Booyoung Group, a leading Korean rental housing builder, on Thursday invited an African choir to the company’s headquarters in Seoul, vowing to support more educational programs for youths in African countries.The Choeur Africain des Jeunes sang a popular children’s song written during the Japanese imperial period in front of some 150 Booyoung employees who watched the performance, the company officials said.The Choeur Africain des Jeunes is a group composed of 31 members from eight African coun

OB Beer, South Korea’s leading beer producer, plans to take legal action to combat the spreading of rumors that its Cass brand was mixed with disinfectant solution, company officials said. OB has requested a cyberinvestigation into who posted the online messages claiming to have witnessed the contamination process, warning customers against consuming Cass beer. “When beer gets exposed to high temperature and strong sunrays in the summer, it can develop a bitter chemical taste and a unique odor,”

T’way Air, a Korean budget carrier, launched an early-bird promotion for domestic and international flight tickets for October, the company said Friday.The campaign offers discounts of up to 82 percent on cheap flight tickets. Tickets for domestic flights to Jejudo Island, Daegu and Gwangju from Gimpo International Airport go on sale for two weeks starting Monday at 10 a.m. One-way fares will start at 24,900 won ($23.90), T’way officials said.As for international flights, the carrier is offering

A revised privacy law prohibiting all public institutions and companies from collecting citizens’ resident numbers is coming into effect on Thursday as planned, but concerns linger as to its effectiveness. Earlier this year, the government announced that it will ban firms from requesting resident registration numbers ― the most generally used form of identification here ― for commercial and financial transactions. Credit cards, banks and other financial institutions must also wipe resident numbe

The number of dormant credit cards in South Korea dropped below the 10 million mark last month, marking the first time it has done so since 2005 when the Credit Finance Association began tracking the data.About 9.7 million credit cards issued by 20 banks and card companies had remained idle for more than a year. The figure was down more than half from the 23.5 million a year earlier, according to the CFA on Tuesday.CFA officials explained that the decline is due in part to the government’s home-

South Korea will see limited effects from Argentina’s debt crisis, and the U.S. and Europe’s additional sanctions against Russia as Korean companies have relatively low financial exposure to the emerging markets, the Financial Supervisory Service said.“Domestic banks have been stably renewing their short-term debt, and market interest rates have been facing low volatility,” an FSS official said.The global financial markets have been in panic after the International Swaps and Derivatives Associat

Hugues AntierBNP Paribas’ Seoul branch on Friday said it appointed Hugues Antier as its new chief operating officer.Antier will have various duties overseeing information technology, general management, finance, tax and operational permanent control, the bank said. The COO started his banking career at the France-based BNP headquarters in 1996 after earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Angers in France. Following the merger between BNP and Paribas Bank in 2000, he work

Woori Bank said Wednesday it would introduce a digital bankbook application next month to phase out conventional bankbooks. The digital bankbook smart application will be available for Android-based devices as of Aug. 1, while iOS users can download it from Aug. 11, according to Woori officials.Under the current banking system here, users must use either bankbooks or debit cards to withdraw and deposit cash at ATMs. But the new application will make the process easier by requiring only smartphon

Hana Financial Group executives should first gain the trust of Korea Exchange Bank employees before taking steps to merge KEB with Hana Bank, KEB union spokesman Kim Bo-heon said.“The 2012 agreement with Hana, which guaranteed KEB’s managerial independence for the following five years, basically embodies our hopes to secure KEB’s identity and competency. Breaking that promise means breaking the trust of the union and management,” Kim recently told The Korea Herald. Kim Bo-heon. ( Ahn Hoon/The Ko

Daewoo Engineering & Construction, a leading South Korean builder, achieved a better-than-expected 95.7 billion won ($92.9 million) in net earnings in the first half of this year, an 18 percent increase from the same period a year ago, the company said on Friday. Daewoo logged 222.5 billion won in operating profit and 4.53 trillion won in revenue, up 2.2 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, from the same period last year. Daewoo officials attributed the net profit increase in the first half to

Philippines President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (on screen) on Monday delivers a congratulatory speech during a ceremony celebrating the completion of the Philippines Arena built by Hanwha Engineering & Construction. (Hanwha E&C)Hanwha Engineering and Construction Corp. on Monday celebrated the completion of the Philippines Arena, the world’s largest domed arena, in the Philippines.The ceremony was attended by some 60,000 people including Philippines President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco

Hundreds of families, students and visitors participated in a design festival aimed at promoting local products and introducing stylish and yet practical design ideas.The Hi Design Festival was held at Hibrand, a shopping outlet located in the affluent Yangjae-dong area of Seoul, from Friday to Sunday under the theme of “a healing family festival.”The festival was jointly hosted by Herald Corp. and Hibrand, featuring products by young inspiring designers. Some 30 local designers participated in

Caffe Bene is striving to gain a firm foothold in the U.S. market, hoping to become a bigger presence there within the next three years, Kim Sun-kwon, the chief executive of the South Korean coffee franchise, said on Thursday.“Increasing our exposure to U.S. consumers is the foremost task lying ahead of us,” Kim told the press at Caffe Bene’s new roasting plant in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province.Kim also said Caffe Bene signed a contract with a U.S. production firm three months ago for its U.S. outlet

Line Corp., the Japan-based affiliate of South Korea’s Naver Corp. was seen to be preparing for a debut in the U.S. and Japanese stock markets, according to a regulatory filing by Naver on Wednesday. “We have submitted the related documents to the Tokyo Stock Exchange for a flotation,” Naver said in a regulatory filing. It also said it may pursue an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ, echoing comments from its chief financial officer Hwang In-joon last year. Yoon Wo

GS Homeshopping, the country’s leading home shopping company, is preparing to make an offer to acquire a majority stake in the car rental firm KT Rental, a local daily said on Tuesday.Reports of GS’ intentions came about a month after KT Corp. publicly announced the sales of two nonmajor affiliates ― KT Rental and KT Capital ― as part of its efforts to regain financial soundness and focus on the ICT business. GS Homeshopping CEO Huh Tae-soo has reportedly been in talks with global investment ban

The country’s financial regulators are set to punish the state-run Korea Development Bank by holding it responsible for poor loan management as the main creditor of STX Group and Dongbu Group, according to local reports.The Financial Supervisory Service and Financial Services Commission have recently launched a special audit into the KDB on allegations that the bank fabricated STX Offshore & Shipbuilding’s credit rating and raised the shipbuilder’s credit limit by 300 billion won ($294.6 million

Hana Financial Group chairman Kim Jung-tae has reiterated his support for speeding up the merger between Hana and Korea Exchange Bank, stressing that the synergy from the integration would be worth up to 1 trillion won ($980 million).“The KEB, Hana merger is a bonanza,” Kim said during an executive workshop over the weekend. “The early merger will serve as a critical opportunity to make a breakthrough in the internal and external crises and prepare for future growth.”  Hana Financial Group chair

TOKYO ― Diageo Korea, the Korean branch of the world’s largest distiller, is poised to enter the neighboring Japanese ready-to-drink market, leveraging its production line in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.“Riding on the fast-growing demand for bottled alcoholic beverages in Japan, we debuted Smirnoff Ice Green Apple, produced on the Icheon production line, in Japan last week,” Diageo Korea CEO Cho Kil-soo said in a press meeting held in Tokyo on Thursday.“We expect to rake in about $15 million in sa

In the latest music video by K-pop sensation Psy, the rapper and his right-hand man Snoop Dogg drink round-the-clock at different venues, imitating the nightlife in South Korea. They down soju, beer and whatever comes their way.But drinking a copious amount of booze is not what all night activities are about here.From a pub equipped with a digital dating system to chimaek fiesta, new forms of night culture have become fresh recreation for Koreans and once-in-a-lifetime experiences for foreign vi

The average amount of credit card spending per purchase plunged to the lowest level in history last month, indicating a change in patterns of credit card usage among South Korean consumers.South Koreans spent an average of 45,319 won ($44.80) per purchase last month, down 9.5 percent on-year, the Credit Finance Association of Korea said on Tuesday.The decreased credit card spending was driven by a change in the way consumers use their cards ― spending less per transaction with debit cards, the C