Most Popular
-
1
10-man S. Korea lose to Indonesia to miss out on Paris Olympic football qualification
-
2
Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
-
3
Second Gimpo civil servant found dead, after apologizing for not finishing work
-
4
DP leader says he will meet Yoon without conditions
-
5
First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
-
6
NewJeans' singles, Japanese debut to proceed as planned, despite Hybe-Ador feud
-
7
Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
-
8
Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
-
9
Samsung mobile chief, Google device head meet in Seoul
-
10
Ship linked to NK arms shipments to Russia is moored in China: State Dept.
-
S. Korea sharply cuts this year's growth outlook amid pandemic, but expects strong rebound in 2021
South Korea on Monday sharply slashed its growth estimate for the year, but expected a strong economic rebound next year on the back of massive fiscal spending, vowing to adopt "all possible means" to help Asia's fourth-largest economy chug along amid the pandemic. The finance ministry revised down its growth outlook to 0.1 percent from the 2.4 percent forecast late last year. Such a sharp cut follows the outbreak of the new coronavirus that has infected more than 6 million people g
June 1, 2020
-
‘Single-largest extra budget’ sought to deal with COVID-19 fallout
South Korea’s government and ruling party on Monday vowed to effectuate “the single-largest supplementary budget ever” within this month to head off the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeking synergy with the upcoming “mega budget,” the country also rolled out its economic policy road map for the second half of the year, including its own version of the “New Deal” package. “The government plans to submit the supplementary budget bill
June 1, 2020
-
S. Korea’s exports fail to recover in May
South Korea’s exports continued to fall in May, marking a double-digit percentage decline for the second consecutive month, according to a government report on Monday. The extended decline was largely due to the global economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry explained. Shipments of semiconductor products, however, bounced back, which alleviated the extended decline, it added. The nation’s outbound shipments in May dropped by 23.7 percent on-year to $34.8 bill
June 1, 2020
-
Businesses, households borrow W75tr in loans during COVID-19 period
T he outstanding loans extended to local companies and households here increased by a combined 75.4 trillion won ($73 billion) from February to April, when the economic risks stemming from the novel coronavirus pushed them to the brink, data showed Sunday. The figure has increased nearly triple on-year, rising from when businesses and households borrowed a combined 21.9 trillion won, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea and the policymaking Financial Services Commission. The outsta
May 31, 2020
-
Idle funds hit record-high amid COVID-19, low rate trend
South Korea’s volume of short-term floating capital -- so-called “idle funds” -- surpassed 1,100 trillion won ($901 billion), hitting a record-high amid the prolonged COVID-19 crisis and the continued low rate trend, data showed Sunday. The volume of cash, demand deposits, money market funds and other types classified as idle funds reached 1,106.3 trillion won as of end-March, up by around 10 trillion won on-month, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea and the Korea
May 31, 2020
-
Japan keeps mum on S. Korea's call to lift trade curbs as deadline looms
Japan has not responded to South Korea's renewed call to swiftly retract export restrictions imposed in a row over wartime forced labor, officials here said Sunday, as the deadline for an answer neared. Earlier this month, Seoul gave Tokyo until the end of May to lift the export curbs imposed in July last year on three key industrial materials in apparent retaliation over a row surrounding the wartime forced labor. Japan also removed South Korea from its list of trusted partners. "We ha
May 31, 2020
-
S. Korea’s economy to contract this year amid COVID-19 impact: BOK
South Korea’s central bank on Thursday slashed the country’s economic growth outlook for this year, forecasting a 0.2 percent on-year contraction amid the persisting COVID-19 pandemic. It also cut the policy rate to an unprecedented 0.5 percent, further down from the previous record low of 0.75 percent, keeping pace with the government’s expansionary fiscal actions to shore up the virus-hit economy. The Bank of Korea’s decision-making body -- Monetary Policy Board --
May 28, 2020
-
S. Korea to set aside W500b in guarantee fund program for auto parts firms
South Korea’s government will establish a guarantee fund program worth 500 billion won ($405 million) to provide extra loans to auto parts firms amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the nation’s fiscal chief on Thursday. “(The government) will protect the automobile industry’s ecosystem by providing cash to small and medium-sized auto parts firms that struggle to secure loans in spite of outstanding technology or sound contract delivery performances,” Deputy
May 28, 2020
-
Number of paid employee jobs rises 3.2% in Q4 last year
The number of jobs for wage and salary workers in South Korea gained 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year thanks to increased social welfare and public administration jobs, government data showed Thursday. South Korea's economy had 19.08 million paid worker jobs in the October-December period, up 592,000 from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Jobs in the social welfare sector came to 2.02 million, up 8.6 percent from a year ago, with public administration
May 28, 2020
-
S. Korea launches W40tr fund for backbone industries
South Korea on Thursday launched a fund worth 40 trillion won ($32.2 billion) to provide timely financial assistance to the country's backbone industries amid the economic fallout of the new coronavirus. The government has said airlines, shippers and others hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible for the fund's financial support if they have more than 500 billion won in debt and more than 300 employees per company. Among others, South Korea's two full-service carriers -- Korean Air Lin
May 28, 2020
-
Full text of BOK statement on monetary policy decision in May
The following is the full text of the Bank of Korea's statement on its monetary policy decision. The central bank's monetary policy board decided Thursday to cut the base rate by a quarter percentage point to a fresh record low of 0.50 percent. Monetary Policy Decision The Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Korea decided today to lower the Base Rate by 25 basis points, from 0.75% to 0.50%. Currently available information suggests that the global economy has contracted significantly due to co
May 28, 2020
-
Govt. urged to brace for virus-caused weaker growth, job losses
South Korea should map out measures to help cushion the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its economic growth and employment, a private think tank said Thursday. The novel coronavirus outbreak, which started in China in December, has led to lockdowns across the globe, crippling economic activity and touching off concerns over mass job cuts. "The outbreak of COVID-19 is feared to eat into South Korea's production base and lead to job losses," said the Korea Economic Research Inst
May 28, 2020
-
BOK trims key rate to record low amid grim growth outlook
South Korea's central bank slashed its policy rate by a quarter percentage point to a record low of 0.50 percent Thursday as the country's economy is expected to grow at the slowest pace in over two decades amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The move came a little over two months after the Bank of Korea (BOK) cut the base rate to 0.75 percent from 1.25 percent in its first emergency rate cut since October 2008. "Economic growth in Korea has slowed considerably," the BOK said in its stateme
May 28, 2020
-
Corporate direct financing down 29% in April
South Korean companies' stock and bond sales fell 28.8 percent in April from a month earlier, due mainly to a decline in sales of corporate debt, data showed Thursday. Local companies raised a combined 11.47 trillion won ($9.3 billion) by selling stocks and bonds in April, down 4.6 trillion won from March, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The decline is attributable to the 27 percent on-month fall in debt offerings to 11.42 trillion won, the FSS said. Last
May 28, 2020
-
S. Korea to set up W500b fund for auto parts firms
SEJONG -- South Korea will set up a guarantee fund of 500 billion won ($405 million) to provide more loans to auto parts companies that have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday. The fund, which will be financed by the government and carmakers, will provide guarantees for loans for auto parts firms, Hong said. The public sector will buy 9,500 cars by the end of September to prop up auto parts firms, Hong said. To boost private consumption, the gove
May 28, 2020
-
Manufacturers’ sentiment marks record-low since 2009
Weighed down by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, South Korean manufacturers saw their business confidence sink to the lowest level in over 12 years for the upcoming month, central bank data showed Wednesday. The business sentiment index -- BSI -- for the domestic manufacturing sector came to 49 for June, down from 50 for this month, according to the Bank of Korea. While a reading below 100 indicates a pessimist market sentiment, the latest figure marked the lowest since February 2009, in the
May 27, 2020
-
S. Korea to keep aggressive spending to address coronavirus pandemic
SEJONG -- South Korea will maintain its aggressive fiscal spending as it is set to unveil the third extra budget early next month to minimize the economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic, Vice Finance Minister An Il-whan said Wednesday. The third extra budget is aimed at focusing on reviving economic growth and creating jobs, An told a meeting with fiscal experts earlier in the day. The budget is also designed to provide financial support to small- and medium-sized enterprises hit by the
May 27, 2020
-
S. Korea’s global GDP ranking slips to 10th place: data
South Korea’s global GDP ranking slipped to 10th place last year, the first drop since the 2008 global financial crisis, data showed Wednesday. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the country’s nominal GDP stood at $1.64 trillion in 2019 ranking No. 10 out of 38 OECD member countries, two rungs down from 2018. Asia’s fourth-largest economy was outpaced by Canada and Russia last year, which ranked eighth and ninth, respectively.
May 27, 2020
-
Listed firms' dividends dip 1.9% in 2019
South Korean listed companies' dividend payouts slipped nearly 2 percent in 2019 from a year earlier amid a business slump, data showed Wednesday. Cash dividends paid out by 1,094 firms listed on the country's main and secondary stock markets totaled 22.6 trillion won ($18.3 billion) last year, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository. The number of dividend-paying corporations was down 12 from the previous year. The tally covers compan
May 27, 2020
-
Coronavirus dents major business sectors' Q1 output
More than half of South Korea's 29 major business sectors suffered setbacks in output in the first quarter due to the new coronavirus outbreak, boding ill for their second-quarter earnings, a market tracker said Wednesday. CEO Score said aviation, smartphone, display and 14 other industrial sectors saw their production shrink in the January-March period from a year earlier. The aviation sector was hit hardest with a 35.9 percent tumble as travel demand tanked following lockdowns and business
May 27, 2020