Delayed report prompts concern over complianceFollowing is the text of the press release from Japan Tobacco International .-- Ed.On the third anniversary of Australia’s controversial "plain" packaging legislation for tobacco products, the Government is still refusing to admit its failure. This would explain why the Department of Health is pushing back the publication of its Post-Implementation Review.Since the introduction of the branding ban in December 2012, the Government’s own data has shown

BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol presides over a meeting of the monetary policy committee in Seoul on Thursday. South Korea's central bank froze its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 1.5 percent for November on Thursday, as it continues to gauge the impact of its previous rate cuts amid recovering local demand and a looming U.S. rate hike.   This marks the fifth consecutive month the Bank of Korea  has kept the policy rate unchanged at the current level since it slashed the rate by a quarter percen

The top 10 percent of South Koreans control 66 percent of the country's wealth, with the inequality gap becoming more acute over time, a report showed Thursday. According to the report by Kim Nak-nyeon, an economics professor at Seoul's Dongguk University, Asia's fourth-largest economy is encumbered by a sizable difference in wealth between the haves and have-nots. While the rich monopolized wealth that includes both financial and property holdings, the lower 50 percent only accounted for 2 perc

The head of South Korea's central bank drew a rather gloomy picture for the future of the local and global economies Wednesday, saying they both face great uncertainties caused by the world's two largest economies. "It is hard to think of a time when the domestic and global economies did not face uncertainties, but I believe the keyword that best describes recent conditions in the global economy is uncertainty," Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a monthly breakfast meeting with econom

 About half of South Korean major conglomerates have decided to adopt a wage peak system from next year as the Seoul government pushes to reform the country's rigid labor market, a survey showed Tuesday, according to Yonhap News.Eleven conglomerates including Samsung Group, LG Group, Lotte Group and POSCO Group will embrace the new type of remuneration at all affiliated companies starting from the beginning of 2016, according to the poll of 21 large businesses conducted by the Korean Federation

 South Korea's three mobile carriers plan to start preorders for the latest iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus this week, industry sources said Sunday, a move that may cause a dent in sales of high-end models from local brands Samsung and LG, according to Yonhap News. SK Telecom Co., KT Corp., and LG Uplus will begin preorders Monday, ahead of the official release slated for Friday at both online and offline shops, the report said. While the mobile carriers earlier planned to start preorders last week

South Korean retailers witnessed a whopping sales increase for the first two weeks of October as they joined the nationwide consumption-promoting campaign, data showed Sunday, according to a report.The 22 retailers that joined the Black Friday Korea campaign saw their sales increase by a total 719.4 billion won ($634.9 million), or 20.7 percent, on-year over the cited period, data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy showed, Yonhap News reported.The government and large retail

Golfzon, the nation’s top golf simulator maker, said Thursday it signed an exclusive product distribution contract with Guangzhou-based Byron Asset Management in its efforts to expand its business in mainland China. “Under the contract, the company will supply at least 200 golf simulators to China’s third largest city via the Chinese partner for the next two years,” Golfzon said in a press release. “The contract has set a milestone for the company to tap the Chinese market with high growth poten

 Former STX Group chairman Kang Duk-soo said Wednesday that he would think about rebuilding the troubled conglomerate whose some of its major affiliates suffering liquidity shortages and mounting debts.Kang made the remarks after being released from prison in the day following a higher court's decision to give a suspended sentence to him for embezzlement and negligence of duty. The Seoul High Court sentenced the business tycoon, who headed the group from 2003 to February 2014, to three years in

  South Korean brokerage houses saw their employees decrease by more than 7,000 in the past four and a half years as the industry has undergone a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), market data showed Wednesday, Yonhap News reported.   The combined workforce of securities firms reached 36,078 as of end-June this year, down from 43,364 tallied at the end of 2010, according to data compiled by the Korea Capital Market Institute, according to the report.   The number of brokerage firms operati

 South Korea's domestic demand is gaining momentum as the positive effects of the extra budget start to materialize and nationwide promotional sales events prod people to spend more, the top economic policymaker said Wednesday, according to a report.   Yonhap reported that chairing a meeting of economy-related ministers in Seoul, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said private spending has recovered from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome scare that crippled consumption and forced the government

South Korea's top tech behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday its third-quarter operating income is estimated to have risen 79.8 percent from a year earlier, far beating market estimates.Operating income is estimated at 7.3 trillion won ($6.25 billion) for the July-September period, compared with the 4.06 trillion won posted a year earlier, Samsung said in a regulatory filing.   (Yonhap)The third-quarter operating income also marks a 5.8 percent rise from the 6.9 trillion won posted for

Tax revenue from cigarette sales is expected to reach more than 12.68 trillion won ($10.72 billion) next year, nearly double the increase from 2014, a report showed Monday.The independent Korea Federation of Taxpayers said in its report that this increase is attributable mainly to the sharp tax hike early this year but little reduction in sales volume.The government raised a total of 6.74 trillion won in tobacco tax revenue in 2014 before the tax hike took effect on Jan. 1 this year. Cigarettes

South Korea's top tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. showcased two new phablets on Thursday in the United States, with one being the larger edition of the Galaxy S6 Edge that curves on both sides, in its latest bid to revitalize its mobile business. JK Shin, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics holds the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ (left) and the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 during a presentation, Thursday at Lincoln Center in New York. (AP-Yonhap)Dubbed the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge+, the p

Shin Dong-joo, the first son of Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho, unveiled a document signed by his father that the 93-year-old tycoon ordered the firing of his brother Dong-bin and six other board of directors at Lotte Holdings.Dong-joo revealed the document during his interview with the public broadcaster KBS on Thursday after arriving in Seoul a day before to compete with his younger brother Dong-bin for the succession of the retail giant.Dong-joo also claimed that through a separate document, he w

Following is the second in a four-part series featuring the battle between Samsung C&T and Elliott Associates over the Korean builder’s merger with Cheil Industries and its implications. -- Ed.　　Samsung Group, Korea’s top conglomerate seeking a controversial merger between its two key units, is setting a final showdown with U.S. activist investor fund Elliott Associates opposing the high-profile deal at the coming shareholder vote.In May, Samsung C&T, the group’s construction and trading unit, a

Engineers from KT and Ericsson pose at the Swedish company’s headquarters on Wednesday after they succeeded in test-driving the world’s first Dual Connectivity technology. The technology allows a user to receive data from two base stations simultaneously, improving data speed and station capacity at less energy consumption.  (KT) 　　　

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. told investors to reject Samsung Group's proposed merger of two units, setting back the South Korean conglomerate's efforts to push through a deal that would solidify the founding family's control over their business empire.Investors in Samsung C&T Corp. should decline group affiliate Cheil Industries Inc.'s all-stock buyout offer when the deal comes to a shareholder vote on July 17, the proxy advisory firm said in a report. Management's revenue targets ar

A total of 113 people were on board an Indonesian air force transport plane that crashed Tuesday into a major city on Sumatra island, the country's air force chief said. There were 12 crew and 101 passengers on the Hercules C-130 when it went down and burst into flames in Medan city, Agus Supriatna told Indonesian television station MetroTV. Authorities have previously given the death toll as at least 45. (AFP)

Lee Jae-yong, heir apparent to South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, offered an apology Tuesday over a massive outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome at a group hospital, pledging support for the quick containment of the viral disease.Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul has been blamed as a major source of infections and has voluntarily shut down most of its operations after nearly half of all transmissions occurred there. Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jay-yong apologi