Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday the government needs to mobilize all available policy means to tame inflationary pressure and stabilize the housing market in the new year. Hong also said the country will prioritize supporting small merchants hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and vulnerable people and strengthen social safety nets. "The government faces an urgent need to stabilize infla...

South Korea's antitrust regulator plans to take stern actions against unfair business activities by online platform operators in a bid to protect small merchants and consumers, its chief said Monday. Concerns have mounted that powerful online platform operators, such as Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp., have abused their dominant market status and engaged in unfair business practices against contract...

Indonesia's recent ban on coal exports is expected to have a limited impact on South Korea, the industry ministry said Monday, but the Seoul government set up a task force to closely manage the situation as a precaution. Last week, Indonesia announced it has banned exports of coal in January, citing concerns over widespread blackouts due to low supplies at its domestic power plants. Jakarta is ...

The outstanding value of derivatives-tied securities issued in South Korea touched a near eight-year low in the third quarter amid a fall in Hong Kong share prices, data showed Monday. The amount of outstanding equity-linked securities (ELS) and derivatives-linked securities (DLS) came to 79.9 trillion won ($67.1 billion) as of end-September, down 300 billion won from the previous quarter, accor...

Naver and Kakao -- Korea’s two largest online service providers -- are prompting financial companies to better meet fintech needs and regulators to write rules that are fair to both of them. Naver Financial, a key Naver fintech subsidiary, started offering loans last year to small businesses with Woori Bank. The Naver Financial CEO said last month that he was considering seeking a permit to over...

South Korea's initial public offering (IPO) market is expected to have another bumper year in 2022 as a slew of companies, including battery maker LG Energy Solution, are planning for stock market debuts, analysts said Sunday. The amount of money raised via IPOs on the main and tech-heavy stock markets reached a record high of 20.8 trillion won ($17.5 billion) last year, according to industry da...

South Korea's exports rose 25.8 percent in 2021 from the previous year to reach an all-time high on the back of solid demand for chips and petroleum products amid a global economic recovery, the industry ministry said Saturday. Outbound shipments stood at US$644.54 billion last year, compared with $512.5 billion a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and En...

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday the government will ramp up its effort to support small merchants next year in a bid to help them tide over the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hong said the government will also prioritize strengthening social safety nets in 2022 in a bid to narrow deepening income gaps caused by the pandemic. "The government will focus on providing multilaye...

The chief of the nation’s central bank said Friday that monetary easing will be broadened in tandem with the pace of the economic recovery next year. “Additional moves related to monetary easing will be carried out after closely reviewing the development of economic growth and inflation,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in his New Year’s address. “Imbalances in the financial market and shif...

SEJONG -- The on-year growth of consumer prices has reached the highest level in 10 years in 2021, aggravating the burden on the debt-saddled household sector. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices climbed 2.5 percent this year compared to 2020. After reaching 2.2 percent in 2012, the growth ranged between 0.4 and 1.9 percent during the 2013-2020 period. The 2021 figure marked the high...

Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook vowed Friday to make all-out efforts to ensure stable supply chains for key industry materials and to nurture next-generation sectors. He made the pledge in his message for the new year, saying the government will work further to make concrete steps that prevent any recurrences of the recent urea crisis. South Korea experienced a shortage of urea solution, an es...

SEJONG -- Korean businesses, including those in the manufacturing and service industries, saw the index for their retail sales decline sharply last month despite brisk industrial output, state data showed Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki also commented on the weakening sentiment index over private consumption, picking negative factors like bolstered quarantine aga...

South Korean banks' mortgage rates hit the highest level in more than 7 years in November amid rising borrowing costs, central bank data showed Thursday, Banks' mortgage loan rate averaged 3.51 percent in November, up 0.25 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK) This marked the highest since July 2014, when the corresponding rate was 3.54 percent....

South Korea's construction business sentiment gained for a second month in December thanks to increased year-end orders, a poll showed Thursday. The construction business survey index (CBSI) came to 92.5 this month, up 4.1 points from the previous month, according to the survey by the Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea. Yet the December figure remains below par. A reading belo...

South Korea's imports via e-commerce reached a new all-time high in 2021 as more people purchased foreign goods online, government data showed Thursday. The country's e-commerce imports stood at $4.15 billion in the first 11 months of this year, up 25.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The amount for the 11-month period surpasses the full-year f...