The Korea Herald

Korea’s exports likely to drop 4-6% this year

South Korea’s exports are expected to post negative growth this year in the wake of an economic slowdown in its major trade partners including China, officials and experts said Tuesday.Exports account for about half of the nation’s gross domestic product. And the volume, including intermediate goods for processing trade, shipped to China accounts for 25 percent of Korea’s total exports.The nation’s central bank and some private think tanks expect the 2015 exports to drop by 4 percent to 6 percen

Sept. 22, 2015

Korea’s exports likely to drop 4-6% this year

Uncertainty lingers on despite U.S. rate freeze

The uncertainty about financial volatility at home and abroad is expected to linger on until late October as the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates on hold in its September meeting amid split predictions in the market, analysts said Friday.As Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen took an ambiguous position over the timing of an increase, South Korea’s financial indexes moved in a limited boundary on the day, despite the relief from a variety of risks upon a U.S. rate hike. The benc

Sept. 18, 2015

Uncertainty lingers on despite U.S. rate freeze

KOSPI fails to top 2,000 despite U.S. rate freeze

The uncertainty involving the likelihood over the U.S. rate hike is expected to linger on at least five more weeks until late October, as the Federal Open Market Committee overnight chose to freeze in its September rate-setting amid split predictions in the market, analysts said Friday.As Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen took an ambiguous position over the timing of raising the rate, South Korea’s financial indexes moved in a limited boundary on the day, despite the relief from a variety of ri

Sept. 18, 2015

KOSPI fails to top 2,000 despite U.S. rate freeze

[URGENT] FOMC freezes base rate

[URGENT] FOMC freezes base rateThe U.S. Federal Open Market Committee kept the benchmark interest rate untouched at 0-0.25 percent per annum on Friday (Korean time).(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

Sept. 18, 2015

[속보] 미FOMC 금리 동결

[속보] 미FOMC 금리 동결미국 연방공개시장위원회(FOMC)는 17일(현지시간) 연 0~0.25%의 기준금리를 동결했다.(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

한국어판 Sept. 18, 2015

Stocks hit 1-month high ahead of FOMC meeting

Stocks and currency gained sharply in the domestic market Wednesday on the back of Standard & Poor’s upgrade of Korea’s sovereign rating a day earlier and the overnight increase of the U.S. bourse.The benchmark KOSPI rose 37.89 points, or 1.96 percent, from the previous trading session to close at 1,975.45. This marked the highest in one month since it reached 1,983.46 on Aug. 13.The equities’ gain is drawing attention as it comes ahead of the interest rate-setting meeting of Federal Open Market

Sept. 16, 2015

Stocks hit 1-month high ahead of FOMC meeting

Korea’s household debt ratio soars

South Korean households’ debt problem is higher than other emerging economies, a research report from a Swiss financial organization showed Tuesday.According to the Bank for International Settlements, the nation’s ratio of household debt to gross domestic product was 84 percent at the end of 2014. The debt figures include microcredit loans issued to the self-employed.Korea topped the list among the 14 major emerging countries, whose consumer loans were studied by the BIS, in the household debt-G

Sept. 15, 2015

Finance Ministry urged to tackle rising national debts

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has come under criticism for reportedly inflating its yearly growth target, which caused the government to see far less-than-expected tax revenue, opposition lawmakers said Monday.During the National Assembly’s audit on the ministry, Rep. Yun Ho-jung of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy said the Finance Ministry has set its nominal growth target of between 6 to 7 percent over the past three years.The main difference between real and nominal gross domest

Sept. 14, 2015

28 migrants die in boat capsize off Greece: coastguard

ATHENS - A total of 28 bodies have been pulled from the sea off Greece after a boat carrying scores of migrants capsized on Sunday, the coastguard said.Their stricken boat sank off the island of Farmakonisi in the southern Aegean Sea where a search and rescue effort is under way.A dead child was among those found early Sunday, while 68 people were rescued and a further 29 managed to swim to a beach on the island, the coastguard said. (AFP)

World News Sept. 13, 2015

Munich sees over 12,000 migrants arrive in one day

BUDAPEST -- German police say a total of 12,200 migrants came to Munich on Saturday and the flow is continuing into the city, the main point of entry to Germany.Federal police spokesman Simon Hegewald said more than 700 people fleeing their homelands have arrived at the city's main station on Sunday morning. Police didn't immediately have an estimate of how many more might land during the day.Officials in Munich were putting up tents but say their capacity to house the newcomers arriving from Hu

World News Sept. 13, 2015

Israel police clash with Palestinians at Jerusalem holy site

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police briefly clashed with Palestinian protesters at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site early Sunday, raising tensions in the holy city ahead of the Jewish New Year.Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said forces moved into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound at around 7 a.m. Sunday after police received reports that protesters were planning to disrupt visits to the area by Jewish worshippers and tourists.He said the protesters barricaded themselves inside the mosque and threw rocks

World News Sept. 13, 2015

Yemen loyalists launch offensive in province east of capital: army

AL-ABER, Yemen -- Forces loyal to Yemen's exiled president, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, launched a major ground offensive against Iran-backed rebels east of the capital Sanaa on Sunday, a military official said."This is the largest and fiercest offensive since operations began in Marib province," the official told AFP.Fighters loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have attacked the rebels in two areas -- Jufeinah and Faw -- that lie on the route leading to rebel-held Sanaa, he said.Most

World News Sept. 13, 2015

Thousands flee 2 fast-moving California wildfires

ANGELS CAMP, California -- Thousands of people rushed to escape one massive wildfire charging across California's tinder-dry Sierra Nevada foothills and another out-of-control fire that broke out in Northern California, sending four firefighters to the hospital with burns.The northern fire began in Lake County, 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of San Francisco, and grew to about 15 square miles (39 square kilometers) in just a few hours, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

World News Sept. 13, 2015

Tripartite committee agrees on labor reform

South Korea's labor, management and government representatives on Sunday agreed to ease labor restrictions after months of tense negotiations. Under the agreement, labor and management would consult experts on ways to overhaul employment contracts, the tripartite committee said. The committee is comprised of a representative each from the Federation of Korea Trade Unions (FKTU), the Korea Employers' Federation and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Until then, laws and legal precedents wo

Politics Sept. 13, 2015

Korea to limit pay rises for wage peak system rebels

The government plans to halve the pay hike rate of public corporations and institutions that fail to introduce the wage peak system by the end of this year, officials said Thursday.Under the plan, if the pay increases for both public servants and quasi-public servants is set at 3.4 percent next year, the rate for employees of the agencies delaying or declining to adopt the wage peak system would stay at 1.7 percent. The officials said the Steering Committee on Public Institution will decide the

Sept. 10, 2015

Articles by 김연세