Nearly half of all tenants in South Korea have signed up for a monthly rent contract, a report showed on Monday, underscoring the shift in tenancy agreements accelerated by a prolonged period of low interest rates and stagnant property prices. According to Real Estate 114, the proportion of the mont

Regulator’s move to promote ‘shared growth’ is met with protestKorea’s major credit card firms said on Monday they would slash the transaction fees they collect from small merchants as a reluctant response to the growing calls for a rate cut to bolster their shaky profits amid regulatory pressure. S

Surplus cash flow halves, corporate borrowing surgesDespite repeated assurances from government officials, fears of a global recession are hurting Korea Inc. on liquidity as many large firms face worsening cash flow, data showed Monday.The annual excess cash flow forecast of 83 listed firms stood at

South Korea’s state-run power company said Sunday that it will send mobile text messages to the public in the event of low electricity reserves in a bid to swiftly alert people to potential power outages.The move comes one month after the country was caught off guard by one of the worst power cuts i

South Korean lenders saw their combined net profit from overseas operations grow more than two-fold in the first half from a year earlier on the back of increased interest income, the financial regulator said Sunday.Net income by 131 overseas units and branches managed by 11 local banks reached $429

South Korean shares are expected to gain some ground this week as the international community moves to resolve the eurozone crisis, analysts said Saturday.The forecast comes as the benchmark KOSPI closed at 1,835.40 on Friday, up 75.63 points, or 4.3 percent, from a week earlier. The index had risen

Korea’s financial regulators said they were considering measures to address the controversy over generous salaries and dividends in the banking, securities and other financial sectors. “Modifying the regulatory system is now being reviewed concerning some of the high compensation executives in the f

Lee Jae-yong, chief operating officer of Samsung Electronics Co., is planning to attend a memorial service for Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple Inc., in the U.S. this weekend, industrial sources said Sunday.Lee, the only son of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee, has been invited by Ap

Apple Inc. is expected to offer a Korean-language version of its Siri voice command feature starting in 2012, the U.S.-based technology giant said Saturday.The company said on its website that it will begin offering Siri services in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Spanish starting next year,

Analysts see no rate hike through Q1 next yearThe Bank of Korea kept the key interest rate steady at 3.25 percent for the fourth straight month on Thursday, as worries over the weakening global economy outweighed concerns about the country’s high inflation.“The global economy is forecast to stage a

Data shows small card payments account for 30.6% of total transactionsThe Korean government is expected to keep the current credit card payment system, a turnaround from its previous stance announced on Monday, backing down to protests from small retailers and consumers. The Financial Services Commi

Korea’s money supply expanded at its fastest pace in five months in August and banks’ household loan growth slipped to an eight-month low in September, the Bank of Korea said on Wednesday.The data came ahead of the central bank’s rate-setting meeting slated for Thursday amid widespread expectations

Major European  economies see leading indicators slump  on debt woesKorea’s economic conditions declined for three months in a row based on the composite leading indicator of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, data showed on Wednesday. Korea’s CLI for August stood a

The Bank of Korea is widely expected to keep the benchmark rate steady at its rate-setting meeting on Thursday, a survey by Korea Financial Investment Association showed on Tuesday.The KOFIA survey, conducted on local bond dealers, brokers and analysts between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, revealed that 96.3

Daewoo, Woori and Samsung jump on the IB bandwagon; Hyundai, Korea weigh optionsSince the Korean financial regulator set the standard for designating homegrown investment banks, local brokerages are racing to increase their paid-in capital to qualify for the potentially lucrative business. The Finan

Park Hyun-joo, Kim Jung-ju make top 10 list for the first timeKorea’s list of the wealthiest people has welcome two non-conglomerate players, according to Chaebul.com, a company tracking the country’s conglomerates.  The list of the richest people in Korea, especially the top 10, used to be dom

Despite gloom in the broader stock market, software and entertainment shares outperformed at a steady pace this year, suggesting that investors have yet to discover value in select stocks on the Seoul bourse. Price-to-earnings ratios, a key yardstick for measuring stock’s valuation, reached 26 for s

HONG KONG ― The KOSDAQ Global Investors Conference took place at Shangri-La Hotel on Friday, offering a venue for an investment relations session for 12 South Korean companies traded on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ. The first-ever IR conference for the leading firms listed on the secondary stock market was

SINGAPORE -- The recent rout in the global financial market has amplified, among other things, the high volatility of the tech-heavy KOSDAQ stock market in South Korea, with many of its small and midsize firms’ shares varying wildly. Benjamin Ng, managing director of Whitefield Capital Manageme

The third session of Herald Design Forum 2011, “Culture and Design,” kicked off with a keynote speech by Chung Joon-mo, curator and general director of the Cheongju International Craft Biennale 2011. He discussed the roles of curators and critics, and the role of art museums, galleries and exhibitio