Most Popular
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Bae Doo-na shares portraying Korean identity in Hollywood's 'Rebel Moon'
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[From the Scene] Monks, Buddhists hail return of remains of Buddhas
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Medical schools granted enrollment quota flexibility for next year
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Korea's producer prices fall for first time in nearly a year in Oct.
South Korea's producer prices backtracked for the first time in nearly one year in October as farm production recovered in the fall season, central bank data showed Tuesday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, reached 105.41 last month, down 0.4 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It is the first on-month decline since November last year when the index edged down 0.1 percent. On a year-on-year basis, i
Nov. 20, 2018
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Korea needs to boost service exports
Korea needs to step up efforts to increase exports in the service sector to offset a possible decline in the outbound shipment of its major manufactured goods, experts here say.Exports have shored up the slowing Korean economy so far this year, as decreasing investment and slumping consumption decelerate its growth.According to data recently released by Korea Customs Service, the country’s goods exports increased 22.7 percent on-year to $54.9 billion in October, mainly on the back of a ris
Nov. 19, 2018
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Finance minister says it's time to help innovation-led growth bear fruit
South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Monday that more efforts should be placed on economic reform to help innovation-led growth policies bear fruit.In a meeting with businessmen, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said it's time to seek measures so the incumbent Moon Jae-in administration's economic policy goals such as income-led growth can make headway."We have had much debate on those issues, but it's time to allow the policies to produce some results," the senior official said
Nov. 19, 2018
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Retail investors own over W3t of suspended Samsung Biologics
Retail investors are estimated to hold more than 3 trillion won worth of Samsung BioLogics Co. shares, whose trading was suspended last week over window-dressing, a corporate researcher said Monday.As of last Wednesday, individual investors owned an estimated 9.6 million shares of Samsung BioLogics, or 14.53 percent, according to Chaebul.com. It translates into 3.2 trillion won ($2.83 billion) in value, based on the closing price Wednesday, when its trading was halted. Foreign investors held an
Nov. 19, 2018
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BOK chief calls for resilience against external risks
South Korea’s central bank chief on Monday urged Asia-Pacific economies to reinforce their resilience against potential external risk factors amid a fluctuating global financial environment.“We must enhance the general resilience of the regional economy so that drastic changes in capital flows stemming from external risks do not lead to systematic risks,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a conference jointly held at Seoul’s Plaza Hotel by the BOK and the Bank for In
Nov. 19, 2018
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Seoul stocks end higher on eased trade woes
South Korean stocks ended higher for the second consecutive session on Friday as investor sentiment recovered on hopes of eased US-China trade friction. The South Korean currency rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 4.34 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 2,092.40. Trading volume was moderate at 294 million shares worth 4.69 trillion won (US$4.15 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 564 to 261.Individual and institutional investors picked up 18
Nov. 16, 2018
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Home ownership rate in Korea stands at 55.9% in 2017
The home ownership rate in South Korea came to 55.9 percent in 2017, 0.4 percentage point up from a year earlier, government data showed Friday. The data released by Statistics Korea said 11 million households out of 19.67 million across the country owned homes in 2017. The average price of homes came to 225 million won ($199,000), and the average size stood at 86.3 square meters.The data also showed that the total number of residences across the country came to 17.12 million units, up
Nov. 16, 2018
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Oil funds lose big on plunging crude prices
South Korea's three oil commodity exchange traded funds have chalked up abysmal returns over the past month due to tumbling crude prices, a fund evaluator said Friday.The oil-focused funds, which are pegged to crude prices, posted an average return of over minus 15 percent in the month to Friday, according to market tracker KG Zeroin. Oil ETFs consist of either crude firm stocks or futures and derivative contracts to track the price and performance of oil, or in some cases oil-related indexes.Th
Nov. 16, 2018
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Retail sales, industrial output face slump in restructuring-hit regions
Retail sales and industrial output in restructuring-hit regions remained in a slump in the third quarter, government data showed Thursday.According to the data compiled by Statistics Korea, retail sales in South Gyeongsang Province, North Jeolla Province and Ulsan declined 2.3 percent, 1.2 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, in the July-September period, from a year earlier. The regions are home to major shipyards, including Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., and automaking-related firms, suc
Nov. 15, 2018
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Shorter workweek adds to corporate woes
Local companies are struggling to adapt to a shorter workweek and calling for greater flexibility in its application, but their calls face vehement objections from the country’s umbrella labor groups.Under a recently revised law, the maximum weekly working hours have been reduced to 52 from 68. The revisions took effect in July for companies with 300 or more employees and will also affect smaller businesses in the coming years.There seems to be public consensus here that Korea’s noto
Nov. 14, 2018
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ICT exports rise for 24th straight month in Oct.
South Korean exports of information and communication technology posted growth for the 24th month in a row in October on the back of brisk overseas sales of semiconductors, government data showed Wednesday.A total of $20.21 billion worth of ICT products were shipped overseas last month, up 12.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The total exceeded the $20 billion mark for the third month in a row and marked the second-highest monthly tally to d
Nov. 14, 2018
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Regulator to rule on suspected accounting breach by Samsung BioLogics
South Korea's financial regulator said Wednesday it will give a final ruling on whether Samsung BioLogics Co. violated accounting rules, a decision that could lead to the delisting of the biopharmaceutical firm. The ruling will be announced at around 4:30 p.m., an official at the Financial Services Commission said.The regulatory probe by the Securities and Futures Commission centers on questions about Samsung BioLogics' sudden profits in 2015 after years of losses. Samsung BioLogics reported a n
Nov. 14, 2018
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Korea's jobless rate rises in Oct., dismal job conditions continue
South Korea's jobless rate rose slightly in October due to a fall in employment in the retail and hospitality sectors, with poorer-than-expected job creation showing no signs of a letup, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 3.5 percent last month, up 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of employed people reached 27.09 million in October, an increase of 64,000 from the same month in 2017, according t
Nov. 14, 2018
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KEPCO Q3 net tumbles on increased fuel costs
The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. said Tuesday its net profit plunged in the third quarter compared with a year ago due to higher fuel costs.Net profits stood at 737.29 billion won ($650.4 million) on a consolidated basis in the July-September period, down 51.8 percent from a year earlier, KEPCO said in a regulatory filing. The firm's sales gained 1.4 percent on-year to 16.4 trillion won on increased electricity demand during an unprecedented stretch of hot summer weather. Its operat
Nov. 13, 2018
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S. Korea’s corporate earnings steady despite slowing economy: Moody’s
South Korea’s economic growth will slow down in the upcoming years, weighed down by the global slowdown amid weak demand and ongoing trade conflicts, according to Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday.Despite the downward pressure, most local nonfinancial companies here are likely to see stable corporate earnings next year on the back of strong macroeconomic conditions, the credit ratings agency said.“While South Korea’s exports are exposed to the US-China trade tensions v
Nov. 13, 2018
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Tax revenue tallied at 20.5 tln won in September
South Korea's tax revenue was tallied at 20.5 trillion won ($18 billion) in September, up 2.9 trillion won from a year earlier, the finance ministry said Tuesday.Income tax revenue amounted to 3.7 trillion won in September, up 0.5 trillion won from a year earlier, due to a rise in wages. Dues collected by companies also increased 1.9 trillion won on-year to reach 10.1 trillion won in the one-month period, the ministry said.Value-added tax revenue reached 2.1 trillion won in September, also up 0.
Nov. 13, 2018
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LG Corp. makes list of top 20 social value firms worldwide
LG Corp., the holding firm of South Korea's No. 4 conglomerate LG Group, has made the list of the top 20 socially valuable companies in the world, industry sources said Tuesday.LG earned 79 points out of the full 100 in the societal return on investment survey by U.S. pollster Harris Poll and marketing consultant Finn Partners, tying for 13th place. LG is the sole South Korean and Asian company that has been included on the list. It has ranked second among non-U.S.-based companies after German s
Nov. 13, 2018
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Confirmation hearing for finance minister nominee likely to follow budget review
The National Assembly is expected to hold a confirmation hearing for Hong Nam-ki, the finance minister nominee, early next month after handling the government's 2019 budget proposal.On Friday, President Moon Jae-in named Hong, the chief of the government policy coordination office under the prime minister's office, to replace Kim Dong-yeon as finance minister and deputy prime minister for economic affairs.The ruling Democratic Party is seeking to hold the hearing for Hong around on Dec. 3-5, aft
Nov. 12, 2018
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[News Analysis] Severe headwinds greet Moon’s economic policymakers
South Korea’s newly appointed economic policymakers -- in contrast to their predecessors who took office with high hopes upon the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration -- appear to be off to a rocky start, amid escalating concerns and disapproval of the government’s economic policy direction.For the time being, the newly appointed deputy prime minister for economy and presidential chief of staff for policy are expected to press ahead with Moon’s disputed economic polic
Nov. 12, 2018
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Planned profit-sharing scheme causes controversy
Controversy is intensifying over a move by the government and ruling party to encourage large corporations to share profits with their subcontractors and suppliers.Government policymakers and lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea last week agreed to work together to introduce what is called the cooperative profit-sharing system. The controversial scheme is to be put into practice as early as February, if a law designed to provide incentives to participating companies is enacted within the
Nov. 12, 2018