‘Food prices likely to rise further until next year’

South Korea's financial regulator on Thursday proposed opening an "information-sharing channel" with local financial institutions on overseas market conditions to better respond to offshore developments and minimize their impact on domestic markets. Lee Bok-hyun, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, made the proposal during a meeting in Seoul with officials of financial holding groups, ban...

South Korea will carry out eased lending rules for first-time homebuyers and owners of one home next month as the once red-hot housing market appears to be entering a downturn amid rising interest rates, the land ministry said Thursday. The government has adopted stricter lending rules and other regulations to help stabilize the country's real estate market in recent years. In response, the gov...

South Korea's top financial regulator on Wednesday asked for local banks' cooperation in stabilizing the corporate bond and short-term money markets and helping money flow to businesses and small merchants in need. Kim Joo-hyeon, head of the Financial Services Commission, made the request in a meeting with chiefs of major commercial banks amid worries over a credit crunch sparked by a series of ...

South Korea added jobs for the 20th straight month in October, data showed Wednesday, but the growth continued to slow for the fifth month in a row as the country braces for a possible recession amid high inflation and slowed growth. The number of employed people stood at 28.41 million last month, up 677,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It was the larg...

SEJONG -- South Korea's state-run think tank warned Tuesday that the nation's economy could slow practically to a standstill in 2050 unless its falling productivity is elevated through structural reform efforts. The Korea Development Institute released a report on the long-term outlook of the Korean economy. According to the report, the nation's economic growth rate is likely to be just 1.3 per...

Itaewon restaurant, shop owners express concern over residual effects of crowd surge tragedy

South Korea needs to show significant action to make MSCI's watch list of countries with developed market status, the chief of the global index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International has said. Every June, the MSCI reclassifies its watch list of advanced markets, based on the countries' economic development, size and liquidity of equity markets, and market accessibility for foreign investo...

South Korea posted a current account surplus in September, swinging from the previous month's shortfall, but it was much smaller than a year earlier as import bills remained high and outbound travel grew due to eased pandemic-related curbs, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's current account surplus came to $1.61 billion in September, compared with a deficit of a revised $3.05 billio...

SEJONG -- The chief of Korea’s tax administrative agency said Monday that the transition to a non-face-to-face economy during the COVID-19 pandemic further increased the importance of digital-based tax administration. National Tax Service Commissioner Kim Chang-ki stressed the digitization of tax administration during the second South Korea-South and Central Americas Digital Tax Administration F...

Over 80 percent of S. Koreans say cost of dining out increased, seperate survey shows

SEJONG -- The nation’s top economic policymaker on Friday unveiled plans to help facilitate investments in cash-strapped startups, suggesting hefty tax benefits for both corporate and individual investors. At a ministerial meeting in Seoul, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho pointed to the situation whereby the private sector’s investments in startups have contracted in the...

A Hana Bank Counterfeit Notes Response Center official examines a $100 bill on Thursday at the center located in Jung-gu, central Seoul. As the Korean won weakens against the US doller, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves shrank for the third consecutive month in October to $414.01 billion, down by $2.76 billion since September.

South Korea’s financial authorities said Thursday they would closely monitor for any signs of increasing volatility in the financial markets following a big US rate hike -- the fourth consecutive 75-point increase since June amid persistent inflation. “Uncertainties are certainly growing and we’ll be extra vigilant in our response to what may come in our way,” Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said...

'News Sentiment Index' tumbles on rate hikes, weak Korean won