The Korea Herald

Seoul official calls for Asian transition to low-carbon economy

Jul 6, 2017

A senior diplomat on Thursday outlined South Korea's commitment to environment-friendly energy policy, including plans to reduce its dependency on coal and nuclear power plants, and sharply increase ...
Department stores see sales drop amid rising online shopping

Jul 6, 2017

South Korean department stores saw their sales fall in May as more consumers opted for online shopping, government data showed Thursday. The department stores' sales index dropped 4.6 percent in May...
Indebted households spending more income to repay loans

Jul 6, 2017

Households with loans use about a third of their disposable income on debt repayment, statistics showed Thursday, undermining efforts to spur consumption through spending. The National Assembly Budg...
Deregulation, industrial policy out of focus

Jul 5, 2017

In a meeting with business leaders accompanying him on a trip to the US last week, President Moon Jae-in asked them to “trust in the new government’s economic policy, invest more and create jobs.” D...
Foreign investors bought up Asian stocks amid US rate hikes: data

Jul 5, 2017

Foreign investors bought shares traded on the South Korean and Asian stock markets in the first half of this year despite concerns over capital flight as the US marked up its interest rates, industry...
Vegetable prices rise due to downpour, drought

Jul 5, 2017

Prices of vegetables jumped sharply in recent weeks due to heavy downpours that followed a long drought, industry sources said Wednesday. The price of napa cabbage soared 26.2 percent to 1,416 won (...
Korea's national debt exceeds W950t

Jul 5, 2017

South Korea's national debt as measured in outstanding state bonds issued exceeded 950 trillion won ($826.2 billion) last month, mainly due to the government's expansionary fiscal policy to cope with...
Biz sentiment at over 2-yr high but still under par

Jul 5, 2017

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment reached the highest in over two years, but pessimism still outweighed optimism overall, a survey showed Wednesday. A survey of some 2,200 manufacturing...
Korea's FX reserves hit record high in June

Jul 5, 2017

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves hit a record high in June due to a hike in the value of non-dollar currencies when converted into the U.S. greenback, central bank data showed Wednesday. As o...
Korea tightens monitoring of financial market

Jul 4, 2017

The South Korean finance ministry said Tuesday that it tightened its monitoring of the local financial market following the latest missile launch by North Korea. After launching a ballistic missile ...
Mortgage loans by young household heads up sharply in past 4 1/2

Jul 4, 2017

Mortgage loans by those in their 20s and 30s have risen dramatically in the past 4 1/2 years, government data showed Tuesday, raising concerns of overdue payments. The average household whose head i...
Korea has greater income gap than 24 European countries: report

Jul 4, 2017

South Korea has a greater income gap at workplaces than 24 European countries, a local think tank said Tuesday. The Korea Economic Research Institute said the average salary earned by Korean workers...
Korea to boost public sector hiring of young people: panel

Jul 4, 2017

President Moon Jae-in's policy advisory panel said Tuesday that the government will expand hiring of young people in the public sector, the latest in a series of efforts to create jobs. Currently, p...
Korean financial firms expand oversea branches, suffer from

Jul 4, 2017

South Korean financial firms have increased the number of foreign branches over the past five years, but such operations suffer from low profitability, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The numb...
Korea to hold Asian energy cooperation forum this week

Jul 4, 2017

Korea will hold a forum this week aimed at stepping up cooperation in the energy sector among Asian countries, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The energy cooperation forum will be held in Seoul o...