[THE INVESTOR] Police raided the headquarters of CJ Hellovision on Oct. 5 over a suspicion of fabricated tax returns worth 23 billion won (US$20.60 million).CJ Hellovision may have overstated its sales by overcharging regional offices for commodities, investigators said. Police currently suspect the firm’s headquarters was directly involved in the fabrication.“The investigation aims to verify whether CJ Hellovision exaggerated its sales through issuing false tax statements without an actual exch

Oct. 5, 2016

[THE INVESTOR]  The South Korean government and the ruling party consider purchasing rice surplus in bulk to control falling prices.“We urged the government to purchase the surplus production in bulk within this year to separate them from the market,” said Rep. Kim Gwang-lim, the policy official of Saenuri, at the meeting with financial officials on Oct. 5.The government also said it will make efforts to reflect such a move.Rice prices in the country have been falling throughout this year on the

Oct. 5, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s top financial regulator affirmed on Oct. 5 that the performance-based pay for local bank workers should take effect.“It’s an indispensable financial reform task,” Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said at a government-civilian meeting on improving the nation’s financial system.The government will push for the spread of a “performance-oriented culture” on the basis of constant principles, he added.Yim’s comments came as bank workers here st

Oct. 5, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] A nationwide shopping festival, Korea Sale Festa, has boosted retail sales after its launch on Sept. 29, data showed on Oct. 5. The massive shopping campaign aims to tie up the retail industry with the tourism and cultural sectors in line with the major Chinese holiday season. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the top five department store brands and four discount store chains saw their sales increase 15.7 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively, from Sept. 29- Oct. 3

Oct. 5, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s inflation rate hit 1.2 percent in September, the highest in seven months, according Statistics Korea on Oct. 5. The figure had stayed below the 1 percent level four straight months since May. From a month earlier, the index edged down 0.6 percent in September.Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, increased 1.8 percent compared with last year, remaining unchanged from a month earlier.(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)

Oct. 5, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] New foreign direct investment pledged to South Korea rose to a record high in the first nine months of the year, according to the government on Oct. 4Fresh FDI committed to the country during the first nine months came to US$15.05 billion, up 13.4 percent from US$13.27 billion a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.It marked the largest amount of FDI pledged in history for a nine-month period, surpassing the earlier record of US$14.8 billion tallie

Oct. 4, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] The South Korean Central bank remained wary on Oct. 4 for a redenomination of the Korean won. “A cautious approach is needed for a redenomination due to heightened economic uncertainties at home and abroad,” the BOK said in a report to Kim Jong-min, a lawmaker of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, for an annual parliamentary audit of the BOK.The central bank said a redenomination could offer public convenience in calculation and enhance the status of the Korean currency ab

Oct. 4, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Heavy Industries said on Oct. 4 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Electricity to strengthen its partnership in the Middle Eastern country’s electricity market. Saudi Arabia is seeking to spend a total of US$89.3 billion by 2021 to expand its electricity output to 105 GW from the current 65 GW in order to meet growing electricity demand.HHI has been providing power transformers and gas-insulated switchgears to Saudi Arabia. Last year, the shipbuild

Oct. 4, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] The savings bank deposits in South Korea have nearly doubled over the past two years, data showed on Oct. 4. According to the data by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., deposits of more than 50 million won (US$45,300) per account at local savings banks totaled 5.08 trillion won as of end-June, up 87.3 percent from two years ago and 14.5 percent from the previous quarter.The portion of large-sum deposits to the total also surged to 12.5 percent in the second quarter of this year fr

Oct. 4, 2016