Finance Ministry caught in a political crossfire

Despite the South Korean government’s relentless efforts to curb soaring apartment prices, there seems to be no sign of demand letting up in Seoul and its surrounding cities, according to the Korea Appraisal Board on Monday. The state-run property appraisal agency’s recent report showed the home-buying sentiment stood at 117.2, a record high since the relevant data started compilation in July 2012. The index, based on a survey of the organization’s member realtors and analysi

Kakao Bank, South Korea’s leading Internet-only bank, said on Monday that it is hiring more than 100 employees in its push to ramp up digital innovation.  The lender said it plans to hire experienced talent in eight areas -- financial IT development, risk management, business development, service plan, compliance, audit, and customer services -- in the first half of the year. After the latest talent hunting, the company’s headcount, which currently stands at 937, will exceed 1

The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes fell to a record low in 2020, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic caused a decline in cash usage. Last year, the number of fake banknotes found in South Korea came to 272, down 6.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the lowest since the BOK began releasing such data in 1998. The decline was mainly due to a "drop in in-person cash usage as COVID-19 spreads," the BOK said. By denomination, 5,000-won cou

South Korean exports of red pepper paste jumped more than 35 percent in 2020 from a year earlier thanks to the global popularity of Korean pop culture, known as the Korean Wave, data showed Monday. Overseas shipments of red pepper paste, called "gochujang" in Korean, came to $50.93 million last year, up 35.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. South Korean exports had been on the rise since 2016, when the figure stood

Kim Dong-hwan, the founder of a market and economic YouTube show “Three Pros” had never imagined that his channel would have 1 million subscribers, a tenfold increase, just within a year. “Three Pros: With Economic God” provides daily market updates and analysis of industries and economy and is hosted by three “pros” in the field: Kim, Lee Jin-woo and Jung Young-jin. The channel has recorded more than 200 million views so far and attracts as many as 60,000

South Korea's two excavator makers are expected to see a steady rise in their shipments to China this year thanks to a boom in the neighbor's construction market, according to industry watchers Sunday. "The Chinese government's policy to boost the economy is forecast to expand the volume of the civil engineering and construction market in 2021, which has an impact on the sales of excavators," said Kim Hong-gyun, an analyst at DB Financial Investment, in his recent report. Exports of

South Korea said Friday it has officially set its tariff on imported rice exceeding a quota at 513 percent, ending its yearslong tariffication process for the nation's key staple grain. Under the measure, South Korea will slap a 513 percent tariff on imported rice for quantities outside a designated quota, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Quantities below the quota of 408,700 tons will be imposed with a tariff of 5 percent. The measure is aimed at providing on

South Korea's trade ministry said Friday that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled in favor of Seoul in its lawsuit against the United States centering on high tariffs imposed on local steel and power transformer products. Washington has been levying high tariffs on some South Korean products by applying the "adverse facts available" (AFA) provision since May 2016, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The provision allows extremely high anti-dumping and co

South Korea's trade commission decided Thursday to uphold the existing anti-dumping tariff on imported Chinese H-shaped steel beams. The move will extend the anti-dumping tariff, which has been in force since July 2015, by another five-year period, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. H-shaped structural steel beams are widely used in building large structures. The domestic market for the product was estimated at 2.2 trillion won ($2 billion) in 2019, or 2.8 million tons.

Foreign workers earning income in South Korea should file their year-end tax settlements for 2020 before they receive February’s salary, the tax agency said Thursday. According to the National Tax Service, foreign employees are required to settle their year-end taxes by submitting related documents to their employers between Jan. 15 and March 2. The process determines whether they owe more taxes or qualify for reimbursement of income taxes paid over the past year. The procedure is cover

In 10 weeks, 17% climb seen in Ilsan, 15% in Paju

South Korea said Thursday it plans to expand subsidies provided for electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell automobiles this year in line with the country's green energy drive. Under the plan, South Korea will allocate 1 trillion won ($930 billion) to promote sales of electric cars, which marks a 25 percent rise from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The budget allocated for hydrogen cars will also reach 365.5 billion won, up 52 percent on-year. The cou

The number of beef cattle in South Korea rose nearly 4 percent in the fourth quarter of the year on increased beef consumption, government data showed Thursday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 3.36 million beef cattle, including Korean-breed cattle known as "hanwoo" here, as of Dec. 1, up 3.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It represents the largest-ever fourth-quarter tally since the statistical agency began tracking related data in 1983.

Local retail sales of processed rice products shot up nearly 11 percent in 2019 from a year earlier due to the growing demand from single-member households while more people opt for convenient meals, data showed Thursday. Retail sales of processed rice products, including ready-to-eat steamed rice, porridge, and noodles, came to 884 billion won ($804 million) in 2019, compared with 797.3 billion won posted in 2018, according to the latest data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and R