Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Korea enters full election mode
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Seoul’s bus union prepares for strike
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China's exports rise 2.3% in December amid uneven recovery, while consumer prices edged lower
HONG KONG (AP) — China's exports grew slightly for a second consecutive month in December even as deflationary pressures persisted, according to official data released Friday that underscored the uneven nature of the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic. Demand for Chinese exports has been weak since the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia began raising interest rates last year to cool inflation that was at multi-decade highs. Exports rose 2.3 p
Jan. 12, 2024
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Posco CEO, board members booked for investigation over luxurious overseas board meeting
Police have booked the CEO of South Korean steel titan Posco and a dozen other board members for investigations on charges of having subsidiary firms shoulder their overseas board meeting expenses worth some 700 million won ($532,244). The 16 board members of Posco holdings, includ ng its CEO Choi Jeong-woo, held a weeklong board meeting in Canada last year, which cost some 680 million won in total. Police suspect the expenses were shared by the company's subsidiaries, with Posco-Canada pay
Jan. 12, 2024
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Taeyoung receives 96% of support from creditors for debt restructuring
Troubled builder Taeyoung Engineering & Construction Co. has received 96.1 percent of support from creditors to move forward with a debt restructuring program, its main creditor said Friday. The level of support was higher than the 75 percent that Taeyoung was required to have for the debt rescheduling program, allowing the builder to postpone the repayment of its debts until April 11. Under the program, due diligence will be conducted to figure out the financial status of Taeyoung and its v
Jan. 12, 2024
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Creditors vote to allow troubled builder Taeyoung to move forward with debt restructuring
Creditors of debt-ridden Taeyoung Engineering & Construction Co. voted Thursday to allow the ailing builder to move forward with a debt restructuring program. Taeyoung, the 16th-largest builder in South Korea in terms of construction capacity, applied for a debt restructuring program late last month due to a liquidity shortage over real estate project financing (PF) loans. The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) and other creditors held a meeting earlier Thursday to vote on whether to all
Jan. 11, 2024
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Hana Bank to provide W356b in support for small businesses
Hana Bank announced Thursday that the company would provide 355.7 billion won ($270 million) in financial support for small business owners, who are struggling with high interest rates and the recent economic setback. Hana Bank said its support program will offer cashback on interest payments, subsidies on utility fees and consulting services to some 300,000 small business owners and self-employed individuals. Hana Bank has allocated 219.4 billion won for a cashback program on interest payments
Jan. 11, 2024
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BOK kicks off 2024 by keeping interest rate steady
The Bank of Korea maintained the key rate at 3.5 percent for the eighth consecutive session at its first rate-setting meeting of the year on Thursday, confirming its unwavering will to combat inflation. The monetary policy board of the central bank decided to hold the rate through a unanimous vote, keeping the rate steady for nearly a year since February 2023. Though potential fallout from project financing loans in the construction industry looms with Taeyoung Engineering & Construction fil
Jan. 11, 2024
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Top financial regulator says debt workout requires active, comprehensive support
The head of the country's financial regulator insisted Tuesday that a debt workout program requires support for more than just debt payment, as creditors call for ailing builder Taeyoung to present more self-rescue measures for the start of a debt restructuring program. Lee Bok-hyun, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, also highlighted the need for the troubled firm to do its utmost to help itself. "Considering wide support for not only the debt of a debtor but also indirect li
Jan. 9, 2024
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S. Korea logs current account surplus for 7th month in November
South Korea logged a current account surplus for the seventh straight month in November on the back of an increased trade surplus, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's current account surplus reached $4.06 billion in November, narrowing from the surplus of $6.8 billion the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. November's surplus came as the country's trade balance has remained in the black for eight consecutive months. The country's
Jan. 9, 2024
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New industry minister vows proactive response to overseas protectionism
The new industry minister on Monday vowed to move "proactively" to address protectionism measures from major trade partners, as the country focuses on maintaining export recovery momentum. "We should respond proactively against trade measures from the European Union, China and the United States, and remove export-related hurdles in areas including finance, marketing and certification, to pave the way for exporters," Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said during his inauguration
Jan. 8, 2024
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NPS set to post record-high returns in 2023
The National Pension Service is expected to have logged over 12 percent in returns in 2023, marking its highest-ever yield. According to news reports Friday, the state pension fund may have registered its highest profit since the National Pension Service Investment Management was founded in 1999. “We cannot confirm the exact figures as a regulatory filing has not been made yet. The exact numbers are to be released in late February,” an official from the NPS said. However, seeing th
Jan. 5, 2024
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S. Korea to go all-out to achieve 2% inflation target in H1
The government will extend intensive policy support to bring inflation down below 3 percent in the first half of 2024 as prices are projected to ease slower than expected, the finance ministry said Friday. "Inflation is expected to moderate gradually to stay around 3 percent in the first half of this year. The government will maintain the intensive price stabilization scheme involving all ministries' concerns to achieve the 2 percent level at an early date," First Vice Finance Min
Jan. 5, 2024
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Breaking down key points of Korea's 2024 economic policy
South Korea has set its economic priorities for the year, aiming to boost domestic consumption by supporting the real estate market and to encourage investment to ensure a steady economic recovery. In its economic policy directions for 2024 announced Thursday, the government expected that Asia’s fourth-largest economy will see slightly improved growth of 2.2 percent this year, compared with 1.4 percent in 2023, buoyed by an export bounce-back as demand for semiconductors rises. It lowe
Jan. 4, 2024
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Shipping firms asked to consider detouring Red Sea
South Korea's industry ministry on Thursday asked shipping firms to consider delivering freights through alternative routes amid lingering tensions in the Red Sea. The remark came after Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have been attacking commercial vessels in one of the world's most important waterways. "Amid the continued geopolitical risks in the Red Sea, we have requested shippers to proactively consider detouring, as the safety of our vessels and export products come as
Jan. 4, 2024
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Total year-end taxes paid by foreign employees reaches record high
The total amount in year-end tax settlements submitted by employees of foreign nationality in South Korea reached a record high of 1.19 trillion won ($910 million) last year, the National Tax Service said Wednesday. All wage-earning workers of foreign nationality here, except for day laborers, are required to file their year-end tax settlements, as are those of Korean nationality. Foreign national taxpayers who submitted year-end tax settlements for income attributable to the year 2022 totaled 5
Jan. 3, 2024
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Korean Air's Incheon-Ishikawa flights delayed after major earthquake hits Japan's western coast
Korean Air Co. said Tuesday its flights connecting Incheon and Japan's western prefecture of Ishikawa have been delayed after a major earthquake struck off Japan's west coast the previous day. According to the company, flight KE775 from Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, to Komatsu Airport in Ishikawa was delayed by around 2 1/2 hours in the morning following the previous day's 7.6 magnitude quake. The returning KE776 flight was also subsequently delayed by two hours to
Jan. 2, 2024
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S. Korea's exports down 7.4 pct in 2023 amid weak chip demand
South Korea's exports decreased 7.4 percent on-year in 2023 amid the sluggish performance of chips coupled with global economic uncertainties, industry ministry data showed Monday. Outbound shipments stood at US$632.6 billion last year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports decreased 12.1 percent on-year to $642.7 billion in 2023, resulting in a trade deficit of $9.97 billion. The industry ministry attributed the sluggish exports in 2023 to the gl
Jan. 1, 2024
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S. Korea's economy forecast to grow 2% next year
South Korea's economy is forecast to grow an average 2 percent next year, as it is expected to struggle with weak domestic demand in spite of a gradual recovery in exports, according to reports Sunday. The average outlooks by 20 local and international think tanks are largely in line with the 2.1 percent growth forecast recently announced by the Bank of Korea but lower than the government's 2.4 percent projection announced in July. The state-run Korea Development Institute and the Kore
Dec. 31, 2023
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S. Korea set to implement global minimum corporate tax scheme
South Korea is set to implement a minimum 15 percent corporate tax scheme for multinational firms next year, in line with a global deal to reduce tax competition between countries and prevent large multilateral businesses from dodging taxes, according to Seoul's finance ministry Sunday. The planned implementation came as South Korea enacted the new rules through the passage by the National Assembly, which call for the minimum corporate tax rate for multinational corporations with more than
Dec. 31, 2023
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BOK sells net $3.5 billion in market-smoothing operations in Q3
The Bank of Korea said Friday it sold a net $3.5 billion in the third-quarter of this year to help ease the decline of the local currency against the US dollar. The third-quarter dollar selling marks the ninth straight quarter of dollar selling for market-smoothing operations since the third quarter of 2021, according to the central bank. The third-quarter dollar selling marks a fall from the previous quarter's $5.97 billion. (Yonhap)
Dec. 29, 2023
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How much have Korea's food delivery fees risen this year?
The cost of ordering food by delivery in December rose by about 4 percent on-year, higher than the on-year rise in the cost of daily necessities at 3.9 percent, data showed Friday. According to a report released by Statistics Korea, this month’s delivery cost showed a 4.3 percent increase from the figure in November 2022. The figure also marks an increase of 0.4 percent from November this year. The report was based on a monthly survey of eateries across the country from November 2022 thr
Dec. 29, 2023