Overseas card spending by South Koreans rose 65 percent during the "golden" holiday period in May from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday. The data compiled by KB Kookmin Card Co. showed that purchases made by its credit and debit card customers in foreign countries amounted to 25.4 billion won ($22.7 million) during the April 29-May 9 holiday period, compared with 15.4 billion won from the sam...

The South Korean stock market has emerged as the best performer in the world over the past month on the back of strong foreign buying, data showed Tuesday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,286.02 Friday, up 7.4 percent from a month earlier and the highest rise among bourses in major advanced and emerging markets, according to the data by the Korea Exchange and the Kore...

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Tuesday, buoyed by bullish tech large caps, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 13.38 points, or 0.58 percent, to trade at 2,304.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained more than 1 percent, with chipmaker SK hynix advancing nearly 2 percent. Brokerage firms also gathered gr...

The Korea International Trade Association announced Monday that it plans to send a special economic mission to the United States in June, the first such visit to be made since US President Donald Trump took office in January. The 10-strong envoy group, which KITA Chairman Kim In-ho represents, will visit Washington DC and New York City during the five-day trip that kicks off on June 6. The grou...

One out of every five employees working in South Korea work 54 hours a week or longer, Statistics Korea‘s data showed Monday. While the average working hours continued to drop since the introduction of a five-day workweek in 2004, the weekly working hours have remained stagnantly long since 2010. The data comes in light of new President Moon Jae-in’s pledge to share jobs by reducing working hou...

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of improving South Korea-China relations during his meeting with a South Korean delegation visiting the country, the South Korean chief of the delegation said Monday. On the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the delegation led by Rep. Park Byeong-seug, a veteran politician with close ties to President Moon Jae...

South Korean stocks closed higher on Monday as individual and institutional buyers scooped up big cap stocks offseting a selling spree by foreigners amid uncertainties at both home and abroad, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 4.63 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 2,290.65. Trade volume was moderate at 248 milli...

South Korea's trade promotion agency said Monday it is hosting an event in Seoul this week to promote economic ties with Cuba. In the five-day-long 2017 Cuba Week in Korea that runs through Friday, government officials and business leaders from the two countries will discuss possible ties in the financial, energy and medical fields, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said in a statement...

The ongoing increase of household debt brings focus on whether President Moon Jae-in will manage to fulfill his pledge of curbing swelling household debt, which has long been a drag on South Korea’s economy. Household borrowing from lenders in Asia’s fourth-largest economy rose 7.3 trillion won ($6.5 billion) in April, according to preliminary data from the Financial Services Commission on Monda...

With President Moon Jae-in promising to create 810,000 jobs and enhance welfare for ordinary people, the new government needs a big boost in fiscal income to execute jobs and welfare programs. The Finance Ministry is preparing for a possible change in its tax code plan, which is expected to be completed by the end of July, according to ministry officials. After announcing the tax code plan, the ...

In his second week as Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in faces an uphill battle in the global trade arena, as he has to mend fences with the nation’s major trading partner, the US. One of the biggest economic issues in the domestic trade industry is US President Donald Trump’s vow to renegotiate the terms of the five-year Korea-US FTA. He has referred to the deal as “horrible.” The KORUS FTA ha...

South Korea's household loans extended by banks rose 9.8 percent in April from a year earlier due to increased mortgages, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 718.6 trillion won ($637 billion) as of end-April, compared with 654.3 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. Compared with March, the amount rose by 4....

The dollar-won volatility eased in April from a month earlier in line with eased volatility in the global financial markets, central bank data showed Monday. The session-over-session changes in the dollar-won exchange rates averaged 0.43 percent last month, compared to 0.47 in March, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. "The won fell against the dollar in April due to geopolitical risks and r...

President Moon Jae-in’s government is seen to be moving to decouple security and historical issues from South Korea’s economic ties with China and Japan. Moon expressed such intention during phone talks with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts a day after being sworn in last week. He asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to lift restrictions and sanctions imposed on South Korean people and busin...