Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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Trump gets recommendations on tariffs for steel imports
US President Donald Trump has received recommendations on tariffs for steel imports, including those from South Korea, the US Department of Commerce said Friday.The recommendations followed investigations into the impact on national security from imports of steel mill products and wrought and unwrought aluminum, the department said in a statement.The tariffs, if adopted, would be another trade remedy undertaken by the Trump administration following its imposition of tariffs on imports of washing
Feb. 17, 2018
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Moon's regulatory reform yet to gather traction
Despite its repeated pledges to push for drastic deregulation, President Moon Jae-in’s government has been facing criticism for dragging its feet on regulatory reform.Presiding over a debate last month, Moon emphasized the need to take a “revolutionary approach” to lifting regulations, calling for “bold ways that have never been tried until now.”Critics say, however, his administration’s efforts toward deregulation have been limited to selected new industries
Feb. 14, 2018
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Korea's jobless rate unchanged at 3.7% in Jan.
Korea's jobless rate remained unchanged at 3.7 percent in January, government data showed Wednesday.The number of employed people reached 26.21 million in January, up 334,000 from a year earlier and accelerating from the previous month's on-year rise of 257,000, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.The unemployment rate for young people -- those aged between 15 and 29 -- was 8.7 percent, compared with 8.6 percent a year earlier. The employment rate advanced 0.4 percentage point t
Feb. 14, 2018
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Korea expects slower export growth in Feb.
South Korea will take proactive measures to boost exports to keep the growth momentum going despite rising protectionist policies by major trading partners and fewer working days in February, the trade ministry said Tuesday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expected the export growth will slow this month due to fewer working days from the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls later in the week, coupled with rising import restrictions by major economies."The internal and external envi
Feb. 13, 2018
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Korea exposed to fallout from US tax cuts, rate hikes
Concerns are growing among economists and businesses here over the fallout from a reversal of corporate tax rates and interest rates in Korea and the US.Last year, Korea raised the tax rate on companies with annual taxable profits of more than 200 billion won ($184.5 million) to 25 percent from 22 percent, whereas a tax overhaul passed by the US Congress last month lowered the maximum corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent.Next month is likely to see a US benchmark interest rate exceed
Feb. 12, 2018
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[Monitor] Korea's trade surplus with the US drops
The United States exported record-high $48.28 billion worth of goods to South Korea in 2017, while Korea exported $71.16 billion of products to the US, data by the US Department of Commerce showed.Korea’s trade surplus consequently dropped 17 percent on-year, contrary to Washington’s current claim that the free trade pact was disadvantaging the US.The US trade deficit stood at $22.88 billion, down $4.69 billion from the $27.57 billion tallied in 2016.The commerce department attribute
Feb. 12, 2018
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SK Chemical, two others fined for misleading info over humidifier sterilizer
SK Chemical Co. and two other firms were fined for providing insufficient and misleading information on its humidifier sterilizer products, the country's corporate watchdog said Monday.The Fair Trade Commission said it has decided to levy a total of 134 million won ($124,000) in fines on SK Chemical, Aekyung Industrial Co. and E-Mart Co. for manufacturing and selling humidifier sterilizer without informing consumers of possible health hazards.In December of last year, the FTC reopened its probe
Feb. 12, 2018
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Korea to seek investor protection measures in FTA talks with China
South Korea's trade ministry said Monday it will seek ways to better protect investor rights from arbitrary regulations when holding talks with China to expand the scope of the two countries' free trade agreement to the service and investment sector.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it will push for the FTA talks in a way that creates new business opportunities for local companies in the tourism, culture, legal and medical industries. South Korea and China implemented the FTA focus
Feb. 12, 2018
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Korea national debt per capital hits W13m: data
South Korea's per capita national debt hit 13 million won ($11,900), more than double that of 2008 when the country was reeling from the aftermath of the global financial crisis, official data showed Sunday.The National Assembly Budget Office said that as of Saturday, the national debt stood at 671.5 trillion won, up 4.6 trillion won from late last year and 2.2 times greater than the 309 trillion won tallied a decade earlier when the per capita debt stood at 6.31 million won.It said that, based
Feb. 11, 2018
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BOK warns of slow pace in private consumption, despite steady growth
South Korea’s economy has entered a recovery track, steered by global economic improvement and strong exports, but its private consumption sector remains slow due to a record-high amount of household debt, the nation’s central bank said Thursday.According to the Bank of Korea‘s monetary policy report to the National Assembly, private consumption climbed by 2.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016 to the third quarter of last year, marking slow growth compared to the conventi
Feb. 8, 2018
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Debate rages on impact of minimum wage hikes
Different views have been raised over whether a sharp increase in the minimum wage will result in a significant loss of jobs down the road.Korea’s minimum wage, which is applied across all regions and sectors, is set at 7,530 won per hour ($6.95) for 2018, up 16.4 percent from last year. It marks the first double-digit increase in more than a decade.The Minimum Wage Commission, comprising members who represent the government, employers and labor groups, last year agreed on the steep increa
Feb. 7, 2018
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Seoul delays implementing tax change for foreign investors
South Korea's finance ministry said Tuesday it would delay the implementation of a revised tax scheme designed to widen the taxation base among foreign investors in the face of strong calls from related industries to scrap such a move.Under the revised tax schemes, the Seoul government was planning to collect capital gain taxes from foreign investors who own more than 5 percent stakes in locally listed companies, lowering the ownership threshold from 25 percent.But the ministry said it would rev
Feb. 6, 2018
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Korea faces 40 import restrictions from US
South Korea faces far more import restrictions from the United States than any other country in a clear sign of growing American trade pressure on its ally, a trade body said Tuesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy was subject to 196 import regulations from the rest of the world as of Monday, with the US taking up the lion's share of 40 cases, according to the Korea International Trade Association.Of the total American restrictions, 30 cases were anti-dumping investigations, with countervailing du
Feb. 6, 2018
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[Monitor] Korea’s current account surplus narrows
South Korea’s services account deficit widened to $3.77 billion in December last year, from a deficit of $730 million a year earlier due to a rise in overseas trips and foreign business services, preliminary data by the Bank of Korea showed Monday.Such a sharp rise in deficit in the service account has led to the country‘s current account surplus to narrow in December, marking $4.09 billion, down from a surplus of $6.96 billion a year earlier.For all of 2017, Korea’s current ac
Feb. 5, 2018
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Concerns rise over signals of weakening economy
Recent economic indicators point to the weakening vitality of the Korean economy shored up largely by an increase in exports.Business sentiments remain pessimistic as manufacturing and construction sectors are suffering setbacks. Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, has dropped to an 18-year low, reflecting sluggish domestic demand.Manufacturing output shrank 6.6 percent from a year earlier in December, following a 1.7 percent on-year decline in the previous month, accord
Feb. 5, 2018
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Korea's current account surplus narrows to $4.09b for December
South Korea's current account surplus narrowed in December last year from a year earlier due mainly to a sharp rise in the deficit in the service account, central bank data showed Monday. The country's current account surplus reached $4.09 billion in December, down from a surplus of $6.96 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.It marked the 70th consecutive month of a current account surplus, which started in March 2012. The services account deficit wide
Feb. 5, 2018
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[Monitor] Median price of Seoul apartments surpasses W700m
The median price of apartments in Seoul surpassed 700 million won ($651,000) for the first time in January. According to KB Bank, the price rose 3 percent from the previous month, reaching 705 million won. The bank has been conducting surveys on the median apartment price since December 2008. The median price is the figure in the middle of the numbers that range from lowest to highest.
Feb. 2, 2018
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S. Korea, China agree to boost tourism, economic cooperation
The top economic policymakers of South Korea and China agreed to boost bilateral tourism and economic cooperation, Seoul's finance ministry said Friday, in a sign that Beijing may stop its retaliation against South Korean companies over the stationing of a US missile system. The agreement came after talks between South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and his Chinese counterpart, He Lifeng, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, earlier in the day. Kim has said
Feb. 2, 2018
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Inflation weakest in 17 months, Seoul vows actions to keep prices flat
South Korea’s monthly consumer inflation came to 1 percent in January on-year, the slowest gain in 17 months, as the prices of agricultural goods such as vegetables fell, data showed Thursday.Calling such weak inflation “economic stability at target range,” the government pledged Thursday to carry out pre-emptive measures to curb consumer price fluctuations ahead of next week’s 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games and the national Lunar New Year holiday later in the mont
Feb. 1, 2018
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Korea's exports jump 22.2% in Jan. on memory chips
South Korea's exports soared 22.2 percent in January from a year earlier on brisk sales of memory chips and petrochemical products, government data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments came to $49.21 billion for January, up from $40.25 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Exports rose for the 15th month in a row, posting double-digit growth for the first time in four months.Imports also jumped 20.9 percent on-year to $45.48 billion
Feb. 1, 2018