South Korea's exports to the United States are expected to suffer losses as much as $17 billion over five years if the two nations renegotiate a bilateral free trade deal, according to a report on Sunday. South Korea's businesses remain concerned after US President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview last week that he will either renegotiate or scrap the free trade deal with South Korea, c...

Chief executive officers leading South Korea's biggest businesses receive salaries that are on average 21.9-times higher than those of ordinary employees, a local market researcher said Sunday. According to FN Guide, CEOs at the 30 largest companies in terms of market capitalization, took home substantially more pay than the average worker in 2016, with the gap widening to more than 50 to 60-fol...

The combined value of shares owned by South Korea's 100 richest stockholders surpassed 100 trillion won ($87.7 billion), swelled by rising stock markets, industry data showed Sunday. Despite geopolitical risks surrounding North Korea, the nation's benchmark KOSPI index closed at a near six-year high last week. The index gained about 9 percent from the end of last year. As of last Friday, the co...

South Korean stocks snapped their six-day winning streak on Friday, slipping from their six-year high, as investors cashed in recent gains, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 4.02 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 2,205.44. Trade volume was moderate at 263 million shares worth 5.64 trillion won ($4.96 billion), with ...

South Korea's economy is still facing uncertainties, although it has shown signs of recovery, the nation's financial regulator said Friday. The South Korean economy expanded 0.9 percent in the first-quarter of this year, growing at the fastest pace since the second-quarter of last year, the Bank of Korea said this week. "There are estimates that show signs of recovery in exports and facility in...

The South Korean government is trying to figure out the exact meaning of US President Donald Trump's statement that he will fix or scrap a bilateral free trade deal between the two countries, officials here said Friday. In an interview with Reuters, Trump called the South Korea-US free trade agreement "horrible," saying, "We are going to renegotiate that deal or terminate it." His comments came...

South Korean businesses on Friday expressed serious concerns that US President Donald Trump's remarks on the bilateral free trade deal could trigger protectionism worldwide. In an interview with Reuters, Trump said he will either renegotiate or terminate the five-year-old trade agreement with South Korea, calling it "horrible" and "unacceptable." He said his administration aims to renegotiate t...

South Korea's central bank pledged Friday to keep the current monetary easing policy to support growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy. For this month, the Bank of Korea kept its key rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent for the 10th consecutive month after dropping the rate to its lowest level to bolster the lackluster South Korean economy. The BOK will "maintain its stance of monetary poli...

South Korean stocks traded almost flat at their six-year highs Friday morning, with top market cap Samsung Electronics hitting a fresh record high. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 0.5 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,208.96 as of 11:15 a.m. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics shot up 2.97 percent after reporting the biggest quarterly earnings in three years aided by robust chip ...

South Korean stocks still appear undervalued despite some 9 percent gain in the benchmark index this year, according to market data and a local brokerage on Friday. The Kospi index closed at a near six-year high of 2,209.46 points on Thursday, supported by healthy earnings by Samsung Electronics Co. and foreign inflows. From Jan. 2 to Wednesday, the index gained 8.95 percent from the end of las...

Joint countermeasures against trade protectionism will be a central agenda item at an economic ministerial meeting of Asian and European countries in Seoul later this year, trade ministry officials said Friday. Senior officials from member states of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) met in Seoul on Friday to discuss topics for the ASEM Economic Ministers' Meeting, the Ministry of Trade, Industry an...

Lee Eun-hee, a 38-year-old lawyer, decided to visit Osaka in Japan with a friend in early November last year and set a new motto for this trip: spend less money on sleeping and focus more on eating and shopping. She downloaded the Airbnb application on her smartphone and searched for a suitable room close to a subway station and the large shopping districts of Dotonbori and Namba. On the app, i...

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower on Friday, as investors attempted to cash in recent gains, but top market cap Samsung Electronics continued to build up gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 0.76 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,208.70 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was 2.65 percent up on its strong first-quarter earnings and sh...

Cargo processed at South Korean seaports rose slightly during the first three months of 2017 from a year earlier amid a steady increase in exports, government data showed Friday. Cargo handled at the country's seaports came to 389.92 million tons in the January-March period, up from 375.64 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Non-co...

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment for next month improved slightly as local companies expect steady gains in domestic demand and exports, data by the central bank showed Friday. The business survey index of manufacturing firms came to 84 for May, up from 82 for April, according to the Bank of Korea. A reading over 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists, while a reading below the ...