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Assembly vote on Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment set for 4 p.m. Saturday
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Assembly ejects Yoon from power after 12-day political turmoil
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Two Korean business leaders make Forbes list of 'most powerful women'
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[Breaking] South Korea's parliament votes to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol
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'When the Phone Rings' sparks renewed interest in original web novel
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Yoon suspended amid impeachment. What’s next?
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[From the Scene] College students hold joint rally to urge Yoon’s impeachment
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Opposition leader urges ruling party lawmakers to vote for Yoon Suk Yeol impeachment
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Courts condemn arrest order for judge as threat to judicial independence
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K-pop star IU supplies hot food for fans attending anti-Yoon rallies
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Hana Bank’s extended forex trading kicks off on smooth run
Hana Bank’s foreign exchange trading room in Seoul, the largest in South Korea, completed its first extended trading session on Tuesday. Starting Monday, Korea extended its foreign currency trading hours, pushing the closing time from 3:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. the following day. This move is part of Korea’s strategy to enhance its financial market and attract more foreign capital, with won-dollar trading now available until 5 p.m. in London and 1 p.m. in New York. Additionally, foreign fin
July 2, 2024
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Inflation slows to 11-month low of 2.4% in June
South Korea's consumer prices slowed to an 11-month low in June, though prices of fresh food items and petroleum products remained high, data showed Tuesday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2.4 percent on-year last month, compared with a 2.7 percent on-year rise a month earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It was the third consecutive month that the price decelerated and stayed below 3 percent, and June's figure marked the lowest level since July 2023,
July 2, 2024
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Samsung Electronics union in South Korea declares strike
A workers' union at Samsung Electronics in South Korea said on Monday it would launch a general strike until its demands for better pay and time off were met, warning of more damaging action against the country's most powerful conglomerate than its one-day walkout last month. The National Samsung Electronics Union, whose roughly 28,000 members make up over a fifth of the firm's workforce, is planning to begin the strike on July 8, asking the company for commitments such as improve
July 1, 2024
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Business arrears of self-employed hits all-time high in Q1: report
The amount of overdue business loans taken by self-employed business owners in South Korea surpassed 10 trillion won ($7.2 billion) for the first time ever in the first quarter of this year, marking the highest figure ever since the government started tallying the figure in 2009. Overdue business loans of self-employed business owners were an accumulated 10.8 trillion won as of late March, according to a report the Bank of Korea submitted to Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the main opposition Democratic Par
July 1, 2024
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Korea’s chip exports reach all-time high in June
South Korea’s semiconductor exports soared to a record high in June, backed by strong global demand, data from the Trade Ministry showed Monday, helping the country's exports to continue their upward trajectory. The country’s total exports stood at $57.07 billion in June, jumping 5.1 percent on-year, and imports came to $49.07 billion, shedding 7.5 percent on-year. As a result, Korea posted a trade surplus of $8 billion, marking a ninth consecutive month of surplus. The surplus
July 1, 2024
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Forex market hours extended to 2 a.m.
South Korea’s foreign exchange market will operate until 2 a.m. from Monday, while its crypto market is to enter a new phase with the enactment of the virtual asset user protection law this month, as part of new government measures to come into place in the latter half of this year. The Finance Ministry announced Sunday it has released a booklet on policy changes across the government's ministries for the second half of 2024. The booklet is available at the ministry’s website an
June 30, 2024
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S. Korea's pharmaceutical, biotechnology exports spike 55 pct on-year in H1
South Korea's exports of pharmaceutical and bio technologies surged from a year earlier in the first half of the year, data showed Saturday. In the first six months of the year, the country exported 4.5 trillion won ($3.26 billion) worth of pharmaceutical and bio technologies, up 55 percent from 2.9 trillion won for the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association. The number of export deals dropped to seven from 12 over
June 29, 2024
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Financial regulator lowers cap on loans for people with low credit scores
The financial regulator has lowered maximum rates for loans extended by secondary lenders, such as savings banks, to people with mid- and low-level credit scores, market sources said Saturday. According to the sources, the Financial Services Commission has cut the maximum rate on loans from mutual finances to 10.22 percent in the second half of the year from the 10.5 percent applied in the first six months. The maximum rate for midrange interest rate loans from savings banks has also been reduce
June 29, 2024
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S. Korea's imports of crude oil fall 2.5% in 2023
South Korea's imports of crude oil fell 2.5 percent on year in 2023, data showed Friday, as consumption of petroleum products declined last year. South Korea imported 1.01 billion barrels of crude oil last year, down from 1.03 billion barrels in 2022, according to data compiled by the Korea National Oil Corp. The Middle East accounted for 71.9 percent of South Korea's crude oil imports last year, up from 67.4 percent in 2022. South Korea's dependency on the Middle East crude oil h
June 28, 2024
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S. Korea, US discuss supply chain, export control
South Korea's industry ministry said Friday it has discussed ways to expand ties in addressing supply chain and export control issues with Washington under a regular bilateral dialogue. Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun and his US counterpart, Gina Raimondo, discussed related matters during the Supply Chain Commercial Dialogue in Washington on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The SCCD is a regular ministerial forum, proposed during US President Joe Biden'
June 28, 2024
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Korea, US, Japan to prioritize chips, battery supply chain resilience
Top economic policymakers from South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed to deepen their trilateral cooperation on semiconductors and key minerals supply chains in a meeting held in Washington on Wednesday. Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Saito Ken held the inaugural three-way ministerial meeting to discuss measures to promote the development of core and emerging techno
June 27, 2024
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Finance minister hints at major inheritance tax cuts in July
The South Korean government is to revise the inheritance tax scheme that imposes up to a 60 percent tax for big companies here as part of the government’s tax code revision slated for late July, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said Thursday. “I personally prioritize the inheritance tax reform, which requires more deliberation," Choi said when asked about the government's priority regarding tax reform at a forum hosted by the Korea News Editors' Association. “The i
June 27, 2024
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KRX rallies mid-sized firms to ride on 'value-up' program
Korea Exchange CEO Jeong Eun-bo held a roundtable meeting with mid-sized companies listed on the nation’s main bourse Kospi to encourage their active participation in the government-led corporate “value-up” program. This is the third meeting of its kind following Jeong's previous ones with large corporations and financial firms. Earlier this year, the government announced the value-up program aimed at elevating the undervalued stock prices of Korean firms, a phenomenon w
June 27, 2024
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S. Korea, US, Japan voice concerns over 'weaponization' of economic dependencies
Top industry officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan expressed concerns Wednesday over the "weaponization" of economic dependencies on certain supply sources for strategic goods as they held their first trilateral meeting on economic security in Washington. South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Japanese Industry Minister Ken Saito issued a joint statement following the Commerce and Industry Ministerial Meeting, which undersco
June 27, 2024
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S. Korea to allow foreign investors' Korean won overdrafts, ease FX regulations
South Korea will allow offshore investors' overdrafts of the Korean currency over the course of foreign exchange transactions and will ease relevant regulations in an effort to improve their access to bond trading and promote investment, the finance ministry said Wednesday. It is part of the government's planned revision to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Regulations, which come along with the envisioned implementation of omnibus accounts by clearing houses Euroclear and Clearstream
June 26, 2024
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Planned start of stricter rules on household loans to be postponed until September
The financial regulator said Tuesday that the planned implementation of stricter rules on household loans will be postponed until the start of September amid various risk factors facing the financial market. The country was originally set to implement a second phase formula for floating rate stress debt service ratio (DSR) at the start of next month. The government "has decided through consultations with related organizations to implement the second phase DSR steps from Sept. 1," the F
June 25, 2024
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S. Korea, Netherlands discuss supply chain management at 1st economic security talks
South Korea and the Netherlands have discussed efforts to tackle supply chain disruptions and ways for cooperation in the area as they held their first bilateral economic security talks this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said Saturday. The dialogue took place in The Hague on Friday (local time), led by Kim Jin-dong, director general for bilateral economic affairs at the South Korean foreign ministry, and Yvette van Eechoud, deputy director general for foreign economic relations at the Dutc
June 22, 2024
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Short selling ban hinders Korea’s MSCI index upgrade
South Korea retained its emerging market status by Morgan Stanley Capital International, with the ongoing short selling ban cited as a hindrance to the country's efforts for a status upgrade. "The recent short selling ban introduces market accessibility restrictions," MSCI said Thursday when announcing the results of its market classification review for the global standard indexes. In part, the New York-based index provider acknowledged and welcomed the recently proposed measures
June 21, 2024
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S. Korea, Japan to hold finance ministers' meeting next week
South Korea's Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart, Shunichi Suzuki, next week to discuss ways of strengthening financial and economic cooperation, Seoul's finance ministry said Friday. The ninth Korea-Japan finance ministers' meeting will take place in Seoul on Tuesday, which will mark the first time in eight years that top economic policymakers of the neighboring countries meet in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Th
June 21, 2024
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Financial firms to provide W5tr in loans for real estate projects
Five banks and five insurance firms in South Korea agreed Thursday to provide up to 5 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in additional funding for real estate development projects. The move comes amid government-led efforts to normalize real estate project financing ㅣloans as prices continue to rise, which include the liquidation of failing projects. Under a memorandum of understanding signed Thursday, the five banks and five insurance firms will first create a 1 trillion-won syndicated loan and gradua
June 20, 2024