Top pay for CEOs

SINGAPORE: Chief executive officers (CEOs) in South Korea emerged as highest paid in the Asia-Pacific region followed by their Hong Kong counterparts. The average base salary for CEOs in South Korea amounts to $384,123. Cash compensation adds $568,502 on average, reported Mercer Human Resource Consulting. —AP

Tycoon denies charge

SEOUL: Police said that a South Korean business tycoon has denied accusations that he kicked, punched and used a steel pipe to attack bar workers after his son was injured in a fight. Police questioned Hanwha Group Chairman and CEO Kim Seung-youn for 10 hours until early on Monday over allegations that he ordered and participated last month in the abduction and beatings of bar workers allegedly involved in a scuffle with his 22-year-old son earlier this year.—AP

Oil prices weaken

LONDON: World oil prices on Monday handed back some pre-weekend gains made following news of a possible terrorist plot in key crude producer Saudi Arabia, dealers said. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for June delivery lost 15 cents to 68.26 dollars per barrel in electronic trading. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, also slid 15 cents to 66.31 dollars per barrel in electronic deals before the official open of the US market, after soaring by 1.40 dollars on Friday. —AFP

Atomic energy deals

ALMATY: Kazakhstan and Japan signed 24 deals to increase Kazakh uranium exports to Japan, the national atomic energy company said Monday. The documents were signed during a visit by Japanese Trade Minister Akira Amari and officials from several Japanese nuclear and trading companies, KazAtomProm said in a statement. Resource-poor Japan, which generates a substantial amount of its electricity through nuclear power, has sought to secure uranium deals with the ex-Soviet republic amid growing competition for its huge uranium resources - estimated to be the world’s second largest after Australia. —AFP

Thai economy shines

BANGKOK: Thailand’s current account surplus jumped to a record high in March, driven by stellar exports of agricultural and hi-tech goods, the country’s government said Monday. The surplus in the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, hit 2.26 billion dollars, sharply up from 136 million dollars a year earlier, the Bank of Thailand said in a monthly report. “The surplus was a record high due to strong exports. Our exports, especially agricultural and hi-tech products such as electronics, rose sharply thanks to strong overseas demand,” said a central bank official. —AP

Italian inflation slows

MILAN: Annual inflation in Italy slowed to 1.5 per cent in April from 1.7 per cent in March, the national statistics institute Istat reported Monday. Prices rose 0.2 per cent in April from March, when they also increased 0.2 per cent when compared with February. According to a European Union harmonized index, Italian inflation in April came to 0.5 per cent over one month and 1.7 per cent when compared with April last year.—AFP