South Korea is expected to face a "grave" risk from rising inflation for the time being, as the recovery of consumption will further add price pressure amid high energy costs, a senior government official said Friday. The government plans to beef up its monitoring of key items, including cooking oil and petroleum products, in a bid to ease the burden from elevated inflation, according to First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun. "Price situations facing the South Korean economy are

South Korea's producer prices grew for the fourth straight month in April as hikes in energy and raw material prices drove up costs of manufacturing products, central bank data showed Friday. The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, stood at 118.02 in April, up 1.1 percent from a revised 116.70 tallied a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year earlier, the index jumped 9.2 percent, faster than the previous month�

South Korea's tax revenue increased 10.4 trillion won ($8.16 billion) in March from a year earlier, as the collection of corporate and value-added taxes rose amid the economic recovery, the finance ministry said Thursday. The government collected 41.1 trillion won in taxes in March, compared with 30.7 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. South Korea has continued to log a surplus of tax revenue, as the economy has been on a recovery track. The co

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is expected to slash the maximum rate in corporate tax, which has been set at 25 percent since the previous Moon Jae-in government, remarks from officials including new Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho suggested. While some claim cutting down corporate tax is inevitable, as such deregulatory moves could improve the business environment, opponents say it would undermine the country’s fiscal soundness. In his recent reply to the National Assembly fo

A recent report that three employees had stolen 3 billion won ($2.3 million) from South Korea’s biggest cosmetics maker Amorepacific in the wake of other huge embezzlements at the country’s major banks is fueling calls for tougher oversight. The employees at the cosmetics maker had allegedly used the money to buy stocks, cryptocurrencies and gamble by falsifying company documents such as tax records, a local report said Tuesday. Amorepacific said the employees were facing disciplina

Apartment buildings in Seoul (Yonhap)Almost 4 in 10 South Korean listed companies trimmed their workforce in 2021 from a year earlier amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, a private think tank said Tuesday. The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said a survey of 1,874 firms listed on the country's main and minor bourses showed 43.1 percent slashing the number of their employees last year from 2020. Of the 696 businesses traded on the main KOSPI market, 294, or 42.2 percent, cut job

The combined first-quarter sales of major firms in South Korea surpassed the 700 trillion-won ($545 billion) mark for the first time on strong performances by chips, electronics, petrochemicals and auto manufacturers, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The total top line of 344 out of South Korea's top 500 companies by sales came to 791.5 trillion won in the January-March period, up 19.6 percent from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. The 344 corporations cover those that have disclosed

The wealth gap between the richest Koreans in their 20s and 30s and their poorest peers increased more in 2021 than the previous year, a lawmaker said, citing data compiled by Statistics Korea. In 2021, the top 20 percent of wealthy Koreans in their 20s and 30s held 981.85 million won ($764,442) on average, 35.27 times that of the 27.84 million won held by the bottom 20 percent in the same demographic. That was an incremental increase from the 35.2 times in 2020, according to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is considering easing the burden of gift tax by raising the upper limit of tax-free capital transfers from the current 50 million won ($38,900), documents from relevant ministries showed Monday. Currently, the authority does not levy gift taxes as long as parents or grandparents conduct capital transfer to their children or grandchildren within the limit of 50 million won per child. If the transfer exceeds 50 million won, the parents and grandparents

South Korea has yet to arrive at a stage where the option of a “big step” or half a percentage point rate hike can be completely ruled out, with the possibility of higher inflationary pressure looming over the economy, the nation’s central bank chief said Monday. Following his breakfast meeting with Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong told reporters the uncertainties surrounding Korea’s inflation is keeping the central bank from taking the

　 Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Sunday the government will make it a top priority to stabilize rising product prices fueled by the Russia-Ukraine war and other external uncertainties. 　The government will set up measures for price stabilization through consultations with related ministries as quickly as possible, the finance minister said in a meeting in Seoul. 　 　“South Korea stands at a serious and urgent stage as the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, major economies‘ monetary ti

South Korea's state power firm Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) on Friday reported a record-high operating loss in the first quarter of this year due to high global energy costs and the freeze in electricity rates. Operating loss for the January-March period hit an all-time quarterly high of 7.78 trillion won ($6.06 billion), compared with the operating profit of 565.6 billion won from a year earlier, the state-run firm said in its regulatory filing. The figure is even larger than the company'

Fiscal deficit to reach 68 trillion won from support package

Market expects eased rules on loans, measures to protect consumers

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is moving to offer 6 million won ($4,700) or more per self-employed person in its supplementary budget, as part of the new government’s first policy to compensate those who suffered financial loss from state-led business restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. President Yoon, who took office on Tuesday, stressed the necessity of implementing a supplementary budget for the support package as promptly as possible while presiding over his first mee