Philip Morris Korea’s head Chung Il-woo (left) poses with Ahn Yoon-han, chief of a scholarship center in Yangsan, at Philip Morris Korea’s plant. (Philip Morris Korea)Philip Morris Korea said Monday that it had donated 100 million won ($95,000) to a scholarship center in Yangsan as part of its social responsibility activities. The company said the scholarships will be given to middle and high school students who show academic promise. The regional scholarship center was established in 2006 in a

The won-yen exchange rate is likely to drop to the 800 won level in the third quarter of next year as Japan is expected to continue quantitative easing to boost its economy, according to global financial companies like JP Morgan and Citibank. French bank BNP Paribas projected the bleakest outlook, claiming that the rate could nosedive to 700 won per 100 yen next year. The rate dropped below 960 won (92 cents) this month, the lowest since Aug. 2008, when it posted 954 won. “The weaker yen may und

Daum Communications’ headquarters on Jejudo IslandA number of tech companies have moved to Jejudo Island on for its pleasant working environment and various tax incentives in recent years. The influx of high-tech companies to the island is transforming it from an agricultural and services-based economy into a center for information technology and manufacturing. Over 100 information and bio technology companies, including Daum Communications, Nexon, ESTsoft and Moneual have already relocated to J

Jejudo Island, a repository of natural heritage loved by both South Koreans and foreign tourists, has been transforming its economic structure into more high-tech economy in recent years. Gov. Won Hee-ryong said early this month that he aims to double the island’s gross regional domestic product to 25 trillion won ($24 billion) within five years from the current 12 trillion won. The provincial government is now pushing ahead with fostering high-tech industries including electric vehicles, bio an

South Korea’s annual growth in wages growth has dropped to near zero percent when adjusted for inflation, according to recent data, meaning domestic consumption will likely remain in the doldrums. The data, for the second quarter of the year, found that wages of temporary workers had dropped in real terms over hte same period. The findings were based on data compiled by the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Employment and Labor and released on Wednesday.The average monthly pay of the nation’s em

Korea Rural Community Corp., an affiliate of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, is expanding international exchanges in an effort to export the nation’s rural development model. “As a model country for achieving self-sufficiency in staple grains within a century, we hope to share our expertise and knowledge in development of the agricultural sector with other developing nations,” said KRC president Lee Sang-mu. His remark on Tuesday came during a seminar held on the sidelines o

United Energy Co., a Russian power equipment provider, visited LS Industrial Systems to review power solutions including smart grids for Moscow’s urban development. Andrey Vladimirovich, the chief executive of UNECO, visited LSIS headquarters and plants in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, with senior executives on Sept. 15. UNECO, which was selected as the power infrastructure operator for the New Moscow Project, plans to redevelop the outdated power grids in Moscow and to adopt smart grid

The state-run Korea Productivity Center published the National Brand Competitiveness Index for 206 major brands in 59 industries in the nation early this month. The NBCI, an index that measures brand awareness, image and customer relationships, was measured based on companies’ marketing activities.This year, the KPC gathered opinions on industries’ top brands from around 100,000 consumers ― both users and nonusers ― in major cities including Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Daejeon. The Paris Ba

Apple’s ambitious mobile payment service Apple Pay may need some time to see any success in the growing local mobile payment market due to iPhone’s low penetration rate, the difficulty of building partnership with local firms and security issues. Meanwhile, Kakao, which recently launched its new Kakao Pay is expected to reign for the time being, according to market watchers. Last Tuesday, Apple unveiled Apple Pay, which lets iPhone 6 users pay in stores by holding their phones up to checkout rea

홍익대 전성인 교수 (Korea Herald)“한국 가계부채 심각한 경제위기 초래할 수 있어”가파른 가계부채 증가가 한국경제의 뇌관으로 급부상하고 있다. 1997년 외환 금융위기의 주범이 기업의 과다부채였다면, 가계부채가 제2의 경제위기를 초래할 수 있다는 전문가 진단이 증가하고 있다. 홍익대 전성인 교수는 최근 코리아헤럴드와의 인터뷰를 통해 “급증하는 가계부채가 심각한 경제위기를 초래할 수 있다”며 “ 현정부의 부동산 대출 규제 완화 정책이 이미 걷잡을 수 없는 가계부채를 더 부추길 수 있다 ”고 경고했다.기업대출을 통한 이자수익에 의존도가 높았던 한국의 은행들이 아시아 금융위기 이후 기업대출 규제가 강화되면서 부동산 담보대출 등을 통한 가계 대출을 기하급수적으로 늘리면서 가계부채가 가파르게 증가했다. 한국의 가계부채 증가 속도는 OECD 최대 수준이다. 가계부채는 지난 해 처음으로 1,000조원을 넘어섰고, 2008년과 2013년 사이 연평균 8.7%성장했다. 같은 기간 금융위기

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday it planned to raise prices by 2,000 won ($1.90) from January. South Korea’s tax ratio on cigarette prices is below the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 70 percent.Taxes make up about 62 percent of the price of a pack of cigarettes. The rest is comprised of retail margin and production costs (39 percent), an excise tax on tobacco (25.6 percent), funds for national health promotion (14.2 percent), local education tax (12.8 percent), val

The new chief of the General Insurance Association of Korea said he would make it his goal to improve the business environment for automobile insurance in the domestic insurance industry. “An accumulated deficit and an excessive loss ratio has put undue pressure on insurance companies since the early 2000s,” said Chang Nam-sik, the former CEO of LIG Insurance, who took office as the association chairman early this month.The new chief said it is necessary to readjust automobile insurance fees so

The vexing debt problem has come back to haunt the Korean economy. Back in the late 1990s, the economy suffered from humongous corporate debts, but this time, the mounting household debt has set alarm bells ringing. “South Korea’s surging household debt can trigger serious economic crisis,’’ Jun Sung-in, an economics professor at Hongik University told The Korea Herald in an interview Thursday.“The government’s latest push to ease regulations on home mortgage will increase household debts, which

Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group’s IT affiliates lost nearly 20 trillion won ($19.6 billion) from falls in their share prices since July, data showed Thursday, amid worries that the lagging performance of the group’s mainstay unit, Samsung Electronics Co., may continue this year. The combined market capitalization of Samsung Group’s four listed IT firms totaled 214 trillion won as of Wednesday, down 8.4 percent from 233.7 trillion won registered on July 1, according to the data compile

Lotte Duty Free Shop, the world’s fourth-largest duty-free chain, said Thursday it has opened a store in Japan’s Kansai International Airport as part of its global expansion drive.Lotte Duty Free and Kansai Airport Agency will jointly operate a 330-square-meter store at the regional airport near Osaka, Japan, until March 2020, the company said in a statement.The duty free store operator said it has merchandised its first Japanese outlet with a focus on Korean cosmetics brands to cater to Chinese

South Korea’s auto exports dropped sharply from a year earlier in August as output equally fell, the trade ministry said Thursday.Outbound shipments of cars fell 18.8 percent on-year to 182,795 units last month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.“Exports plunged on-year due to a drop in supplies caused by a cut in the number of working days, as well as labor strikes in August,” it said in a press release.The ministry earlier said that automobile exports, in terms of value,

South Korea’s economy expanded 0.5 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier but at the slowest pace in over a year, central bank data showed Thursday.Korea’s gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic performance, slowed from a 0.9 percent growth logged in the previous quarter, according to the revised data by the Bank of Korea.The seasonally adjusted figure also slipped from an earlier estimate of a 0.6 percent growth made in late July.Asia’s fourth-largest economy

South Korean households saw their income from interest-paying financial products drop by 13 trillion won ($13 billion) over the last nine years, data showed Thursday, reflecting the country’s low interest rate and ballooning household debt.Households’ net interest income, the excess earned from the spread between their interest income and interest payments, came in at 4.3 trillion won in 2012, shrinking from 17.4 trillion won in 2003, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea.The sharp

Overall output by the country’s agriculture and forestry industries moved up slightly from a year earlier in 2013, with a rise in agriculture production more than offsetting a drop in the production of forestry goods, the government said Thursday.The combined output by the agriculture and forestry industry came to about 46.65 trillion won ($45.79 billion) in 2013, up 0.6 percent from that of 2012, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.Such growth marks a significant sl

Both industry and environmental groups have criticized the government’s latest road map for emissions reduction.The government said Tuesday that it would begin its carbon emissions trading scheme from next year as planned, but would delay the incentive system for low-emission cars by a few years. Under the government’s emissions reduction scheme, the low-carbon vehicle incentive system, which had initially been slated to go into effect in January 2015, will be put on hold until 2020, apparently