Korea’s exports recorded $43.47 billion in October, down 15.8 percent from a year earlier to mark the sharpest fall in six years, the Trade Ministry said Sunday.　But ministry officials said monthly trade managed to post a surplus as imports on-year dropped 16.6 percent to $36.78 billion.　October marked the 10th consecutive straight month of export contraction and the 45th straight month of trade surplus. 　The officials attributed the fall in exports to continued weak global demand and drops in

Industry Nov. 1, 2015

Korea Forest Service officials visit a South Korea-Indonesia joint forest biomass plantation in Indonesia. (KFS)South Korea and Indonesia vowed stronger cooperation in forest industry and administration, South Korean forest authorities said Thursday.　The Korea Forest Service and its Indonesian counterpart held a symposium on wood biomass in the Indonesian city of Jakarta, Wednesday, to share the two countries’ forest policies and know-how. South Korean exporters seeking inroads to Indonesia also

Oct. 29, 2015

The Korea-Indonesia joint forest biomass plantation in the Indonesian city of Semarang, central Java (KFS)Korea’s forest authorities vowed to strengthen their overseas base for fostering biomass industries, a potential mainstay of the South Korean renewable energy industry.　The Korea Forest Service has sought a business model of forest biomass energy and encouraged business enterprises and investors to engage in that industry with great potential, with a total budget of 748 million won ($656,000

Oct. 29, 2015

(123RF)Korea is a better place to do business than Hong Kong, the World Bank’s latest report revealed on Tuesday. According to the multilateral agency’s annual report on business environment rankings, South Korea ranked fourth out of 189 member countries, up a notch from last year’s rank. The World Bank report ranks the economies in 10 categories. South Korea moved up in ease of registering property (79th to 40th), protecting minor investors (21st to 8th), enforcing contracts (4th to 2nd) and re

Business Oct. 28, 2015

Gore Korea country head Hans Baik (Gore Korea)W. L. Gore & Associates, commonly known as Gore, received two awards from global research and management consultancy Great Place to Work, the Korean operation of the U.S.-based manufacturer said Friday. 　In Korea, Gore was named as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in Korea (2015)” for the fifth consecutive year. Globally, it was also ranked No. 3 as one of the “25 Best Multinational Workplaces” for the fourth consecutive year.　The Great Pla

Industry Oct. 23, 2015

BAT Korea CEO Guy Meldrum (front row, second from left) poses with union leaders from its Sacheon factory after signing a wage pact for the next three years at the firm’s Seoul headquarters Wednesday. (BAT Korea)British American Tobacco Korea and the labor union at its Sacheon factory have reached an agreement on three-year salary negotiations without any hiccups, the tobacco manufacturer said Friday. 　The agreement states the percentage of salary increase and adjustment in the calculation of wa

Industry Oct. 23, 2015

ENTIQ cofounder and managing director Eric Van Der Kleij (second from left) and senior development executive Jae-won Peter Chun (third from left) attend the company’s press luncheon in central Seoul, Tuesday. (British Embassy Seoul)ENTIQ, a U.K.-based accelerator and incubator, vowed to bring some of the state-of-the-art financial technologies, including real-time regulation technologies, to Korea for its prospective financial technology market.“Real-time regulation is an emerging technology and

Oct. 20, 2015

(123RF)The first-tier financial institutions are gearing up to make the best of a golden opportunity to attract a large number of individual customers, as the bank account switching system is scheduled to take effect on Oct. 30.　Pledging to enhance the country’s financial sector by nudging the industry into stronger competition in 2013, policymakers announced that bank customers would be allowed to switch banks without having to adjust their deposit withdrawals.　Some critics, however, do not for

Oct. 18, 2015

KFS Minister Shin Won-sop (left) and other key participants look around an exhibition hall at the sixth IWFC in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, on Wednesday. (KFS)The five-day 6th International Wildland Fire Conference will end Friday, with governments, international organizations and experts joining hands in sharing and spreading knowledge of fire. 　On the opening day of Oct. 12, global administrators, policymakers, scholars and students gathered at Alpensia Resort, Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province

Oct. 15, 2015