SOUTH KOREA

Auto Industry Investment Gets Boost: South Korea’s seven top auto makers, encouraged by booming exports, plan to spend a combined $2.9 billion on new investment in the second half of this year, a 13% increase from a year ago. That will put the year’s total investment at $5.3 billion, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Assn. said. Nearly half the new investment will go toward expanding production facilities, the trade group said. From July to December, the seven companies will spend $770 million on research and development and $445 million on factory automation, it said. South Korea is already the world’s sixth-largest auto-making nation, producing more than 2 million cars a year. Its production is expected to grow to 5 million by 2000.