Cable & System is slated to advance into the Indonesian cable market by setting up a joint corporation with local company Artha Graha Network. AG Group, one of Indonesia’s top 10 companies, runs businesses in the areas of banks, hotels, construction and resorts. LS Cable & System CEO Myung Roh-hyun (third from right) poses for a photo with AG Group Chairman Panji Winata (fourth from right) after signing an agreement in Seoul on Monday. (LS Cable & System)LS signed an agreement with AG Group i

LS Corp. and its affiliates have become the first companies to be sanctioned since antitrust watchdog chief Kim Sang-jo said the Fair Trade Commission would take a tougher stance on conglomerates’ inter-subsidiary dealings Thursday. The FTC said Monday it would impose penalties of a total of 25 billion won ($22 million) on LS Corp. and its affiliates, and report six owner family members to the prosecution.“We decided to impose penalties and report the management to prosecutors after we found the

The Korean economy is likely to be hit hard as its two biggest trading partners are on the brink of a trade war following threats to slap each other with hefty tariffs over the weekend. (Yonhap)On Friday, the Trump administration announced it would impose 25 percent tariffs on the Chinese goods worth $50 billion in an effort to protect the US intellectual property and technology. A day later, China responded to the US by announcing 25 percent tariffs on a $34 billion list of the US goods in the

The nation’s antitrust watchdog head said Thursday that it would take a tougher stance on conglomerates’ inter-subsidiary dealings, stressing that they benefit the interests of owner families and harm the business ecosystem of small firms and traders. “We will make sure that such unfair practices will no longer be tolerated in the market through strict law enforcement,” FTC Chairman Kim Sang-jo said at a press briefing Thursday.  Kim Sang-jo, head of the Fair Trade Commission (Yonhap)He urged th

A male staff member of 3M Korea looked excited and happy at the 14th AmCham CEO Servers’ Night at the Conrad Seoul on Tuesday.After taking a selfie with his company head, he said, “I got up some courage under the influence of alcohol. I am now so happy that I just sent the photo to my parents.”The 14th AmCham CEO Servers’ Night (AmCham)Next to him, 3M Korea President Amit Laroya was busy serving wine and food to around 20 employees, cheering his staff and giving presents to them through small ev

Anticipation for economic ties with the North is growing in the South following the milestone US-North Korea summit on Tuesday and the inter-Korean summit in April. North Korea opening its market could be a boost to South Korea’s economy in the long term, as it has already entered a slow-growth stage, but it would come at the expense of hefty costs in the short-to-mid term, analysts said. According to a report released by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in 2015, inter-Korea

The South Korean police began an investigation on Monday after Korea’s seventh largest crypto exchange Coinrail lost more than 40 billion ($37 million) in altcoins in an apparent attack by hackers over the weekend. “We secured the access history of Coinrail servers and we are in the process of analyzing them,” said a police spokesperson.  The police said it would figure out whether the leakage of the cryptocurrencies are caused by hacking or computer network problems. On M