South Korea’s composite consumer index shed the most points in six months in September, feeling the impact of stricter social distancing rules following the COVID-19 resurgence, central bank data showed Friday. The index dropped 8.8 points on-month to 79.4 in September, which also marked the sharpest dip in six months and the first decline since April, according to data released by the Bank of Korea. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The September reading broke th

South Korea will spend a total of 94 billion won ($80.3 million) this year to help local firms develop homegrown vaccines and treatment drugs to fight the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Friday. The government also plans to set aside 260.4 billion won next year to develop vaccines and treatment drugs against the new coronavirus, officials said. The plan came after senior officials held a pan-government meeting with executives from pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms earlier in the day.

South Korea's terms of trade rose for the fifth straight month in August, as import prices fell at a faster pace than export prices, central bank data showed Friday. The country's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of trade terms -- came in at 96.75 in August, up 6.7 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the fifth straight month of an on-year rise since April, when the trade terms posted the first on-year gain in over two

Sales of imported commercial vehicles in South Korea rose 2.3 percent last month from a year earlier on robust sales of Mercedes-Benz trucks, an industry association said Friday. The number of newly registered imported commercial vehicles rose to 318 units in August from 311 a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. "Increased sales of Mercedes-Benz and Scania trucks helped the monthly results," a KAIDA official said. &

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a plunge in South Korean consumers' spending at department stores, cinemas and other large indoor facilities, an expert said Friday. In contrast, consumer spending at outdoor and small facilities, including neighborhood grocery stores and camping sites, has gone up, said Lee Jae-ho, head of the Digital Economy Institute of Kakao Mobility. "The COVID-19 outbreak has caused the frequency of visits to duty-free shops and department stores and large di

Prosecutors on Thursday raided KEB Hana Bank‘s headquarters in Seoul in an apparent move to add fresh fuel to the investigation of Optimus Asset Management’s private equity fund misselling. KEB Hana Bank was one of trustee banks of the disputed funds. According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, investigators searched the lender’s consignment sales unit to seize computer drives and documents related to the case. The main purpose of the search is to fi

South Korea’s vice finance minister on Thursday warned that the local foreign exchange market may face higher volatility amid external factors such as the COVID-19 resurgence in Europe and the reignited US-China conflict. “There are currently various factors which may increase volatility in the global financial market, including the resurgence of COVID-19 in Europe and the escalating tension between the US and China ahead of the US presidential election,” said Kim Yong-beom

Renault Samsung Motors Corp. said Thursday it will suspend its sole plant in South Korea until mid-October to control inventories amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Renault Samsung will halt the operation of the Busan plant, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, from Friday through Oct. 18, a company spokesman said over the phone. "The plant will be suspended for 11 working days as the Chuseok holiday falls on Sept. 30 and lasts through Oct. 5 for carmakers," he said. The company and its l

South Korean business lobby groups said Thursday a series of bills that they claim would hurt corporate activities should be further discussed as they will have a far-reaching impact on their business operations and the economy as well. The government is pushing to pass a package of bills to prevent power abuse by large conglomerates, help improve corporate governance structures and strengthen the financial health of financial companies. Also, the government is seeking to expand class-action

South Korea's economy is expected to deteriorate further in the second half of the year due to the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, a leading private think tank said Thursday. Asia's fourth-largest economy is likely to contract 3.8 percent on-year in the July-December period, worse than a 2.9 percent contraction projected in the second quarter, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI). After posting a negative growth rate of 0.7 percent in the first half, the economy is project

More than two in every 10 South Korean listed companies are unlikely to service their debts with earnings this year due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, South Korea's central bank said Thursday. The Bank of Korea estimated that 21.4 percent of the listed companies will have an interest coverage ratio below 1 this year. Last year, the proportion of marginal companies hit a record high of 14.8 percent since the central bank began compiling related data in 2010. The interest coverag

Finance Ministry vows to execute 80% of total budget by next Tuesday

Korean children have received a combined 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion) worth of assets through some 9,700 gifts that are subject to taxation, data showed Wednesday. The value of the combined assets as of 2018 -- comprising of financial assets, properties and securities -- surged over twofold from that of 2014 at 588.4 billion won, according to data from the National Tax Service compiled by ruling Democratic Party Rep. Yang Hyang-ja. In the same period, the number of taxable gifts rose 92 per

SEJONG -- The number of South Koreans who moved to different parts of the country grew in August, as more people were forced to change their residences due to rising housing prices, government data showed Wednesday. The number of people who changed their residences rose 8.7 percent last month from a year earlier to 615,000, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The population mobility rate -- the number of those relocating per 100 people -- remained at 14.1 percent in August, up

SEJONG -- The number of babies born in South Korea dropped 8.5 percent in July from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign underscoring the low birthrate that has plagued the nation for more than a decade. The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed that 23,067 babies were born in July, compared with 25,222 tallied in the same month of 2019. It marks the lowest number of newborns for any July since the statistics agency started compiling monthly data on newborns in 1981. In