Foreign investment banks see that the Bank of Korea is unlikely to change the benchmark interest rate by the second quarter of next year. According to the new projection data, Barclays Capital, Citibank and Morgan Stanley projected that the central bank will keep steady the interest rate at 3.25 per

Bigger margins, troubles at savings banks a boon for major banksKorean banks are expected to post a record profit in the third quarter of this year, helped by wider margins as lenders hiked loan rates but lowered deposit rates. Margin in the banking sector refers to the percentage added to a market

Local lenders tighten loans, hurting smaller companiesCash flow is slowing at a growing number of Korean firms, both big and small, sending a fresh warning signal to policymakers faced with greater economic uncertainties at home and abroad. Industry data from the Korea Listed Companies Association,

Kim Choong-hoHyundai Motor president and co-CEO Yang Seung-suk has resigned for personal reasons and Kim Choong-ho, chief of domestic sales, will take over as new head of the automaker, the company said on Friday.Kim, 60, will be in charge of domestic sales, marketing and business strategy, part of

Samsung Electronics, Asia’s largest technology company, pulled off record earnings last year, but its revenue and operating income for 2011 might underperform heightened expectations, analysts said on Friday.Samsung posted an operating profit of 17.3 trillion won ($14.7 billion) on revenue of 154.6

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) -- South Korea's LG Display Co. said Friday localization is a priority in its China business in order to further expand its presence in the world's No. 2 economy."For LG Display, China is not a mere market" said Lee Bang-soo, LG Display's vice-president of public affairs and

(Yonhap News)Contingency plan  activated; top financial regulator sees extended turmoil in marketThe alert level for Korea’s financial market has been raised to the second highest in the five-tier scale, reflecting the growing concerns about the possibility of the global recession as well as th

The income growth rate of Korean corporations jumped rapidly last year, widening the gap with the growth trend of household income, the Bank of Korea data showed on Thursday.The total income of firms here was tallied at 280.6 trillion won ($240 billion) in 2010, up 18.3 percent from a year earlier.

With fears about the eurozone debt crisis and a slower recovery of the U.S. economy weighing down investor sentiment, a recovery of the KOSPI hinges on the stabilization of the local currency, analysts said on Wednesday.  (Yonhap News)The Korean stock market in the past week went through gyrati

Faltering U.S. economic recovery dampens business sentimentKorean manufacturers’ business confidence for October stayed at a 21-month low as debt woes in Europe and a faltering U.S. economic recovery dampened sentiment. The index of manufacturers’ outlook on business conditions stood at 86, unchange

Global economic uncertainty may threaten job-driven growth planThe South Korean government has mapped out its 2012 budget plan aimed at creating jobs, in the hope it will bolster welfare and economic growth and ease the impact of global uncertainties.The budget proposal, to be submitted to the Natio

(Yonhap News)KOSPI drops 2.64%, Korean currency tumbles to 1,195.8 won vs. U.S. dollarKorea’s stock market had another turbulent session on Monday, with key indexes struggling with heavy sell-offs amid growing concerns over the debt problem plaguing the eurozone and recession fears in the U.S. econo

BOK data shows 3 out of 10 Korean firms failed to cover their debts in Q2Three out of every 10 Korean firms listed on the stock market failed to service their debt in the second quarter of this year, Bank of Korea data showed Monday. A total of 30.2 percent out of 1,491 firms said their average inte

Spread on credit default swaps rises above 2 percentKorea’s sovereign default risks went up last week as the Korean won and the main stock index confronted a selling spree amid growing concerns over the country’s wobbly financial market battered by the deepening fiscal crisis in Europe. The spread o

Korean authorities face volatility amid deepening eurozone debt problemThe 2008 financial crisis sparked by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in the U.S. is still fresh in the minds’ of Korean investors and policymakers. Now eerily similar developments are sweeping the country’s financial market as

HARBIN, China ― Many Koreans are familiar with the spectacular Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in northeastern Heilongjiang Province, China.“Air tickets and hotels for the ice festival are usually sold out during the peak season in the winter,” said an official from a Seoul-based tour firm specializing

A rapid decline of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar is expected to boost sales of local exporters such as automakers and electronics manufacturers, analysts said on Wednesday. The depreciation of the local currency, or a drop in the value of the Korean won, is generally viewed as a factor that

Businesses often view corporate social responsibility as a cost they have to bear in order to maximize profits. The assumption is that company’s core business, especially profits, and CSR projects are not directly related.Kang Joo-hyun, founder and executive president of Global Competitiveness Empow

In a surprise move, Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Italy’s sovereign debt rating, a development that analysts said could affect the Korean stock and foreign exchange markets negatively at least in the short term. The rating agency cut Italian debt one notch to “A/A-1” from a “A+/A-1+” grade, citin

Korea’s three major economic pillars ― the public sector, households and corporations ― have incurred 3,300 trillion won ($2.96 trillion) in financial debt as of June, threatening to undermine efforts to fuel Asia’s fourth-largest economy. The record amount of financial loans shouldered by key playe