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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

Exports hit 26-month high in November

By Kang Seung-woo Korea posted its largest export figures in 26 months in November, the central bank said Thursday. But imports also went up significantly, more than halving the nation’s trade surplus from the previous month. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the nation’s exports amounted to $42.1 billion last month, which is the largest amount since July 2008, when it hit a record $43.8 billion. In accordance with the monthly gain, Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, totaled $421.5 billion between January and November to surpass the $400 billion in annual exports reached in 2008. The November imports totaled $38.75 billion, which was the fourth largest amount in history and the largest since September 2008, when the amount was $39.22 billion won. Due to the growth in imports, the trade balance, the biggest component of the current account, recorded a surplus of $3.35 billion, down from $5.39 billion a month earlier. “It is significant that imports and exports both increased, but growth in imports was affected by a rise in imported raw materials including crud

Dec 30, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Government says recovery not derailed

By Kang Seung-woo Despite 11 consecutive declines in the leading economic composite index, the government Thursday said the nation’s economic recovery has stayed on track. “The nation’s leading economic indicator, which presages the state of economy in advance, is dropping,” said Yoon Jong-won, director general of economic policy at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Thursday. The coinciding index also fell for the fourth month in a row. “It is premature to conclude that the continuous drop in the leading index means a faltering economic rebound. Yoon cited November’s industrial output, which bounced back from a third consecutive month of the economy shrinking thanks to a rising demand for semiconductors and metal products. According to Statistics Korea, the output in the mining and manufacturing industries climbed 1.4 percent in November from the previous month and added 10.4 percent, compared to a year earlier. In the month-on-month comparison, production in the two sectors sank 1.3 percent in August, 0.3 percent in September and 4.2 percent in October.

Dec 30, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

KEB branch suspended for 3 months

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) ordered the closure of a branch office of the Korea Exchange Bank for three months for embezzlement. The penalty will be effective from Feb. 1 2011 to April 30 as the nation’s financial regulator is giving a one-month grace period to minimize damage to customers. In August, a former manager of the branch, identified by his last name Jeong, was found to have embezzled 68 billion won ($59.43 million). According to police, Jeong secretly lent money from the accounts of 12 VIP customers to listed companies on the KOSDAQ and KOSPI from July 2006 to early 2010. Earlier this month, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) held a disciplinary committee hearing and dismissed the former manager, while handing down punitive actions including suspensions, pay cuts and warnings to 27 people who knew of the violation. KEB CEO Larry Klane was given a warning without disciplinary action.

Dec 29, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Auto insurance to be bigger burden

By Kang Seung-woo Long-term accident-free drivers will benefit from insurance premium discounts, while monitoring fake patients will be intensified to help the struggling auto insurance industry, the nation’s financial regulator said Wednesday. In addition, the government will strengthen rules to force those who commit traffic violations to pay higher premiums and drivers will have to pay up to 500,000 won for repairs after car crashes. According to reform measures for auto insurance by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), along with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Fair Trade Commission, Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), drivers who have an 18-year accident-free history will receive 70 percent off their auto insurance premiums. This action came while most auto insurers are struggling with the loss ratio soaring over 80 percent for four consecutive months since August. The ratio, which is the portion of insurance money to their insurance premium income, is seen as the barometer for companies’ profitability and if a

Dec 29, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Fight against foot-and-mouth disease picking up

By Kang Seung-woo GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province — The atmosphere at the situation room set up to combat the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) at the Goyang Agriculture Technology Center was tense. About 50 public servants working at the time of this reporter’s visit looked tired from days of working in shifts on a 24-hour watch. The first FMD case in this area was reported on Dec.19. All visitors are required to pass an ultraviolet sanitation system that looked like a public telephone booth on the way to the briefing room, located on the second floor of the building. A map on the wall was dotted — indicating all the locations of reported outbreaks and the farmswhere pigs and cows are to be slaughtered. By the number of dots, the fight against the disease that fatally hits pigs and cows appeared to be reaching another peak. While additional FMD outbreaks were being confirmed in Incheon and Cheongsong in North Gyeongsang Province and Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi Province, Monday, Goyang City was carrying out the slaughter of livestock as a precautionary measure.

Dec 28, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Cold snap troubles Citibank customers

By Kang Seung-woo Customers of Citibank Korea suffered inconvenience due to a problem with the banks computer system Friday. According to the lender, the cooling system at its computer center in Incheon froze and pipes burst due to the extremely cold temperatures, which damaged the main computer system in the morning. As a result, Internet and phone banking, and ATM services came to a standstill at a total of 220 branches of the bank. Citibank shifted operation to its emergency backup system in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and services were gradually restored by late afternoon. To cope with the resultant backlog, executives and employees worked a nightshift. “After the main computer system was back to normal on Sunday morning, all banking services became available as of the afternoon,” the bank said in a statement.

Dec 26, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

POSCO to focus on cost reduction

By Kang Seung-woo POSCO Chairman Chung Joon-yang has called on the company’s affiliates to place top priority on cost reduction and risk diversification as part of efforts to streamline operations. According to the nation’s steel giant Sunday, Chung recently held a management meeting with heads of 27 affiliated firms, including Daewoo International and POSCO Engineering and Construction, and ask them to seek ways to reduce costs. “As investors will beef up their investment next year, we need to develop risk management, reflecting the scale and time of the investment, for better efficiency and stability,” Chung said during the meeting. “Cost reductions can be achieved anywhere, so we need to seek a variety of ways to cut expenses.” He also said, “As investment companies have grown they can be vulnerable to unexpected risks, so we need to come up with counteractions.” Chung, 62, said that more efforts should be placed on maximizing the effect of sharing information among affiliates. “We should come up with ways to take advantage of data exchange among companies we

Dec 26, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Foreign Affairs

North Korea threatens nuclear war

By Kang Seung-woo North Korea said Thursday that it is ready to launch a “sacred” war against South Korea on the basis of its nuclear deterrent. The North’s warning came amid lingering tension on the Korean Peninsula after Seoul staged live-fire exercises on the border island of Yeonpyeong with the apparent aim of deterring North Korea, which shelled the island earlier, at a range south of the border and in the East Sea. Kim Young-chun, minister of the People’s Armed Forces, gave the warning while reading a report during a ceremony in Pyongyang marking the 19th anniversary of leader Kim Jong-il gaining supreme command of the Korean People’s Army (KPA). “The revolutionary armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are fully poised to launch a sacred war of justice of Korean style based on our nuclear deterrent at any time necessary to cope with the enemies’ actions,” Kim was quoted by the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying. Kim criticized South Korean forces for having perpetrated military provocations such as shelling North Korea

Dec 23, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Deputy IBK CEO promoted

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) recommended Cho Joon-hee, deputy CEO and senior executive vice president, as the new head of the Industrial Bank of Korea, Thursday. If the 56-year-old earns a final nod from President Lee Myung-bak, he will be the second CEO of the state-controlled bank, who is not a former bureaucrat. The first was CEO Kim Seung-kyung, who headed the bank from February 1996 to May 1998. The other 19 IBK CEOs were former government officials. The government owns a controlling 65.1 percent stake of IBK. The FSC said that Cho has a wealth of experience and expertise in the financial industry and played an important role in supporting small and medium enterprises during the global financial crisis.

Dec 23, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Woori privatization set to restart

By Kang Seung-woo The government is poised to restart the stalled privatization of the state-run Woori Financial Group, despite the latest setback in selling its controlling stake, the nation’s top financial regulator said Wednesday. In addition, it will seek the privatization of the Korea Development Bank (KDB) next year. “It is disappointing that the deal fell through last week,” Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Chin Dong-soo told reporters during a briefing. “We will try our best to come up with a new plan and draw up measures to sell our share of Woori Financial as soon as possible.” His remark came after the Public Fund Oversight Committee (PFOC) suspended its move for the sale of a 56.97 percent stake in Woori Financial, held by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC), Friday, due to the absence of a valid bidder. In November, 11 local and foreign prospective buyers submitted letters of intent (LOI) to buy part or the entire stake, but two Woori Financial-led consortia, the top-two prospective buyers, dropped out of the bidding, citing too high a

Dec 22, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
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