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Kang Seung-woo

Korea Times Business Reporter

Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.

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Companies

Last years state debt smaller than forecast

By Kang Seung-woo Korea’s state debt rose more than 30 trillion won ($27.6 billion) last year from 2009 as the government borrowed to meet its budget deficit, the finance ministry said Tuesday. According to a report by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the state debt including central and local government borrowing amounted to 392.8 trillion won last year, up 33.2 trillion won from the previous year. The figure was 14 trillion won smaller than the 407.2 trillion won forecast in the government’s budget for 2010. Central government borrowing of 27.7 trillion pushed the debt to 373.8 trillion won, to which local governments added 19 trillion won. The final numbers will be available at the end of June. The ministry attributed the increase to growing issuance of government bonds aimed at filling the gap in government spending. Despite the debt growth, the ratio of national debt to gross domestic product (GDP) decreased 0.3 percentage point to 33.5 percent. “Thanks to a faster-than-expected economic recovery, the GDP growth picked up, while tax revenue increased

Apr 5, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Noted German college celebrates new campus

Located within the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone (BJFEZ), Germany’s Friedrich Alexander University (FAU) of Erlangen-Nuremberg hosted an opening ceremony for its Busan Campus on March 30. FAU Chairman Thomas Schock and other high-profile guests including Busan Mayor Hur Nam-sik attended the event held at Busan Techno Park. The university, founded in 1743 and located in Erlangen and Nuremberg, Bavaria, has established itself as a leading school in research and teaching while facilitating intense cooperation with firms such as Siemens and Bayer. FAU is also gaining an international reputation in the field of bio-chemical engineering. FAU Busan, FAU’s first campus outside Germany, offers master’s programs in chemical and bio-engineering in eight fields, and currently 17 freshmen including 12 Germans have registered for the spring semester, with a faculty of eight German professors. The BJFEZ expects that the opening of the FAU Busan campus and research center will serve as an anchor to encourage the further clustering of more foreign universities along with research an

Apr 4, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Banks see overseas profits increase

By Kang Seung-woo A total of 11 Korean banks’ overall profits from overseas operations rose 28.8 percent in 2010 from a year ago on the back of a growth in interest income, the financial watchdog said Monday. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), net earnings by 92 overseas branches and local subsidiaries excluding 36 liaison offices tallied $369.1 million (401.6 billion won) last year, up from $286.4 million in the previous year. The jump in net profit came after lenders’ interest income steeply rose thanks to lower prices to borrow foreign currencies, the FSS said. The overseas units made $1.13 billion in interest last year, compared with $973.7 million in 2009. As of the end of 2010, 11 local banks including Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana Banks and Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) operated 128 overseas units ― 52 branches, 40 local subsidiaries and 36 liaison offices in 32 countries. KEB leads the pack with 27 units, followed by Woori and Shinhan, which each has 21 and 17 operations. Kookmin, the nation’s biggest lender by assets, operates 11. With net

Apr 4, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

No end in sight for science-belt debate

By Kang Seung-woo Feasibility issues have forced the Lee Myung-bak government to scrap plans to build a new international airport in the country’s southeastern. It remains to be seen whether the lavish scheme to establish an ``international science-business belt’’ will be the next campaign pledge to be reneged on. As with other big projects promised by the Lee administration, the science-business belt plan appears to have been disrupted by regional bickering and political philistinism. The central Chungcheong Province is urging Lee to keep the promise he made during his presidential campaign and locate the industrial complex near the heart of the country. However, regions in Korea’s southwest (Gwangju, the Jeolla provinces), southeast (Daegu, Pohang, the Gyeongsang provinces) and even Seoul’s neighboring city of Gwacheon appear to be in play for the science-belt as well. The 3.5 trillion won (about $3.22 billion) plan is to build a Korean equivalent to California’s Silicon Valley, with an emphasis on biotech and information technology, as well as a heavy ion acce

Apr 3, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

FSC vows Lone Star decision this month

By Kang Seung-woo The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is nearing its decision over whether the Texas-based Lone Star Funds can exercise its rights as the owner of the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB). Talking with journalists Friday, FSC Chairman Kim Seok-dong wasn’t able to give an exact date but did promise to reach a conclusion this month. ``We are working to speed up the decision-making process, to be completed in April,’’ Kim said. The financial regulator has been reviewing Lone Star’s eligibility as KEB’s largest shareholder after the Supreme Court found the former head of the buyout fund’s Korean unit guilty of stock manipulation ahead of its acquiring the bank in 2003. After struggling for years to find a new owner for KEB, Lone Star signed a contract with Hana Financial Group in November last year to sell its 51 percent stake for 4.69 trillion won, more than three times its initial investment. The deal is contingent to approval by the FSC, which has delayed its decision due to controversial legal issues. Observers believe that the FSC could make its decision

Apr 3, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Savings banks unsecured household loans up

By Kang Seung-woo Korean savings banks, beleaguered by mounting debts from their ill-advised project financing (PF) endeavors, turned to household lending but now concerns are rising over those debts, the nation’s financial watchdog said Thursday. Short-term household loans soared 43.8 percent in 2010 from the previous year. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the secondary banks’ unsecured household loans reached an outstanding 4.6 trillion won ($4.20 billion) as of the end of last year, compared with 3.2 trillion won at the end of 2009. The amount loaned increased by 400 billion won in the first half of 2010, but 1 trillion won was added to the debt in the latter part of the year and the uptick has continued in 2011, with a 300 billion won increase in January from the month previous. Unsecured household loans accounted for 7.6 percent of the savings banks’ total lending, amounting to 64.6 trillion won at the end of January, compared with 7.1 percent a month earlier and 5 percent at the end of 2009, the FSS noted. “The FSS is worried about the fa

Apr 1, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Fairfax retains agency to run Seoul operations

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) has renewed its contract with Korea Business Consulting Corp. to run its Seoul office from April 1. The FCEDA, called “one of the great economic success stories of our time” by Time magazine, is an independent authority chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia and promotes the country in Virginia as one of the world’s best business locations. Including Seoul, the FCEDA has five offices worldwide ― Bangalore in India, London in the United Kingdom, Munich in Germany and Tel Aviv in Israel. They work with companies which are considering expansion into the United States. Some 360 foreign-owned firms, many of them in the information technology and professional services sectors, have a presence in Fairfax County, including more than 50 from Korea. “Korea is one of Fairfax County’s most important overseas markets because of the number of Korean companies that have established operations here and the large Korean-American population in the county,” said Gerald Gordon, president and CEO of the FCEDA. “I look forwa

Mar 31, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

GS Caltex opens Abu Dhabi office

By Kang Seung-woo GS Caltex opened an office in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Thursday, said the Seoul-based company that day. According to the nation’s No. 2 oil refiner, it held the opening ceremony for the office in Abu Dhabi with high-profile guests including its Chairman Hur Dong-soo, Yousef Omair bin Yousef, CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Kwon Tae-kyun, Korea’s ambassador to the UAE. The office in the UAE’s capital city is the company’s first in the Middle East and the third overall after those in Singapore and London. “GS Caltex and the UAE have maintained a very close relationship since the mid-1980s. Among the world’s numerous buyers of the UAE’s crude and petroleum products, GS Caltex is the second-largest importer,” Chairman Hur said in the ceremony. “I hope that the GS Caltex Abu Dhabi Office will further enhance the close economic cooperation with ADNOC and other national oil companies in the Gulf countries as well as the UAE and facilitate the joint development of new opportunities in upstream, refining, petrochemical and

Mar 31, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Yoosung Metal leading in non-ferrous field

By Kang Seung-woo Since its foundation in 1978, Yoosung Metal has established itself as one of the leading companies in the non-ferrous metal industry. Under its slogan “best effort, be creative and take off,” the company, based in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, has a wealth of know-how in the sector, satisfied customer and business partners with high-quality, reasonable prices and punctual delivery of brass and copper. As a result, Yoosung has registered annual revenue of around 20 billion won ($17.98 million) every year since 1999. Its chairman attributes its solid performance to the non-ferrous manufacturer’s determined investment in facilities. “Yoosung has lived up to its billing as part of the “big three” in the non-ferrous metal industry since 1992, by installing a reversing hot rolling mill and continuous heating furnace,” Chairman Yoo Dae-hyun told The Korea Times. “The cutting-edge equipment enables Yoosung to switch to mass production of non-ferrous metals for construction materials and automobile parts.” According to Yoo, Yoosung has a monthly capacity o

Mar 30, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Current account surplus jumps in Feb.

By Kang Seung-woo Korea’s current account surplus rose sharply in February from the previous month on the back of strong exports and decreased overseas travel, the central bank said Tuesday. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the current account surplus amounted to $1.18 billion (1.31 trillion won), up from a revised surplus of $154.7 million in January. The current account is the broadest measure of trade that reflects the movement of goods and services. The sharp growth helped the country extend its surplus streak to 12 months thanks to solid exports, which account for more than 50 percent of the Korean economy. The BOK said the nation’s current account is expected to register a similar or even larger surplus in March because of continued brisk exports. “In March, dividend payouts for overseas investors usually rise, and a surge in oil prices seen in February will begin to affect import bills. But robust exports are expected to offset the impact of such factors,” Yang Jae-ryong, director of the BOK’s monetary and financial statistics division, said at a press co

Mar 29, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
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